There are two politicians in this picture. One is smiling and smug. He is quite happy with the status quo. One is yelling because he is outraged. He cannot stay quiet. He has to brake the silence.
Ron Paul broke the silence when ran for President in 2008. Even though he had been saying the same thing for years, for the first time people finally heard his voice. I don’t want to put Ron Paul on a pedestal or overstate his success but, I do want to give him credit where credit is do. Ron Paul brought a message. He brought a message of liberty and peace that had been long lost in the political scene. He reminded people that they don’t have to choose between the lesser of two evils and that there are principles that we have to stand on. I think what Ron Paul challenged was the status quo directly. The three things our country was (and is still) moving towards were economic collapse, military collapse and a collapse of personal liberty.
One of Paul’s biggest concerns was an economic one. He recognized that the economic boom cycle was coming to an end. The status quo at the time was that people could keep buying houses that they could not afford, banks could keep giving out loans and easy credit and that the Federal Reserve could do pretty much whatever it wanted. He challenged these notions and when the recession hit people had to realize that he was right.
He also had a concern over America’s involvement in aggressive and pre-emptive wars. Like Martin Luther King Jr. he has a desire to see peace and brotherhood. He also had a realistic grasp of the situation in the Middle East and wasn’t afraid to speak the truth even if it was unpopular. This is a definite challenge to the status quo because both parties voted for the war and even Obama who ran as the “peace” candidate has chosen to escalate the war on terror.
At the CNN republican primary debates he gave John McCain a brief history lesson and spoke out for a foreign policy of peace and non-intervention. He broke the silence and protested the war in Iraq. This is something that took serious guts. Not only because he would be the only Republican bold enough to take an anti-war stance, but also because 5 years earlier he had to have the strength of character to vote against the war in the first place.
The final area which Paul spoke up about was personal and liberties. He made an appeal to logos and argued on constitutional grounds. He wanted to help people see through the doublespeak that was propagated towards them. He desired for people to see through the fear tactics designed to make them surrender their liberties. He spoke especially adamantly against the PATRIOT Act and against the abuse of human rights and civil liberties in regards to the war on terror.
Ron Paul spoke out boldly and began a new conversation about American policies and libertarian ideals. I believe people have already embraced the message he presented and will continue to do so. We will continue to see people like Adam Kokesh, Rand Paul and Peter Schiff run for public office. We will continue to see organizations like Campaign for Liberty and Young American’s For Liberty grow. I also think that the movement will evolve in new ways and soon be much bigger than what Ron Paul ever expected it to be.
I can not help to laugh at this picture for two different reasons. The first one is it reminds me of a father who is so stressed out by his son for all he has done and the son is just laughing behind his back. The second reason I laugh is because John McCain is the spitting image of my high school basketball coach. I will have to find a picture of him so you can compare yourself. On a more serious note it is a picture that says a thousand words. I have always taken McCain as an easygoing man and this picture goes to show it, there is no way he could have dealt with America if he won. It surprises me how much you know about Ron Paul, because truthfully, before I read your post I had never heard about him. I actually learned a couple of things from your post, it is very informative. I like how you compared Ron Paul to Martin Luther King and make it a point about President Barrack Obama playing into the peace roll but just could not escape the ropes of war. I find your blog a bit persuading, I like what you have to say about this Ron Paul guy, he seems very upfront and I admire that in people.
ReplyDeleteI love that you choose this picture to write about. It’s a great example of how corrupt politicians are, instead of standing there listening to his opponent and even thinking about how he could go against what he is saying, he just stands there laughing. It is amazing how someone could say or stand by the same thing for so many years but no one really listens until you raise your voice and make yourself known. Making people realize that they do not have to choose between the “lesser of two evils” is basically giving them an ultimatum. I completely agree with you on the three failures our country is moving towards. People have lost all hope in the government due to the recession we are in. by Ron Paul giving exact examples that the American people could relate to was a good way for him to try and gain peoples support. We all knew that one day it was eventually going to hit rock bottom again and with the Federal Reserve being able to do what they please made a lot of Americans rethink our government and where we would be heading in the upcoming years. Making people realize that you were right all along has a huge impact on people. Telling them that the economy was going to “crash” and we would fall into a recession and no one wanted to listen or care, then when his predictions came true people started to realize hey maybe this guy does have some valid points. Even though it is pretty much too late by the time most Americans realize this it still gives him high ground to stand on. I think you did a great job on explaining how this photo challenges the status quo.
ReplyDeleteNice choice of topic this week, Ben. The picture definitely speaks volumes about the whole nature of politics in America. It's very unfortunate that individuals like Ron Paul never got the attention deserved. The media's love affair with the new, the hip, and the controversial is in my opinion a real danger to the integrity of our leadership.
ReplyDeleteYou assessment of John McCain's apparent "smugness" in the photo is right on. That smug almost seems to radiate from a false sense of confidence. Did McCain really believe that he had the will power and political fire to win the election? Anyone who supported McCain up to the end would agree - McCain didn't really want to win. He just smugly bantered back-and-forth with the other candidates, including Obama. Ron Paul never wavered one time from his poignant and common sense based message. You are absolutely right, Ben. McCain, and even Clinton and Obama, are the quintessential representation of the status quo.
I had to include Obama in that cast of characters because in fact he is just as “status quo” as all of the others. He speaks well of change, but like most other elected officials, change is slow and incomplete. The status-quo is as much a survival mechanism, it would seem, to ensure that politicians don't do so much as to offend their objectors - but just enough as to not offered their base supporters. They all do it, sadly.
Like you, Ben, I also look forward to more "non conventional" but highly qualified candidates like Ron Paul to step up to the plate this next election. The status quo had to change for the better. Perhaps in 2012 we will all finally get that "change" for the better we believed in so much in 2008.
JM
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