Congress 06: Why Americans Are Angry - A Republican Explains

Dr. Ron Paul, a nine-term GOP Congressman from Texas, gave a speech on the floor of the House the other day that should have made headlines all across the globe. Instead, the only place I’ve seen it reported was in an obscure financial blog.

Tell me if you think these comments—from a leading Republican—are newsworthy:

• I have been involved in politics for over 30 years and have never seen the American people so angry… Some say it’s the war… In foreign policy we’ve seen a transition from the founders vision of non-intervention in the affairs of others to unilateral nation building, and policing the world. We now have in place a policy, driven by neo-conservatives, to promote American “goodness” and democracy throughout the world by military force—with particular emphasis on remaking the Middle East.

• We all know that ideas do have consequences. Bad ideas, even when supported naively by the people, will have bad results.

• Government officials too often yield to the temptations and corrupting influences of power. Many are not bashful about using government power to do “good”. They truly believe they can make the economy fair through a redistributive tax and spending system, make the people moral by regulating personal behavior and choices, and remake the world in our image using armies.

• Since the use of power to achieve political ends is accepted, pervasive, and ever expanding, popular support for various programs is achieved by creating fear. Sometimes the fear is concocted out of thin air, but usually it’s created by wildly exaggerating a problem or incident that does not warrant the proposed government ‘solution’. Often government caused the problem in the first place. The irony, of course, is that government action rarely solves the problem, but rather worsens existing problems or creates altogether new ones.

• Fear is generated to garner popular support for the proposed government action, even when some liberty has to be sacrificed. This leads to a society that is systemically driven toward fear—fear that gives the monstrous government more and more authority and control over our lives and property.

• Fear is constantly generated by politicians to rally the support of the people.

• We are constantly told that the next terrorist attack could come at any moment…this atmosphere of fear prompts giving up liberty and privacy. 9/11 has been conveniently used to generate the fear necessary to expand both our foreign intervention and domestic surveillance.

This is the most complete exposure of the Karl Rove campaign playbook I have seen anywhere. The fact it comes from a leading Republican, speaking on the House floor, is stunning. The fact it got little or no press attention is both puzzling and infuriating.

Rep. Paul alludes to the media’s somnolent role in the conclusion of his House speech:

“We recently witnessed how unfounded fear was generated concerning Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction to justify our first ever pre-emptive war. It is now universally known the fear was based on falsehoods. And yet the war goes on; the death and destruction continue… If the public could not be manipulated by politicians’ efforts to instill needless fear, fewer wars would be fought and far fewer lives would be lost.”

Since none of this strikes the media as newsworthy, perhaps for the midterm and `08 elections the Democratic National Committee should buy some air time for this guy.