American Me
columnist: Rod Smith

Topic: Ron Paul
"Let Me See If I Get This Right ..."

---

More than any other candidate, Congressman Ron Paul has been asked more ridiculous questions from the Fox News pundits. In the latest attempt, he was asked one far more pointed than in the past"

---

by Rod Smith
(libertarian)
Monday, January 14, 2008

More than any other candidate, Congressman Ron Paul has been asked more ridiculous questions by the pundits of Fox News within the debates. In the latest attempt, he was asked one far more pointed than in the past:

"Electability ... Do you have any sir?"

Forget the fact that if one adds up the raw votes from IA and NH, Paul has earned more than Thompson or Guliani. Forget the fact that Fox excluded him from the last forum before the NH primary without giving him a reason. Forget the fact that Paul has far more individual contributors (160,000) to his campaign than any of the so-called, "Top Tier", GOP candidates.

Paul's reply was brilliant, and yet only scratched the surface of this madness.

Unabashedly, Fox continues to be lapdogs for candidates who (as Dr. Martin Luther King once put it) are "Misguided men with guided missiles." Conversely, they bash Paul as part of the "blame America crowd." He's not. Clearly he lays the blame of this quagmire at the feet of the political class in Washington who have gotten us into this mess.

For far too long, Washington politicians and their enablers have gone around the world with a dangerous, utopian, fantasy of deciding which countries are run by the wrong group of thugs. Saddam, Bin Laden, The Shah, Aristede, Musharraf, the list is endless. Yet every one of the GOP "Top Tier" supports this "conservative" idea of borrowing money from a communist country to support a military dictator who just cancelled elections two months ago an instituted martial law.

Their answers seem to be something along the lines of Stalin's famous quote:

"You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet." But they never cared about who has to clean the huge piles of dirty dishes. America, roll up your sleeves. 

For the first time in American history, Washington politicians have abandoned the just war theory of Christianity and have invaded a country that has done no harm to us. Iraq- a country with a one time, US backed tin-horn, dictator, a pitiful, conscripted, army, no navy, no air force, and no WMD's. Even if Sadam had them, wouldn't it have made more sense for him to use them after the invasion? Why should he pull on Superman's cape? He would have had nothing to loose after our invasion. Sadam was hated by his own people and more hated by the radicals. One could by liquor in Bagdad during his reign. Women didn't wear the veil. By all accounts, it was the most secular, cosmopolitan, country in the Middle East.

Alas, the neoconservatives, our noble saviors, warned us that Saddam was the second comming of Hitler, Iraq was complicit in the events of 9/11, and was a leading cause of hair loss in men.

Estimates say that as many as 100,000 civilians have died with the invasion and subsequent violence. Do these candidates really believe that we should be there for 100 years? If so, do they believe Iraqis will throw flowers at our feet? It's far more likely now that the most secular and cosmopolitan country in the Middle East could be swept up by Islamic radical elements than ever before. What will neoconservatives do when Iraqis elect someone like Muqata Al Sadr?

History has proven war to be a rare and necessary evil. But history has also proven neoconservative taste for war almost insatiable. War is often just one more big government program ... filled with the same boondoggles and boomerang effects as the rest of it. Case in point, we have invaded and occupy two countries, spent a trillion dollars, have sent 4,000+ of our best home in coffins, and are no closer to capturing Bin Laden than when we started.

Are we really to believe they attack us because we're rich, free, and Christian? Brazil and Canada are rich, free, and Christian. They attack us because Washington has repeatedly failed to heed the warnings of the Founders .. "Entangling alliances with none." Even Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit agrees with this assessment.

Why is it that Americans vacationed in Iran before the 1950's? Why is it that Iranians were burning US effigies in the streets and taking hostages in the 1970's?

These misguided men with guided missiles easily forget the failures of their foreign policy misadventures, but those who have to live under the consequences never forget, and neither should we.

Did you like this article?
If you did, Thumb It!
49 thumbs so far

©2008 Rod Smith, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Monday, January 14, 2008
Last modified: Monday, January 14, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Rod Smith only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Rod Smith is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

Report violation by Rod Smith of Nolan Chart LLC's terms of use policy.