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The Reactionary Utopian
January 25, 2007
PRESIDENT PAUL?
by Joe Sobran
Dozens of people have announced their candidacies
for the White House in 2008, and if I had to bet at this
point, I would put my money on the old woman. Hillary may
be awful, but at least she is predictable. I suppose I
can learn to resign myself to her.
What difference does it really make? Our next
president will have his or her hands full cleaning up
after George W. Bush. In a negative sense, he has already
set the agenda for his unfortunate successor. Just
getting this country back to normal would be a labor of
Hercules. And Hercules isn't in the race.
Politics doesn't often produce good news, but I am
slightly heartened to learn that Congressman Ron Paul is
contemplating a run for the presidency. The Texas
Republican has now taken the standard preliminary step of
forming an exploratory committee.
Paul, a pro-life medical doctor, is a genuine
political maverick. When the House votes for something
434 to 1, you can safely bet that Paul is the 1. He
really fights for the principles other Republicans only
pretend to stand for, and does so with carefully reasoned
explanations of his positions.
In essence, Paul appeals to that subversive
document, the U.S. Constitution, long since abandoned by
both major parties, not to mention the U.S. Supreme
Court. He tests every proposed law by asking whether it
exercises a power authorized by the Constitution. The
answer is seldom yes.
Many years ago Paul told me, with his affably ironic
smile, that he felt more pressure from his fellow
Republicans than from Democrats, because the Democrats
weren't embarrassed when a Republican voted like a real
conservative, but the Republicans were. Showing up his
own party has been the story of Ron Paul's career. No
other Republican has voted against President Bush as
consistently as he has.
Paul isn't flamboyant or defiant about it; his style
is quiet and reasonable, not combative. Being a maverick
isn't a pose for him. It's a matter of conscience and
logic.
As a result, the GOP doesn't care much for him and,
if he runs, will try to stifle him. The allegedly
right-wing Newt Gingrich, when he was riding high, once
supported Paul's opponent in the primary race; Gingrich
knew what he was doing. A genuine conservative's worst
enemy is a fake one. And vice versa.
Paul ran for president once before, in 1988, when he
bolted the GOP to run on the Libertarian Party ticket.
Much as I admired him, I voted for George H.W. Bush,
afraid of "wasting" my vote on Paul, who had no real
chance of winning. Silly me. I soon realized I had really
wasted my vote on Bush. It made no difference to Bush,
after all, since he was going to win no matter what I
did; but it made a difference to me. I still regret it.
(And to this day, Bush has never thanked me.)
Paul has no chance of winning this time either, but
he may make a real difference just by being himself. He
is what liberals used to call a conscience-raiser. He
makes people reflect. After six years of supporting
George W. Bush, conservatives should be in a reflective
mood. American democracy has come down to an unappetizing
choice between the War Party and the Abortion Party. Paul
could offer an alternative to this bitter dilemma.
The Constitution must never be mistaken for Holy
Writ, but at least it is based on the idea that there
should be what William F. Buckley has called "rational
limits to government." At this point, even that may well
be a utopian hope.
But we have subscribed to the principle that the
Federal Government must confine itself to powers actually
enumerated therein. And after all, our rulers are still
sworn to uphold it, just as Bill Clinton is still legally
bound by his wedding vows.
Taken literally, this would reduce the government to
about 5 percent of its current size. That would be a huge
improvement. If nothing else, the Constitution stands as
a reminder of what normality used to be.
Well, I can dream, can't I? And today I'm dreaming
of President Ron Paul, with a Congress he deserves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read this column on-line at
"http://www.sobran.com/columns/2007/070125.shtml".
January 25, 2007
PRESIDENT PAUL?
by Joe Sobran
Dozens of people have announced their candidacies
for the White House in 2008, and if I had to bet at this
point, I would put my money on the old woman. Hillary may
be awful, but at least she is predictable. I suppose I
can learn to resign myself to her.
What difference does it really make? Our next
president will have his or her hands full cleaning up
after George W. Bush. In a negative sense, he has already
set the agenda for his unfortunate successor. Just
getting this country back to normal would be a labor of
Hercules. And Hercules isn't in the race.
Politics doesn't often produce good news, but I am
slightly heartened to learn that Congressman Ron Paul is
contemplating a run for the presidency. The Texas
Republican has now taken the standard preliminary step of
forming an exploratory committee.
Paul, a pro-life medical doctor, is a genuine
political maverick. When the House votes for something
434 to 1, you can safely bet that Paul is the 1. He
really fights for the principles other Republicans only
pretend to stand for, and does so with carefully reasoned
explanations of his positions.
In essence, Paul appeals to that subversive
document, the U.S. Constitution, long since abandoned by
both major parties, not to mention the U.S. Supreme
Court. He tests every proposed law by asking whether it
exercises a power authorized by the Constitution. The
answer is seldom yes.
Many years ago Paul told me, with his affably ironic
smile, that he felt more pressure from his fellow
Republicans than from Democrats, because the Democrats
weren't embarrassed when a Republican voted like a real
conservative, but the Republicans were. Showing up his
own party has been the story of Ron Paul's career. No
other Republican has voted against President Bush as
consistently as he has.
Paul isn't flamboyant or defiant about it; his style
is quiet and reasonable, not combative. Being a maverick
isn't a pose for him. It's a matter of conscience and
logic.
As a result, the GOP doesn't care much for him and,
if he runs, will try to stifle him. The allegedly
right-wing Newt Gingrich, when he was riding high, once
supported Paul's opponent in the primary race; Gingrich
knew what he was doing. A genuine conservative's worst
enemy is a fake one. And vice versa.
Paul ran for president once before, in 1988, when he
bolted the GOP to run on the Libertarian Party ticket.
Much as I admired him, I voted for George H.W. Bush,
afraid of "wasting" my vote on Paul, who had no real
chance of winning. Silly me. I soon realized I had really
wasted my vote on Bush. It made no difference to Bush,
after all, since he was going to win no matter what I
did; but it made a difference to me. I still regret it.
(And to this day, Bush has never thanked me.)
Paul has no chance of winning this time either, but
he may make a real difference just by being himself. He
is what liberals used to call a conscience-raiser. He
makes people reflect. After six years of supporting
George W. Bush, conservatives should be in a reflective
mood. American democracy has come down to an unappetizing
choice between the War Party and the Abortion Party. Paul
could offer an alternative to this bitter dilemma.
The Constitution must never be mistaken for Holy
Writ, but at least it is based on the idea that there
should be what William F. Buckley has called "rational
limits to government." At this point, even that may well
be a utopian hope.
But we have subscribed to the principle that the
Federal Government must confine itself to powers actually
enumerated therein. And after all, our rulers are still
sworn to uphold it, just as Bill Clinton is still legally
bound by his wedding vows.
Taken literally, this would reduce the government to
about 5 percent of its current size. That would be a huge
improvement. If nothing else, the Constitution stands as
a reminder of what normality used to be.
Well, I can dream, can't I? And today I'm dreaming
of President Ron Paul, with a Congress he deserves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read this column on-line at
"http://www.sobran.com/columns/2007/070125.shtml".
