Tapsearch Com EditorStrategery suggestions for Ron Paul
June 15th 2007 01:16
Lately I've often made the point that I usually agree with Ron Paul, but that he's been a complete moron in terms of winning people over.
Well, my friend Michael Brendan Dougherty decided that rather than whine about it like I have been, he should propose a solution:
It's a great idea: Appeal to people's growing cynicism about the Middle East, rather than trying to go through complicated theories about blowback, etc.
By Robert VerBruggen
Well, my friend Michael Brendan Dougherty decided that rather than whine about it like I have been, he should propose a solution:
Noninterventionists on the right never tire of pointing out that their policy prescriptions have roots in the Founding Fathers. Paul could learn something from their style, too.
They did not just discuss ideas dispassionately; they popularized them. Washington's farewell address, the driving document of noninterventionists, was meant to be persuasive: "Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?"
In other words, Europeans are crazy; young, innocent America should be wary of entering into their quarrels. You might call this "blame foreigners first isolationism."
...
In the debate, Paul began groping toward this framing of his views by saying, "I think (Ronald) Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics."
...
The basic sentiment informing conservative foreign policy over the past century has been nationalism -- a dogged belief that America's involvement with the world should enhance the security, prosperity and prestige of Americans.
They did not just discuss ideas dispassionately; they popularized them. Washington's farewell address, the driving document of noninterventionists, was meant to be persuasive: "Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?"
In other words, Europeans are crazy; young, innocent America should be wary of entering into their quarrels. You might call this "blame foreigners first isolationism."
...
In the debate, Paul began groping toward this framing of his views by saying, "I think (Ronald) Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics."
...
The basic sentiment informing conservative foreign policy over the past century has been nationalism -- a dogged belief that America's involvement with the world should enhance the security, prosperity and prestige of Americans.
It's a great idea: Appeal to people's growing cynicism about the Middle East, rather than trying to go through complicated theories about blowback, etc.
By Robert VerBruggen
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