PDA

View Full Version : Ron Paul and 'the Troops'




TexMac
09-03-2011, 07:13 AM
Very impressive blog post at The American Thinker. Here are the last two paragraphs:


Paul does not repel the troops as much as Hannity might assume. Like Thoreau and Socrates, Paul speaks to the young and creative mind. When Thoreau writes in Walden that not one of the people reading his pages has yet lived a full life, who else sees this as a compliment but a young, creative person with rich dreams for the future? Young, energetic, and idealistic, the Paulists rally behind him the same way that an eighth-grader can read Walden's closing line that "the sun is but an evening star" and find the line invigorating rather than platitudinous.
Today's recruits come to Basic Training having had years of full access to the internet. They signed up, usually, after researching their MOS and bargaining with recruiters to get the assignment they wanted. They were in second or third grade when 9/11 happened. They have youthful idealism but not regarding the wars, which they view skeptically or even cynically. The things Ron Paul says about American imperialism and the war machine connect with them. So conservatives should leave their stereotypes about "pro-defense" Republican rhetoric and its appeal to the troops in the dustbin of history. Whatever Ron Paul represents, it is a force that is not going to disappear.



Read it all. (http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/09/ron_paul_and_the_troops.html)

willwash
09-03-2011, 07:26 AM
Just look at donation statistics. Game, set and match.

TexMac
09-03-2011, 08:24 AM
True, but this analysis of the why is something I've not read before.


Republicans will also read military policy wrong if they fall back on parallels and analogies. When asked about Afghanistan, Santorum relies on his bona-fides as a holdover from the neoconservative golden age (what a terrible idea), while others like Bachmann regurgitate the usual line about listening to commanders on the ground. They are all relying on the enlisted troops to view the cheerleaders for war favorably and despise leftist hippie pacifists. That old constellation is gone now. Enlisted soldiers do not find the classic Republican "support the war effort" rhetoric magnetic, nor are they allergic to pacifism. Most Republicans who serve with me favor Ron Paul. In fact, I have taken a beating on Facebook from military folks who hate my resistance to Paul's rhetoric.

Very encouraging!

newbitech
09-03-2011, 08:46 AM
nice comments section.

The comment from the marine may have been true in the months and years just after 9/11. I was in the same mindset then too, several of my friends decided to join so they could could kick some ass in the desert. It was a true cattle call for the military and years of first person shooter exposure from the video game market had lots of people who went to HS in the mid-late 90's ready to fight the good fight.

I seriously doubt that attitude continues to exist and we won't see that kind of barbaric spirit in this country for a long time, or until some foolish military dictator decides to attack the USA with boots on the ground.

9/11 was all about timing, and it was timed perfectly if the intent was to stir up a bees nest and have all the bees abandon the hive so someone could come in and steal the honey.

Bruno
09-03-2011, 09:11 AM
nice comments section.

The comment from the marine may have been true in the months and years just after 9/11. I was in the same mindset then too, several of my friends decided to join so they could could kick some ass in the desert. It was a true cattle call for the military and years of first person shooter exposure from the video game market had lots of people who went to HS in the mid-late 90's ready to fight the good fight.

I seriously doubt that attitude continues to exist and we won't see that kind of barbaric spirit in this country for a long time, or until some foolish military dictator decides to attack the USA with boots on the ground.

9/11 was all about timing, and it was timed perfectly if the intent was to stir up a bees nest and have all the bees abandon the hive so someone could come in and steal the honey.

+ 1

Libertea Party
09-03-2011, 11:09 AM
American Thinker is usually very neocon and anti-Paul. Kudos to them though, they do allow an unabashed pro-Paul article a couple times a month.