The Rabinowitzes and Gersons of this world are angry that people are beginning to question the previously unquestionable: they’re paranoid that their positions as opinion "leaders" and official arbiters of what’s kosher and what’s not are being overturned – and they’re chock full of hate for anyone who, like Rep. Paul, challenges their power. ---- know the enemy
On Feb 22, 12:37 pm, "M. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote: > Ron Paul!That's all I have to say…byJustin Raimondo, February 22, 2010 > The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which has been > going on formany years, is a bellwether of where the action is on the right > side of the political spectrum – and the news from the latest gathering has > both the traditionalBuckley-style rightand theObama-ite liberal-leftin shock. > The CPAC presidential polls are a conference tradition, and the winner is > often hailed as not only the up-and-coming champion of the Republican "hard" > right but also a serious presidential contender. The winner of the previous > three CPAC polls,Mitt Romney, was accorded such status early on in part > because of his CPAC victories, but this time he wasleft in the dustby > congressmanRon Paul. > Headlines reported Paul’s win as a "surprise," but early indications of the > Paulian domination of CPAC this year included the ubiquitous presence ofYoung > Americans for Liberty(YAL) activists and therock star receptiongiven to Rep. > Paul himself. > Theformer– and perhaps future – Republicanpresidential candidategave > ahalf-hour perorationthat boldly stressedanti-interventionist foreign > policyas the key to reining in big government on the home front. Invoking the > shade ofRobert A. Taft, and wondering aloud how we’re going to pay for our > empire, Paul traced the roots of our dilemma back toWoodrow Wilson, the > quintessential "progressive" of Glenn Beck’s worst nightmares. Unlike Beck, > however, whose anti-progressive polemics only mention World War I in passing, > Paul realizes that the whole kit-n-kaboodle of progressivism –the income > tax,the Federal Reserve, and the philosophy of government as an instrument of > moral uplift –all culminated in US involvement inthe Great War. > AsMurray Rothbard pointed out, the war – portrayed by its advocates atThe New > Republicand among the nation’s intelligentsia as a crusade for moral and > spiritual uplift on a global scale – was the apotheosis of the progressive > project. The term "Wilsonian," in foreign policy lingo, refers to the view > that democracy and human rights can and should be advanced abroad at gunpoint. > We didn’t hear Beck, at this conference, where he was the featured speaker, > or during one of his televised tirades, own up to theessentially > Wilsonianforeign policy of the Bush administration, which he fulsomely > supported. Beck is the perfect right-wing populist archetype, who, armed with > a little knowledge, manages to miss the essential lesson of the Bush years – > that an interventionist foreign policy with globalist pretensions > isincompatiblewith the desire for limited government. > Nor does Beck, in hismany disquisitionson the evils of progressivism, > mentionthe worst depredationsof the "progressive" Wilson administration, > which Ron Paul surely did: it warmed the cockles of my libertarian heart to > hear, at a CPAC conference, the name ofEugene Victor Debsraised as a martyr > to the cause of individual rights, on account of his being jailed forspeaking > outagainst World War I. Yes, and it was aRepublican, Paul reminded his > audience – Warren G. Harding – who finally freed Debs. Ron truly is the > anti-Cheney. > Too many conservatives, averred Paul, take a piecemeal approach to liberty: > they don’t understand that freedom is indivisible, and that you can’t have > constitutional and strictly limited government while engaging in endless wars. > Beck, inhis CPAC speech, likened the Republican party to a substance-abuser: > the first thing you’re supposed to do, he said, is recognize that you have a > problem. Beck would do well to follow his own advice: he should go on > television and admit thatheand his fellow "movement" conservatives are > addicted to war, and warmongering. > Paul’s CPAC victory is a stunning repudiation of the War Party’s > long-standing dominance of the GOP, and is bound to ramp up the already quite > active campaign to smear and destroy him. Neocon Dorothy Rabinowitz, in the > midst ofa jeremiadostensibly aimed at Sarah Palin, points out that the > liberals may hate Sarah for all the wrong reasons, but there are perfectly > good neoconservative reasons for joining in the media pile-on, beginning > with:"The unsavory echoes of her regular references to ‘the real America’ as > opposed to those shadowy “elites,” now charged with threats to the life, > liberty and the pursuit of happiness of all real Americans. Neither does she > seem to have any idea of how that low soapbox oratory – embracing one kind of > American as the real kind, those builders in the towns and cities across > America – rings in the ear today. It is not new."Neocons hate people who talk > about the elites in less than reverent tones, because