Ron Paul may be the only presidential candidate still in his right mind. Listening to Paul’s address to a crowd in Idaho Falls last night was startling for the iconoclastic daring it displayed in these oddly conformist times. Paul objected to the legalization of murder by the government (explained at length by Eric Holder on the same day). In his mild and avuncular way, Paul said the government is so huge and out of control that its agents can now spy on us and kill us with impunity.
This sort of discourse and mindset has been around for a while in Idaho, a favorite haunt of paranoid, neonazi militias that consider Social Security to be a Stalinist plot. But Obama has just fulfilled their crackpot fantasies by saying the president can authorize assassinations of anyone, anywhere, including American citizens.
Some, though not all, of the lines in Paul’s speech that brought cheers and shouts of outrage from the creepily reactionary crowd could have been painted on signs at Occupy Wall Street. When the Democratic-liberal establishment and blogosphere are folded into the tent and eagerly place party loyalty above principle, it’s weirdly unsurprising that this intersection should occur.
Alone among our “leadership,” an anti-government, right-winger is the only voice in the campaign warning of the dangers of encroaching authoritarianism. Liberals, blinded by the presence of an unthreatening figure at the top, willingly sign off on the consolidation of arbitrary state power. When someone nasty later uses these powers, they will be the first to shout, “Unfair!”
2 comments:
I heard an interesting interview on NPR a few weeks ago. The person interviewed was Ralph Nader, who said there were actually some areas of common concern and possible joint advocacy with Ron Paul
Yes, and Alan Grayson often said he worked well with Paul in the H of R.
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