Paul’s Position on Terrorism IN HIS OWN WORDS (and a few of mine)
There has been so much said about a Ron Paul presidency playing into the hands of terrorists–and I suspect this is where Bill O’Reilly will go, in tonight’s interview. Therefore, I thought it might be prudent, and refreshing, to post video (below) of Ron Paul expressing his ACTUAL position on the war, and on terrorism (these topics are not indistinguishable). This will enable you to hear Ron IN HIS OWN WORDS, without the slanderous invective, to distract you from really hearing a valid argument.
Ron Paul is arguing that there are underlying CAUSES of terrorism! This is a taboo line of reasoning for Neoconservatives–even if they THINK it has merit–because none want to lose their conservative standing! They fear public reprisals in these feverish post-911 years, when PATRIOTISM has become equated, again and again, with blind support for a mixed bag of policies dubbed the “War on Terror”! It is HARD to escape the fearmongering! It permeates sections of our nation like an infectious madness, and those infected with it don’t REALIZE how unreasonable they have become!
I used to occasionally harbor secret thoughts similar to Paul’s argument, even when I was a card-carrying Neocon. However, I DARED NOT give voice to my secret feelings! I dared not even much admit them to myself! I remember becoming uncomfortable one time, with my then political hero, Sean Hannity–whose book, Deliver Us From Evil, I sent copies of, to nearly all of my relatives, and many friends–when I divined the real crux of Sean’s argument about terrorism, and the underpinnings of his militaristic zeal! In Sean’s mind, I discovered, terrorism is just plain ”EVIL”–insinuating that ”EVIL” can never be analyzed in any way–and he asserts, in essence, that Americans CANNOT look into REASONS WHY the terrorists might be led to do what they do, without becoming UNPATRIOTIC! To understand them, is to SIDE with them! Evil, to Sean, is apparently a mindless monstrosity without ANY CONCEIVABLE context! They hate us simply because we’re perfect, and they’re bad, because they’re just bad! Sean insinuates, that to point to any CAUSE of terrorism–besides, “THEY JUST HATE FREEDOM”–would be to EXCUSE terrorism! In my opinion, Sean’s argument seriously lacks in critical thinking!
To my shame, I failed to call the Neocons on their fallacious reasoning, back then, and I even went along with it! I went blindly along–in hind sight–because I was so focused on protecting “right to life” issues, that I dared not jeopardize a Bush reelection, by criticizing my political compeers!
It was only AFTER the reelection, that I eventually began to wake up from my political trance, and I noticed that in many very disturbing ways, the NEOCONS actually seemed to be “haters of freedom,” themselves! Their biggest argument for why they want to keep obtaining MORE AND MORE POWERS to eliminate our absolutely protected freedoms–spelled out in the BILL OF RIGHTS–is always something to the effect of:
Oh! The MADNESS!
And in case you haven’t yet heard Paul describe an overview of his vision for America–including his stance on the war–here is a super speech to introduce you to the Freedom Revolution!
POST WRITTEN (with the exception of quotations) BY DENNIS BERLIN–WWW.RONPAULBEARER.COM
Ron Paul is arguing that there are underlying CAUSES of terrorism! This is a taboo line of reasoning for Neoconservatives–even if they THINK it has merit–because none want to lose their conservative standing! They fear public reprisals in these feverish post-911 years, when PATRIOTISM has become equated, again and again, with blind support for a mixed bag of policies dubbed the “War on Terror”! It is HARD to escape the fearmongering! It permeates sections of our nation like an infectious madness, and those infected with it don’t REALIZE how unreasonable they have become!
I used to occasionally harbor secret thoughts similar to Paul’s argument, even when I was a card-carrying Neocon. However, I DARED NOT give voice to my secret feelings! I dared not even much admit them to myself! I remember becoming uncomfortable one time, with my then political hero, Sean Hannity–whose book, Deliver Us From Evil, I sent copies of, to nearly all of my relatives, and many friends–when I divined the real crux of Sean’s argument about terrorism, and the underpinnings of his militaristic zeal! In Sean’s mind, I discovered, terrorism is just plain ”EVIL”–insinuating that ”EVIL” can never be analyzed in any way–and he asserts, in essence, that Americans CANNOT look into REASONS WHY the terrorists might be led to do what they do, without becoming UNPATRIOTIC! To understand them, is to SIDE with them! Evil, to Sean, is apparently a mindless monstrosity without ANY CONCEIVABLE context! They hate us simply because we’re perfect, and they’re bad, because they’re just bad! Sean insinuates, that to point to any CAUSE of terrorism–besides, “THEY JUST HATE FREEDOM”–would be to EXCUSE terrorism! In my opinion, Sean’s argument seriously lacks in critical thinking!
To my shame, I failed to call the Neocons on their fallacious reasoning, back then, and I even went along with it! I went blindly along–in hind sight–because I was so focused on protecting “right to life” issues, that I dared not jeopardize a Bush reelection, by criticizing my political compeers!
It was only AFTER the reelection, that I eventually began to wake up from my political trance, and I noticed that in many very disturbing ways, the NEOCONS actually seemed to be “haters of freedom,” themselves! Their biggest argument for why they want to keep obtaining MORE AND MORE POWERS to eliminate our absolutely protected freedoms–spelled out in the BILL OF RIGHTS–is always something to the effect of:
“We NEED these tools to fight terrorism!” (”tools” that they ACTUALLY put to MANY OTHER USES BESIDES “terrorism!”)And so, in the name of fighting the “HATERS OF FREEDOM,” the Neocons are DISPOSING OF OUR FREEDOMS! They are, in reality, reverting to the human default of tyranny, without, I suppose, even REALIZING THE IMPLICATION OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING!
Oh! The MADNESS!
And in case you haven’t yet heard Paul describe an overview of his vision for America–including his stance on the war–here is a super speech to introduce you to the Freedom Revolution!
POST WRITTEN (with the exception of quotations) BY DENNIS BERLIN–WWW.RONPAULBEARER.COM
