Paul Maul: In Defense of Ron Paul
By Brandon Passow
In this, the winter of Republican campaigning, a lot of information (and misinformation) is being spread about the candidates. Not being a Republican, I don’t really care. However, there is a candidate who draws a lot of undue, untrue criticism: Ron Paul. Many people know some of his positions, but I feel that even more people are misinformed, to say the least.
One issue I often hear about in which Ron Paul’s position is misconstrued is gay marriage. Many people believe that as president, Ron Paul would ban gay marriage, and even that he is anti-gay. Neither is true. Not only did Dr. Paul vote to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” in 2005 he introduced legislation that would have kept the federal government from interfering with sexual matters and marriage. Obviously, it wasn’t passed.
There also seems to be a good number of people who believe that abortion would be illegal under a Paul presidency. Again, this is a fallacy. The candidate has stated numerous times that the executive branch will not interfere with abortion while under his control. It isn’t their job. Dr. Paul’s positions on these issues are contrary to every other GOP candidate’s stances on these issues.
The last issue I will raise is that of war. Romney, Gingrich, Santorum and Obama are all calling for another conflict in the Middle East—namely, Iran and Syria. The idea for more wars against Muslim nations is being trumped up with the same old rhetoric. “They’re going to get a nuke and kill us all!” Hell, it worked in Iraq, why wouldn’t it work again in Iran? Maybe Iran “hates us for our freedom.” Maybe Iran hates us because we sanction, harass, and assassinate their people, usually scientists and democratically elected leaders. You know, like, terrorism. I believe that if we brought ALL of our troops home, countries wouldn’t want to attack us. Ron Paul also believes this. No more wasted lives. No more wasted money. The USS Abraham Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Valentine’s Day, marking our third aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. War is on our doorstep yet again. I choose peace, and would like my president to do the same.
