Even Paul Can Pander
An anti-immigration ad from the libertarian Republican
Today, illegal immigrants violate our borders and overwhelm our hospitals, schools and social services. Ron Paul wants border security now. Physically secure the border. No amnesty. No welfare to illegal aliens. End birthright citizenship. No more student VISAs for terrorist nations.Justin Raimondo is sickened:
This is pandering to the worst, Tom Tancredo-esque paranoia and outright ignorance (or do I repeat myself?) and is not worthy of Dr. Paul. I have the utmost respect for the candidate, but in using this unfortunate term, “terrorist nations,” the Good Doctor undermines his non-interventionist foreign policy stance. If these are, in truth, “terrorist nations” – which most will take to mean all predominantly Muslim nations — then why not invade them, kill the terrorists, and be done with it? This phraseology gives the War Party carte blanche – and, believe you me, they’ll use it.
As Murray Rothbard explained, the anti-interventionist conservatives of the 1950s made the same mistake when they jumped on Joe McCarthy’s bandwagon. The “red scare” was payback for the “brown scare” of the 1940s in which prominent conservatives were basically run out of public life on a rail for not getting with the program until Pearl Harbor. The original McCarthyite movement was directed against domestic reds, and was a sweet revenge for those conservatives who had been targeted as “subversive” and even “pro-Hitler” for being anti-interventionist during the Roosevelt era. However, it wasn’t long before the domestic witch-hunt spilled over the border and became an international armed crusade that roped us into NATO, lured us into Korea, and got us bogged down in Vietnam.
Thousands of students from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Muslim countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, and elsewhere come to this country and bring home with them the ideas of liberty, tolerance, and fair play that are the predominant themes of our culture. Barring them would be politically foolish, economically counterproductive, and a prelude to much worse.
Raimondo wants the campaign to skunk the ad, but that won't happen. Paul is a politician: He's pushing one of the few issues where the majority of Republican voters are on his side. He's done this before, many times. I asked him why he spoke so much about abortion rights at the Ames straw poll and he didn't budge:
“I think that’s part of the freedom message,” Paul told me. “You always want to broaden the base, and in this area, in this state, you want to appeal to social conservatives without sacrificing any principles.”
Wink, wink.
If you want to blame feckless Iowans for driving Paul to this, check out Phil Klein's jeremiad against the caucuses.
Ken Shultz | December 31, 2007, 4:35pm | #
We small "l" libertarians, we're a disparate bunch, and Ron Paul just gave us a great example of that.
I didn't agree with much of what Ronald Reagan did, but I'd argue that Reagan was about as close as we've come, in recent memory anyway, to having a "l"ibertarian president.
I'd have voted for Ronald Reagan despite the list of things he was plain wrong about, and I'll vote for Ron Paul despite him being so very wrong about this.
Amber | December 31, 2007, 10:01pm | #
I have to agree with Ken. I don't like the ad either, but I am of the opinion that Paul’s mark is likely the welfare state above all else. As he has previously said, our domestic programs are the problem and the immigrants are the scapegoat. Not to mention, it's much too important to role back this empire before we go broke for me to not vote for Paul because of this issue. Much, much too important!
And BTW, because he is not a science teacher, I could care less about where he stands on macro-evolution--as if it were a policy issue anyway...this culture war is really getting ridiculous, is it not? “As Commander In Chief of the US Armed Forces, how do you feel about Darwin’s Theory?” Keep looking at the shiny object everyone, just as long as you don’t get wise to the barbarians draining the treasury with endless wars.
Bill | January 1, 2008, 12:09am | #
Yikes !!!
Walls keep folks out and and folks in.
I went to Berlin for the 1st time in 1975 and was fortunate to also be there on the night the wall came down. I thought Ron Paul had an "economic" solution to this .. i didn't know it was an expensive wall. Fuck walls !!!
Victoria | January 1, 2008, 4:21pm | #
All politicians pander. It is a given. Ron Paul's stance is his and we don't have to listen so it interests me that he can inflame so many people. He hasn't been elected and because he appeals to fringe voters he won't be. Chill out.
