Ron Paul Wouldn’t Have Killed bin Laden (oh, and he’s running for president or something)

Posted in Birdshot | 0 comments

You often hear that someone’s greatest strength is their greatest weakness.  That just about sums up presidential aspirant Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).

It’s difficult to find someone in the U.S. political arena more willing to say what is on his mind.  It’s how he wins elections.  It’s part of his charm.  It’s also why he’ll never win the presidency.

In the first GOP debate of the 2012 election campaign, Paul came out for legalization of heroin, because government shouldn’t tell you what you can and cannot consume.  Yesterday he said killing Osama bin Laden wasn’t necessary.  Oh, and he said that flood victims shouldn’t receive federal aid, because if they can’t get flood insurance, then they have no reason living where they live.

All of his statements have a certain logic to them with a philosophical underpinning.  And those same statements guarantee that he’ll never win.

But why?

The reason is that Ron Paul firmly believes that what is best for individuals should be decided by individuals.  The problem is that can only take you so far.  People want a certain order to their universe.  We naturally create hierarchies in our societies, and garner comfort from energetic leadership.  In some ways, we want to be told what’s right and wrong, good and bad, healthy and unhealthy.

Paul wants to strip away all of the safeguards and institutions that make our lives easier, safeguards and institutions that allow us to spend our days on our own pursuits.

We don’t want to spend all day at the market or grocery store reading every label, or spending hour upon hour reviewing every school within driving distance to see which one is best for our children.  We dont’ want the department of education defunded, as Paul does.  We want to feel comfortable knowing our local public school will ensure our children learn.  And we want our president to kill terrorists and not apologize for it – something we certainly wouldn’t want to physically do ourselves.

No matter how you feel about it, by saying that the killing of Osama bin Laden was unnecessary, Paul plays into his weakness of stature – a frail-looking septuagenarian that can’t keep us safe and wants to do wacky things.

Who wants to vote for the frail, wacky, old guy?

I’ve heard it said that voting for a president is one of the most personal votes we make.  Beyond policies and party, we vote for the person to be our president.  Paul’s problem is that he’s all strong policy and no strong personality, and those policies are all outward driven.  We want a bullet for president, Paul, not birdshot.

(but please keep trying as you’re consistently entertaining)