Ron Paul's Gutsy Stand

We're not big fans of libertarian Rep. Ron Paul. His social Darwinist economic philosophy calls for phasing out most beneficial government activities such as Medicare and Social Security. But Paul does stand for principles that the far right has long since abandoned. He issued a strong statement blasting the "sunshine patriots" that are trying to block the "not at Ground Zero" Islamic community center in Manhattan, and fingers the neocon/Likudnik cohort of the far right as the hatemongers:

"In my opinion it has come from the neo-conservatives who demand continual war in the Middle East and Central Asia and are compelled to constantly justify it.

They never miss a chance to use hatred toward Muslims to rally support for the ill conceived preventative wars. A select quote from soldiers from in Afghanistan and Iraq expressing concern over the mosque is pure propaganda and an affront to their bravery and sacrifice.

The claim is that we are in the Middle East to protect our liberties is misleading. To continue this charade, millions of Muslims are indicted and we are obligated to rescue them from their religious and political leaders. And, we’re supposed to believe that abusing our liberties here at home and pursuing unconstitutional wars overseas will solve our problems."

What's sad is not that this rebuke to the hatemongers came from a libertarian like Paul; what's sad is that so many progressive Dems are hiding in the corner while the bigots control the false message. (See also Richard Cohen's surprisingly good column on the same subject in the Kaplan Daily. As they say, occasionally even a blind squirrel finds a nut).