|
Bridgeburner
Not spiritual at all.




Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 20,010
|
Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says
#7436770 - 09/21/07 02:05 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070921/NEWS06/70921020/1001/RSS01
If elected president, Texas congressman Ron Paul said he would change drug laws to free non-violent offenders from prison.
“Mandated lifetime sentences are insane,” he said during an interview Friday with the Free Press editorial board. “I’d release them. I’d pardon them.”
The Republican presidential candidate, who used to be a Libertarian, also would work to extract the federal government from the medical marijuana debate by allowing state laws to stand unfettered.
By freeing up law enforcement from chasing down drug users and non-violent drug dealers, Paul said they could spend more time looking for rapists, murderers and child molesters.
“And look at how much money we spend on paying police to sit in toilet stalls,” he said, referring to the sting operation that snagged U.S. Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho in a Minneapolis Airport men’s room.
Paul’s views are the polar opposite of most Republican presidential candidates. He firmly believes that the United States should pull its troops out of Iraq as soon as possible and drastically curtail spending overseas.
“If they (the Republican Party) don’t change their foreign policy, they have zero chance of winning next year,” he said.
Even though he trails badly in the polls and is enormously outmatched by the front running Republicans in fundraising, Paul said he feels support for his candidacy growing.
“I have no idea where it’s going, but something really unique is going on,” he said, citing the crowd of 1,200 people he attracted recently in California.
He was on his way Friday to the Michigan Republican Party’s Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island. He hasn’t always gotten a polite reception from the state party. Saul Anuzis led an effort earlier this year to try and get Paul pulled from GOP debates because of his libertarian views.
“Mackinac will be a test for us. But we might have a dozen supporters there and we might have a couple of dozen supporters up there and they will be excited,” he said.
--------------------
|
Robo
R Series 66Y
Registered: 05/08/07
Posts: 14,861
|
Re: Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says [Re: Bridgeburner]
#7436800 - 09/21/07 02:13 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Paul seems to have his moral beliefs prioritized fairly well, seems like a good guy. (Until he gets into office, of course)
|
Alion



Registered: 08/14/07
Posts: 462
|
Re: Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says [Re: Robo]
#7437120 - 09/21/07 03:21 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
if only it could happen....!
I expect him to be overshadowed by the clinton/obama shit...and he'll just be one of those 'vote pullers'
|
usg543
◕‿◕


Registered: 02/11/07
Posts: 5,192
|
Re: Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says [Re: Alion]
#7437141 - 09/21/07 03:25 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
im voting ron paul
|
stew248
Stranger


Registered: 09/28/02
Posts: 1,730
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
|
Re: Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says [Re: Bridgeburner]
#7437486 - 09/21/07 05:00 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Ron Paul is awesome. But the fact is he won't get elected by his party. They have nothing but contempt for him. But he is the only one in both parties, though i may disagree with him on some things, that is telling the truth. But I'm for socialized health care, socialized roads, socialized police and fire, socialized school, socialized library, and socialized army. But in America we call all those things "public" (ie public library, public schools) except health care. Health care will always be socialized medicine. You call something public when its an necessity. But you call it socialism when your trying to scare the piss out of people who don't know any better.
--------------------
|
pokermush
Waterboardingmyself toprotect America!


Registered: 09/17/06
Posts: 475
Loc: Utah
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
|
Re: Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says [Re: stew248]
#7437590 - 09/21/07 05:25 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
I like a few of his ideas (like legalizing pot, obviously), but mostly the guy scares me when I think of him running the country. I see in RP as an extreme idealogue, very stubborn, and one who doesn't feel the need to justify himself or his actions to anyone else. The same traits that have made Bush such a disaster. The only difference between a RP presidency and the Bush presidency is which issues get FUBAR.
He talks about how the government shouldn't be telling us what to do, then at the same time thinks it's A-OK to force all health insurance cover magical treatments like homeopathy and accupuncture, which will make everyone's rates skyrocket. It also implies that he doesn't think it's important for the government to oversee testing and validating new medicines and treatments. Not only should the gullible guy down the street have access to magic snake oil (and the huckster can make any claims he wants), but he thinks you and I should buy it for him via our insurance rates.
Capitalizing on the Iraq disaster, he's painted himself as a president who would err on the side of inaction and ignorance when the US is threatened. We don't need to overreact to situations, but what happens outside our borders affects us dramatically, and we can't afford to not be involved or take approprate action when necessary. And "when necessary" starts long before a nuclear device is detonated in New York harbor. Ron Paul style isolationism swings the pendulum way too far the other way.
In the end, I think the thing that bothers me most is this attitude of "my extremist interpretation of the constitution should trump common sense". In that regard, Ron Paul as president would be the same as no president at all. The constitution is great, but it should never be used to defend or justify stupidity (like eliminating the FDA as we know it).
Having said all that, I really like seeing him out on the campaign trail stirring things up, asking tough questions, and challenging everyone else's actions. I just couldn't support his as president.
|
pabloescabar
Stranger thanyou



Registered: 05/02/07
Posts: 383
Last seen: 15 years, 2 months
|
Re: Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says [Re: pokermush]
#7437737 - 09/21/07 06:10 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
I like Mike Gravel and Ron Paul because they don't sugar coat piles of shit like all the other candidates do. Even if I didn't agree with someone I still have respect for them for telling the truth and speaking there minds. It's just insane how many people can get conned into believing what alot of politicians say. I think the fact that there are record numbers of college students that eventually the majority of the US will realize that we are all being used for capital and political gain. Hope that makes sense
--------------------
|
Bridgeburner
Not spiritual at all.




Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 20,010
|
Re: Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says [Re: pabloescabar]
#7437849 - 09/21/07 06:41 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
i see the super mario brothers running the country. does NOT scare me.
--------------------
|
Puck
Stranger



Registered: 08/01/07
Posts: 55
Last seen: 15 years, 7 months
|
Re: Get troops out of Iraq, let states decide marijuana issue, GOP candidate says [Re: Bridgeburner]
#7438375 - 09/21/07 09:32 PM (16 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Call me an extremist but I support Ron Paul on all grounds. Limiting federal power has been excluded from our governmental decisions for quite some time, and I am a firm believer (now more than ever with what's going on in our markets and economy) that our constitution and bill of rights were set in place to protect us, and that is what we should be firmly sticking to. It would make this country a much more interesting place to live.
Between the FEMA camps, the USA Patriot Act, the RFID chip, and the possibility that American Sovereignty could be completely destroyed with the formation of the North American Union and the Amero, all of the freedoms that this country have been based on are being taken away for our "national security"...which is complete and utter bullshit.
I have been heavily campaigning for Ron Paul in three different counties in my state, I've been going to the state wide campaign meetings and I believe that a genuine, truthful person that sticks to his grounds would make an excellent candidate.
Between abolishing the Federal Reserve and the IRS, returning us to the gold standard so our currency has actual value instead of imaginary value, his Iraq Exit Strategy, his stances on both foreign and domestic policy, and his stance on limiting the Federal Government's power and bringing decision making back to the states, I believe that he would change this country for the better. Sure, it would take some getting used to, but I believe that he would make an excellent president. In fact the first excellent president we've had in decades, possibly a full century.
I had the opportunity of meeting him just last week, and I listened closely to every question he was asked and his responses to all of them. He is a honest, genuine man and he would make a great president in my opinion.
-------------------- “Watching television is like taking black spray paint to your third eye.”-Bill Hicks
|
|