I recently received an e-mail from a local Ron Paul supporter, and since I have had some thoughts regarding Ron Paul, with the writer’s permission I have reprinted the e-mail below, and IMHO comments following. This is not intended as an endorsement of Ron Paul (at least not from IMHO!), but rather a springboard for discussion of a somewhat unorthodox candidate.
“The story of a recent Ron Paul supporter”
OK – disclaimer first: I’ve never been huge into politics. I’ve had little political “kicks” in the past, but then I would just sort of stop caring. I eventually saw politics as just a constant partisan drone of bickering, business, and corruption. I’ve thought conservative at times, then more liberal, then undecided, then I basically just stopped caring. And *gasp!* no – I didn’t even VOTE in the 2008 election. There I said it. Didn’t like either one enough to vote if that makes any sense at all.
However, thoughts have been stirring these past eight months or so. I was finally determined to solidify a political stance for myself – for MYSELF – as in not Democrat, not Republican, not even necessarily a combination of both. And honestly…I’m not really sure what came over me. Maybe after watching “Inside Job.” I really liked it, but it has nothing to do with what I’m writing. I think I just really liked the way it made me think, and how I admired the passion behind the film – the message they wanted to convey – how well they did it.
I was on a politics “kick”, or so I thought. I decided to dive in head-first, however stay open-minded, not stubborn to a specific party or “set” of Democrat or Republican views, but be thorough in my research and eventually develop an educated stance. To start fresh without any “ism’s” if you will. Just read, think, think some more, and decide. I read with the goal in mind to decide what was for the greater and eventual good. I did my homework, read up on dozens of issues and topics, and made sure I knew what the other side had to say about it. But to make a long story short – my search led me to Congressman Ron Paul.
Now you might be thinking I’m just a Ron Paul “fan boy.” Well, I’d heard of Ron from back in the 2008 election, and being unimpressed with his whole 3% vote kind of just said “Heh…nice try, old man.” Even before he decided to run for president in 2012, I was recommended to read the book “Revolution – A Manifesto.”
I picked up a copy, and right from the start I could not believe how much sense he was making. This was honest, genuine wisdom. He provided new perspectives foreign policy, money, jobs, small government, freedom, government spending, taxes and much more all based on honest and genuine wisdom. This man had a vision.
Needless to say, I was very excited to hear he decided to run for president of the United States.
However I have become very angry with the way he is being completely blacked out by the media. How can someone with a plan to balance the budget, bring back the sound dollar, repeal the Patriot Act, bring our troops home, end foreign aid and policing the world, reduce the debt tremendously, and phase out the IRS and Federal Reserve be ignored so VERY blatantly? He predicted the 2008 recession years in advance! Most every GOP nominee discussion I’ve listened to (tons) has mentioned every nominee (even Huntsman, Santorum, and Bachmann) and left out Ron Paul! He is getting minimal debate time as well.
I am 99% certain that this is not a “whoops” accident. I really think he is being ignored because he is not an “establishment” candidate. He is not the kind of person to put a “band-aid on a bullet would” if you will. By that I mean giving bailouts to big scoundrel-run companies that screwed up and screwed over millions of Americans. By creating money out of thin air. By making temporary settlements to debt crises that will only roll back around to bite us again and again and again. The poor get poorer so what do we do? “Oh, hey, free health care for everybody!” says Obama. There’s got to be a better answer.
BIG changes MUST happen NOW!!! No more big-government nonsense. The fiat currency we use is about to die. We are involved in needless, unconstitutional, undeclared wars. Obama’s federal takeover of healthcare “Obamacare” is a total joke. It is a stab in the back to a free society. Talk about a band-aid on a bullet wound. We cannot have the government in the medical business. The federal government is responsible for continuing to allow the Federal Reserve to inflate our currency. The government is becoming increasingly powerful since the President seems to think he can make foreign policy decisions without the approval of Congress. Big government (Obama’s government) = massive, irresponsible spending that YOU AND I will pay for (with a dying dollar not to mention). Obamacare, undeclared wars, printing money with the push of a button, where will these socialistic, even dictatorship-like policies end?
