The Axis of Good vs. Dr. Ron Paul

Posted by Michael Thompson on 09.27.2007

The American Right is in a state of flux. Only a Doctor can provide a solution to the 2008 election. That man is Dr. Ron Paul

We are still more than a year away from the 2008 Presidential Election and already the level of excitement for the Republican nomination is reaching a fever pitch, as four men vie for the nod to replace President George W. Bush as the leader of the so-called Free World.
No matter how loud Paul declares the truth or excoriates the fake conservatives masquerading as modern day Reagan's, the American people are content to let a Thompson or Guiliani lead them further and further into oblivion.

Four men are realistically in the running, which is not to callously consider the other gentlemen running as also-rans, but to point out that they have not generated the excitement and grass efforts necessary to building a genuine campaign that will last through the coming primaries.

Governor Mitt Romney (R. Mass.) and Mayor Rudi Giuliani(R. NY), along with actor Fred Thompson form the Republican's version of the Axis of Good that strategists and higher-ups in the Grand Old Party believe can confront whatever Democrat is thrown their way.

These three men, whose names are on the lips of any regular viewer of FOX News, CNN, MSNBC or regularly appear in the New York Times and other old line papers, have ostensibly already been bequeathed as the heirs to President Bush and one will likely be the replacement at the helm of "War on Terror," in charge of directing the 150,000 plus U.S. troops in the Iraq and also signing the checks to the 180,000+ Blackwater USA contractors (i.e. mercenaries) there.

However, one name that is ubiquitous throughout the internet and a thorn in the side of the Axis of Good is that of Republican congressman Ron Paul. While the Republicans would like their base to believe Romney, Giuliani or Thompson serve as a bridge to the halcyon days of President Ronald Reagan and would be a return to lower taxes, family values and more importantly, the cementing of a conflagration with Iran, Paul is the candidate that will ensure that the first three items in that list take place… and that war with Iran remains but a fantasy for the Neo-Conservatives currently running the GOP into oblivion.

For those unaware of Dr. Ron Paul, a quick crash course lesson on the man capable of restoring the Republican Party to its anti-war, anti-interventionist roots is in order.

Paul is a patriot. Plain and simple. He has represented the 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997 and has consistently been the only consistent, principled man or woman in Washington D.C. He is a conservative, who is a big proponent of the free market, who has never voted to raise taxes and supports a peaceful, non-interventionist foreign policy, taking his running orders from the U.S. Constitution and the Farewell Address of President George Washington.

In fact, of all the men in Washington D.C., Dr. Paul is one of the few who would have been involved and played an influential role in the founding of our country with Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and Henry.

Dr. Paul is one of the few in Washington who is a champion of individual liberty and in all honesty, would probably concur with V from the 2006 movie V for Vendetta, "that people shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people"

Not only this, but Dr. Paul has been one of the view beacons of light in the darkness that is referred to as the Iraq War/Occupation/Surge/Colonization.

He voted against the war, has continued to oppose the conflict on grounds that it runs counter to the Constitution of the United States and that the invasion and occupation is illegal in the eyes of International Law.

Prominent political commentator George Will called Paul and his policies "anachronistic" in the pages of Newsweek, of which they are. The United States, the Republican Party and political discourse has changed to a point where Ron Pauls can be marginalized, discredited and silenced, regardless of their popularity. The United States continues to build its Empire across the seas, pouring billions of tax-payers dollars into nation-building schemes in the Middle East, Asia and other areas of national security around the globe.

No matter how loud Paul declares the truth or excoriates the fake conservatives masquerading as modern day Reagan's, the American people are content to let a Thompson or Giuliani lead them further and further into oblivion.

Paul has been battling the war against government waste, empire-building, the attack on national sovereignty and the deliberate destruction of the U.S. middle-class through NAFTA and other trade agreements. He is against illegal immigration and maintains that was it best for the American people, is freedom. So, naturally, he is the best candidate for the presidency, liberal or (neo) conservative that will work to overturn the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and the draconian Homeland Security (sic).

These ideas aren't draconian nor anachronistic, but represent what most United States citizens still believe at heart, regardless of political orientation.

The best summation of Dr. Paul is the exchange he had with Chris Wallace at a recent FOX News debate.

Wallace asked Paul, "So, Congressman Paul, and I'd like you to take 30 seconds to answer this, you're basically saying that we should take our marching orders from al-Qaeda? If they want us off the Arabian Peninsula, we should leave?"

Paul retorted, "No! I'm saying, I'm saying we should take our marching orders from our Constitution. We should not go to war, we should not go to war without a declaration. We should not go to war when it's an aggressive war. This is an aggressive invasion. We've committed the invasion of this war, and it's illegal under international law. That's where I take my marching orders, not from any enemy."

What a pompous question to ask, and what a glorious response from a man that the Axis of Good has tried to paint as an honorary member of the Axis of Evil (Iran, Iraq and North Korea).

Dr. Paul and his message of freedom, liberty and non-interventionism might be an anachronism in today's United States, because most Americans have failed to consider these notions as a viable political philosophy. Instead, ideas peddled by Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and even George W. Bush have come to epitomize the driving force behind modern day conservatives thinking.

Dr. Paul might be the only prescription to the virus of Neo-Conservative poison that has currently hijacked the Republican Party and threatens to bring the United States into direct contact with Iran.

He is the one man who threatens the power of the Axis of Good and can expose their mendacity and lies and works to educate Americans, liberal and conservative, that ideas of liberty are just as relevant today, as they were more than 230 years ago.

In a future column, I'll discuss just what and who the Neo-Conservatives are and what their aims, motivations and goals mean for our country and the Republican Party.

-Michael J. Thompson lives and works in Atlanta, Ga., in the public relations industry. He is a 2006 graduate of Auburn University.