So, my friend has been badgering me for a while now to jump on the Ron Paul bandwagon and I must say that I’ve actually considered it. Crazy, right? Well, like many of you probably, Ron Paul appeals to my paleo-Conservative nature. He is awesome when it comes to lowering taxes and putting America and Americans first. I love his immigration policies and so many other things about him.

So why can’t I vote for him?

Here’s the rub: Paul’s foreign policy, or lack thereof. With Paul’s mentality, the United States would have grown no larger than the original 13 colonies. I see two main flaws with his foreign policy position right off the top of my head. (1) It does not allow for America to defend herself unless she has been explicitly threatened. (2) It allows for the vast mistreatment of people in other countries without any repercussions.

1. Paul claims that we went to Iraq under false pretenses. This, of course, is not true. We went to Iraq for various reasons and the WMDs may have just been the last straw. Iraq is one small part of a larger picture: the Middle East. The Mid East is a threat to us in very many ways. They threaten our freedoms, they threaten our religion, and they threaten our security. One dirty bomb could ruin your whole day. They don’t need a giant military force to hurt us; ever heard of guerrilla tactics? To Paul’s defense, I also do not like the vast arm of the Federal government sweeping over all forms of communication with the Patriot Act, but it’s the price we pay. I mean, Paul would appeal to me if instead of demanding a pullout of Iraq, he fought to limit and further regulate the use of the Patriot Act. I don’t think anyone fancies the Federal Government knowing all of their business; I know I don’t.
2. I agree with Paul that we need to make an economic foreign policy that benefits the United States better. I don’t think we should give up our sovereignty to NAFTA, CAFTA, the UN, the WTO or any other International Governmental Organization. Moreover, I’ve never been much of a humanitarian, either. However, with Paul’s foreign policy ideas, what am I supposed to do when I know people are getting murdered, lynched, stoned, and raped in the Middle East, Africa, and China simply for being Christian, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, women, minorities, or gay? Am I supposed to drink myself into a drunken stooper? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “Free Tibet” or “Save Darfur” fanatic but I think that if we don’t do something about all of this, it will come back to haunt us. It’s a battle of Western vs. Eastern ideas; if our ideas lose, we lose. Paul doesn’t understand that.

Unless he changes something, he will not appeal to me. I love the Constitution and I do think we need to follow it but I think we need to use the tools at hand to change it when necessary. The Constitution is dynamic and it’s foundation is not its original words but rather the ideas of freedom which its drafters, our Founding Fathers, shared. We cannot be so closed minded.

That’s all for now, kids.

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