The thing that frustrates me the most about Ron Paul is the support he gets from some I would consider on the left otherwise. I have some close friends that I’ve just had to agree to disagree about Paul, and we just don’t discuss it. In the days of my youth I flirted with the idea of being a libertarian. I mean hey, repealing drug laws is very appealing when your a young pothead, and I’ve always been for ending the MIC and american empire. That flirtation lasted about five minutes when I discovered the extent libertarians would limit the government. There are most definitely libertarians who would shutter agencies like the USDA and the FDA, Paul may be one of them. Now I don’t relish the idea of putting relish tainted with botulism on my hot dog or my hot dog being tainted with ecoli or taking a pill for my headache that gives me a heart attack, so yeah being a libertarian was pretty much a non-starter for me. I try to point out such things to my Paul supporting friends and how dangerous such proposals are and they honestly don’t think he shares such ideologies. So the other night at their latest contest to figure out who has the most extreme bad ideas for America when Paul was asked by Blitzer the hypothetical what if a young healthy man without insurance suddenly falls ill and Paul answered:
That’s what freedom is all about: taking your own risks. This whole idea that you have to take care of everybody…
He couldn’t finish through the thunderous applause. Blitzer continued asking Paul if he thought society should let the young man die and Paul blathered on something about churches, but it’s pretty clear that yes Paul thinks that our society should let him die. I emailed my friends pointing out that they couldn’t possibly support that stance, and they agreed but still support Paul. So when I read this today:
http://gawker.com/5840024/ron-…
at Gawker I was pretty taken aback. This wasn’t a hypothetical question for Paul.
Back in 2008, Kent Snyder – Paul’s former campaign chairman – died of complications from pneumonia.
So the guy who pretty much single handedly put Paul back on the national radar died from complications from pneumonia because he did not have nor could he afford insurance. Needless to say a fresh round of emails went out today, and for Paul to stand there and say what he said with no reflection proves to me he is a cold hearted SOB.
Also the sky is blue and the sun rises in the East.