Disturbing look at the average uninformed American's opinion of Ron Paul

[jake]

check this thread out at a major internet forum, somethingawful. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3185737&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

A poster simply asks for some feedback on the views and policy of Dr. Paul. Here's a sampling of a few of the replies. almost none are positive toward Paul. the media has really done a number on him..


He's a truther for one. And his plan for fiscal responsibility is to basically dismantle the entire government; getting rid of the department of education, NASA, department of transportation, FDA, etc, etc, etc... He also thinks we should go to the gold standard which is ridiculous and impossible.


Ron Paul is such a massive pile of walking contradictions that I'm surprised he hasn't imploded like a neutron star.


He is the only member of congress who can accurately be described as "Pro-genocide".

That should be all you need to know, and indeed was the point at which many of the forum's more sensible libertarians (oxymoron that it is), abandoned their support of him.

and finally..


I actually wrote up a two-paragraph thing for copy-and-pasting purposes back when Ron Paul was an actual topic. I noticed that if you argue point by point, you can end up in this sort of state where people can go "Oh, okay, so there's points on both sides." But when you point out that:

Ron Paul wants to define life as starting at conception, build a fence along the US-Mexico border, prevent the Supreme Court from hearing cases on the Establishment Clause or the right to privacy, permitting the return of sodomy laws and the like (a bill which he has repeatedly re-introduced), pull out of the UN, disband NATO, end birthright citizenship, deny federal funding to any organisation which "which presents male or female homosexuality as an acceptable alternative life style or which suggest that it can be an acceptable life style" along with destroying public education and social security,, and abolish the Federal Reserve in order to put America back on the gold standard. He was also the sole vote against divesting US federal government investments in corporations doing business with the genocidal government of the Sudan.

Oh, and he believes that the Left is waging a war on religion and Christmas, he's against gay marriage, is against the popular vote, opposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, wants the estate tax repealed, is STILL making racist remarks, believes that the Panama Canal should be the property of the United States, and believes in New World Order conspiracy theories, not to mention his belief that the International Baccalaureate program is UN mind control..

...then it's much more immediately obvious that he is completely insane.


thoughts?

[0zzy]

Sounds like something awful.

[IPSecure]

Sounds like they need some more of that gum'ment edumication...

[Kotin]

the state of the nation always reflects the state of the people.

[BlackTerrel]

I wouldn't necessarily describe those people as the average American.

[Flash]

Pretty dumb hahaha.

[jake]

I wouldn't necessarily describe those people as the average American.

fair enough. but it's still a cross section of people and the thread is disturbing to me.

[Flash]

I like how the first guy complains about Ron Paul getting rid of the Department of Education, then goes on to say the Gold Standard is 'impossible.' Haha.

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

I wouldn't necessarily describe those people as the average American.

You said it. Sites like Something Awful and 4chan have a very specific demographic. They're overwhelmingly populated by intelligent, but very liberal smart asses who also tend toward "geek" culture and atheism. They place their own brand of reason above all else, and use it as a rod of skepticism. They tend to dismiss everyone/everything remotely religious and anything else they disagree with as a conspiracy theory.

[Epic]

I actually wrote up a two-paragraph thing for copy-and-pasting purposes back when Ron Paul was an actual topic. I noticed that if you argue point by point, you can end up in this sort of state where people can go "Oh, okay, so there's points on both sides." But when you point out that:

Ron Paul wants to define life as starting at conception, build a fence along the US-Mexico border, prevent the Supreme Court from hearing cases on the Establishment Clause or the right to privacy, permitting the return of sodomy laws and the like (a bill which he has repeatedly re-introduced), pull out of the UN, disband NATO, end birthright citizenship, deny federal funding to any organisation which "which presents male or female homosexuality as an acceptable alternative life style or which suggest that it can be an acceptable life style" along with destroying public education and social security,, and abolish the Federal Reserve in order to put America back on the gold standard. He was also the sole vote against divesting US federal government investments in corporations doing business with the genocidal government of the Sudan.

Oh, and he believes that the Left is waging a war on religion and Christmas, he's against gay marriage, is against the popular vote, opposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, wants the estate tax repealed, is STILL making racist remarks, believes that the Panama Canal should be the property of the United States, and believes in New World Order conspiracy theories, not to mention his belief that the International Baccalaureate program is UN mind control..

...then it's much more immediately obvious that he is completely insane.



Actually many of those claims are untrue (not against gay marriage because he wants gov. out of marriage, etc.). And the ones that are true are all supported by lengthy statements or columns explaining why he voted that way. Above all, all his votes have been constitutional. And the funny thing is, I never see other individual politicians being criticized for votes on random resolutions.

Oh yeah, and the Sudan thing, it's definitely not constitutional for the US government to discriminate against certain companies based on who they interact with, even if they are interacting with "bad" people.

[Austin]

I wouldn't necessarily describe those people as the average American.

Hahah, that's what I came to here to say..

Still, it's very disheartening to see people that have a complete lack of understanding of why Paul votes the way he does.

Anyone have additional information on this claim?


You're forgetting how he voted against a commemorative coin/medal in honor of Rosa Parks that would fund itself from sales of said item (because the government has no business making money or something) but turns around and proposes selling the same sort of trinket for the boy scouts and then give the profits directly to the Boy Scouts of America. He's not exactly as principled as people claim.

I'm aware of the Parks vote, and I love it.. but I hadn't heard anything about him proposing something similar for another group.

[Scofield]

I wouldn't necessarily describe those people as the average American.

Trust me, the majority of this country follow in their beliefs.

They may not be as crude, but most people would agree with them.

