Can you support Ron Paul?
What do you value more, freedom or empire?
The Ron Paul candidacy has become a conservative values litmus test for me. On one side are the Ron Paul supporters, the happy throngs that see a man articulating the failures of the government that has been running their country (and lives) for decades. On the other side is the puzzled Republican establishment that can’t see how anyone would want to walk away from a foreign policy that had been successful since the cold war began.
You have to wonder what it takes to motivate the rightwing chattering class. Listen to Rush or Hannity or anyone else that flaps their jaw on AM radio and you would think that the following would define the perfect candidate:
- He has never voted to raise taxes.
- He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
- He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
- He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
- He has never taken a government-paid junket.
- He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
- He voted against regulating the Internet.
- He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
- He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Then you learn that the candidate described is Ron Paul. The establishment declares him an unserious candidate because:
- He voted against the Patriot Act.
- He voted against the Iraq war.
- He believes in the gold standard.
- He wants to remove US troops from foreign soil.
And that is where the litmus test comes in. If you think that the Federal Government should have limited enumerated powers that can only be expanded by amending the Constitution, these seem like sensible ideas. If you have wed you world view to American foreign policy during the cold war, these are frightening ideas.
Republicans generally recoil when talk turns to the American empire. Most missed the memo explaining that the buzz words “lone super power” and “world’s police man” are euphemisms for imperialism. While the GOP generally looks at the government as unnecessarily extravagant, the rank and file has yet to make the connection between the twin deficits (trade and federal budget) and the role America plays as the most powerful nation on earth. America’s power is a mirage. It is built on debt and misplaced responsibility. While we believe that America is an indispensable power, the countries that enjoy the blanket of America’s protection are free to abdicate their defense and instead can concentrate on other priorities. It is this illusion that so many conservatives have trouble giving up.
It is quite the mystery as to why. Most conservatives don’t think the government has done much good as far as educating their kids or defending the country’s borders or any other task it has taken on. Yet they are fine with the US government managing every nook and cranny of the world through generous application of military spending. When the inevitable consequences have to be dealt with, the suggested solution is more application of US power. The demands grow constantly until the effort required to maintain the illusion of order consumes all of the available resources.
It is this maintenance of the US Empire that sorts conservatives for me. When a fellow conservative backs Rudy Giuliani or John McCain, it is an instant admission that they are more attached to the image of America the lone super power instead of America the land of the free. It goes without saying that this super power status is believed to come free of consequences and costs. Nothing could be further from the truth. A proxy empire will end the same way as every empire in history: by collapsing under its own weight.
So if you support Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, or one of the other front runners, be honest with all of us and most importantly, be honest with yourself. None of these candidates are willing to shrink the Federal Government by shrinking its scope to what is defined in the Constitution. This means that you are voting to preserve America’s empire at the cost of your liberty. Go ahead; the first step in confronting a problem is acknowledging it.
As for me, the choice is clear. I’ll stand with Ron Paul.