Justin writes:
In spite of my early criticisms of Sen. Paul, I have always been a
firm believer in the efficacy of libertarian electoral politics and
the necessity of political realism, i.e. the idea that politics is not
religion. I’ve been encouraged by the Senator’s often eloquent
arguments against the War Party’s destructive policies, and for the
past year or so I’ve praised him on many occasions in this space. Even
when he endorsed bombing ISIS, whilst still holding out against
putting US troops on the ground, I gave him the benefit of a doubt.
No more. By joining the wrecking crew of Cotton & Co., Sen. Paul has
proven he cares more about gaining the approval of neoconservatives
who will always hate him than he does about preventing a major war in
the Middle East. What’s more, he clearly lacks the character it takes
to be President of these United States – the sense of conviction that
is the essence of leadership, whether in politics, commerce, sports,
or any human endeavor. No, I’m not saying Sen. Paul has no real
convictions: my guess is that he is relying on advisors and "handlers"
and getting some pretty bad advice.
It’s a pity, really, and a damn shame, but I’m obligated to say what
is. I very much regret having to write these words, and yet I must
tell the truth as I see it. My fear is that Sen. Paul will give
ammunition to those sectarians who call themselves libertarians and
yet are content to sit on the sidelines, criticizing anyone who enters
politics as a "sellout": these habitual naysayers are too busy
contemplating their own pristine-pure virtue to notice anything going
on in the real world, and our movement would be better off without
them.
The empire has its hooks deep in the Anglo- American elite. Its very rare that one of them breaks from the statist mindset. Their families and the cliques they represent have too much invested in the war machine.
ReplyDeleteGood for Justin. I am glad that he turns out to be a man of principle.
ReplyDeleteSo Justin is lamenting that we "purist" correctly labeled a sellout as a sellout. What did Justin expect from the man who declared that an attack on Israel as an attack on the US? When it comes to big government and wars, pragmatism hasn't won us anything.
ReplyDelete“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
- Albert Einstein
You cannot have a non interventionist foreign policy by actively promoting new and continuing wars and interventions.
You cannot have "small," "limited," "constitutional" govt while actively promoting for new and existing big and unconstitutional government programs.
Envision the Federal government's policies as a giant statute. To topple that statue you cannot just trying to ding the head and body. Instead, you must take out its feet and legs. The feet and legs of Federal governt policy is The Narrative that supports the welfare-warfare state. The Narrative states that:
1. The Federal government must implement social welfare programs or else average Americans would starve and die penniless.
2. The Federal government must regulate the economy or else workers will only make slave wages, have poor working conditions, we will have unsafe products, and companies will destroy the environment .
3. The Federal government must have an active and highly interventionist foreign policy or else we will be conquered by China or Russia or nukes by Islamist.
For elimination of the Federal zeitgeist, the fundamentals of The Narrative must be challenged.
You can only eliminate the welfare state by challenging The Narrative on welfare policy. You can only eliminate the warfare by directly challenge The Narrative on warfare policy. When it comes to war and intervention, Rand accepts all of basic premises of The Narrative. If anyone accepts these premises as true, that person doesn't have a leg to challenge the Federal government's policies.
Rand could have been a great asset for the Liberty movement if he used his 6 year seat in the Senate to fundamentally challenge The Narrative. But because Rand is very ambitious, he sold out.
Truthfully, many people in the liberty movement are lazy, naive and impatient. They seriously believe that they can achieve Liberty in one fell swoop by getting Rand elected to the Presidency. The President has very little power of its own. People in the liberty movement believe that Rand can fool the GOP establishment, grassroots voters, oligarchs and financial elites into voting for him and once he's in office he can turn into his father and do what he wants. They seem not to understand that no presidency can be the least bit effective by losing 80% of its supporters. The reality is that any movement for liberty must be a long term project. I think it will take 40 years to change the fundamental thinking of Americans on the role of government both in domestic and foreign policy. Liberty will not be achieved in one fell swoop by eating Rand or anyone else to the presidency. It will take 40 years in the trenches daily chipping and the legs and feet of the Federal zeitgeist (The Narrative).
Yep. Murray loved to watch the game, but at the end of the day, he never bet his and Joey's rent on it.
DeleteTHIS^^^
Delete"What did Justin expect from the man who declared that an attack on Israel as an attack on the US?"
EXACTLY. That is JUST like a fucking neocon! A weird, obsessive fetish for Israel to the point where these maggots act like Israel is the 51st state. How much more obvious does he have to be?
And sanctions on Iran? For what? They haven't done a damned thing to the US! Again, that is NEOCON thinking.
"You can only eliminate the welfare state by challenging The Narrative on welfare policy. You can only eliminate the warfare by directly challenge The Narrative on warfare policy. When it comes to war and intervention, Rand accepts all of basic premises of The Narrative. If anyone accepts these premises as true, that person doesn't have a leg to challenge the Federal government's policies."
Again, exactly. How obvious does it have to be? I know people are so desperate to have another Ron Paul in office but IT'S NOT GOING OT HAPPEN. Get that through your thick skulls people! It's over. You're going to have to fin another way.
" I know people are so desperate to have another Ron Paul in office "
DeleteI keep wondering why.
So Justin, whom many libertarians have tried to convince from the start that Rand Paul was nothing to support, now whines that Rand Paul gave them "ammunition".
ReplyDeleteNo Justin, he didn't We already HAD the ammunition, because unlike you we have finely honed BS-detectors instead of ridiculous naivety. Many of us did NOT reject Ron Paul, and so the argument that we are against electoral politics is a lie. What we are against, however, is putting trust in frauds out of desperation.