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<br>Paul! No, no, no, and forgive me for stating my point in such a way that you were offended. I'm really sorry. <br><br>My intention was to point out that the "true Libertarians" -- the committed free-market, individual-civil- libertarians -- are not the ones responsible for the groundswell of support for Ron Paul. There aren't enough of them, frankly, to make a difference. Most of the excitement over RP comes from people who are so (rightfully) horrified about the war that they flock to someone who unequivocally denounces it and makes it clear that any such foreign entanglements are anathema to him and dangerous to our country (ensuring, in a dream world, that it won't happen again), OR from people who, often for religious reasons, are so suspicious of government that they become wedded to property rights, states' rights, as little taxation as possible, isolationism, and a laissez-faire economic structure far beyond what reason or religion ought to allow. (And by "allow," I mean "permitted logically," not officially sanctioned by any government).<br><br>I've assumed, based on your writing, that you have some fairly strong Libertarian leanings. I disagree with those, but the stupidity I referred to (harshly; "error" would've been better) wasn't yours but that of the two types of "Ronnie-Come-Lately"s described above. Also, perhaps, to anyone who might vote for Ron Paul because they think he's a terribly entertaining female impersonator who stole the spotlight in the Brady Bunch Movie scene with Jan. RuPaul, Ron Paul -- my point was that much of the support for Ron Paul has little to do with a serious analysis of his politics.<br><br>I just shoulda said it nicer, and I will next time.<br><br>Keely<br><br><br><br>> Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:12:07 -0800<br>> From: godshatter@yahoo.com<br>> To: kjajmix1@msn.com<br>> CC: sunilramalingam@hotmail.com; vision2020@moscow.com<br>> Subject: Re: [Bulk] Re: [Vision2020] How Could Anyone Support That Woman?<br>> <br>> keely emerinemix wrote:<br>> > Oh, yeah. Ron Paul. Sorry, but it's not enough to be opposed to the <br>> > war in Iraq. I'm not a Libertarian and don't believe there's such a <br>> > thing as Christian Libertarian, and so Ron and I will have to agree to <br>> > disagree. In all seriousness, though, it bothers me how undiscerning <br>> > his supporters are. Many are true, free-market Libertarians; most, it <br>> > seems, are just contrarians, rabid anti-Iraq'ers whose blinders are <br>> > tightly screwed on, or the grossly ignorant who think that secular <br>> > Libertarianism looks enough like affluent anglo male Christian <br>> > dominion to warrant their support.<br>> ><br>> > Keely<br>> ><br>> <br>> <br>> I was drawn to Ron Paul because of his opposition to the removal of our <br>> various freedoms that has happened in the last eight years, and more. <br>> That's in addition to his opposition to the war, of course. I'm talking <br>> about Gitmo, the secret CIA "hostels" overseas, the Patriot Acts, <br>> extraordinary rendition, the argument that waterboarding is not torture, <br>> pissing on habeas corpus, illegal wiretapping, military tribunals <br>> instead of actual trials, no-fly lists, "signing statements", denying <br>> documents to the 9/11 commission, monitoring of religious and political <br>> institutions without suspecting criminal activity, and others that I <br>> can't even remember at the moment.<br>> <br>> Yes, I think many of his ideas are sheer lunacy. However, I fully <br>> believe that we as citizens of this country are in a war with our <br>> overlords. We need to put our foot down and remind these bozos in <br>> office who works for who. Ron Paul seems to agree with me, so I'm <br>> interested in him as a candidate. I still don't know if I'd vote for <br>> him, though. It would depend on who he's up against and how likely I <br>> think it is that his more whacko ideas would get traction if he was elected.<br>> <br>> I'm just making the point that I don't have my blinders tightly screwed <br>> on, I can see clearly the bad side as well as the good. Whether I'm <br>> grossly ignorant, though, I couldn't tell you. I doubt I'd know if I was.<br>> <br>> Paul<br><br /><hr />Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! <a href='http://biggestloser.msn.com/' target='_new'>Learn more.</a></body>
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