Comments Posted By Doug Bayless
Displaying 1 To 1 Of 1 Comments
RON PAUL: PANDERER TO THE PARANOID?
I thought this was a well-written article and found it very fair-minded. To be sure, Rick, you were kind in being careful to give both Paul and the majority of Paul supporters the benefit of the doubt. This begs the question though, what is the real problem you are trying to sensationalize?
In my point of view, knocking Paul because he dares talk to fringe media like Alex Jones is a bit elitist. To many, one of Paul's most endearing qualities is his big tent, honest-to-goodness populism. The idea that nobody, perhaps, is beyond redeeming. Call it naievete if you will, but I find Paul refreshing.
I think I'm just one of a growing number of Republicans who are not comfortable with the rhetoric of over-the-top, impossibly dismissive, hypocritical elitism that seems to pervade programming like Hannity and Limbaugh (the face of the supposed Republican base) these days.
Paul comes across as the only Republican candidate that follows in the American tradition of Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, Lincoln, and Reagan – all of whom seemed genuinely concerned about the potential conflicts of interest between the common citizen and 'too much' centralized power.
All of them made the hard choice to worry less about "controlling" individuals with "fringe" ideas [as you imply Paul should want to] and more about limiting centralized power [as you imply is somehow the definition of "paranoid" and "hateful"]
Just my 2 cents. But thanks again for a respectful, "non-hateful" article.
Comment Posted By Doug Bayless On 1.11.2007 @ 14:27
