Ron Paul - Who Is Ron Paul And What Is He Smoking?

Posted on May 17, 2007
Filed Under Presidential Debates, Republicans, Ron Paul, Scandals, politics |

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ron paulRon Paul this. Ron Paul that. Ron Paul can part the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Ron Paul can jump tall buildings with a single bound. Ron Paul can walk on water.

If you listen to Ron Paul supporters, he can do all this and more.

Just who is Ron Paul and why should anyone vote for him as President of the United States?

Ron Paul is a Republican Congressman from Texas who is running for President of the United States.

I’ve never paid much attention to Ron Paul since he doesn’t represent me. Over the years I’d hear snippets of some googey stuff he’s said or silly crap he’d done. But I never gave it much thought. That is until he started to run for President.

At first I thought it was a joke. When I realized this guy was serious, I started to do my research into what it is he stands for and his beliefs. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Ron Paul supporters will tell you he leans toward being a Libertarian, although he is registered as a Republican. (this was my first red flag) However, when I review his voting record, I see he is all over the place. The meter swings far left to the Liberal side and back across the scale to the Conservative side, with a few stops in the middle. From what I can tell though, it stays a little left of conservative.

His supporters will tell you that he is a strict Constitutionist. I will admit he tries to hold that line, however, again his actions don’t support that view 100%.

Ron Paul voted against the War in Irag. To be honest, when I read that, he pretty much lost me. This showed me that he has Liberal tendancies that he cannot control.

During the May 15th Republican debates, that Liberal tendancy really came out when he stated on National TV that the U.S. was the cause of 9-11 attacks because of our presence in the Middle East. Thank God Rudy was there to slap him back in place!

However, even after Rudy brought the house down with his comeback to Ron Paul’s “we’re responsible for 9-11″ statement, he was given other chances to explain his statement and he just ketp saying the same thing! DUH

This guy looked like a deer in the headlights. I couldn’t help but think to myself “and there are many people who want this guy as the next President of the United States”.

I was absolutely embarrassed to be from the same State as Ron Paul!

But let me back track to Ron Pauls Congressional record.

Ron Pauls Voting Record

I guess Ron Paul thinks we do not need Intelligence to keep track of our enemies.

I guess he thinks the Farmers are on their own.

I’m smelling a Liberal trying to be a Conservative here

I’m sure he has a good excuse on that one…after all…he’s suppose to be “Pro Education”

 I have no idea what Ron Paul has against the Head Start program, you’ll have to ask him.

Maybe Ron enjoys a hot juicy horse steak once in a while?

I guess Ron is against clean water and flood control?

So much for decreasing our dependence on foreign oil.

Another NO for alternative energy research hunh Paul?

Okay, this is getting ugly now. These votes all happened in the first part of 2007. As you can see, he leans more Liberal than Conservative.

The more we learn about Ron Paul, the more it’s clear that he runs as a Republican, says he’s more like a Libertarian and acts more like a Liberal.

Ron Pauls Twilight Zone

You can’t dismiss his actions in the latest Presidential Debates either. In the first debate, he was asked what decisions he’s made that affected a large group of peoople. He mumbled and fumbled for a few minutes and couldn’t think of anything to say. He then said he “guessed” his decisions he made as a Doctor affected many people.

I immediately thought “What an idiot, he’s a Congressman, all his decisions affect a large group of people“. However, if you look at his voting record, you quickly see he’s on the losing end of many Bills, so I guess his time as a Congressman really doesn’t affect a lot of people afterall.

When I first started looking into Ron Paul, I liked some of his ideas and even agreed with him on a few. But it doesn’t take long to realize that Ron Paul’s ideas and beliefs are not realistic.

