Date: 07/01/2010
Transcript
Ron Paul: Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this rule. It’s been described rather vividly on this side of the aisle how messy this process is, so I strongly oppose this. Of course, I also strongly oppose the funding, especially the funding for the war. This is a war that I’ve objected to for a very long time, this war is going badly, it’s not a declared war. We don’t have a precise enemy. The Taliban is the spoken enemy, and yet the Taliban are individuals who have never committed terrorism outside their homeland. The Taliban is an outgrowth of the Mujahedeen who we were at one time allies with, along with Osama Bin Laden.
So it isn’t a very neat little war. Here we are, we are the most powerful nation in the world, the most powerful army ever organized in the history of the world. And yet we are fighting a war that essentially is not a war. We’re fighting a war against individuals that have no tanks, no planes, no ships, no modern technology, and we’re not doing well. There is something wrong. If it were truly a war, a declared war, and we knew who the enemy was, the war would be over. The fact that the war is not over after 9 years, it’s draining us, it’s draining us of life and limb, it’s draining us of funding. The wars in the Middle East have drained trillions of dollars, and we are suffering from a severe financial crisis here at home.
So it’s time that we start looking abroad and looking at what we’re trying to maintain. We’re in over 130 countries, 900 bases. It’s unsustainable. It was brought to attention this past week that we were having problems. If we were doing well in Afghanistan, we wouldn’t be firing our generals. We want to put the blame on the generals, “if we changed the generals, then everything is going to be okay.” But our generals are trained to fight wars, they’re not trained to be nation builders and social workers and policemen. So this is a war that I see is going to be very difficult, if not impossible to win until we change our policy.
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The main reasons why Ron Paul did not win the election:
No BullS**t “change” statement
No corporation wants to shoot themselves in the foot by donating money to an honest campaign when there is nothing to gain for them. i.e. BP Fiasco
No empty promises, just straight up facts.
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I’m really impressed by him, I’m not American either, it’s a damn shame he’s 74, which is old for a politician by our (British)) standards. Can’t you find somebody with the same intellect and vision who is about 30 years younger?
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This guy is, by far, the best asset the US has at the moment.
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This frood knows where his towel is.
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The cost of war is a disaster
Search For
“AFGHANISTAN WISDOM MADNESS”
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why is it that whenever this guy does a great speech, which is often, that there is only a handful of people in congress to listen to him?
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damn, this is the only politician i have seen who understands the war on terror is not a war. i thought the world would be screwed no matter who became US president, but now, Ron Paul ftw!
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Standup guys have no…support in the back ground. Bad guys have support in the background always. The set & props are bias & deliberate. Get it!
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Machine,
that’s funny. Yeh, debating abortion has less to do with historical facts and more to do with people’s emotionally driven opionions…and some of the outbursts are quite entertaining.
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Yvonne, and anyone else seeking truths and busted secrets…
Not sure if I had already shared these with you.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/17/wikileaks_whistleblowers
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/12/this_is_how_these_soldiers_were
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why isn’t this guy President? oh ya the media cut him out(ignored him) during the election. We need Ron Paul.
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Yeh it’s all because of the media. But how I see it is that they won a battle but they will lose the war. The media lost the trust of the public because of what they did.
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thank you Ron Paul for saying what lots are thinking!
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What a great man! And he’s in politics!
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Ron Paul needs to be waaaay more aggressive.. He knows the US Gov’t wants to bankrupt itself and for corporations to reek high profits in the process…and why is the house always empty when he talks…Myself…I don’t want to be chipped in the next 2 years!!!!!…and if you can’t see it coming than you’re an idiot.
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Conclusion: This is not a war at all. The American army is being used to simply take over Afghanistan, to steal it from the people that live their. The people bravely resist.
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You may not like this…but what we are doing is no different than what Hitler tried to do..well in many ways did until he was defeated, no different than what Columbus and his men did to the natives in the West Indies, and what the English settlers did to the American Indians.
The U.S. Government…the United States of America is the tyrant, the facist, the bully, the terrorist.
Like you point out “The people bravely resist”… No differently than the Jews, the Hatians, the American Indians….And yet we continue to slaughter.
NO MORE WAR…
Bring home our troops YESTERDAY!!!
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Machine I mostly agree with you.
We need to bring the troops home yesterday for sure.
Hitler was evil.
As for the early settlers of the colonies I’m wondering if you knew that not only did they live copacetically with the various Indian tribes but, so many inter-married that nowadays if you meet someone who can trace his or her history back to the Pilgrims, they will most likely tell you that their lineage also includes American Indians.
Many of the members of early tribes admired and embraced and even converted to Christianity but of course…our present Zionist JUDEO-Christian nation’s schools and media are painting a completely different story which, cannot be corroborated in any way.
