Wrong Paul
Paul's disaffection started early in Reagan's presidency. "Ronald Reagan has given us a deficit 10 times greater than what we had with the Democrats," Paul told the Christian Science Monitor in 1987. "It didn't take more than a month after 1981, to realize there would be no changes."
Sometime between 1988 (during Paul's run for the presidency on the Libertarian Party ticket) and 1996 (when Paul, running as a Republican once more, successfully ousted an incumbent House member in a GOP primary), Paul once again embraced Reagan's legacy. The New York Times reported then that Paul had used the longer version of the Reagan quote in a videotape sent to 30,000 households. According to the Times, Reagan's former attorney general, Edwin Meese III, flew to Texas "to insist that Mr. Reagan had offered no recent endorsements."
We were unable to document Reagan's endorsement of Paul. When we asked the Paul campaign for documentation, a spokesperson told us that the campaign was "a little more focused on positive things." The Paul campaign did not provide the Times with a date for the quotation in 1996, either.
Introduction to Logic
We close with a final point, though this one is directed at Ron Paul supporters. Recently, we've received a barrage of e-mail containing variations on this theme: "Am I to assume that by making no mention of Rep. Ron Paul in your synopses of GOP candidates, you found his statements meritorious?" The similarities between the messages led to a bit of searching, and we found what we suspect is the cause: A post at DailyPaul.com alleges that because the author found no instances where we called out Paul for misstatements, "FactCheck.org shows that Ron Paul is truthful."
We realize that DailyPaul.com is not officially affiliated with Paul's campaign. But the error is egregious enough that it merits discussion. Here's the basic argument from DailyPaul:
1. If FactCheck.org writes about a candidate, then that candidate makes some inaccurate claims.
2. FactCheck.org has not written about Ron Paul.
3. Therefore Ron Paul does not make inaccurate claims.
That argument might sound appealing, but, in fact, it is a logical fallacy (philosophers call this one "denying the antecedent"). Consider a different argument that has exactly the same logical structure:
1. If it is Thursday, then I have to go to work.
2. It is not Thursday.
3. Therefore I do not have to go to work.
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Member Comments
Posted By: Nins @ 03/13/2008 9:23:14 PM
Comment: A blogger named Edson writes "Did the word Democrat really come from democracy?"
Here is a derivation of the words "Democrat" and "Republican."
The United States of America is a republic, that is to say, a Federal government in which the people are represented by elected officials from the various states. Before we were a republic, we were a democracy made up of 13 individual states that were not united. A democracy is a form of government where the individual citizens have the right to speak their minds and influence the political discourse. Democracy was named after Demosthenes, a citizen of ancient Greece with a speech impediment who practiced talking with his mouth full of pebbles to overcome his disability. Demosthenes later became a great political orator. This is where the Democrats derive their name.
The original Republicans were in favor of the states joining to form a republic (which is how that party got it's name). The original Democrats were opposed to this idea, they represented the individual states and were worried that the republic could gain too much power over the states, and through the exercise of tyranny, deny individuals their freedom. Trust me, people were pretty passionate about their liberty in those days, having just fought for independence from England. The Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were all hammered out by serious-minded men who sought to balance the need for individual freedom with our shared common cause, the needs for united strength and social order. Balancing the rights of the individual against the rights of the whole society is what America is all about. This is not only a great achievement for our nation, it is one of the greatest achievements of mankind. And we have, by and large, been true to our ideals over the past 227 years. The system of government we initially established, although needing occasional revisions, has stood the test of time.
Let's not forget where we started from, that impulse towards equality and freedom.
America is, with all it's faults, a meritocracy. Most of our founding fathers would never have had a voice in the 18th century English government they rebelled against, a monarchy where you had to be born into power. In America it was different. If you had intelligence, passion, ambition, drive, talent and a little luck, you could change the world.
This is the real secret to Obama's popularity, his ability to touch this archetype in our souls. This is why a white, conservative middle-aged female Republican like me wants to vote for him. He's got that blend of intelligence, passion, ambition, drive and talent. I'm giving him my vote to proffer him the last ingredient, a little luck, so I can watch our Republican Democracy in action, and once again change the world.
IN GOD WE TRUST
Posted By: johnsmith123456 @ 03/03/2008 5:47:20 PM
Comment: No matter what these so called "reliable sources" say, the American People will not go down without a fight!! Even if Ron Paul does not get nomination, more and more people are becoming aware of the ever growing control of the federal government and I for one will not be a part of a nation where its citizens are enslaved. People of the United States it is time to take hold of our Second Amendment and take back our nation by force. I will not fight for a war of OIL but I will give my life in defending this nation from the real terrorists "THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT".
Posted By: GuitarFreakStyle @ 02/26/2008 2:29:59 AM
Comment: Goto SPP.gov see for yourself. The Government's own website with the layed out details of the North American Union. The CFR Counsel of Foreign Relations are negotiating the merge. Secondly last year at the Canada Builderberg meeting it was the main discussion. The NAFTA superhighway is real Mr Miller. and Last but not least get this through your head.. RON PAUL IS NOT DROPPING OUT OF THE RACE. You are Posting false information. Newsweek is just as bad at posting fake Ron Paul info just Like Fox, and MSNBC cause you don't want people to know Dr. Ron Paul is the only true Candidate who's never flip flopped.