If you’re a conservative and you support Ron Paul, we’re cool. It’s not too often I see your side de-escalating wars and ending persecution of marijuana users, so I’ll allow it.
If you’re progressive and you support Ron Paul, we need to talk.
Like, really talk.
I make Facebook posts about the war, the economy, whatever political topic of the day and the response is “RON PAUL 2012.” OK, I get it, you’re a supporter. It’s good to show loyalty. I post about my vacation or what I had for dinner and the response is “RON PAUL 2012.” Maybe, I think, you’ve hit your head and developed some sort of amnesia where you immediately forget what the topic was and that’s your reboot phrase that automatically rolls off your fingers. I post about some silly old lady at the grocery store who insists on paying in loose change… “RON PAUL 2012.” WHY ARE YOU REPEATING YOURSELVES?
It never says anything else, either. Just that. In all caps, regardless of the topic, with no context. Sometimes, if someone’s feeling especially frisky, there are exclamation points or boldface. I see it on Newsvine, Twitter, Reddit, comments on every major discussion site.. I even saw it written on a whiteboard at work.
I get it. Military intervention is expensive and undiplomatic. Throwing pot smokers in prison is a waste of resources and a pretty ridiculous excuse to terminate someone’s right to freedom. Some of the things the guy stands for are positives. It’s not too often that anyone stands up for these things, so you want to shout from the rooftops how much you love this awesome “libertarian” that seems to share so many of your values.
How, though, do you justify his continued wet dream of deregulating Wall Street and allowing unchecked corruption to surpass even the vile criminal conduct of the ten years leading up to the crash? How do you, as a progressive who cares about the people of this country, defend a man who wants to shut down the departments responsible for ensuring food safety and environmental responsibility when contamination and environmental disasters are at their worst point in our lifetimes? How do you, as intellectuals in a country of anti-intellectual conservatives, explain your support for a man who thinks the entire educational system should be turned over to for-profit corporations?
This guy is the epitome of the anti-progressive. He’s literally off-the-charts Sarah Palin nuts. He has spoken against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the one that allows blacks to eat in the same restaurant and drink from the same fountain as whites) because it “infringed on private property rights,” meaning it infringed on the right of business owners to kick out what I can only assume Mr. Paul refers to privately as the Negroes. He stated the country “would be better off” without the government stepping in and stopping discrimination and that he would have voted against the CRA itself. He was the only person in the entire Congress to vote against nonbinding resolution commemorating the 40th anniversary of the act.
On Congressman Paul’s own website, he asks “Why should anyone be forced to subsidize the medical care of others?” This progressive would like to answer with a question of my own: “In what self-righteous Ayn Rand-inspired dystopia would people need to be forced to help each other when they’re sick or injured?
This man is not even in the ballpark of progressivism. He is a dangerous, crazy, uninspired, Objectivist superconservative that would literally hand the keys over to the private sector at a time when we need a strong and effective public sector. Ron Paul is absolutely not what this country needs.
To which I’m sure a least a few of you will respond with nothing more than “RON PAUL 2012.”