Ron Paul violated one of the most consistently observed rules of American political life in the GOP debate in South Carolina the other night: government officials are never, ever to level with the American population.
The people are to be endlessly flattered, spoken to in bumper-sticker slogans, and in general treated like seven-year-olds.
Congressman Paul crossed another, more specific forbidden line when he contradicted one of the major working assumptions of nearly all mainstream American pundits: foreigners never, ever get angry at the U.S. government’s foreign policy, and would never for any reason want to avenge themselves against it.
You can go out of your way to prevent water treatment facilities from being repaired, you can starve and bomb without compunction, and you can bring about half a million deaths, and the people will quietly take it. In fact, they probably spend their time reproaching themselves for having so displeased the U.S. government.
A man of principle and in possession of an IQ above 80, Paul naturally refused to play along. He explained that foreign policy has consequences, and that political and military interference around the world has a tendency to stir up whole peoples against us. If we ignore this simple and obvious fact, we do so at our peril.
His implicit conclusion was that the shenanigans of our government have made our people more hated and more vulnerable than ever. In sum, if you want to play empire, you cannot pretend that doing so will be costless.
To the propagandized automatons of 2007 America, this is called “blaming America” for 9/11. I guess detectives should bear that in mind the next time they seek the motive behind a murder. “You’re looking for motive? Are you saying the dead man had it coming?” (Will moral relativism never cease?)
Reports from all over the intelligence community have repeatedly confirmed Paul’s point, as if we needed express confirmation of what in normal times would be a matter of simple common sense.
The CIA’s Michael Scheuer, who is by no means antiwar, told CNN: “We’re being attacked for what we do in the Islamic world, not for who we are or what we believe in or how we live. And there’s a huge burden of guilt to be laid at Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton, both parties for simply lying to the American people.”
By Thomas Woods, read more at LewRockwell.com
Related news — Giuliani: Worse Than Bush. He’s cashing in on 9/11, working with Karl Rove’s henchmen and in cahoots with a Swift Boat-style attack on Hillary. Will Rudy Giuliani be Bush III? Via RollingStones.com
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