I hadn't heard of Ron Paul until I saw this video, which I happened on from your comment on Rootless Cosmopolitan. I am astounded this man is a member of Congress, a politician and a Republican. Of course, being forthright has its pitfalls. As far as I can tell the knives are already out, and the sharpening is audible: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDBkMzQ2MTJmOTFmZWM4NjJhYjg3MTY1MzRhMGU0Y2Y=

It is amazing, isn't it? I can't say I'd agree with Paul on much else, but I don't think I've even heard (say) Kucinich being anywhere near this frank. You've got to respect him for it -- particularly since, as you point out, the Giant Smear Machine will obviously come after him full force.

I have to say I certainly like a lot of what Ron Paul says on Iraq, I had no idea that there was such a thing as a sane politician. I am going to have to find out more about him and I may have to change my mind about writing in Daffy Duck come November.

I may have to change my mind about writing in Daffy Duck come November.

As a longtime Donald supporter, I hereby ban you from this site.

Not fair, not fair! I am a victim of Donald Duck-ism.

Ron Paul, like a lot of other libertarians, is absolutely correct about Iraq, causes of 9/11 and many other foreign policy issues.

Unfortunately Ron Paul, like a lot of other libertarians, is a total nutcase in regards to pretty much everything else.

Go figure.

I agree with abb1 concerning libertarians who I view as among the most selfish people on the planet, we have already seen what anarchy is like in Iraq and no one in their right mind would want any part of that. I guess it is back to Daffy, whoops, I mean Donald Duck.

As a libertarian I fully support Ron Paul. He has a record that is consistent with his rhetoric.

Let's hope he can shake some of the neo-cons out of the GOP.

I went to the Libertarian website and found the following:

“Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.”

http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml

The problem I have with this is I just do not believe this is a great idea. Slashing regulation of business is exactly the kind of thing that leads to illegal wars like the one in Iraq. Once you deregulate we usually discover why the regulations were put in place in the first place. By allowing corporate America to have undue power over the government, just as it does now, or I should say become the government, is not the answer rather it is part the problem though certainly not the only one.

I agree both the republican and democrat parties suck but I just don’t believe the libertarian party is the answer.

Rob: That's 'Democratic Party'. You don't have to join or respect them. You do have to respect the English language.

Thanks for the correction.

mind that this is campaign material and the audience reaction can be edited. are they lying? no, probably not, but, it is video, not reality.

i have anarchist friends and libertarian friends. both have giant blind spots. the anarchists believe people will give up economic power with a sense of relief and the libertarians believe that economic power does not corrupt. it's sort of the same mistake, but the libertarians don't end up distributing power at all, so they're more wrong.

Go Ron Paul

ROB: I dont say this with animosity, but I think you have been sucked into the same trap that both corporations and government wants you to fall into. The more regulated the business, the closer it is to government; the closer a business is to government, the more likely it will receive special interest, or the government turning a blind eye to what said business is doing.

Non-regulation does not mean "free-for-all"; but rather anyone is free to do anything as long as it does not negatively impact anyone else. All of your worries (same worries here, especially with this corporatist Prez and current gov) would be negated if governments removed the state sanctioned protection over their wrong actions that corporations currently enjoy.

Please read up on classical liberalism, both the economic and social ethics in which it is rooted. Once you get into it, you will see that libertarians are much less "corporatist" than even the most liberal of liberal congressmen in the democratic party. Many libertarians contend that corporations would not even exist, at least at their current level, in a completely free market.

@ rob payne

While libertarians favor deregulation of business, they favor doing away with government subsidized business. It is not the fact that we have a laisezz-faire system (because we don't) that we are in Iraq. Think about it. Corporations buy out politicians. That is why we are in Iraq. Much of our government is illegal and unconstitutional. Our government is being ran by corporations. To remedy this problem, we should separate government from business. Eliminate socialism and restore free market capitalism. Now if businesses commit crimes, the individuals involved should be punished. We need to do away with the practice of incorporation, which is basically government sanctioned business.