Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Ron Paul

Though I am a self described libertarian, I must admit that libertarianism in the US shades off into crazy land. Which is why so far I find myself unable to support libertarian Ron Paul’s quest for the GOP nomination.

Consider Paul’s upcoming rally in the Bay Area. He has shall we say three interesting featured speakers.

G. Edward Griffin wants to abolish the Federal Reserve. OK, lots of people (like Milton Friedman) want to abolish the Fed (I just want to increase transparency). Griffin, however, believes that the Fed is part of the New World Order conspiracy and was cooked up over a long weekend in Georgia. He also was an early supporter of laetrile and has some sort of connection to the John Birch Society.

Justin Raimondo, a disciple of Murray Rothbard and later a support of Pat Buchanan (as was Rothbard), is something of an extreme libertarian combines that with paleoconservative beliefs. Raimondo ran against his Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi on a platform attacking Pelosi’s vote to send troops to the Balkans in the 1990s. He also believes that Israel has advance knowledge of 9/11 through a circle of spies in the US as art students.

Joe Bannister is a former agent in the IRS Criminal Investigation Division who believes that the income tax is unconstitutional and as the XVIth Amendment was never ratified.

Raimondo has some extreme libertarian beliefs but is innocuous. The other two though should not be sharing a podium with a presidential candidate. Because Paul does attract folks like them, I find it hard to support him.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Griffin, however, believes that the Fed is part of the New World Order conspiracy and was cooked up over a long weekend in Georgia."

It was 10 days, actually:

"In 1910, Aldrich and executives representing the banks of J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, and Kuhn, Loeb, & Co., secluded themselves for 10 days at Jekyll Island, Georgia.[2] The executives included Frank Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank of New York, associated with the Rockefellers, Henry Davison, senior partner of J. P Morgan Company, Charles D. Norton, president of the First National Bank of New York and Col. Edward House, who would later become President Woodrow Wilson's closest adviser and founder of the Council on Foreign Relations.[3] There, German banker Paul Warburg of Kuhn, Loeb, & Co. directed the proceedings and wrote the primary features of the Federal Reserve Act."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve

Anonymous said...

Crazy land? You seem pretty oblivious to what's going on. You have kids, it looks like. Being oblivious and caring for children do not go together. Now THAT'S crazy land. Why don't you go talk to a John Birch Society member face-to-face, or a libertarian who is knowledgeable about the Fed's history, before you simply go with "appearances"? Are you going to teach your kids how to educate themselves, or instead show them how to swallow whole whatever other people tell them to believe? You seem heavy on labels, but very light on reality. Go do some research and then re-post.

Anthony said...

Dear Mr. Anonymous:

>Crazy land?

Yes, at times libertarianism shades off into crazy land.

As for the Fed, I am aware of its history and the reason for its founding. There had been a push to a central bank and a sounder currency since the Second Bank of the United States lost its charter in the 1830s. We had the national bank system founded in the 1860s. But after the Panic of 1908, there was a real push for a new central bank. There was a minor panic in 1910, so that further incentivized people for a new bank.


That is a gross over simplification, I know. But good enough for this general discussion. Now I need to go look for black helicopters

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why some of the more "out there" views of some of his supporters would preclude support for a particular candidate. Just because these people are speaking on behalf of Dr. Paul by no means implies he agrees with all their views.

Anthony said...

Dan:

Thank you for you comment. I was not quite saying that. Rather, these folks were listed as featured speakers at a Paul for President rally. I think that was the issue.