ronpaulitician
10-05-2007, 10:41 AM
Car's in repair shop, which sucks, as I had just planned on making a big splash to Paul's campaign fund.
Had it towed after work.
"Who is Ron Paul? Is he a Democrat?" two truck guy asked, after having put my car on the flatbed. (I have 5 stickers on back, two on front, and two on each side.)
"No, he's a Republican. He's the one that wants us out of Iraq."
"Is he the older guy, with the white hair?"
"Yup, that's the one. The tall and skinny guy."
Turns out this guy is from Iran. "Going into Iraq was the biggest mistake this country ever made," he told me. "That Bush guy is crazy in the head. His father knew we shouldn't have gone in. All we had to do is contain the guy. He was no threat to us. Now we're stuck in this mess."
He also said that he believed that, if we wanted to, we could get bin Laden, but that we've struck some kind of deal with the royal Saudi family, and are basically doing to bin Laden what we should've been doing with Saddam: just keeping him contained.
Then he told me that we cannot leave Iraq until we've installed the next brutal dictator. "It will become a terrorist breeding ground if we leave now." How long will we have to stay there then, I asked. "Too long. Decades, perhaps. Iraqis are crazy. The whole Middle East is crazy, especially Pakistan and Iraq. Iran is no threat."
I shifted the conversation to our financial situation. "China has us by the balls," he said. I explained how we're tens of trillions in debt, said something about China's "nuclear option", pointed out how the US dollar is now trading on par with the Canadian dollar. My aim was to argue that although pulling out may result in something bad, not pulling out will result in something even worse: a bankrupt US.
The problem was that I think I came off as pretty knowledgable about the Middle East (I was often able to complete his sentences when he had trouble finding the right word/name. I knew about Hamas and Hezbollah, and how they're basically at war with one another. I knew a bit about our involvement in the regime change in Iran. I knew plenty about the background of Saddam.), which made him talk and talk and talk, never really allowing me to make my point that we soon may no longer be in a position to decide whether or not we want to keep our troops in Iraq, because we wouldn't have the financial resources. Worse, there'd be little left to defend here at home.
He said George Bush (sr) was the best president we have had in recent history. He seemed to like Clinton as well. He said the country wasn't ready yet for a female president, or for a black president. "Giuliani is a gentleman," he said just after lowering my car off of the flatbed. "People really like him." I had mentioned earlier on in our conversation that I believed the GOP frontrunners (except Paul) are all looking forward to a war with Iran. At this point of the conversation though, I didn't want to ruin the positive image I hoped he had gotten of a Paul supporter, so I let it go and wished him a safe trip home.
I did walk away somewhat confused at an Iranian who does not believe Iran to be a threat supporting Giuliani. He also liked McCain ("Who's that other guy? No, not Romney. No, not Thompson. Yes, McCain."), but I told him about McCain's fundraising number, which seemed to convince him that McCain was no longer a real contender. I don't think he had even heard of Romney. The name Thompson also didn't seem to ring a bell.
Not a success story, but thought it interesting nonetheless.
Had it towed after work.
"Who is Ron Paul? Is he a Democrat?" two truck guy asked, after having put my car on the flatbed. (I have 5 stickers on back, two on front, and two on each side.)
"No, he's a Republican. He's the one that wants us out of Iraq."
"Is he the older guy, with the white hair?"
"Yup, that's the one. The tall and skinny guy."
Turns out this guy is from Iran. "Going into Iraq was the biggest mistake this country ever made," he told me. "That Bush guy is crazy in the head. His father knew we shouldn't have gone in. All we had to do is contain the guy. He was no threat to us. Now we're stuck in this mess."
He also said that he believed that, if we wanted to, we could get bin Laden, but that we've struck some kind of deal with the royal Saudi family, and are basically doing to bin Laden what we should've been doing with Saddam: just keeping him contained.
Then he told me that we cannot leave Iraq until we've installed the next brutal dictator. "It will become a terrorist breeding ground if we leave now." How long will we have to stay there then, I asked. "Too long. Decades, perhaps. Iraqis are crazy. The whole Middle East is crazy, especially Pakistan and Iraq. Iran is no threat."
I shifted the conversation to our financial situation. "China has us by the balls," he said. I explained how we're tens of trillions in debt, said something about China's "nuclear option", pointed out how the US dollar is now trading on par with the Canadian dollar. My aim was to argue that although pulling out may result in something bad, not pulling out will result in something even worse: a bankrupt US.
The problem was that I think I came off as pretty knowledgable about the Middle East (I was often able to complete his sentences when he had trouble finding the right word/name. I knew about Hamas and Hezbollah, and how they're basically at war with one another. I knew a bit about our involvement in the regime change in Iran. I knew plenty about the background of Saddam.), which made him talk and talk and talk, never really allowing me to make my point that we soon may no longer be in a position to decide whether or not we want to keep our troops in Iraq, because we wouldn't have the financial resources. Worse, there'd be little left to defend here at home.
He said George Bush (sr) was the best president we have had in recent history. He seemed to like Clinton as well. He said the country wasn't ready yet for a female president, or for a black president. "Giuliani is a gentleman," he said just after lowering my car off of the flatbed. "People really like him." I had mentioned earlier on in our conversation that I believed the GOP frontrunners (except Paul) are all looking forward to a war with Iran. At this point of the conversation though, I didn't want to ruin the positive image I hoped he had gotten of a Paul supporter, so I let it go and wished him a safe trip home.
I did walk away somewhat confused at an Iranian who does not believe Iran to be a threat supporting Giuliani. He also liked McCain ("Who's that other guy? No, not Romney. No, not Thompson. Yes, McCain."), but I told him about McCain's fundraising number, which seemed to convince him that McCain was no longer a real contender. I don't think he had even heard of Romney. The name Thompson also didn't seem to ring a bell.
Not a success story, but thought it interesting nonetheless.