Our exploding debt will only lead to where Greece is right now, if not worse.
Something isn’t right. many things are not right. The media is blacking out Ron Paul because he is not “status-quo.”
I’m telling you…I’ve done my homework. I’m not just some activist for the sake of wanting to be an activist. This is not a hobby, or a lifestyle. I think a lot of people I know are going to be surprised to read this coming from me. I was compelled to do this because for some reason the fact that nobody was getting his message of freedom, peace, strength, and sound money really irritated me. This is something I fell into, leaving me in shock at how little attention is paid to such brilliant, profound ideas. It should be obvious who the best-fit candidate is for 2012. Just listen to him. (Side note: He vows to accept a presidential salary only equal to the mean American salary which is no more than $39,336 instead of the current presidential salary – $400k.) When it comes to receiving donations from Military members, he dominates the other candidates. Ron Paul doesn’t think we should be policing the world, and neither do our troops.
I cannot encourage you enough. Youtube Ron Paul. Google Ron Paul. Hell, Google “Against Ron Paul” or “Anti-Ron Paul” Do your homework. But more importantly, think for YOURSELF!!! But by doing your own due diligence, I am confident that you will discover the same thing that I did. That Congressman Ron Paul is a good man. A man who thinks and acts selflessly, and knows what is in the best interest of the USA.
Justin Cerone
IMHO: One thing about Ron Paul supporters, they are convinced that he is pretty much the only candidate worth voting for, and that he has the answers. Rather than evaluate Dr. Paul’s political views, I would like to comment more impartially on some of the points Justin raises, the dynamics of the Ron Paul phenomenon, and the viability of his candidacy.
I have been amused as I’ve watched the “coverage” of Ron Paul, even on the right leaning Fox News, at how he has indeed been widely ignored. I understand how his supporters might be frustrated as he garnered high standing in various polls only to go without mention by media sources in favor of less popular candidates being treated as serious candidates. It was almost comical as it became predictable; the graphic would come up showing Ron Paul finishing high in a poll, I would say “Watch, they’ll ignore Paul”, and the network talking head would literally mention every one but Ron Paul! I get tired of the lesser candidates whining about how unfair coverage is to them, but I think Ron Paul probably has a case. With the media I think it’s a combination of factors that has caused this. First, I think for a variety of reasons they believe his candidacy is doomed to fail. They see him as a perennial “non-serious candidate” like a Ralph Nader, who stands no chance of winning, but is only in the run to publicize some ideas. Further, those ideas are ideas they don’t like. For most of the progressive media, Dr. Paul is perhaps the most “un-progressive” candidate in the hunt. For the right leaning pundits he has some troubling libertarian views, is antagonistic to the neo-cons, has a questionable policy toward Israel, and comes close to blaming America for the terrorist attacks against her. His consistency and stubborn adherence to his purist politics makes him a breath of fresh air to his supporters, but also makes him repugnant to almost everybody else. Hence the media sees him as someone who has a certain level of support, but will never go any higher… and they may be glad of that! He will need to prove himself even further without their help before he will become “a story” and force coverage; I’m not sure that’s something he can do.
Beyond Ron Paul’s unique policy positions there are some other factors that hurt his candidacy. It is unusual for some Americans to vote for someone outside the mold of what they consider a “presidential” candidate. By that I mean a candidate a little younger than Ron, a little taller, a deeper voice… if not moderate in views, at least possessing the good sense to appear moderate during the campaign. Barack Obama in many ways broke that mold, and surprised many in his nomination. He was a phenomenon, but his lack of experience, less than moderate views, and inability to unite, compromise, or inspire successful policy, will probably inhibit the rise of another “phenomenon” in this election cycle.
Whether consciously or not, what I think what Ron Paul is accomplishing in this primary is a): moving some of the candidates closer to his positions, or at least forcing them to discuss them. And b): paving the way for his Tea Party son Rand Paul as a possible VP candidate, or, more likely, a future presidential run.
