Socialists and Neocons versus Ron Paul?

Question

Socialists and Neocons versus Ron Paul
Bryan Edds
Lew Rockwell.com
Wednesday Aug 22, 2007
From my experience, people who attack libertarians such as Ron Paul are often not serious about ideas. I have noticed the individuals who deride Dr. Paul do so mostly with shallow and dishonest attacks.
Take the various socialists and welfare-statists who attack Ron Paul. I understand they support nationalizing healthcare while generally being against the occupation of Iraq. Because they oppose the occupation, they should find a powerful ally in someone as principally opposed to it as Ron Paul. Take also the neoconservatives in the mass (minded) media such as Faux News who attack and omit Dr. Paul. I understand they support the occupation of the Middle East but also believe government should be strictly limited in accordance with traditional conservative ideas (right? right???). In Ron Paul, they have a great opportunity to highlight these at least rhetorical parallels while simultaneously expressing reasonable disagreements. Because of these considerations, I believe it reasonable to expect a certain amount of give and take among the three camps, if only for practical reasons.
What I have experienced instead has been a surreal and dishonest two-front attack against Ron Paul. No argument seems to be too trivial or irrelevant for the anti-Paulians to make. They seem to be bringing up every possible issue (real or imagined) against Ron Paul in the hopes something – anything – will stick.


Consider:
While the President gets dictatorial power to spy on and indefinitely kidnap innocent Americans, socialists and neocons speculate wildly about Ron Paul supporters "spamming" internet polls.
While thousands of men, women, and children violently die in Iraq and Afghanistan, socialists and neocons misrepresent Ron Paul's refusal to fund stem cell research.
While the Bush administration plots to drop nuclear weapons on Iran, socialists and neocons spin every single Ron Paul victory to be meaningless or nonexistent.
While people suffer without healthcare because government intervention makes it unaffordable to the poor, socialists and neocons distort a decade-old mishap Ron Paul had with one of his previous ghostwriters.
Where they manage to attack Dr. Paul’s ideas directly, they do so with increasingly ineffective arguments. Consider further:
While the Constitution is trashed and mocked by all three branches, socialists and neocons talk about how Ron Paul's message of rule of law is anachronistic.
While government at all levels rob the people blind, socialists and neocons sneer at Ron Paul’s suggestion to get rid of the Federal income tax.
While the American economy further implodes due to the boom and bust cycle created by the Federal Reserve, socialists and neocons talk about how Ron Paul's anti-Fed proposals are "irrelevant."
While the prices of essential goods dramatically increase via inflation, socialists and neocons talk about how Ron Paul's hard-money ideas are unrealistic.
While Ron Paul educates Americans on economics, socialists and neocons spread discredited Keynesian and Marxist myths which undermine liberty and prosperity.
While Ron Paul plans to help reintegrate America with the world through peaceful trade and foreign policy, socialists and neocons smear him as "isolationist."
While Ron Paul gains more supporters every day, socialists and neocons criticize his lack of name recognition in land-line phone polling – yet at the same time groan about how fanatical and pervasive his supporters are...
Something isn't right. There is honest disagreement, and then there is demagoguery. There is mutual respect, and then there is mud-slinging. I cannot name one person who Dr. Paul has disparaged as badly as most of his critics see fit to disparage him. This says a lot about all said parties involved.
What is it then about Ron Paul that inspires such fevered attacks? I will say what I believe. I believe the battle for freedom takes place not only in the upcoming election, but also in the arena of ideas. In this arena, I believe Ron Paul’s message is more powerful than any political shenanigans that can be put against him. I believe also the embittered detractors have good reason to be up in arms. With every Ron Paul victory, they have found their intellectual weaponry to be unexpectedly brittle and ineffective against the message of freedom.

Answer 1

Socialist Republicans are voting for George Allen and neo cons are voting for Ann Coulter.

Answer 2

I think you answered your own question. Listen to yourself. Your ideas are lunatic: not all of them, but enough to make you seem bizarre.

People do not like Libertarianism. And it is that simple fact that makes me so against Ron Paul. And passages like yours, which are so full of distortions, wild accusations, and weird ideas like Libertarianism.

Libertarianism cannot be really be defended. There is no argument to make. Debating tactics do not make a political philosophy.

For example, in the first part of your message you claim that I (as an attacker of R.P.) am not serious with ideas, and use shallow and dishonest attacks. You then address 'socialists and welfare-statists'.

Your entire message begins in these kind of irrelvent insults and does not let up with one distortion after another.

I like ideas to subsidize people's health care, and believe it or not, when the government was not involved in health care, a lot of people didn't get it back then. A fair income tax would be great if it was more progressive. The American economy has the largest GDP ever and a low unemployment rate. Inflation is low, which means the FEd is probably doing its job. That also means Ron Paul's hard money ideas are unrealistic. That's right, Ron Paul is the only anti-Keynesian and anti-Marxist. I will agree here: there is demagoguery all right!

Answer 3

I don't consider myself either a neocon or a liberal, but I would not vote for Ron Paul.

If he believes that he knows foreign policy, why did Paul's radio ads in Iowa claim that he wants to issue letters of marque and reprisal to hunt terrorists? Article I of the Constitution grants that power to Congress, not the president, and such letters were outlawed by international treaty in 1851.

Answer 4

Well put Carlos, I agree with you 100%! I think the reason neo-cons and socialists hate Ron Paul is because they want more power and more control over peoples lives. Ron Paul continuously fighting for the constitution and freedom angers them greatly.

Answer 5

Whoever wrote this weblog or thread or what ever you desire to call it......is an Alex Jones cult member. they're people who use the term Neocons. they are announcing human beings hate Ron Paul by way of fact he in no way receives any help ever time he runs for President. could desire to it is......could desire to it probably be....that they do merely no longer agree together with his perspectives. i do no longer hate him. I help most of the failings he helps. At 78yo.....by skill of the time he get elected he'd be seventy 9 or 80 and that i do no longer think of he could desire to save as much as the rigorous schedule a President has to maintain. Odds are he'd die in workplace. merely sayin....odds are against him making it by using yet another 8 years. yet all that reported. Ron Paul has 0% possibility of even triumphing the nomination. 0%! Sorry.....its merely genuine. yet i comprehend he's the determination of all Alex Jones Cult followers.

Answer 6

neo-conservatives and neo-liberals positions tend to be amorphous and ubiquitous. They prefer to talk in generalities that make people hear want the want to hear, yet leave a lot of room for them to rule the people however they want once they get elected. I have tried to work backwards from their platforms to come up with a list of principles like we have in libertarianism, and it is somewhat possible, but you will find libertarians to work much harder at st ticking to the principles; whereas the other two have all kinds of special exceptions and hypocrisies.

Libertarians want to keep government simple. In order to do that we all have our short list of principles, and they are much more congruent.

I believe as people look for a way out of the huge rats nest we have built for ourselves, the libertarian principles will shine a light to lead the way.

Answer 7

I support the Ron Paul Revolution!

Answer 8

Ron Paul is NOT a libertarian.

Many conservative Libertarians support him because he is the least offensive of the conservative candidates.

Ron Paul is a fiscal conservative who allows his supporters to spam the internet.

Answer 9

I wrote a long thing about Mr. Paul last week and won't repeat myself. I admire his strict constitutionallity but his stand on the war on terror is off in left field somewhere.

Answer 10

No one outside of YA really cares about Ron Paul. He changed his political party in an attempt to appear more reasonable, but he's still a fringe neo-socialist radical in sheep's clothing.