they think you’re > talking aboutthem– which is often the case. They hate any sort of populism, > whether of the right or the left, because they see in it the seeds of > revolution, and, of course, anti-Semitism. Most of all they hate Ron Paul, > because he and his followers embody the Jeffersonian values and culture of > the American heartland, the old America of Bob Taft, America First, and a > Republican party that was skeptical of overseas adventurism. They are the > "real Americans" Rabinowitz hates and fears, and, this year, they came to > CPAC in droves. > A rebellion among conservativeshas long been brewing, and the CPAC convention > represents the first skirmish in a civil war on the right, a war that is > essentially over foreign policy. The Paul movement is well-organized, > activist-oriented, and well-funded: more importantly, it has > awell-groundedideology, one that offers an alternative to the brain-dead > neoconservatism of Republican party hacks and third-rate politicians likeRudy > Giuliani– whose single delegate to the 2008 Republican convention fairly > represents the strength of the Rabinowitz wing of the conservative movement. > As numerically tiny and largely discredited as the neoconservatives are on > the right, the whole tone of Rabinowitz’s disquisition is that of an arbiter, > one whose blessings – or curses – are the final word on the subject of Palin, > Paul, and, as it turns out, Rand Paul, Ron’s son, who is running for the US > Senate in Kentucky:"Though it hasn’t attracted wide attention, nothing Mrs. > Palin has done recently has been worthier of notice than her endorsement of > Rand Paul, now running in Kentucky’s GOP senate primary. Dr. Paul, an > ophthalmologist and radical libertarian, holds views on national security and > defense that have much in common with those of the far left. Not to mention > those of the considerable body of conspiracy theorists, antigovernment > zealots, 9/11 truthers, and assorted other cadres of the obsessed and > deranged who flocked to the presidential candidacy of his father Ron Paul, > the congressman from Texas."Whatever sort of libertarian Rand Paul is, > "radical" is hardly a fair description: here, after all, is someone > whodisdainsthe Obama administration’sdeterminationto try Khalid Sheikh > Mohammed and the Christmas Day bomber in civilian courts, and opposes the > dismantling of Guantanamo. Sure, hequestionsUS policy in Afghanistan, Iraq, > and elsewhere, pointing out that we don’t need to be "nation-building" > overseas when our own nation is falling to pieces, but such complaints are > hardly the exclusive prerogative of libertarians, radical or otherwise. > Rabinowitz & Co. have their work cut out for them if they’re going to try and > convince conservatives that the Paul movement is "leftist." Good luck with > that one. The neocon method, however, is simple repetition: if you tell a lie > long enough, and persistently enough, maybe, just maybe people will come to > accept it. > "Conspiracy theorist," "zealot," "deranged," "truther" – rinse, and repeat. > There is something oddly childish about the taunting polemical style of the > neocons: what it boils down to is simple name-calling. Rather than engage > Paul’s actual views, the idea is to drive him out of the public square by > means of pure epithets. Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gersonjoins the > chorus:"The left has a political interest in defining the broad backlash > against expanded government as identical to the worst elements of the Tea > Party movement –birthersand Birchers, militias and nativists, racists and > conspiracy theorists, acolytes of Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo and Lyndon > LaRouche."Ron Paul, avers Gerson, is preying on those "new to political > engagement" who find "anger and paranoia intoxicating." (After all, there’s > nothing to be angry about: only the "paranoid" get angry.) They "listen to > Ron Paul attacking the Federal Reserve cabal, and suddenly their resentments > become ordered into a theory. Such theories, in politics, can act like a > drug, causing addiction, euphoria and psychedelic departures from reality." > Yes those drug addict-truther-paranoid-extremist-birther-militia types – how > dare they so much as open their mouths! > The whole neocon pack of attack dogs is bound to be out in full force by > Monday morning, on that you can depend. Angry, paranoid, and full of hate – > that describes Ron’s critics to a tee. They are merely projecting these > attributes which they possess in full measure onto Ron Paul and his > supporters. > The Rabinowitzes and Gersons of this world are angry that people are > beginning to question the previously unquestionable: they’re paranoid that > their positions as opinion "leaders" and official arbiters of what’s kosher > and what’s not are being overturned – and they’re chock full of hate for > anyone who, like Rep. Paul, challenges their power. As well they should be. > Because if Ron and themovementhe leads is successful, their day is over and > done.http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/02/21/ron-paul/ -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