False accusations are wrong..
The early settlers were themselves escaping horrific persecution.
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Just to clarify a bit.
At present our 50 United States of America is a cohesive group of persons living under one government as were the Germans during WW11.
In the 1600s and 1700s a much different scenario occured. Various groups and settlers who were escaping the oppressions of larger governments were starting a new life alongside Natives who also lived in seperate groups/tribes. Some of the natives were as different from one another as they were from the new settlers.
All sorts of scenarios took place. Peaceful trading. Fighting. Sometimes natives and newcomers fought each other and other times they were allied with each other against other natives or Englishmen.
We can’t paint any of what happened with a broad brush because neither the early colonists nor the natives had a single uniform governing body who they answered to, like we do today.
Also we are not settlers in Afghanistan trying to live beside them. We are occupiers looking to exploit the land literally.
No one exploits his own home. The early settlers had their home in America. Why would they want to exploit their own home? If Americans emigrated to Afghanistan and were trying to cultivate some poppy crops or …whatever…and squirmishes broke out alongside inter-marrying and trade then…I don’t think any of us would care.
What we are doing is waaaaay worse then what happened in the colonies.
It’s just not the same.
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OK one more thing(I”m serial posting again), in my defense of Christianity. Some weeks back on the Foreign Policy thread you mentioned fundamentalist Christians using the Bible to justify genocide during the Crusades.
The Crusades occured centuries before the printing press was used and the Roman Catholic religious/governing body of that time and even after the printing press did not encourage parishoners to read. So the Bible wasn’t being read or used by soldiers. Soldiers then (as now) were used as pawns in a phony religious war.
Also the word Fundamentalist Bible thumper basically refers to Baptists.
During the crusades they were called Anabaptists and so many are recorded by the Crusaders themselves as having been murdered that according to the crusaders, had they not commited the genocide upon them, they would have spread like a plague.
So the truth as told by history is that Fundamentalist Bible believers were slaughtered.
Genocide.
Read about it.
There’s no dispute.
100s of thousands. Persecuted. Killed.
And the killers didn ‘t …no they couldn’t have been reading the Bible.
There was no printing press.
The development of the printing press and spread of the Bible and literacy ushered in the Reformation age.
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I’ve read and reread my post several times along with your 3 replys – though I don’t disagree with what you say…Most of what I was getting at deals more with the U.S. Government than the early English settlers. Ever heard of the Western Expansion, and Manifest Destiny. That’s more what I was refering to. The U.S. Government wasn’t as Kind, Fair, and Generous compaired to the early English settlers when it came to the excistence and culture of the North American Indians who had occupied this land loooooong before we brought our problems over. For those not slaughtered, they ended up in refugee camps…er Reservations over seen by the Federal Government. How Pleasent!
I am well aware that there were good relationships amongst many English settlers and North American Indians, just like how today there are some strong bonds between: Germans and Jews, whites and blacks, Muslims and Christians, homos and heteros, etc.
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Machine,
It seems as if we are in 100% agreement.
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Well…thats rather boring! Just kidding…but do ya wanna go on over to the abortion thread…thats where we seem to bring out some serious pathologies!!! ho ho!
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@MrConservativeTalk ‘you are ALL pretty tired’? whom you represent? WE are not tired at all. Ron Paul is your only hope , Americans.
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I love the idea of learning the Costitution and Declaration of Independence and the Ammendments.
Why on earth wasn’t that ever required reading for us?
We never discussed current events.
And how true about debates.
What about debating the latest rulings of Supreme Court judges or debating the most recently passed legislation in our state.
How about debating philosiphies of men and women like those you mention.
And when I was in school a gazillion years ago biographies and diaries were only encouraged in the elementary grades.
But it’s true that reading the personal works of any person would be the best way to get a feel for the setting of any event. How many of us still see WW11 through the eyes of Anne Frank? As for slavery and civil rights I don’t believe that anything can compare to Harriet’s Tubman’s story Freedom Train. Simple enough for a child to read and yet her story tells us everything about slavery, civil liberties, and of course the difference between gov’t sponsored religion of the South and the true faith and actions of people who whole heartedly believe that ”all men are Created equal”.
Hmmm.
I suppose ranting is contagious.
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The only man who speaks truth and common sense.
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Look, We have military out all over the world. WHY? Bring our troops home. America needs to stop waisting money on the military. Take a small percent of the military savings and spend it on DEFENSE!. Secure our boarders, Know who crosses our boarders and why. Stop the funding the UN on protecting strong European countries that don’t need protecting. Keep the money here at home.
My grandchildren will have no future if ” We The people” don’t wake up and start holding our elected officials accountable.