Don’t Adjust Your TV, It’s Just Ron Paul

Let’s just slip into the Twilight Zone for a second and see the United States on the day after the newly elected President, Ron Paul, takes Office. As Rod Sterlings says “Ron Paul has many ideas and beliefs he wants to implement as the new President of the United States. But there’s a detour up ahead and that detour will take Ron Paul into the….Twilight Zone”

What do you think would happen if Ron tried to end all the Departments in the Government that he wanted to? How about getting all the Bills passed he wanted to? Not going to happen folks. Both parties would be against him and he’d have the largest Lame Duck Presidency this country has ever seen. He’s spend his days in the Oval Office running in circles chasing his tail.

Now we return you to the regularly scheduled program.

And at the end of the day, Ron Paul just does not act nor look Presidential. I have nothing against him as a human being, I bet he’s a nice guy. But there are a lot of nice guys in this World who have no business being the President of the United States. I include Ron Paul in that group.

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Comments

33 Responses to “Ron Paul - Who Is Ron Paul And What Is He Smoking?”

  1. carlivar on May 17th, 2007 3:58 am

    The source of your confusion is “principles”. Ron Paul votes by them. He only votes for things he feels is authorized in the Constitution. Pretend Ron Paul is Thomas Jefferson. That might make sense to you because they’d vote the same way.

    I know everyone wants to place someone in the Democrat or Republican box, but sometimes it is not that simple.

    I don’t know when pro-war became equal to Republican but I guess if you feel you must blindly follow the President because he’s the same party as you, that would do it.

    Basically Ron Paul wants the FEDERAL government to stop sticking their noses anywhere and everywhere they can. If you want the Feds to do something, add an amendment to the Constitution.

  2. Ben Kuipers on May 17th, 2007 4:35 am

    Congressman Paul is mistakenly labeled a liberal in your piece. It is unfortunate that you fail to grasp that all the bills you mentioned are violative of the Constitution. Being in law school and having studied the Constitution for years, including in undergrad with Clarence Thomas and a highly conservative Michigan Supreme Court justice, I emphatically state that the bills Paul voted against were unconstitutional. Whether or not government action on an issue would produce good results is not the question, the question is, whether the bill is authorized by the Constitution of the United States. True Texans support governments limited to protection of life, liberty and property. The founders wrote thus, and Paul believes thus… which perhaps explains why you as a fallacious would be conservative RINO would oppose him.

    Cheers.

  3. guest @guest#the.net on May 17th, 2007 11:20 am

    you lost me when you were For the iraq war..
    anyone who was realy paying attention knew it was a bad idea

  4. Jason on May 17th, 2007 12:13 pm

    This article is lame. Ron Paul is the only real candidate out there.
    The rest are just paid-off new world order puppets!
    Go RON PAUL!

  5. Dave Prunczik on May 17th, 2007 2:18 pm

    Rudy Giuliani. Third wife. Affairs on top of that. No wonder he supports a woman’s right to choose.

    Get the guns off the citizens. Gay marriage.

    Mayor of New York while the towers were attacked twice in 7 years, and he hasn’t read the 9/11 Commission’s report.

    Firemen/police/victim’s survivors…all being kicked to the curb while he rides on the backs of their efforts to the White House.

    Sounds like the Republican guy all the way, eh?

    Get real.

  6. Tim on May 17th, 2007 2:19 pm

    HAH! The fact that you even think of calling Ron Paul a “liberal” demonstrates your utter lack of understanding of “conservative” principals!

    Take a look at “The Conservative Index” Ron Paul is the 1 of 2 congressman with a 100% conservative rating!
    http://www.jbs.org/files/ci-109-4.pdf

    “The average House score for this index (votes 31-40) is 48 percent; the average Senate score is 53. Two congressmen earned perfect scores of 100: Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas).”

    Now who has been smoking what?

  7. Kristian on May 17th, 2007 3:40 pm

    Let’s ignore the awful spelling in this article and instead reject it as a terrible piece of ad hominem argumentation lacking a clear understanding of what “Constitutionalism” means.
    Our framers were very specific about the role of the central government and what sorts of foreign involvements it should take part in. Undeclared, pre-emptive wars are completely illegal under our Constitution. period.

