Ron Paul

Via Matthew

MANAGAN's
VERBATIM POST
================

A commenter suggested that I don't write about Ron Paul because either I dislike him for some reason or I'm not terribly well-informed. While I don't dislike him, I'll confess to being beyond the stage, rightly or wrongly, where I think a certain politician can save us. Most of Paul's supporters, as far as I can tell, support him with a messianic fervor, which to someone like me is a distinct turn-off, plus he appears to have a few goofy supporters, such as some Truthers.

That being said, in my view Paul is the one candidate who would shake things up in the needed direction. He is against American imperialism, against American insolvency, and says some pretty strong things against the invasion of America.

A nation without borders is no nation at all. After decades of misguided policies America has now become a free-for-all. Our leaders betrayed the middle class which is forced to compete with welfare-receiving illegal immigrants who will work for almost anything, just because the standards in their home countries are even lower.

If these policies are not reversed, the future is grim. A poor, dependent and divided population is much easier to rule than a nation of self-confident individuals who can make a living on their own and who share the traditions and values that this country was founded upon.

Paul is against amnesty and birthright citizenship and, while he appears to say little about legal immigration, his position on illegal immigration is stronger and more forthright than any other candidate of either major party.

The usual suspects, namely the elites and our so-called free press, hate him; others on the right also hate him because he believes that America's foreign policy shouldn't be so focused on Israel and the Middle East. Those are indications that Paul is doing something right, in my estimation.

Paul has made a name for himself in his calls for sound money and his desire to abolish the Federal Reserve - which some see as "coded anti-Semitism". (That's probably why constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein just joined his campaign.) While sound money is indeed very important, to my mind the national question is the big issue. Paul comes close but isn't quite there. Nonetheless he looks promising on that issue.