"I bet there was not a year where we didn't bomb"

He's got a safe bet there, it was an average of once every three days, iirc.

I'll bet this is the first time there's been a conservative who is actually, you know, conservative on national television in at least ten years.

Bombing water treatment plants is "monitoring no-fly zones", yo ho ho ho. Fuck journalism

Wow. It's really appalling that it's considered news for someone to say this.

Ron Paul is one of the more libertarian members of the Party, these are the guys progressives should help to push...

Also too bad that not a single Democrat running for President would have the balls to say what Paul said.

I didn't watch the Democratic debate, but wouldn't Kucinich and Gravel say similar things? Or am I wrong about them?

If Ron Paul got the nomination, I'd have to think very seriously about voting for him, even though I'm sure I'd disagree with him on everything except, well, his views on America going into other countries and destroying them for their own good. But that issue does seem kinda important and topical.

I just read about some of Ron Paul's other positions. Okay, I wouldn't be voting for him. But, darn it, he's right on one extremely important issue where every mainstream politician is wrong.

About 3 minutes in:

"If policy is detrimental and has blowback, then we should change it."

Wow. This was probably stated from the perspective of "detrimental to U.S. interests" rather than "detrimental from a humanitarian perspective", but even so, I am impressed that he would say this. I am equally unimpressed with Guiliani.

I am not a USian, but U.S. politics do matter because the country has far too many people who have no scruples about using military force. This, combined with a lack of oil* and a surplus of nuclear weapons, could spell the end of human civilization Really Soon, unless someone who actually understands the concept of "blowback" wields power to prevent it from happening.

*Relative to demand. The United States is one of the largest producers in the world (#3 on the list), but consuming 3 times as much as you produce is, well, kind of a problem.

About 3 minutes in:

"If policy is detrimental and has blowback, then we should change it."

Wow. This was probably stated from the perspective of "detrimental to U.S. interests" rather than "detrimental from a humanitarian perspective", but even so, I am impressed that he would say this. I am equally unimpressed with Guiliani.

I am not a USian, but U.S. politics do matter because the country has far too many people who have no scruples about using military force. This, combined with a lack of oil* and a surplus of nuclear weapons, could spell the end of human civilization Really Soon, unless someone who actually understands the concept of "blowback" wields power to prevent it from happening.

*Relative to demand. The United States is one of the largest producers in the world (#3 on the list), but consuming 3 times as much as you produce is, well, kind of a problem.

About 3 minutes in:

"If policy is detrimental and has blowback, then we should change it."

Wow. This was probably stated from the perspective of "detrimental to U.S. interests" rather than "detrimental from a humanitarian perspective", but even so, I am impressed that he would say this. I am equally unimpressed with Guiliani.

I am not a USian, but U.S. politics do matter because the country has far too many people who have no scruples about using military force. This, combined with a lack of oil* and a surplus of nuclear weapons, could spell the end of human civilization Really Soon, unless someone who actually understands the concept of "blowback" wields power to prevent it from happening.

*Relative to demand. The United States is one of the largest producers in the world (#3 on the list), but consuming 3 times as much as you produce is, well, kind of a problem.

Ugh. Sorry about that! The link went down for a while, then...

How embarassing. Since I'm here, I'll add one more comment regarding Ron Paul and foreign policy: his website "ronpaul2008.com" states

So called free trade deals and world governmental organizations like the International Criminal Court ... are a threat to our independence as a nation. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites.

The ICC wants to try our soldiers as war criminals.

No, the ICC wants to try some soldiers as war criminals. Where is it written that U.S. soldiers are not capable of war crimes?

As for "unelected foreign elites" - that's a pretty broad brush. e.g. NAFTA transfers power to unelected foreign elites?!? I don't think so. Canada and Mexico have governments that are at least as democratically chosen as U.S. governments, in fact many would argue they are more so - this notion of only two choices in a democracy is bizarre. More to the point, the U.S. has acted in bad faith wrt NAFTA, ignoring the ruling of the NAFTA panel on softwood lumber. Turning around and saying NAFTA has transferred power to foreign elites is more than a little obnoxious. Imagine being a forestry worker in Canada without a job as a result of U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood, being told that the U.S. has suffered a loss of power to foreign elites...

yes he said unelected foreign elites as in the american people did not elect them. it really wasnt hard to understand. ron paul is the closest this nation has had to a thomas jefferson since thomas jefferson. not only that but imports from other countries arent taxed yet our exports are, which is the direct reason for job outsourcing to other nations. nafta,cafta, wto are absolutly no good for americans.

I don't have cable, and the big shock to me in watching this clip was how CNN has to have twelve things going at once while Paul is talking, many of which distracted from him or twisted what he was saying. Just in case you started to accept his explanation about bad U.S. foreign policy, they make sure to run the subtitle "blaming the US for 9/11." And running multiple images of al Qaeda training videos alongside him as he spoke... nothing subliminal about that.

Do they do this for everybody, or are they particularly threatened by Ron Paul? Our media sucks worse than I realized.