Sam | January 1, 2008, 4:28pm | #
I'm a big fan of Raimondo and www.antiwar.com but his reaction is somewhat bizarre. If I recall he was a big Buchanan supporter and even worked on his first campaign. When it comes to immigration Buchanan's heated language makes Paul sound like a member of La Raza.
Anonopotomous | January 1, 2008, 7:57pm | #
A libertarian president is not tantamount to libertarian utopia. President Paul will have some bad ideas, and we will be there to organize and stop them. There will still be work to do.
The only candidate you will ever find to be perfect is yourself.
Tara Davis | January 2, 2008, 4:57pm | #
Uh...
but in using this unfortunate term, “terrorist nations,” the Good Doctor undermines his non-interventionist foreign policy stance.
Huh!? In what way does stopping criminal entry into the US and/or acknowledging that such a thing as terrorism exists contradict a policy of not preemptively invading other nations???
Bashing him for this ad is really quite a stretch. Ron Paul has repeated throughout the debates and his public appearances that he favors a strong border and a tighter domestic defense.
If you can't see the distinction between enforcing domestic law and trampling on the sovereignty of other countries, I don't know if I can take anything you have to say very seriously.
Doug Bayless | January 3, 2008, 1:43pm | #
I'm a huge Ron Paul supporter and I have to admit that is the absolute worst ad I've ever seen for him. It undermines most of the reasons I'm voting for him.
I'm against illegal immigration but I'm not anti-Hispanic. Heck, I don't even buy the crap about "terrorist nations" . . . I thought student visas were a *legal* way to visit . . . so is Saudi Arabia a terrorist nation now??
*Very disappointed*, but I still plan to vote Paul on February 5th. As a registered Republican he's still far and away my best choice.
Garland | January 3, 2008, 6:17pm | #
The sub headline "an anti-immigration ad from the libertarian Republican" makes it sound like this stance is a shocking one for Ron Paul to take. It's not. He's been against illegal immigration and supporting securing the borders his entire campaign. It's also an incredibly dishonest thing to say to say he's "anti-immigration." He's not "anti-immigration," he's anti-illegal immigration.
Brian Sorgatz | January 3, 2008, 9:42pm | #
Garland,
That's a circular argument. The point is that the immigration laws as they now stand are senselessly counterproductive and unjust. The law is not always right, unless you think of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., as pretentious idiots—and illegal immigrants as parasites instead of dedicated workers hoping for a better break than they've had in life so far.
Marie Burlingham | January 4, 2008, 1:43am | #
Ron Paul is exactly what America needs. Americans, Please wake up before it's too late. He believes in our rights that are in the constitution which the other hopefuls do not.Every vote counts so please vote for your freedom which is Ron Paul for President.
Professor | January 4, 2008, 2:17am | #
I must admit that I do not see anything wrong with the commercial, nor do I see the message in conflict with libertarianism. Dr. Paul is against government handouts to illegal aliens. Last time I checked government handouts to anyone is bad! While securing the border may be skirting the edges of libertarian philosophy, I think that it is easier have open borders if the government would stop providing incentives for people to come here illegally (in the form of welfare, free education, free healthcare, etc.). If we truly want an open border and we truly want to welcome people to this country it must occur AFTER we end the incentives that are driving people here. If that occurs I am all for allowing as many who want to come - they will actually be productive to the economy in the LR.
Ivan DelSol | January 5, 2008, 9:12pm | #
This add sickens me. The undertones are violent, racist, and divisive.
I like Ron Paul so much, however, that I'm still behind him. Much more like this one, though, and I might change my mind.
Ron Paul Videos | January 6, 2008, 3:19am | #
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Paden | January 6, 2008, 8:47pm | #
Wow..he's not saying "no to immagrants" he's saying no to illegal imangrants...just like every other law, people have to abide by them. He's not saying that he wants to keep people in or out he's saying he wants to keep illegals out, immagrants can still come in, just not illegally!
RBM | January 7, 2008, 1:40pm | #
So much for Paul honoring the Constitution. "End Birthright Citizenship" and the 14th Amendment don't get along so well. Paul's justifications for amending the 14th Amendment--(was just after a war, and we didn't have a welfare state then??)--could be extended to just about all of the Constitution.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul346.html
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