  8. Bill on May 17th, 2007 3:58 pm

    What part of the Constitution gives the federal government the authority to do any of those boondoggles you listed? Would Thomas Jefferson have been regulating horse meat? Or would he read the Constitution that he helped to write and say…oh, there it is…the 10th Amendment, this should be left to the states.

    It’s strange to see someone who calls himself a conservative and a Texan calling for more federal government.

  9. NickT on May 17th, 2007 4:29 pm

    You totally lost it in your article. The reason why Ron Paul voted against the war is because he tries to do everything according to the constitution. You state that his voting record is not 100% constitutional. So is it 99.5%, 99% perhaps even as low as 90%?? I would still take that anyday over the 2%, 5% or 10% records of seemingly ALL other politicians which frankly don’t even come close because they find the constitution, well… “inconvenient” to their agendas.

    To all neo-cons like yourself, anyone that doesn’t fit your agenda is “leftist” or “liberal”. Ron Paul is a traditional conservative and therefore swings slightly right of center.

    The reason why Ron Paul has so many supporters is because they’re literally fed up of government cronies telling them what to do from cradle to the grave. What they can eat. What they can smoke. What they can wear. They don’t want ID cards (papers please?), CCTV cameras watching them or government databases, etc.

    Perhaps, just perhaps, when you stop watching Fox News so much, you will come to realize that there is a whole real world out there with real people that have different opinions and viewpoints. You may come to realize that you’ve been spoon-fed lies by the establishment in the form of neo-con propaganda that’s been telling you that you’d better let the state take total control of your life and that the only way you’re going to remain “free” is, ironically, to hand over all your liberties on a plate one by one.

  10. Cam on May 17th, 2007 4:37 pm

    Your article is interesting, chiefly because it points out how hopelessly out of date the “left vs. right” spectrum is. In serious discussion, it fell out of use around the middle of the 20th Century. And this is why.

    You attack traditional libertarian values as being “lefty”, when in fact they could be called just as “right” than the neoconservative values you seem to support. Non-intervention is a very right wing policy; it is the left wing that believes power confers a moral requirement to use it for someone’s “good”. Confusingly, it is also a “right wing” policy to actively use our military for pre-emptive response. These are contradictory policies, but they are both legitimately “right wing” on the spectrum.

    The idea that government should not be involved in anything more than police, justice and military is very right wing. It is a “liberal” idea that the government should take care of you and the economy from cradle to grave. For Dr. Paul to have voted against government assistance in the agricultural market is, in this sense, a consistent right wing vote. As you point out though, the other right wing thing to do is to support the farmers.

    This is exactly why the left/right spectrum is no longer useful. Both your and Dr. Paul’s positions are legitimately “right wing” - and yet they are contradictory.

    In modern political science, we talk instead of the ideology which you adhere to. For instance, Dr. Paul is a fantastic paleolibertarian. You might read Lew Rockwell for an idea of where he comes from. (or just look it up in wikipedia) It seems like your view is mainstream neoconservative. You might want to read Michael Ledeen’s “Machiavelli on Modern Leadership : Why Machiavelli’s Iron Rules Are As Timely and Important Today As Five Centuries Ago” - it is the standard-bearer for Cheney’s brand of neoconservatism, if that is what you support.

    Either way, please educate yourself a bit more before calling someone out as “left of center” or a bad Republican. Remember that ANTI-war is the traditional Republican stance - we were elected to end most every major conflict since WWII. The truth is, Ron Paul is a bad neoconservative Republican, but quite a good libertarian one. Both can be called “right wing.”

    Also, with some more education about the neoconservative philosophy, you might be able to take a more bird’s eye view of what is going on. The tactics praised in Ledeen’s book are openly and directly applied by this government and 9 of the 10 Republican nominees. You might recognize that lying to the public, manipulation of the media, and pandering to gut-reaction rather than intellectual discussion are all necessary tactics, lauded by the neoconservative. Not nice, but necessary and important. This might make Giuliani’s reaction to Ron Paul’s debate comment (which is backed by the 911 commission, the former CIA director, and the FBI special force on the subject, not to mention Osama himself) make more sense. Giuliani acted as if he had never read the 911 Commission report, and played for the emotional reaction of the audience. An educated neoconservative can watch and appreciate the manipulation as a good tactic for leadership. An uneducated neoconservative on the other hand… well, I think they call them “rubes”.

