{"id":296,"date":"2007-05-16T07:38:06","date_gmt":"2007-05-16T12:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/16\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\/"},"modified":"2007-05-16T07:49:09","modified_gmt":"2007-05-16T12:49:09","slug":"ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/16\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Ron Paul’s Radical Mix: Truth & Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hats off to Ron Paul<\/a><\/strong> for another great performance in the Republican presidential debate in South Carolina last night.<\/p>\n

For almost six years, politicians have acted as if it is federal crime to speak bluntly about 9\/11.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the day of the attacks, George Bush proclaimed that the hijackers attacked because they hate America for its freedom.\u00a0 This has been treated as a revealed truth ever since.\u00a0 (When I saw Bush on TV that day, I was perplexed how the US government could know the motive before it knew the identity of the hijackers).<\/p>\n

Ron Paul has never kowtowed to this dogma, and last night he deftly debunked the 9\/11 catechism.\u00a0 From the transcript<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

MR. GOLER: Congressman Paul, I believe you are the only man on the stage who opposes the war in Iraq, who would bring the troops home as quickly as — almost immediately, sir. Are you out of step with your party? Is your party out of step with the rest of the world? If either of those is the case, why are you seeking its nomination?<\/p>\n

REP. PAUL: Well, I think the party has lost its way, because the conservative wing of the Republican Party always advocated a noninterventionist foreign policy. Senator Robert Taft didn’t even want to be in NATO. George Bush won the election in the year 2000 campaigning on a humble foreign policy — no nation-building, no policing of the world. Republicans were elected to end the Korean War. The Republicans were elected to end the Vietnam War. There’s a strong tradition of being anti-war in the Republican party. It is the constitutional position. It is the advice of the Founders to follow a non-interventionist foreign policy, stay out of entangling alliances, be friends with countries, negotiate and talk with them and trade with them.
\nJust think of the tremendous improvement — relationships with Vietnam. We lost 60,000 men. We came home in defeat. Now we go over there and invest in Vietnam.
\nSo there’s a lot of merit to the advice of the Founders and following the Constitution.
\nAnd my argument is that we shouldn’t go to war so carelessly. (Bell rings.) When we do, the wars don’t end.<\/p>\n

MR. GOLER: Congressman, you don’t think that changed with the 9\/11 attacks, sir?<\/p>\n

REP. PAUL: What changed?<\/p>\n

MR. GOLER: The non-interventionist policies.<\/p>\n

REP. PAUL: No. Non-intervention was a major contributing factor. Have you ever read the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we’ve been over there; we’ve been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We’ve been in the Middle East — I think Reagan was right.
\nWe don’t understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. So right now we’re building an embassy in Iraq that’s bigger than the Vatican. We’re building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting. We need to look at what we do from the perspective of what would happen if somebody else did it to us.
\n(Applause.)<\/p>\n

MR. GOLER: Are you suggesting we invited the 9\/11 attack, sir?<\/p>\n

REP. PAUL: I’m suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it, and they are delighted that we’re over there because Osama bin Laden has said, “I am glad you’re over on our sand because we can target you so much easier.” They have already now since that time — (bell rings) — have killed 3,400 of our men, and I don’t think it was necessary.<\/p>\n

MR. GIULIANI: Wendell, may I comment on that? That’s really an extraordinary statement. That’s an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the
\nattack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq. I don’t think I’ve heard that before, and I’ve heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11th. (Applause, cheers.) And I would ask the congressman to withdraw that comment and tell us that he didn’t really mean that. (Applause.)<\/p>\n

MR. GOLER: Congressman?<\/p>\n

REP. PAUL: I believe very sincerely that the CIA is correct when they teach and talk about blowback. When we went into Iran in 1953 and installed the shah, yes, there was blowback. A reaction to that was the taking of our hostages and that persists. And if we ignore that, we ignore that at our own risk. If we think that we can do what we want around the world and not incite hatred, then we have a problem.
\nThey don’t come here to attack us because we’re rich and we’re free. They come and they attack us because we’re over there. I mean, what would we think if we were — if other foreign countries were doing that to us?<\/p>\n

****<\/p>\n

Giuliani’s snort is the best answer the Republican establishment can offer for the hard facts that Paul presents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But\u00a0such snorts will not be enough to perpetuate Republican control over the American people. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Ron Paul is the type of candidate that the Founding Fathers envisioned – someone who cherishes the Constitution and understands why it leashed politicians in perpetuity.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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For almost six years, politicians have acted as if it is federal crime to speak bluntly about 9\/11.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the day of the attacks, George Bush proclaimed that the hijackers attacked because they hate America for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[659,22,6,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"tag-attention-deficit-democracy","8":"tag-bovard","9":"tag-bush"},"yoast_head":"\nRon Paul's Radical Mix: Truth & Politics - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/16\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ron Paul's Radical Mix: Truth & Politics - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hats off to Ron Paul for another great performance in the Republican presidential debate in South Carolina last night. For almost six years, politicians have acted as if it is federal crime to speak bluntly about 9\/11.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the day of the attacks, George Bush proclaimed that the hijackers attacked because they hate America for […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/16\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-05-16T12:38:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2007-05-16T12:49:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Ron Paul’s Radical Mix: Truth & Politics\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-05-16T12:38:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-05-16T12:49:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":876,\"commentCount\":82,\"keywords\":[\"Attention Deficit Democracy\",\"Attention Deficit Democracy\",\"Bovard\",\"Bush\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ron Paul's Radical Mix: Truth & Politics - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-05-16T12:38:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-05-16T12:49:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2007\\\/05\\\/16\\\/ron-pauls-radical-mix-truth-politics\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ron Paul’s Radical Mix: Truth & Politics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. 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