A lot of mainstream conservatives seem to have a beef with Rand Paul. Mostly, it involves the only issue that seems to matter to "conservatives" these days ... nation-building.
Here's an example:
Rand Paul Wonders Whether 9/11 Was America's Fault
According to the article, when Grayson offered the quotes from Paul, which Alessi characterizes as Rand Paul "paraphrasing his father", Paul's response was that the terror attacks were not justified. In other words, he doesn't deny his stated position that our foreign policy caused the attacks. He only denies that the attacks were justified.
Actually, Rand Paul's foreign policy positions differ from his fathers, but that's besides the point. In this post, I want to focus on the following 2 things:
- The "it's America's fault" mantra
- Is Trey Grayson conservative?
"It's America's fault" Mantra
Government policies have consequences. Right? Higher taxes hurt economic growth, excessive regulations hurt economic growth, the Democrat's just passed health care scheme, is going to have a plethora of negative consequences. Are we in agreement so far?
Okay, then why would we believe that the government's foreign policy couldn't possibly have any negative consequences?
Let's look at this the other way. When you complain about the negative consequences of high taxation for example, are you saying "it's America's fault?" What about protesting against the new socialized health care scheme? Does protesting mean you're saying "it's America's fault?"
Of course not. It's our American heritage to question everything the government does. The government is not America. Look, I've made it clear countless times I think our foreign policy is foolish. Am I "blaming America first?" Of course not.
In fact, many prominent conservatives have been against or turned against the wars, including William F. Buckley, Russell Kirk, Robert Novak, George Will, and Pat Buchanan among many others. Are they all saying "it's America's fault?" Nope.
It's time to stop this nonsensical talk. Please.
COMMISSAR FRUM: smears antiwar conservatives
Is Trey Grayson Conservative?
23 GOP Senators to host September Event for Trey Grayson: 18 out of the 22 Senators hosting the $500 per plate fundraiser voted in favor of TARP.
Dick Cheney's Establishment Endorsement: Cheney of course, was GWB's cohort in the biggest expansion of government since LBJ! Last I checked, expanding government wasn't a conservative value.
Is KY GOP Senatorial Candidate Trey Grayson a Closet RINO?: Mitch “GOP could back stimulus” McConnell who has endorsed Trey Grayson, sure isn't a conservative (in any meaningful sense of the word).
Grayson shouldn't oversee election: Trey Grayson plans to count the votes in his own election. Okay, "oversee" the election results. Sounds like an ACORN move to me.
Trey Grayson Quote: “We have to rid ourselves of private ownership of the economy.” Yes, he really said it!
Trey Grayson was the keynote speaker on global warming as part of the National Focus the Nation: What's the big deal? The Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for Focus the Nation is none other than Van Jones.
Trey Grayson Quote: “Remember, it’s the government’s money. It’s not your money!” Again, he really did say it!
The Aspen Institute: A George Soros left-wing ATM machine of which Trey Grayson is a member of its 2005 Inaugural Class.
Trey Grayson’s Socialist Scheme: Trey Grayson joined Democrat Jonathan Miller to co-found the “Cradle-to-College” commission.
Conservatives, do you want another establishment Republican, or a man committed to constitutional limits on government? The choice is yours.
If you support constitutional limits on power, Vote Rand Paul!
"It's time to stop this nonsensical talk. Please."
You're right about that, but for the wrong reasons.
Listen, United States foreign policy has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with how we are viewed by the Arab and Muslim world. Nothing. Period. Nothing we do or do not do matters. People need to stop with that nonsense and right quick. The longer we persist in any such thinking the longer it will take us to figure out that this war is never going away.
For 1300 years the Muslims have been at war with anybody and everybody they consider "infidels". They've been at war with us in one way or another since before the ink was dry on the Constitution. Were we nation-building in 1787? Did we have bases in the "holy land" in 1860? Are you kidding me?
The libertarian take on this issue is simply uninformed, or at least it does not take into account the FACT that we are "infidels" whether we pull out of the middle east entirely, stay there for security, nation-building or whatever. It does....not....matter. Nothing we do matters. You have to understand this.
So no, Ron Paul and his son are both wrong. United States foreign policy does not influence the Muslim's view of us or their actions towards us in the slightest, nor could it. Every time Osama bin Laden or someone else uses that 'bases in the holy hand' bullshit he's playing us like a fiddle. It has nothing to do with bases in the holy land or anything else.
We are not Muslim. That is ALL that matters. That is all that matters to warrant the sword. Period.
It is with that understanding and that understanding only can one have a rational and clear-headed response to how to deal with our enemies in the middle east.
Ron hasn't gotten it yet and I don't think he ever will.
So “William F. Buckley, Russell Kirk, Robert Novak, George Will, and Pat Buchanan” are all libertarians now?
Not sure what you mean. I admit to not knowing the foreign policy/national defense stance of any of those except Buchanan, who yes, insofar as he adheres to the "step back and let the middle east fester and boil" school of international relations, is wrong.
CL, I understand where you're coming from with your distrust of government. I am right there with you on pretty much everything and you know that. But this time, your approach will get us killed and get us killed more often. It's just that simple. You know I'm not fond of HOW we've conducted this war and in fact when Obama was taking his sweet ass time deciding whether or not to give McChrystal the troops he asked for I was, for a brief moment, in the "fuck this, bring 'em home" camp.
But even then I knew for a fact that sooner or later, we'd be forced to go back, at a time and place of THEIR choosing, not ours. Constant defense at the whims of rogue "states" and holy warriors is an effort in dereliction of duty of the highest order. I for one will give the government (and my friends and neighbors doing the fighting) the benefit of the doubt because to do nothing is suicide.
That's why I linked to them, they are all against from the beginning, or changed their minds about the war. Michael Scheuer was the CIA's Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station. Not many people know more about bin Laden and al Qaeda than he does. He's also against the war. And if you know so much about Islam, you should understand why setting up Islamic States is so dangerous.
What I understand is that leaving them alone to their own devices is more dangerous. There's no question that an Islamic State is dangerous, but again the question is one of relative degrees of dangerousness.
They can have all the Sh'aria they want as far as I'm concerned, as long as it's a Sh'aria that is more or less indifferent on aggression towards us. I'm not in this for human rights, to be quite frank I couldn't care less about the people living under the law there; I'm not making the Christopher Hitchens "moral" case for the war. But if an Iraqi/Afghan coalition government decides they want Sh'aria but have no plans on screwing with us, so be it.
That's a utopian pipe dream.
"Listen, United States foreign policy has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with how we are viewed by the Arab and Muslim world. Nothing. Period. Nothing we do or do not do matters."
......
If you truly believe that, you should read "Through Our Enemies Eyes" by Michael Scheuer.
It's not a question of "belief" Chuck, it's a question of fact. I don't have to read that book, I've read the Qu'ran and know the history of Islam. I don't need anything else to tell me the reality of the situation. It has been and still is a warmongering ideology. Osama bin Laden and other "Islamic radicals" are anything but; they are the true standard bearers for how the Qu'ran commands the believers.
I'm not making any of this up. Again, it's not a belief, it's a fact.
We ignore these facts at our peril.
Wow, I knew part of that about Grayson, and that he had voted for Clinton, but not all of it. I sure hope Kentucky knows it all! I can't imagine Grayson's sort is what they want more of in the Senate.
[...] for crying out loud. . For a whole laundry list of reasons to stay clear of Trey Grayson, see the Classical Liberal who lays out the case against him quite [...]