Ron Paul: Nutters & Dreams

If You watch a lot of Youtube, you'll have already noticed that most political posts are followed by a comment that goes something like this: RON PAUL FOR PRESDIENT HE IS THE GREATEST THING EVERYBODY SHOULD GET OUT AND VOTE FOR RON PAUL THE ONLY HONEST MAN IN POLTICS. But and why does everybody on the internet think he's so cool?

Let's see if we can untangle this little ball of yarn. Ron Paul is an obstetrician from Texas. He has served many terms in congress, sometimes as a Republican, and sometimes not so much. In 1988 he ran for President with the nomination of the Libertarian Party (Who he?). He is listed in the phone book; his constituents often call him up for a chat. His wife's cookbooks include recipes for Cherry Coke Salad and Velveeta Cheese Fudge. Although he lives in Texas, he votes against farm subsidies, against FEMA and flood aid, and against pro-NASA legislation. He has refused to condemn Robert Mugabe, he opposed the recent immigration bill and wants to end birthright citizenship. His anti-abortion stance comes with a quote that The Monocle would prefer not to repeat. He voted against casting a medal to honour Rosa Parks, a vote he lost 424-1. Thanks be to God. ANYdoodlydoo, speaking of the Lord, he has a Lutheran/Episcopal/Baptist background, and he won't travel alone with women. He has strong ties to the John Birch society.

On the other hand, he has always opposed the Iraq war. In 2001 he was one of three Republicans who voted against the Patriot Act. His solution to the situation in which America now finds itself is simple: "Just leave." In a recent debate, he said to Rudy Giuliani: "Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us?" He uses words like 'hegemony' and 'empire'. He says wonderful things like "Politicians don't amount to much. Ideas do."

So WTF? Ron Paul is an odd biscuit, fo' sho'. If we are allowed, possibly, to make up a word,we might say that he is, essentially, an old-fashioned constitutionalist. He doesn't think government should poke around in any fool's business. Not even Mugabe's business. He believes in markets - that in a free market the truth will out. He credits the fall of the Soviet Union to economics: "It wasn't us forcing Soviets to build missiles that brought them down. It was the fact that socialism didn't work."

All this, and the fact that he has allegedly said a couple of not-entirely-cool things about both Israel and the black male population of Washington DC, has made Paul a figure of hope for all the wackjobs, 'libertarians', conspiracy theorists and jew-haters on the interwebs. In the words of New York Times reporter Christopher Caldwell, he is "Like a black hole that attracts the whole universe of individuals and group who don't recognise themselves in the politics they see on TV." So the next time you wonder exactly WHAT KIND of nutter is a Ron Paul nutter, remember: he's by far and away the most googled candidate on Youtube.
(With thanks to C. Caldwell, an awesome guy.)