Guest blogged by Winter Patriot
Delivered to the U.S. House of Representatives
Wednesday 26 January 2005
America’s policy of foreign intervention, while still debated in the early 20th century, is today accepted as conventional wisdom by both political parties. But what if the overall policy is a colossal mistake, a major error in judgment? Not just bad judgment regarding when and where to impose ourselves, but the entire premise that we have a moral right to meddle in the affairs of others? Think of the untold harm done by years of fighting – hundreds of thousands of American casualties, hundreds of thousands of foreign civilian casualties, and unbelievable human and economic costs. What if it was all needlessly borne by the American people? If we do conclude that grave foreign policy errors have been made, a very serious question must be asked: What would it take to change our policy to one more compatible with a true republic’s goal of peace, commerce, and friendship with all nations? Is it not possible that Washington’s admonition to avoid entangling alliances is sound advice even today?
The key virtues of this speech, from my point of view, are in its origin and its structure. It comes from a Texas Republican and that means they can’t all be all bad! And your Republican friends and neighbors might even read it — as long as they’re not too radical! Then there’s the structure: the speech is fairly short, and the sentences are fairly short too. So Ron Paul doesn’t cause the sorts of problems that Miguel Valenzuela gave us yesterday.
On the other hand, Ron may be flying by the seat of his pants here, in the sense that he’s heading in the right direction, but some of his questions still seem a bit confused and we’re happy to offer some assistance. For instance, in his opening paragraph, Ron Paul said:
Earth to Ron? Earth to Ron?
Did you say “hundreds of thousands of foreign civilian casualties”?
It’s millions of foreign civilian casualties, Ron. Tens of millions, perhaps. We killed about 2 million people in Vietnam alone … so I think it’s only fair to ask you: How did the phrase “hundreds of thousands of foreign civilian casualties” get into a speech about the effects of American foreign policy over the last fifty years?
And what was that again? “What if it was all needlessly borne by the American people?”
You know what, Ron? I’ve got an even better question for you: What if less than five percent of it was borne by the American people? And what if the rest of the damage was borne by the other 95% of the people in the world? What would you think about that?
What else can you call it, Ron? What else can you say when a multi-colored planet of SIX BILLION people is held hostage — on the brink of implosion — by the mad thrashings of a red white and blue monster of only 300 MILLION?
But in any case, there’s another wrong word in that question. “What if it was all needlessly borne by the American people?”
No, Sorry, Ron. What if it was all needlessly inflicted by the American people?? Arggghhh!!
But at least Ron’s asking better questions elsewhere, such as:
Right on, Ron! Good for you on this one! You’re starting to get it, and we support you! We’ve been giving you a bad time, but it’s all in good fun! You da Mannn! And keep asking those tough questions!
Which he does, in fact. There’s a fine series of tough questions later on in Ron Paul’s speech, and you can find the entire thing here What If (It Was All a Big Mistake)? at truthout.org.
While you’re at truthout.org, have a look at this one, too: Bush Faces New Skepticism from Republicans on Hill . You can also bookmark truthout.org, if you haven’t already done so. It’s a good place to re-visit. Hint, Hint!
Excellent Winter P. Thanks so much for posting this. I read it earlier today and got a good feeling about what I’ve been saying all along. The Republican Party is the one in trouble.
The game might really get interesting now. The Democrats in the know should recognize the landslide that Kerry won by and proceed accordingly, with confidence. The Republicans are really starting to squirm and the meltdown will probably escalate fast.
None too soon.
{ed note: Post deleted. Entirely off-topic}
Ron Paul is a LIBERTARIAN CONSERVATIVE. He’s a huge potential problem for Bush if his Jan. 26 letter to Congress attracts other anti-big government sentiment.
The chickens are coming home to roost. Bush’s unilateral war policies and his need to decide for the rest of the world what freedom is conflicts with the libertarian philosophy of "Let other countries decide for themselves what’s best." Paul also understands the difference between "freedom" and
"liberty." The word "freedom" is easily subsumed into "free enterprise" (globalization, now). "Liberty" is different…it’s what George Washington was talking about when he warned against overseas adventurism.
If Republicans, not Democrats, become perceived as the big-government party, and people understand that "tax and spend" has been replaced by "borrow and spend," disaster looms for Bush.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (not the one in Crawford)…the election fraud continues to unravel.
Dear Winter Patriot:
To our esteemed, enlightened Republican Congressman from Texas, I say this….
"Well… DUH!"
But, I shouldn’t tease… I want to encourage our enlightened Progressive friends in the Republican Party to continue to think for themselves.
It sure took a while, didn’t it? Here I was thinking that all GOP politicians were either terminally brain-damaged or criminal, when what they are is SLO-O-O-O-W.
Maybe that’s not it either. Maybe they’re just ultra-timid, and have been waiting and watching us outspoken types to see whether we are mysteriously "disappeared," poisoned or incinerated. Perhaps our continued presence has given them courage. Wouldn’t THAT be nice?
Stupid broad!
Canada clobbers Coulter
Hmmm, my post from earlier appears to have evaporated :-
The questions posed by this gentleman show a willingness to question long held beliefs that have supported much evil done in the name of US foreign policy and to CONSIDER THAT THEY MAY BE WRONG. I don’t care what political colour he is, that alone makes him worthy of our respect and support.
It also backs up something I have been saying for a while, not all Republicans are our enemy – at least some hold liberty as dear as we. They need support in their search for a solution to the current morass as much as we, possibly more so – they have to come to terms with the fact that they fell for the lies from people that they believed in.
The people who publish this are not my enemy – the fact that I disagree with what they say does not give me the right the censorship.