  11. Matt on May 17th, 2007 8:31 pm

    Ron Paul is a liberal for NOT wanting to spend money that was STOLEN from the American public? He’s liberal for not wanting to increase nanny-state regulations? He’s liberal for not wanting to spend public funds for R&D and investments that could be funded by (and profit) the private sector? Huh? It sounds like the late, great conservative hero Ronald Reagan was quite the liberal as well.

    Somehow, small government Ron Paul is a liberal because he voted against authorizing aggression in Iraq. The fact that the aggression is unconstitutional since Congress did not declare war doesn’t matter. I thought it was liberals who were supposed to be for throwing away the constitution, not the conservatives. Convictions be damned, 9/11 rewired our brains!

    In actuality, the fact that Ron Paul voted against the aggression is an INDICATION of his conservative credentials. He actually wanted Congress to vote on a declaration of war! Ron Paul said either declare war or don’t, but don’t half-ass it. Well, our politicians aren’t even quarter-assing it, and it’s the American people and servicemen who are going to suffer because of it.

    And yet somehow Rudy “nanny-state, give-me-your-guns, have-a-publicly-funded-abortion, policing-the-world-is-a-ok, fascist” Giuliani is a conservative simply because he supports the war?

    The question isn’t what Ron Paul is smoking, it’s what you’ve been smoking. The socialists turned fascist-neoconservatives (see the history of neoconservatism) served you the kool-aid, and you drank far too much of it.

    P.S. If you don’t think our aggression in the middle east over the past 50 years hasn’t fueled their hatred for us, I encourage you to take a swat at a bees nest. I guarantee they won’t sting you because they hate your freedom, but they will sting you because you pissed them off.

  12. Kevin on May 17th, 2007 10:36 pm

    For someone who claims to not be a “sheeple”, blasting Paul for not voting consistently Conservative or Liberal seems like a pretty “sheeple” thing to do. Ron Paul votes the way he does because he is NOT a “sheeple”, he does NOT blindly follow his party lines.

  13. Angelo on May 19th, 2007 12:11 am

    Dude,
    Read and learn the Constitution. Yes it sounds pretty scarry about the things Ron Paul has voted against… but that’s only becaused you’ve (we’ved) been raised in a nation that progrssively is headed for socialism/fascism/tyranny. Once he becomes President, and he will, things will begin to fall into place. We won’t need so many pork projects to keep our representatives busy in D.C. Without the Federal Reserve and the IRS you will actually become well off. When Ron Paul becomes President the crooks in Washington will have to find another country to hump. Because America won’t be bending over anymore.

  14. DirtGuy on May 19th, 2007 2:06 am

    Carliver - Ron Paul has questionable principles at best. Proof: He’s a registered Republican yet in his own words he’s more of a Libertarian. Then why doesn’t he register as a Libertarian?

    Dave - I could care less who Rudy shagged or that he’s pro-choice. (Ronald Reagan was married twice btw) I’d prefer my candidate to be a pro-lifer, but honestly that is not my main conern. My main concern is illegal immigration and terror. Any candidate can shag as many people as they want as long as they stop the flood of illegals and kill the terrorist before they can harm my country.

    Tim - Nice try but no Cee-Garr. I understand the conservative principles very well, it’s your man Ron Paul who has trouble being consitent. The article you linked to only has a few bills mentioned, kinda one sided if you look a little closer.

    Kristian - Thank you for being the Spelling Police…guilty as charged. As for the undeclared pre-emptive war thing….yeah…right.

