For those who have seen the Repubican debates (I haven't) I didn't missed much. It was all about the candidates loving torture , and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney wanting to double the size of Guantanamo Bay and Congressman Tom Tancredo wanting Jack Bauer of TV show 24 to interrogate terror suspects on the case. Don't forget that we like the country to be abortion free and Evolution must be abolished from the likes of Kansas Senator Brownback and others like him. (It makes you wonder how can they be against evolution when there are primates that can stand upright with opposable thumbs, hmmm?) Let's not forget this debate was on (sigh) Fox News and held in South Carolina, a perfect storm of simple straightforward Republican stupidity. The bright spots were out of all the candidates avocating for torture Senator John McCain and Ron Paul rejected torture and Ron Paul's point about why do the Muslims hate us.
Congressman Paul's comments has to be one of the most unexpected comments from a Republican. Ron Paul is a Libertarian. For those wanting to know what is a Libertarian and what they believe here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
Libertarians strongly oppose infringement of civil liberties such as restrictions on free expression (e.g., speech, press, or religious practice), prohibitions on voluntary association, or encroachments on persons or property. Some make an exception when the infringement is a result of due process to establish or punish criminal behavior. As such, libertarians oppose any type of censorship (i.e., claims of offensive speech), or pre-trial forfeiture of property (as is commonly seen in drug crime proceedings). Furthermore, most libertarians reject the distinction between political and commercial speech or association, a legal distinction often used to protect one type of activity and not the other from government intervention.
Libertarians also oppose any laws restricting personal or consensual behavior, as well as laws against victimless crimes. As such, they believe that individual choices for products or services should not be limited by government licensing requirements or state-granted monopolies, or in the form of trade barriers that restrict choices for products and services from other nations (see Free trade). They also tend to oppose legal prohibitions on recreational drug use, gambling, and prostitution. They believe that citizens should be free to take risks, even to the point of actual harm to themselves. For example, while most libertarians may personally agree with the majority who favor the use of seatbelts, libertarians reject mandating their use as paternalistic. Similarly, many believe that the United States Food and Drug Administration (and other similar bodies in other countries like Health Canada in Canada) shouldn't ban unproven medical treatments, that any decisions on treatment be left between patient and doctor, and that government should be limited to passing non-binding judgments about efficacy or safety, if it is allowed to do anything at all.
Some libertarians believe such freedoms are a universal birthright, and they accept any material inequalities or wanton behavior, as long as it harms no one else, likely to result from such a policy of governmental non-intervention. They see economic inequality as an outcome of people's freedom to choose their own actions, which may or may not be profitable. However, many libertarians believe that extreme concentration of wealth in a few hands is a result of state intervention, and that liberty ultimately leads to a more diffuse distribution though not necessarily an equal one. A prime cause of extreme wealth disparity stems from government granting special privileges to some businesses at the expense of consumers and other businesses.
Libertarians also oppose any laws restricting personal or consensual behavior, as well as laws against victimless crimes. As such, they believe that individual choices for products or services should not be limited by government licensing requirements or state-granted monopolies, or in the form of trade barriers that restrict choices for products and services from other nations (see Free trade). They also tend to oppose legal prohibitions on recreational drug use, gambling, and prostitution. They believe that citizens should be free to take risks, even to the point of actual harm to themselves. For example, while most libertarians may personally agree with the majority who favor the use of seatbelts, libertarians reject mandating their use as paternalistic. Similarly, many believe that the United States Food and Drug Administration (and other similar bodies in other countries like Health Canada in Canada) shouldn't ban unproven medical treatments, that any decisions on treatment be left between patient and doctor, and that government should be limited to passing non-binding judgments about efficacy or safety, if it is allowed to do anything at all.
Some libertarians believe such freedoms are a universal birthright, and they accept any material inequalities or wanton behavior, as long as it harms no one else, likely to result from such a policy of governmental non-intervention. They see economic inequality as an outcome of people's freedom to choose their own actions, which may or may not be profitable. However, many libertarians believe that extreme concentration of wealth in a few hands is a result of state intervention, and that liberty ultimately leads to a more diffuse distribution though not necessarily an equal one. A prime cause of extreme wealth disparity stems from government granting special privileges to some businesses at the expense of consumers and other businesses.
Ron Paul is type of guy that want to let us fix our house first and leave others alone with their problems. His point is exactly spot on. Our meddling in the Middle East stemming from the 1950's when the Shah of Iran was installed by the CIA to get rid of Mossadeq to the Iranian Revoluton of 1978 and subsequent hostage of Americans there, to supporting Saddam Huessin and Osama bin Laden and our actions in the Persian Gulf war with George Herbert Walker "Daddy" Bush up to this war has cause the Muslim nations out there some hatred for us.
Did we not think that of all of our actions past and present wasn't going to bite us in the ass? Yes it was and it was a painful bite. From the few books I have read one part of the rationale for bin Laden attacking us on 9/11 because he felt that Americans troops in Saudi Arabia his home country in his eyes were infidels and should not be there. We had a base in Saudi Arabia after the Persian Gulf war called the Prince Sultan Air Base. Shortly after 9/11 George Bush quietly closed down the base. Thereby appeasing bin Laden. Because of this Ron Paul's point was not that we deserved of what happen to us but that our meddling has cause some reaction and retaliation against us and Arabs muslims hating us for our freedoms is totally bogus.
For that, Ron Paul is a great hero for saying what has to be said in the past 5 years after 9/11
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