I almost feel sorry for Ron Paul

[BushOut06]

I must admit I don't really know enough about him, but the fact that he voted against the war in Iraq scores him a few points.

Then again, if he really had any sense of decency, and felt this strongly about this, he would have dropped the (R) from his name.

[jody]

1. Paul is a Libertarian running as a Republican. n/t

[Tesha]

22. Libertarians are just Republicans who want to smoke dope.

Big-"L" Libertarians are just Republicans who want
to smoke dope; New Hampshire's full of these assholes.

Tesha

[jody]

25. Perhaps but the few Libertarians I've met are more concerned about individual freedoms. n/t

[Tesha]

26. Come to New Hampshire and meet the rest.

> Perhaps but the few Libertarians I've met are more
> concerned about individual freedoms.

Come to New Hampshire and meet the rest. As long as
they get to smoke their weed, keep their gins, and
never have to pay another dime in taxes...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_State_Project

Tesha

[jody]

31. Sounds like your New Hampshire group have more in common with libertines than libertarians. n/t

[Tesha]

32. I made a typo: should have read "keep their gUns..." (NT)

[jody]

35. LOL, The 2004 Dem Platform says "We will protect Americans' Second Amendment right to own firearms"

See 2004 Dem Platform at http://www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf

[Hobarticus]

30. ...and drive on naturally-occuring rock formations called "roads"

while sending their kids to public-funded schools.

I got one of these clowns in my office. When he starts talking, I just tell him to get his kid out of the school I paid for, and don't drive on the road I paid for to get her, and he shuts up.

[northzax]

33. and own more guns

and pay fewer taxes.

on the flip side, they are usually in favour of keeping the government out of things like marriage and child raising.

[Captain Angry]

2. Without that (R) after his name, he might have had a difficult time getting elected in Texas.

To be a third party candidate in a state that will raise major money for Republicans would be a political death wish.

Ron has interesting ideas. I wonder how many of them will be reported to the voters.

[musette_sf]

7. interesting ideas

like being an opponent of women's privacy in reproductive health care. yeah, real interesting. :eyes:

[Captain Angry]

9. Some are far less interesting than others.

Some are archaic.

But, he is the only guy I've heard that questions the financial underpinnings of the United States economy in any manner.

[Hippo_Tron]

21. I saw him in Aaron Russo's documentary

Yet I'm still not convinced that the income tax is unconstitutional or that it only goes to pay bankers.

[NoPasaran]

3. Don't feel sorry for him

He's a racist scumbag who just happened to vote against the war.

[Robson]

12. Keep an open mind

You need more of an open mind....there's much more to America than pet issues and policies. While I don't agree with Paul on some of his issues, I do agree with him on many concerning foreign and fiscal policy that are important for the long term health of this country. He did look uncomfortable and stilted as they all did. He doesn't have a chance because he believes that America should objectively (not unilaterally) back Israel. If the media plays him down that might be a reason.

[Paladin]

13. An Open Mind Is Wasted On Ron Paul

Trust me, he's so far to the right that he occasionally comes 180 degrees around to a leftist notion or two. A perennial finalist in the hotly contested Most Embarrassing Texas Legislator Of The Year Contest....

[NoPasaran]

16. I shit in his hat

He's a total fucking idiot.

[ComerPerro]

34. amen to that

[Ilsa]

4. He is a R because down here, they won't elect a Libertarian.

This is a very red district. He's too conservative for me. He would love to undo the tax system completely. His attitude is that if it wasn't in the Constitution, it isn't right for the federal govt to do.

[texastoast]

18. Not a big fan

but if we could just keep the Constitution in place, that would be a step in the right direction.

[Ilsa]

37. He respects the Constitution, but not as a living document.

We'd all be plugging quarters into toll roads every three miles if govt infrastructure took on his attitude about the govt not being in people's lives.

[texastoast]

39. You know, on that particular perspective

I (unlike the majority of thinking humans in America) wouldn't be much bothered by that. Maybe everyone would work close to home and we could go back to small community village life.

[Ilsa]

42. That is workable for some, but not for very many. I know alot of people

who have to travel as part of their jobs. Sales people, doctors, other medical professionals, people in the oil industry have to drive out to rigs to work.

But I like the idea of doing more as a village. I think it could be a long term solution to energy problems by keeping more things local, like a village, as you say.

[Canuckistanian]

5. Is he the right's Gravel?

I mean, he has respect for being a libertarian, but is he popular among Republicans?

[loudsue]

28. He seems to be, doesn't he? And he's getting a lot of respect for his performance

last night on the polls.

After the Dem debate, Gravel's web site was getting so many hits of people trying to donate $$ to his campaign, that the site couldn't handle all of the traffic.

And, strangely enough, they both spoke a great deal about the wrong-headedness of the global economy. It's on people's minds a whole lot more than the mainstream media will let you believe.