    Bill - Where O Where did I call for more Fed. Gov. in the article? And as for comparing Ron Paul to Thomas Jefferson…PUHLEEZE…As Lloyd Benson would say, “You, Ron Paul, are no Thomas Jefferson!”

    Nick - Hey, who was it that said “I voted for the War before I voted against it” It was…Ron Paul? No wait…it was someone else…even though Ron Paul could have said it, because that’s exactly what he’s done!

    Cam - Nice reply, thanks. I do understand the spin that the Paul camp is trying to put on, ie; painting Paul as a “traditional conservative”. It’s just that his actions and votes prove that.

    Matt - How do you figure the money was stolen? Did they hold a gun on you?

    And just for facts, the bees will sting you because they are defending their nest. They don’t wake up feeling bad and decide to go out and sting someone unlike the terrorist who have to keep up the killing. Bee’s and terrorist, bad example.

    Kevin - Your right, Ron Paul doesn’t follow Republican guidelines even though he’s a registered Republican. If he’s truly a Libertarian as he and his supporters state, why then doesn’t he change parties?

    Angelo - The only place Ron Paul will become President is in his own mind…and possibly yours. As for that other stuff…yeah Hoss, keep the dream alive bro!

    Thanks to all who have commented and who will comment. I like a lively debate!

    Watch for some more investigative articles on other Presidential Candidates as well as more on Ron Paul.

    BTW, I haven’t decided who I’ll be voting for next year, I’m still in the culling stage and two have already been culled off my liste. Ron Paul and John McCain.

  15. Ben Kuipers on May 20th, 2007 4:51 am

    Congressman Paul is mistakenly labeled a liberal in your piece. It is unfortunate that you fail to grasp that all the bills you mentioned are violative of the Constitution. Being in law school and having studied the Constitution for years, including in undergrad with Clarence Thomas and a highly conservative Michigan Supreme Court justice, I emphatically state that the bills Paul voted against were unconstitutional. Whether or not government action on an issue would produce good results is not the question, the question is, whether the bill is authorized by the Constitution of the United States. True Texans support governments limited to protection of life, liberty and property. The founders wrote thus, and Paul believes thus… which perhaps explains why you as a fallacious would be conservative RINO would oppose him.

    Cheers.

  16. Ben Kuipers on May 20th, 2007 4:52 am

    Pardon me, it appears I accidentally reposted the same comment I left above.

  17. Ben Kuipers on May 20th, 2007 5:00 am

    Dirt: “And as for comparing Ron Paul to Thomas Jefferson…PUHLEEZE…As Lloyd Benson would say, “You, Ron Paul, are no Thomas Jefferson” That’s interesting, what would the founders say about your entitlement systems and deficit spending? They certainly would not be in favor of foreign adventures. Jefferson and Madison were strict constructionists, I suggest you Wikipedia that.

    Congressman Paul never voted for a war and then voted against it. Show me his votes.

    Actually, it’s odd you paint Paul as a liberal, he actually was one out of a mere handful of Republican Congressmen who supported governor Reagan in his bid for the Republican nomination in 1976. hmmm, I guess a liberal would do that, yes.

    Even if Paul is more libertarian than you can tolerate, why would you purge libertarians from the party? So much for the “big tent.” I suppose though you’ll find more supporters of big government domestically and abroad as you shift to the left.

  18. Ben Kuipers on May 20th, 2007 5:03 am

    As an attorney, I can assure you that the only candidate, aside from perhaps Tanc, who actually understands the Constitution and will uphold it is Ron Paul. He is a strict constructionist, how can he be a liberal? Please use logic and reason to persuade, they used to be part of the “conservative conscience.”

  19. Bill Abermoske on May 22nd, 2007 10:56 pm

    Thanks to all the comments….they have an honest and correct view of who and what Ron Paul is. The author of that article is clearly delusional.

  20. DirtGuy on May 22nd, 2007 10:59 pm

    Hi Bill,

    Judging from other people who’ve done their own research into Ron Paul, we’re not the ones who are “delusional”.

