The Chink In Ron Paul

To the protests against building a mosque near Ground Zero the libertarian/Republican Senator insists:

This is all about hate and Islamaphobia.

Say what?

Actually, he elaborated a whole lot more. Read his full statement.

The sad thing is, he's 90% correct. But being right isn't a *comprehensive solution*. Sometimes more is required.

If your life partner is obese, do you come right out and yell, "YOU ARE FAT!" ???

Or might you first see that there's less junk food around the house, more fruit on the table? Mightn't you suggest going for walks more or conspicuously exercise yourself to set an example?

The fact is, we have many political problems and injustices in America. Fighting a mosque in Lower Manhattan may be hypocritical for otherwise self-styled Constitutionalists. It may be used as a propaganda piece to fuel existing unjust wars (though that seems a stretch, IMO). And it may do nothing at all to make the country safer from terrorists.

But Paul fails to be *sensitive* to the frustration of the populace. Ironically, he's using this inarticulate, politically charged protest to toot his own idealistic horn. He's demagoguing the demagogues - "look at me, I'm more consistent than all those partisans!"

Yeah, he's consistently a bit of an impractical loon on matters of foreign affairs.

For example, instead of just standing up and saying:

"Hey, at $500 billion a year, the military is just way too large and there's no way to check its self-multiplying growth. Being as big as it is, it's inherently prone to abuse - to creating powerful vested interests AND to seeking out unnecessary conflict....I propose we reduce it by 30% right off the top."

Instead of taking that simple, reasoned approach to the populace, Ron Paul, the ethno-sociologist, stands up and yells:

"THAT'S WHY THEY HATE US!"

Ron Paul unnecessarily Marginalizes himself - and for that we all suffer.