I swear it's so ironic you guys lambast liberals for worshipping Obama, when you Paulites are the real blind followers.
Look, I used to like Obama a lot and considered him a great president, a very intelligent man who would know and
do what was correct. He had the chance to change so much in Washington, only to screw it. I was not even expecting him to become a strictly constitutional president. I just wanted him to do some obvious basic stuff already there in the liberal platform. Stuff already there in his stomp speeches, in his campaign. Stuff like:
- Zero corporatism...
Yet he... relied on the failed and false advices of Greenspan, Summers, Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke, putting them at the helm of his economic policy... bailed-out many failed financial conglomerates, accelerating inflation and the deficit dramatically... did nothing to repeal Bush's Medicaid and Medicare's act, allowing Big Pharma and privileged HMO's to continue their reign... was undoubtedly too soft on BP and let them go with a 20 million fine when he signs YEARLY on "stimulus" plans of
billions...
- Complete transparency in Washington...
Yet he... didn't support an audit of the Federal Reserve... devised follow-up plans on his Wall Street bailouts that left his regulatory agencies blind and unaware of where all the money went to... pushed for the 'closed-doors' Supercommittee... signed bills that weren't disclosed to the public first (like he promised during his campaign)...
- Respect civil liberties...
Yet he... did not push for a repeal of the Patriot Act... was exposed by Wikileaks on UN wiretapping... did not destroy the Homeland Security Department... was lukewarm on his support of gay rights...
- Raise taxes on the richest 1%...
He didn't. He cut their taxes instead...
- End the wars...
Yet he... didn't... and he expanded troops in Afghanistan... and he went to another military strike in Libya, a bomb raid in Yemen, a mid-size intervention in Somalia, all undeclared by Congress...
- Be impervious to Washington lobbysts...
Yet he... did nothing to help public education reformer combat gridlocks devised by the Teacher's Union... extended several expensive military industry contracts, even paying more private military groups to secure hotbeds in Afghanistan... and don't even get me started on the corporate welfare bailouts.
So, yeah, I want a guy with an outstanding record of being consistent with his views. I don't agree with Ron Paul on every single issue, but at least the guy is illuminating on his views and has changed my stance on many different things. I've read different libertarian authors (who, by the way, are called 'liberals' in Europe and Latin America) and I've come to understand the logic, the goal and the process of many libertarian views. That's something I didn't have with Obama. I didn't check his record. I just checked his rethoric. Excuse me if I support a guy who
radically stands apart in Washington (which is undeniable).
I don't agree with him 100%, but he does not agree with himself a 100% either... he doesn't want most federal programs, but he knows many people depend on them and wants a gradual phase-out that will definitely outlast his terms. He opposes abortion personally, but is strongly against any mandate on the subject on a federal level. He also believes that marriage should be between a man and woman but does not agree on dictating that view on a Federal level. He does not suggest marijuana use yet he strongly supports its legalization.
He just says what is his personal view on the matter, not what his policies will be. And that is something to admire. A democratic president is not an enforcer. Cannot be an enforcer.
And while on the matter, he is the only candidate, INCLUDING Obama, who has a clue on what the enumerated powers tell him what he can and cannot do, and respects his audience enough to be candid about it instead of filling balloons of empty promises. He is the only guy with a detailed and realistic plan:
http://www.yaliberty.org/yar/plan-for-a-freedom-president
Come on. Even you must know that the clues are overwhelming: guys like this come once in a lifetime. A guy with convictions strong enough to not play the usual game of politics, even when it can cost him an election? A guy who is willing to educate the public on his unorthodox views? A guy who
actually combats special interests and has an experience of thirty years in doing so? ... Of course his supporters are crazy about him! Really!
Look, my favourite president of all time is FDR. I wouldn't want to see his grandest creation, Social Security, cut. But I do want to see it saved, and needs great reform, even discouraging people of depending so much on it. America is stagnating and needs to be shaken off dependency on the government, because we all have seen the government can't fix this. The government needs to get out of the way and just let people work in a free market, non-corporate environment. Paul has been smart and sensible enough in saying he won't cut everything in a day, because people depend on it. And if seniors are intelligent enough, they will listen. If not... well, there probably won't be a Social Security to save.