    Bill, your doctor called, you forgot your crayons at his office… =)

  21. Anonymous on June 1st, 2007 8:29 pm

    Ron Paul - Who Is He and What Is He Smoking…

    A Texas blogger takes a close look at Ron Paul and doesn’t like what he digs up….

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  23. Jason Duncan on June 28th, 2007 1:32 am

    Hey Dave Sorenson,

    Thanks Dave, you just helped me win a small wager that your IQ has not risen over 90 since High School… HA HA - Thank you! Good luck to you in the future. I owe you a beer.

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  25. Pete on July 18th, 2007 3:34 am

    The term “liberal” was stolen by the Democrats from the Classical Liberals that framed our Constitution. The party most representative of those original framers is the Libertarian Party and the presidential candidate most representative of their ideals is Ron Paul. Socially liberal, fiscally conservative.

    It’s probably not a perfect philosophy but I’ll take it over the Bush administration’s social conservatism and liberal spending and the Dems version which seems to be fiscally liberal and socially liberal as long as the government approves.

    Either way the Dems and Reps have been invading/controlling our personal lives for too long. It’s time for third party ideals.

  26. DirtGuy on August 2nd, 2007 1:20 am

    Is it because he represents the Libertarians so well that he continues to run as a Republican?

    Hellooooo…anyone in the house care to explain that one?

    I mean after all, it’s all of you Ron Paul supporters who keep saying he’s a “man of character”. So if he really believes in the Libertarian cause, why doesn’t he run as one? Hmmmmm, me thinks I know, do you?

    BTW Pete, you may find this surprising, but I also find it time for a third party, but the Libertarians aren’t it for me.

  27. hd on August 11th, 2007 11:30 pm

    DirtGuy,

    Lets be realistic here, we have a two party system and the only way Ron Paul can get any coverage (aside from lots of money) is if he runs as a Republican. He said it himself he won’t run if he doesn’t get the Republican ticket. This is because its impossible today to get elected president under a third party ticket. If you were serious about being president would you run as a third party?

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  29. Pete on January 2nd, 2008 3:09 am

    DG,

    Dr. Paul is a “Goldwater” Republican and really only leans toward Libertarian ideals in taxation, states rights and a couple other areas. Compare his platform to George Bush’s 2000 run and Reagan’s ‘76 run. Watch Reagan’s Speech from 1964 “A Time For Choosing” on Google video and then look at Dr. Paul’s platform again. You’ll be shocked at the similarity. The current batch of Republicans do not represent the true ideals of the Republican Party.

    You may find this suprising; I’ve been a registered Republican my whole voting career.

  30. JOEMONTEALVO on January 4th, 2008 11:01 pm

    thank God for a comment section. all you guys did a nice job of tarring and feathering and exposing the dirt guy. i, too, was pro-war, very much in line with hannity, o’reilly, and all those guys. but listening to ron paul has opened my eyes. he makes sense to me. all the lives we are losing over there in iraq, all the money we are spending. let me ask you this pro-war people, is your life worth iraq’s freedom? if it isn’t, then is it right to ask our young men and women to put their lives on the line? for iraq? and ron paul runs as a republican because he is a republican, a true republican, a true conservative…it is the party that has lost its way, not ron paul. the bush administration has weakened this country, weakened our military, weakened our dollar, weakened our image to the world. i loved bush when he came in, had so many high hopes but he has left me disheartened and disallusioned with the republican party. he is not a conservative, but a neo-conservative, which is really a liberal. ron paul may not win, but his message will not die. and that is a message i would be willing to die for, a message of freedom, of strength, of prosperity. don’t tote the party line, question these things, do some research. and yes, if it comes down to romney and obama, i will vote for romney. though i don’t expect him to be much different than bush, i can only hope.

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  33. neil johnson.. on September 22nd, 2008 5:00 am

    And the Ron Paul revolution is still alive..

    by the way.. how do you like Bush nationalizing (socializing) the insurance industry.. Bush a conservative?!!!

    it’s not even laughable.

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