He says things that politicians don't typically say. The average American politician chants "create jobs" when he orders breakfast.
Paul says things that sound insightful and refreshing on the surface, when heard in terms of a soundbite. Most of his fans don't dig much deeper.
He would be a horrific president, but he's having a positive impact. By speaking his mind and talking about things that don't make it out of the PR machine of the mainstream political parties, he's giving air to important issues.
I agree with most of what you say, but I think your idea of the word 'horrific' is something like running out of milk halfway through filling your bowl of Cheerios.
The media collaborating with the military-industrial-complex to drum up a war on phony pretenses that resulted in the slaughter of more than 100,000 Iraqis is horrific.
Strip searching citizens before they can get from point A to point B is horrific.
The media (both Team Left and Team Right) blatantly conspiring the blackout of a popular politician is horrific.
93 out of 100 senators rubber stamping the indefinite detention and torture of American citizens and declaring the Internet a battlefield is horrific.
A president that would do anything in his power to prevent these things from happening would be Heroic, not Horrific.
A president that would do anything in his power to prevent these things from happening would be Heroic, not Horrific.
If we've reached a time for heroes to be politicians and politicians to be heroes, then we're living in interesting times indeed.
What it means, is that the US and possibly the world economic/geopolitical body as a whole is in a systemic crisis. Heroes can either change the course of the world, or they can be a temporary stopgap. Worse, they can be a throwback to old patterns of thought that no longer work.
I agree with everything other than your first sentence 100%.
A Ron Paul Presidency probably wouldn't be a member of the war-of-the-month club that we've been members of since 2001. But I think he would rapidly discover the limits of Presidential power. A Paul presidency in the current environment would almost certainly lead to economic ruin as markets panic and that military-industrial complex (which employs millions of people) gets turned down. IMO, a Ron Paul administration would be like a second Andrew Johnson administration.
When 93% of Senators (the house of Congress that is supposed to squash bad ideas) are willing to attack fundamental principles of American government, a new president isn't going to have the influence to "save" us.
What Paul CAN do is inspire people. We need people in congress, state houses and county governments who can represent the people, and not just the various special interests that pull the strings.
Paul says things that sound insightful and refreshing on the surface, when heard in terms of a soundbite. Most of his fans don't dig much deeper.
He would be a horrific president, but he's having a positive impact. By speaking his mind and talking about things that don't make it out of the PR machine of the mainstream political parties, he's giving air to important issues.