Human Ipecac

Rep. Ron Paul tap dances and sings the official line on OBL and 9/11 on The Diane Rehm Show.



In listening to the whole program, one has to come to the conclusion that Ron Paul is one of the dumbest men ever to run for president. He makes Shrub look like a rocket scientist and Palin sound like a Rhodes scholar. There's much in the libertarian view that I endorse, but Paul pushes it to its most absurd extreme. He's "pro-life" but offering relief to disaster victims is a "moral danger?" He babbles stuff cribbed from Ayn Rand and tries to make it all fit into reality. (Ayn Rand, after whom Paul named his son, was not only a prat but a hypocrite.)

The more extreme one's position, the harder it is to maintain consistency. In the program with Diane Rehm, Rep. Paul contradicts himself constantly--bashing government but maintaining the necessity of his own job. Most people want to be let alone in their own homes, vehicles, and persons--which is the valid basis of libertarianism. Going beyond that, they have to be inconsistent if they want things like police and fire departments, public libraries, and the potholes filled on the streets they travel. (To say nothing of being rescued if the river flows over its banks or if a tornado uproots their homes.)

Ron Paul says that the proper business of government is a strong national defense but if you're treading water where your home used to be you should have lived somewhere else and better luck next time.

All this bears more consideration than his slipperiness on the issue of 9/11 as he "celebrates" the death (or thawing out) of Osama bin Laden. If you can listen to Ron Paul weave, babble, and prevaricate on this program and still vote for him, you're an idiot.

UPDATE: Speaking of Ayn Rand, she was worse than a prat. What matters more than what you believe is where it comes from. Yecch.