2008 Woodie Awards
Ron Paul fights corporate greed
Trey Ray
Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Opinions
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It is unfortunately accurate to say that Ron Paul is unusual, because it has been quite some time since a politician has had the moral soundness to be honest with the people. Likewise, it is a sad state of affairs to suggest that someone who fulfills their oath of office by strictly adhering to the Constitution that they were sworn to uphold, is unfavorable.
Granted, the Constitution is an imperfect document, but I think most would agree that it is the best mankind has produced as of yet, especially in terms of listing the inalienable rights bestowed unto humanity, in spite of their government.
Therefore, as Dr. Paul points out, if you choose to ignore certain parts of the Constitution without amending it, ultimately you nullify the document entirely. Ron has stated numerous times that he regrettably votes down bills he would otherwise support, simply because he does not have the constitutional authority to do so.
Speaking of limited authority, Ron Paul is the only candidate who seems to understand the role of the President of the United States. It may be surprising to some, but the executive branch is not equivalent to an unbridled dictatorship. However, the PATRIOT Act, along with some other tasty little nuggets - i.e. Military Commissions Act, Real ID Act, etc. has literally legalized just such a situation. Right now, HR 1955, a bill lovingly entitled "The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" has passed the House of Representatives, and is on its way to the Senate. This bill vaguely states that any person who "acts, or promotes action against the U.S. Government" is a terrorist.
Essentially, this is a 'thought crime' bill, aimed at squashing the healthy, patriotic dissent that we have enjoyed since 1776. Of course some will argue, "This could never happen here; that sounds like something Hitler would do".
Hitler did these things. Even he didn't have the balls to put it down on paper, and any lawyer will tell you that the government doesn't pass laws that they don't expect to enforce at some point.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 8
billy budd
posted 12/05/07 @ 11:12 PM CST
Congrats on an excellent rebuttal. It's seems smearing Ron Paul has become a trend of sorts. I have no problem with someone taking on Paul's views in a civil informed manner, BUT, so much of what's out there is either mis-information or intellectual dishonesty or both. (Continued…)
Klutometis
posted 12/06/07 @ 3:48 AM CST
"In closing, it is not my wish to belittle Potter personally, as he is merely misinformed . . ."
A literate witherlaying (sic), and an aristocratic forgiving that Nietzsche would be proud of. (Continued…)
Brother Breeze
posted 12/06/07 @ 8:30 AM CST
Brilliantly written. It would be a wonderful change for this publication if they consistently printed writing of this caliber. Well-spoken!
James Smith
posted 12/06/07 @ 9:28 AM CST
It seems the bots are becoming better writers.
When will the media establishment admit that Ron Paul has real life, patriotic supporters. I've never seen such a smear campaign before, or maybe I just never noticed. (Continued…)
Pericles
posted 12/06/07 @ 4:53 PM CST
Well written, well researched piece. Congrats to the Sidelines for putting together such an informative and fair article rebutting a lot of the disinformation and smear thats out there in the media on this topic. (Continued…)
Eric Fields
posted 12/11/07 @ 3:33 PM CST
There are some things Ron Paul gets right. He is opposed to the war, against the draft, for legalizing drugs, etc. However, there are more things he gets wrong. (Continued…)
Eric Fields
posted 12/11/07 @ 3:38 PM CST
There were supposed to be links in my comment above. I guess the html didn't work. Anyway the links were:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul148. (Continued…)
ron paul money bomb
posted 12/19/07 @ 5:29 PM CST
I do think that many are very caught up in the Ron Paul buzz and it can infact tick off those who thought he was not going to be a contender at all and are possibly just mad at this entire uproar of support. (Continued…)
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