Who is Ron Paul?

Image via Wikipedia

Dr. Ron Paul was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. He received a B.S. in biology from Gettysburg College in 1957, and finished his medical education at Duke University School of Medicine in 1961. Paul completed an internship at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, then served as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1965. He spent three years in the United States Air National Guard before severing his relationship with the service. In 1968, Paul settled in Texas, starting a private practice in obstetrics and gynaecology, where he regularly refused Medicaid and Medicare assignments, instead, lowering his fees for those patients, and not accept any form of government reimbursement for his services.

Obstinately opposing any government involvement in health care, this attitude has developed into a passion, infecting much of Ron Paul’s constituency, for, when asked by Wolf Blitzer, at the CNN Republican debate, “A healthy young, 30-year-old man has a good job, makes a good living but decides, ‘You know what? I’m not going to spend $200 or $300 a month on health insurance because I’m healthy, I don’t need it.’ But something terrible happens; all of a sudden he needs it. What’s going to happen if he goes into a coma? Who pays for that?” Paul’s answer was, “What he should do is whatever he wants to do,” Paul continued, “That’s what freedom is all about; taking your own risks. This whole idea that you have to prepare to take care of everybody…” Blitzer asked, “Are you saying society should just let him die?” Paul quietly answered, “No…” and the audience roared, “Yes!” and, “Let him die!” The significance is not the insensitivity of the audience, but that Ron Paul, among the other Republican candidates, did not repudiate their remarks.

As a member of Congress, Dr. Ron Paul has drafted substantial abortion related legislation, including the Sanctity of Life Act, intending to negate Roe v. Wade, and he refuses to enroll in a government pension program, to avoid receiving any government money, stating it would be “hypocritical and immoral.”  In addition to opposing Roe v.Wade,  Paul has criticized the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, calling them unconstitutional.  The VRA finally allowed Navajo Code Talkers to vote twenty years after the end of World War II.

Paul has stated he believes that the concept of the separation of church and state is ill used by the courts, in order to strengthen the case of secularism. He opposes capital punishment and believes states should decide whether to regulate or deregulate medical marijuana. Paul has is openly critical of US foreign policy and has  called for the dismantling of all foreign US military bases. He stands for the immediate cessation of all US involvement in any foreign wars and advocates US withdrawal from the United Nations and NATO. Dr. Paul endorses ‘free trade’, and rejects US membership in NAFTA and the WTO, saying these organizations interfere with, and limit free trade. Paul has introduced several bills to apply tax credits to education, especially including credits for parental spending on home school students. Ron Paul is an outspoken critic of public education, agreeing with Ludwig von Mises, that government should not be involved in any way with education.

Paul is a proponent of the Austrian school of economics, staunchly libertarian in his economic views. He regularly votes against any proposals for new or increased government spending. Following Grover Norquist’s lead, he has pledged never to raise taxes. Paul endorses eliminating most federal government agencies, terming them unnecessary and duplicative  bureaucracies. He also advocates the elimination of the Federal Reserve System. He has said he would put the U.S. dollar back on the gold standard the first day he became President.

Aside from being a pro-life gynecologist with experience as a flight surgeon, and a man with extreme, disparate political and economic views, who is Ron Paul? He has been accused of being sexist, as shown by his adamant opposition to women’s rights in reproductive health care. He has been called racist and a white supremacist on multiple occasions, complaints which are substantiated by several of his own remarks, found in his official newsletter. Regarding riots in Los Angeles, Paul stated, “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began,” Speaking about crime, Ron Paul said, “Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the ‘criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black men in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal. Mostly black welfare recipients will feel justified in stealing from mostly white ‘haves.’ America’s number one need is an unlimited white checking account for underclass blacks.”

Paul’s newsletter also has included several attacks on Dr. Martin Luther King. After Martin Luther King Day was named a national holiday, he declared in his newsletter, “What an infamy! Ronald Reagan approved it! We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.” In contrast, the Ron Paul newsletter praised former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, David Duke, “Is David Duke’s new prominence, despite his losing the gubernatorial election, good for anti-big government forces? Our priority should be to take the anti-government, anti-tax, anti-crime, anti-welfare loafers, anti-race privilege, anti-foreign meddling message of Duke, and enclose it in a more consistent package of freedom.”

“I’ve been told not to talk,” Paul persists in his writings, “but these stooges don’t scare me. Threats or no threats, I’ve laid bare the coming race war in our big cities. The federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS (my training as a physician helps me see through this one.) The Bohemian Grove–perverted, pagan playground of the powerful. Skull & Bones: the demonic fraternity that includes George Bush and leftist Senator John Kerry, Congress’s Mr. New Money. The Israeli lobby, which plays Congress like a cheap harmonica.” This last quote is congruent with much of what has been alleged by the John Birch Society, in their paranoia about the “Illuminati”, homophobia, and racism, aligning his mentality so synchronously with theirs, that it is not difficult to understand how he is their champion. In a speech given at the JBS 50th anniversary celebration, John McManus, former John Birch Society president, ended his speech, saying, “If you like Ron Paul, you’ll love the John Birch Society.” Queried about membership in JBS, Paul denied it, saying, “No, I am not a member of the John Birch Society but many members of the John Birch Society are friends of mine and they have been very helpful in my campaign.” At the JBS fiftieth anniversary, Paul was a keynote speaker, and praised the group, saying, “The John Birch Society is a great patriotic organization featuring an educational program solidly based on constitutional principles. I congratulate the Society in this, its fiftieth year. I wish them continued success and endorse their untiring efforts to foster less government, more responsibility, and with God’s help, a better world.”

The John Birch Society idolizes Joe McCarthy and his fondness for guilt by innuendo. As recently as September 22, 2011, JBS still defensively recalled on their website, JBS.org, how noted conservative intellectual, William F. Buckley had ejected JBS from the conservative movement for branding President Dwight D. Eisenhower a communist. Buckley found the concept to be more than absurd. This is an example of how far on the fringe JBS is. They have also been linked to many persons who have belonged to several white supremacist groups, including the Neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan, and White Aryan Resistance. The author of The Turner Diaries, William Pierce, belonged to JBS, as did Bob Mathews and Tom Metzger. It is not surprising that Dr. Paul would find it politically incorrect to openly associate as a member of the John Birch Society, but because of the similarity of his views, would patronize their membership.

Who is Ron Paul? He is a pro-life OB Gyn and former USAF flight surgeon with fragmented, extremist views, a man heavily influenced by the Austrian school of economics and Ayn Rand. He is a bit of a loose cannon, in no way adhering to standard party line. His outspoken racist slant, as seen in his own newsletter, in conjunction with his association to the John Birch Society, make him a rather appalling choice as a candidate for President of the United States.

Related articles

• Why Ron Paul Is Wrong About Impeaching President Obama Over The Killing Of Anwar al-Awlaki (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
• Ron Paul:Obama impeachment a possibility (colonel6.com)
• The Daily Show: Ron Paul (dandelionsalad.wordpress.com)