[satchelmcqueen]

my thoughts are the same as always. when someone doesnt understand paul and gets his stance totally wrong, its because they have NEVER bothered to look into him themselves.

a few of my friends were pissed that there was "no one to vote for" last election. i told them for months to check out some paul vids on youtube. they never did. all they could do was complain. never once did they bother to spend 3 minutes watching paul speak. so many of the claims these people made, just being so wrong, shows they have never even heard paul speak on these issues, or else they would know for a fact that the claims are wrong. paul is the easiest guy to understand IMO IF you listen.

[Zeeder]

We are a vast minority. And Sadly, we are the only opposition to the establishment.

If the Average American understood Ron Paul's positions, or libertarian positions in general, this country wouldn't be in the mess it's in. Economics and the constitution would be taught in school etc.......

Those posts are exactly the responses I receive on other boards. I know lots of people here like to be positive, but really, we are grasping at straws that are on fire.

The Free State Project is the only thing i've seen that might bring liberty in my lifetime. That or a total collapse of the currency.

After talking to average people daily, and on other boards...........I'm actually hoping for a currency collapse. It might even be affecting my normally very logical brain, I want it more with every welfare mama, bankster bailout, foreign aid wasting, gun control wanting, tax raising story I hear about. I want them to suffer for abandoning liberty, common sense, and the simple tenant of Minding your own business.

[Eric21ND]

You said it. Sites like Something Awful and 4chan have a very specific demographic. They're overwhelmingly populated by intelligent, but very liberal smart asses who also tend toward "geek" culture and atheism. They place their own brand of reason above all else, and use it as a rod of skepticism. They tend to dismiss everyone/everything remotely religious and anything else they disagree with as a conspiracy theory.
A great many atheists support Ron Paul I'll have you know. :mad:

[mczerone]

my thoughts are the same as always. when someone doesnt understand paul and gets his stance totally wrong, its because they have NEVER bothered to look into him themselves.

a few of my friends were pissed that there was "no one to vote for" last election. i told them for months to check out some paul vids on youtube. they never did. all they could do was complain. never once did they bother to spend 3 minutes watching paul speak. so many of the claims these people made, just being so wrong, shows they have never even heard paul speak on these issues, or else they would know for a fact that the claims are wrong. paul is the easiest guy to understand IMO IF you listen.

This is where "the average American" really is, IMHO.

But then there is a loud, crude, and militant opposition that only can parrot that Paul is a racist or a pro-lifer or homophobe, and they never bother to look beyond the first thing they hear spouted off about him on a message board. On some sites adversaries set up alerts to forum posts about Paul so they could run opposition, either out of personal zeal or as a political service.

And the rest simply need to believe that making the government involved with something makes it free, efficient, and responsive to consumer demands and can't fathom why he doesn't support federal favors for schools, space, medicine, minorities, medical research, foreign aid, charity, giving economic decisions over to popular vote, or whatever.

These people wish to force their solutions onto all of us, whether we agree partly or in total or not at all with them, whether or not we see them as subjectively good, and whether or not we think there may be a better solution. And if you refuse to go along with their plan, you are labeled the problem.

[Bergie Bergeron]

He named is kid after Ayn Rand though, so I guess that's worth something.
Jeez, could someone register on this forum and educate them?!

[RonPaulVolunteer]

Jeez, could someone register on this forum and educate them?!

You never will... pearls before swine... Focus on the open-minded. We already waste too much energy on the "lost".

[SLSteven]

Anyone have additional information on this claim?



I'm aware of the Parks vote, and I love it.. but I hadn't heard anything about him proposing something similar for another group.

Rosa Parks:

This was a voice vote so no record of individual votes.

http://www.coinnews.net/coin-legislation/hr-2040-civil-rights-act-of-1964-commemorative-coin-act/


all surcharges which are received by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to carry out the purposes of the Fund, including providing scholarships and internships for minority students and operating funds and technology enhancement services for 39 member historically black colleges and universities.

Boy Scouts:

Paul was a co-sponsor and voted for the act

http://www.coinnews.net/coin-legislation/hr-5872-boy-scouts-of-america-centennial-commemorative-coin-act/#RollCall


all surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be paid to the National Boy Scouts of America Foundation, which funds will be made available to local councils in the form of grants for the extension of Scouting in hard to serve areas.

[Austin]

Rosa Parks:

This was a voice vote so no record of individual votes.

http://www.coinnews.net/coin-legislation/hr-2040-civil-rights-act-of-1964-commemorative-coin-act/



Boy Scouts:

Paul was a co-sponsor and voted for the act

http://www.coinnews.net/coin-legislation/hr-5872-boy-scouts-of-america-centennial-commemorative-coin-act/#RollCall

Maybe I'm missing something here, but why did he choose one over the other?

[RM918]

I wouldn't really compare awarding someone a gold medal with minting coins, though I am interested in the reasoning behind it.

[RP4EVER]

its quite simple....look at where the profits would go.

One would go to a race specific cause the other to a group that everyone is allowed to use.

[coyote_sprit]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but why did he choose one over the other?

Because people were still paying full value for the coins(kept by the treasury) and then some(which went to boy scouts of America) so the government technically wasted no money in producing it, whereas they got no return on the free Rosa Parks medal.

[speciallyblend]

you can thank the gop leadership in helping marginalize Ron Paul in the primarys, most of the talking points against Ron paul were created by the gop national/state leadership!

everyone should call the gop offices and thank them from the heart!!

[jonathans]

doesn't the constitution allow the fedgov to mint coins?

bet it doesn't say anything about medals.........