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January 31, 2008
Has Ron Paul Destroyed the Republican Party?
By David Powers
Has John McCain become the frontrunner because of a knee-jerk reaction to Ron Paul's Classic Conservatism?
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Let’s face it; at the end of Bush’s term the Neo-Cons will have run the country for 8 years. As I look at my country I consider that to be a horrible thing. The republicans have become the party of massive deficit spending, civil liberties destruction, the corporate interest’s best friend and MOST IMPORTANTLY war-mongering and policing of the world. The Neo-Con policy of war is what I want to look at with respect to Dr. Paul’s campaign.
I guess this all started 8 months ago at the Faux News S.C. debate. Dr. Ron spoke the truth that 9/11 was a result of blowback from the US government’s foreign policy in muslim lands. Rudy Giuliani couldn’t believe what he heard. You would think that Giuliani was living in a cave. I think we can all agree though, that when any politician says that we were attacked because we are free and prosperous they are lying and they know it.
Immediately after 9/11 I was a talk-radio junkie (you can guess which ones) and they all said in unison that this was an un-provoked attack and that it is because of our freedom, or they blamed it on jihad. We both know these explanations are patently false and if a group of 2,000 set out to make war against the USA, they would be ground into powder very quickly. 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi and this was in response to American troops being on what they perceive as holy muslim ground.
Let’s talk about the talk radio issue. I believed it. I believed it for a long while. Everybody I know that believes that we were attacked for our freedom is a fan of one of these talking heads or has been turned in that direction by a talk-radio robot. If I know this then you can bet your bottom dollar that the candidate’s advisors know this. That has to be their position to get serious consideration for the nomination.
John McCain is the master at this. After all he is THE candidate on foreign policy. All the Neo-Conbots hear his rhetoric and they can’t wait to vote for him. “We will stay in Iraq for 100 years if that’s what it takes! If you have seen the size of the embassy we are building in Iraq you will not consider this to be an exaggeration.
OK, so they are voting for John McCain, so what’s the problem? I think you all know. The problem is that he goes beyond being a Neo-Con and is very plainly a liberal war-hawk. Look at his stand on immigration, taxes, government spending, civil liberties, global warming and most of all free speech (campaign finance reform). This guy is one sandwich short of Hillary Clinton.
It has been said he will destroy the republican party. I agree with that 100%. It is already starting to happen. Some of those talk-radio nuts have pushed so many people into becoming one-issue voters (“national defense”) that they have lost their core set of beliefs. These beliefs are of course; fiscal responsibility, free speech, enforced immigration, civil liberties and national sovereignty. These no longer mean anything to the republican voter.
Do I want it to destroy the party? That depends. If we can take it back to the way it was when they obeyed the Constitution and didn’t fight wars for special interests; yes. If not I hope they are obliterated and we start a new party with something old: the Constitution.
Just think; all it took was a 72 year old, conservative doctor from Texas to speak out against an interventionist foreign policy and we may be looking at the destruction of the Grand Ol’ Party.