Ron Paul is my congressmen in Texas. I don’t agree with every last issue with him, however he does speak from the heart, and has always been consistant with the issues.
The 2008 presidential election was won on “Hope and Change” Is this the hope and change we voted for. Yes, Bush lied to us and yes he violated our Constitution. But If this is the change we want as Americans, then The United States of America will not be the same great country for our children and granchildren. I HOPE America is smart enough to Change the way things are done in Washington.
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Ron Paul is the voice of truth and reason! GO straight shooter Ron Paul GO!
Obama said he’d end war on terror! Now look expanding Bush/Obama war to other countries, troop surges, SAME FOREIGN POLICY! Ron Paul has been consistently advocating his foreign policy for decades! Stop costly inefficient self defeating foreign policy! Strong national defense, not more of the same idiotic ‘war on terror’! GO RON PAUL! Clear objectives, go in, do it, get out, success!
GO RON PAUL GO!
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Ron Paul twists the truth like Obama. We are all pretty tired of that.
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“Ron Paul twists the truth like Obama.”
Thats a relativly empty and far off statement.
Don’t get me wrong I know that with all, ALL, politicians one must read weed through the muck and rehtoric to get to the point, however you are comparing a man upstanding of the Constitution, and that shoots from the hip, with a man who is an outright liar, wishy washy and about as unAmerican as they come.
Please, if you will, elaborate on your statement.
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Ron Paul is the man!! He is the only person who sticks up for the people!!
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This is the man who can save America!
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if this is not a declared war by congress, witch is the way the constitution is written, it would not be a war at all, then way is obama not convected of treason??keeping this BS going.
please give an answer, anyone have a clear one??
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I can give you an answer…you aren’t going to like this.
There is no democracy in foreign policy.
In 1936 the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision (U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp.), the decision gave the president absolute power over foreign policy, including the ability to ignore the Constitution.
It has yet to be overturned.
I’d say it hasn’t been over turned because no one knows about it…We don’t learn about this in 101 history class.
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I just googled the iformation.
Wow.
The legislative branch completely silent and complacent while the judicial branch gives the executive un-constitutional power.
Scary.
The shcool’s never teach this.
The old media remains silent.
Thank God for the inter net.
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Yeah…
You know Yvonne, all through out High School I thought what are we doing here…I am not really learning anything more than I did in 5th grade. Sure there were some electives that I got something out of, like shop, and art classes. But it is my opinion that High Schools could be the “information institute” that really helps save our country from being auctioned off by the rich and powerful.
I mean my god can you imagine the strength we could er would gain as a country if every student graduating High School had a clear understanding of our history because they completed required reading and a comprehensive study that included – for starters – the U.S. Constitution, The Decleration Of Independence, and the first Ten Amendments, as well as the works of Ben Franklin, John Adams, Howard Zinn, Norm Chompski, Doris Day, Malcom X, Martin Luther King, John Edgar Wideman, Dalton Trumbo, James Baldwin, Henry David Thereau…and yes Gandhi. Not only read their work but reaserch the issues and times, write about them, debate them…Take a bite and understand what they were saying and doing.
Personally I think Howard Zinn’s book A Peoples History of the Untied States – which is used in some high schools – would best fit as a beginning foundation to U.S. History. Sure much of our history is hostle and ugly; Columbus and his men raping and commiting genocide, black slaves exicuted for escaping their owners, Indians being swindled and slaughtered for the progression and greed of whitemen, the term “all men are created equal”, however if you were black, a woman, an Indian, or didn’t own land, you couldn’t vote. And that is how much of it went down. Whats the point in teaching history if all we teach are dates on a time line, a few patriotic jingles and few names(which aside from two or three the most were are a bunch of crooks, murderers, and fools). Whats the point of being an American if we hide from our past or even worse are ignorat of it? Absolutly there is much to feel bad about…but that’s sometimes the point. No we can’t change the past, but we certainly can – here’s a cliche – learn from it.
Anyways, Ive ranted long enough.
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This man represent the Truth !
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I’m amazed at his knowledge. Every debate etc. He knows the numbers, names, history and everything to do with what he’s talking about.
How is this guy not President? I’m not even American (from Canada) and I’d support him.
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He is the only man I can see that can free us from the “shadow” government. My biggest fear is if he wins, he wouldn’t spend a day in office:(
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couldn’t say it any better. A great man. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. If this can wake people up it can save lives and money.
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Why is there only 1 politician in America who can use his brain?
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McCain, Graham, Bush, etc. these are all LIBERALS. Only RP is a TRUE conservative!
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The War on Terror just like the War on Drugs is a … SCAM.