:kick::kick::kick:

[gratuitous]

29. Paul's getting respect

It's not surprising that he's garnering some respect, considering the crowd he was standing in last night. Sort of like Charlie Murphy at a KKK rally; your eye will be drawn to him in an instant. But Paul's a two-faced little coward who won't leave the safety and security of the national Republican party. He's got no constituency, no apparatus, and no support system.

[musette_sf]

6. Paul's not an (R) anyway

he's an (L) libertarian. he got hooked up with the Republican Liberty Caucus - a libertarian group that decided it was best to "fish where the fish are". in other words, they saw the Repuke party as a happy hunting ground to increase support for Puke-leaning libertarians like Paul. (i met Paul at an RLC function some years ago, so i know wherefrom i speak. i was attending with the libertarian partner as a personal sociology project :-))

of course the RLC has abandoned the Bu$hCo ship by now, like all the rest of the rats that don't want to be any more tainted with the stain than they already are.

whatever points Paul may have scored by voting against this illegal military action in Iraq, are cancelled out by his very un-libertarian stance of being strongly anti-choice, and simply by his being a libertarian. (aka Dope Smokers Without Social Conscience)

[Rydz777]

8. Libertarian

Ron Paul ran for President on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988 and got 400,000 votes. He got elected to Congress as a Republican but often goes his own way, for example, voting against the war.

[BushOut06]

11. Did not realize that he is a Libertarian

That explains it, I reckon. The responders are correct, though - he has about as much chance winning the GOP nomination as I do of winning Mr. Universe.

[bunkerbuster1]

27. His constant bitching about the IRS didn't tip you off?

Libbers are wackjobs. They really think the country could manage without a revenue collection/enforcement mechanism. I guess it's all supposed to work on the honor system or something.

[BushOut06]

40. I made the OP towards the beginning of the debate

Prior to the debate, I really hadn't heard much of him. When I wrote the OP, so far I had only really heard him talk about how he voted against the war.

As for bitching about the IRS, rethugs do that all the time ;)

[Lisa0825]

10. I got redistricted into his district. Could be worse.

At least I agree with him about 25% of the time (since he is a Libertarian). Google "Neo-Conned." Great speech!

He was also against the port deal. He may be wacky on many issues, but I like that he is at least a voice with an 'R' by his name speaking against a lot the rethugs do.

[tom_paine]

14. Agree or disagree, Ron Paul is a Loyal American, NOT a Loyal Bushie

And that, my friends, makes AAAALLLL the difference.

As a Loyal Bushie himself, Tweety could not let the only Loyal American on stage have his full say.

COULD...NOT.

[Rosemary2205]

36. Can I just say Amen! :)

[Zodiak]

38. you and I are in agreement

I truly believe that we have to have Republicans. I do. This country cannot survive with one political ideology......we have tried that recently, haven't we?

I have a deep abiding emnity with Bush Republicans. To me, they are fascists and should be drummed out the American political system with extreme prejudice for treason against this country and its People.

But thinking Republicans I have no problem with. They are often my opponents, but they are as patriotic and love this country as much as I do.

I belive Ron Paul is one of those Republicans. We would all be a lot happier of the other side of the aisle was made up of 190 or so of those kinds of Republicans.

[Individualist]

15. Didn't he say he was opposed to funding stem cell research?

Unless I heard wrong on that question, I don't feel a damn bit sorry for him.

[BushOut06]

17. He did say that

He said that it wasn't in the Constitution, therefore he opposed it. Typical Libertarian bullshit, which is why I can never support them.

[Jack_DeLeon]

20. Why is that bullshit?

The consitution is supposed to exist for a reason. To lay out what the government is supposed to do and place limits on its power?

I'm definately not a fan of the kind of government we have now where Congress does whatever it wants just because without any consitutional basis.

IMO we would all be better served if instead of everyone trying to get the federal government to do something, if we just got the states to do them instead.

[REP]

23. How Is Stem-Cell Research UnConstitutional?

I'm a big fan of the Constitution myself, and can't for the life of me see how either stem-cell research or the funding of it violates any clause of it. The Ninth Amendment is there for a reason.

[Jack_DeLeon]

43. The ninth amendment of the US consitution does not...

have anything to do with giving the federal government power to fun stem cell research.

The 9th amendment reads. "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

That means that just because the government lists certain rights that it doesnt limit the people from having other rights aswell. That doesnt mean that the federal government should do everything.

Ron Paul believes that Stem Cell research and other things should be left up to either the states or private individuals to fund. He is a strict constitutionalist and believes that the federal government should only do what is written in the consitution.

I somewhat agree with him in that I think that governments should definately have limits, and I do think its wrong that congress often passes laws simply because they can without even bothering to ask if the government should.

I personally think that state and local governments should play a bigger role than they currently do, instead of everyone wanted the federal government to do everything.

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Catherine Vincent]

19. I don't.

That ass boasted about voting to impeach President Clinton.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

24. I was shocked the other day when I saw he voted against the Dems in the vote to override the veto.

Paul is more of a Libertarian and he is the only person that I know of, who gave a floor speech against the Neocons and went into detail on PNAC.

His vote the other day makes me think he might have sold a part of himself in order to run.