The people who make it policy ARE my enemy. They have caused and will continue to cause misery to millions of people all over the world in the name of their nationilistic zeal and that cannot be tolerated by any person who hold that sovreign states have the unalieble right to manage their own affair (within the constraints of international law).
I’m sorry, but the current administration has all the morals of a drug dealing murderer (which is what it is) and so have no high ground from which to dictate anything to anyone and there are people who consider themselves Republican who also know it. Let us not exclude them.
Vive le revolution de velours, mes amis.
in comment #7, Da Wookie wrote:
"Hmmm, my post from earlier appears to have evaporated :-"
But that’s not true! It’s right here!
Well spotted WP, don’t know what happened there. I’m glad that you found it, I think the original was better than #7.
As I’ve said before, you are an all round good egg and a worthy stand in for the Bradmeister. I’ll put in a good word for you on his return. 😉
{ed note: Post deleted. Entirely off-topic… We have open threads here, Jimmy. Use them if you wish. But please don’t try to change the subject elsewhere!}
Good comments folks. I am glad that here we remember where politics is located in the cognitive landscape.
It is not located within the realm of official crime, fascism, coverup, secrecy, and election fraud.
No honest republican or democrat will allow the nation to keep descending into the quicksand of those things.
And those are the things we are trying to eradicate so we can get down to some good political debate.
And sometimes in those issue debates, I go with moderate conservatives (for instance I like balanced budgets), but most of the time I go with liberal ideas (no freaking secret courts, the patriot act sucks, etc). That is politics.
The experience we have had in the bushit years has not been politics, it has been instead, too close to crime (torture, lies, cover-up, resistance to open government).
These are things the moderate and sane republicans and independents and democrats will rise up against with us.
We can reach politicians on this before we ever reach the MSM. Our fellow americans can wake up to that with us … or else we all go down with our ship.
Understandinglife posted the link (over at VR) to the new Mitiofsky criticism by some more scientists concerning my pet peeve right now: exit polls.
It is a stunner, the link is here, and I encourage and urge all to read it.
It is nuclear. Gotta get this on MSM. Gotta get the MSM out of bed (embedded) with the admin and back to journalism.
Thanks, Dredd. It is a stunner. Too bad it’s PDF; I’d like to save those pages, not just print ’em.
Cheryl # 6:
The article says "Coulter was finally exposed" … ok, ok, ok, stop the suspense … does she really have a penis?
Yessss….well, kind of. It’s one of those strap-on thangs. (Tee hee)
Hi, Cheryl – You are priceless! Could never stand Coulter!
With respect to the rest of this thread, it’s too bad America has divided itself into "Dems." and "Repubs.", "blue vs red", etc. It’s so childish and foolish, really; too much like loyalty to the school football team! Government by the people for the people is a serious matter, not to be determined by silly simple labels or foolish, undeserved loyalty.
Yes, elected officials and wanna be’s should be viewed by the policies they espouse and promote, and what action they take to support what they espouse. It otherwise doesn’t matter what simple label you or others put on yourself.
One day, when I was criticizing DUMYA’s actions, the person I was in discussion with responded by loudly yelling at me "you’re a liberal", and refused to talk about it further. Now what’s that got to do with anything? Nothing to do with DUMYA’s actions, which are undeniably out there in the daylight for all to see. An secondly, I am not a liberal, or any such thing at all. I am a thinking (trying), feeling, person who is trying to understand what is going on and whether it aligns with the principals I have come to understand are "right" and "just" in life. Now "life" happens to be very complex; and I refuse to adopt any simple label through which to view "life" and its complexities. This is not a football game, and we are not mere spectators. We have a responsibility here to be more than sheep and lemmings. Anyway, you all know this already. That’s why I love "tuning in" with you.
You are right, Peggy. It’s not a football game.
More like gladiators in ancient Rome.
Or a new twist in the Colosseum…Moslems being fed to the lions.
Next it will be Liberals in the lion’s mouth.
Sheeesh.
There is more evidence that republicans are waking up to the folly of blind faith. Senator Roberts is questioning the Iraqi situation.
Sorry, Dredd, but I think Roberts is a typical red herring – when push comes to shove, he’s afraid of love – just look at the record, and don’t be deceived!
Peg C #12 —
To save a PDF file rather than opening it, right-mouse click then "Save file as" or "Save link target as" depending on your browser. The file will then download to your computer for viewing at your convenience. I don’t use Windows or Internet Explorer so my explanation may be flawed, but you get the idea…
Csaragorn # 19.
Could be. Lets keep an eye out.
The very deceived will be moved back to the right by the sight of people standing in line.
Pavlovian reactions that equate mere lines to democracy will move some of them back. Those we need not waste our time on.
Even if Roberts is not really on our side, time is.
re #20. yeah, Dredd. Time and Truth both.
And the draft draws ever closer
Cheryl # 22.
That letter was probably drafted at the white house.
It will allow the president to deny originating it and to lie about keeping his word during the debates.
Their motto is "stay the curse".
It is a reality that sane republicans are worried about the consequences of staying as part of the group that is advancing bushit. Story here.
So serious that behind the scenes promises are being made to them to encourage them not to break ranks.
Bush thinks he can protect them, and tells them so.
I live in central Texas, and I have been paying attention to Ron Paul for awhile. He was the one who stood up in
Congress several years ago and told this administration they were bankrupting our nation. He is braver than some Democrats. Of course, he is a Libertarian, as another poster pointed out. He ran for president on the Libertarian ticket a few years back. I guess he thought he could do more good by joining the Repugs, but many of his words have fallen on deaf ears. He is one of the very few dissenting voices from the side of the lock-step, jack-booted thugs.
You are right, Peggy. It’s not a football game.
More like gladiators in ancient Rome.