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I think it’s just about over for the US. Look at the leadership now-Obama, Hilary Clinton. Nancy Pelosi, for God’s sake. 8 years of incompetence and war mongering and this is the result? It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
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This is the Ron Paul I like to see.
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War is business
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Yep..A failed buisness!
Time to cut our losses, put our tail between our legs, and go home! And in another ten years the warmongers and buisnessmen will invest in a new war…only this time it won’t be another Vietnam…I mean Afghanistan…I mean Iraq…
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WAKE UP AMERICA!!! WAKE UUUUUPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!
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For Christ sake, i know Dr. Pauls ideals seem extreme compared to mainstream politicians whom are owned, bought and paid for by the corporate rich, but they’re actually the best (and will soon be the only) way to save this country from financial and moral ruin!——– Quit being selfish rednecks and vote RP in 2012!!!
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Well of course it will take over a hundred years to beat Afganistan. On 911, 19 hijackers armed only with box-cutters, were able to destroy 4 targets with 4 airplanes, dispite one having not reached its’ target. They somehow got norad to stand down among other miracles of the day. Therefore, logic would dictate that Afgan drug lords, armed with fifty year old AK47s, will take a hundred years to conquer. After all, AK 47s are way more dangerous than box-cutters.
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Ron Paul for president!
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Then later a dumbass republican stated he believed if it weren’t for all of the pork attached to the bill, all of the republicans would’ve voted for it..
Completely ignoring ron paul, and one other republican
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absolute truth from a patriot. The sheeple still go bah
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By Machine
By Machine
Osama Bin Laden did not START this “war”.
The United States Government did.
This “war” was started loooooooooong befor September 11th 2001, and long before Desert Storm. And lets not forget…Congress never made a declaration to war. So to say we are in a WAR is a complete mockery of the U.S. Constitution. Which is very much what the Bush adminastration did!
Yes, Sept. 11th 2001 was indeed tragic…Absolutly no question that it was wrong. What happened though was in retaliation to our Governmets long history with meddleing in the political affairs of Middle East Governments and hedging our bets with Isreal, Saudi Arabi, Afghanistan, Iraq…
AMericans must decide…
Do we want freedom,
or do we want security?
Do we want world domination,
or do we want to be a world leader?
to encourage other countries to seek liberation
and form their own democratic nation.
I hope we want Freedom. I hope we want peace.
I hope we don’t go down in history as the “little country that started with a good idea, almost had it right, but feel short because of greed and fear”.
All through history tyrants have always taken advantage of those with good intentions. We should never compromise all that is good with freedom for security, which is never all it is made out to be, just because of a few theives and scoundrels. To do so, we oppress ourselves…and become the tyrants.
_—_—_—_—_—_—_
What we have hear is a clear minded humanitarian. I’ve read alot of Machines posts, and replys…Can’t say I always agree, then again I don’t always agree with myself either. This one I share his sentament, passion for truth, and struggle for peace thru nonviolence, and would like to elaborate further.
We need to get past 9/11. Now hold on, before you go off on me, let me explain. I am not saying dismiss those responsable, or forget…that would be rude and insulting to those who lost loved ones that day. Everyone is accountable for their actions and all of humanity has a responsability to uphold the virtue of true justice…to right a wrong. However we need to take a big step back and except and understand why 9/11 happened and learn from it. The world in general does not hate Americans…Robert Bowman a former Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S.Airforce, who flew 101 combat missions during Vietnam, now a Catholic Bishop, commented on the terrorist bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania: “We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to people in Third World countries whose resources are coveted by our multinational corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism…Instead of sending our sons and daughters around the world to kill Arabs so we can have the oil under their sands, we should send them to rebuild their infrastructure, supply clean water, and feed starving children… In short, we should do good instead of evil. Who would try to stop us? Who would hate us? Who would want to bomb us? That is the truth the American people need to hear.”
These are the voices we need to hear more from today….Unfortunatly after September 11 they have been ignored and practically shut out of the media. Strange…In a time when moral truths are most important in keeping us from doing greater harm, from waving the flams of evil, we caste them aside and choose to seek revenge as a means to an end. Why I ask do we continue down these already worn out paths…Yes war has a very deep rooted history, but every Dynasty, Empire, Kingdom has fallen by way of the sword. Are we next?
I too hope that we choose freedom…that we seek it and maintain it through peace. I hope we don’t become a casualty of greed and fear and give up on what once made us a World Leader. I hope that we can quill the few tyrants and scoundrels that try to steal away our goodness through violence and get us to collectivly hate. There will always be those few, but goodness by way of peace and nonviolence will always be saught by the masses.
Gandhi organized an entire country to resist, to disobey, the opressive rule of England, thus liberating India, without the use of a conventional military. That is the standard practice we should strive to acheive.
I hope…
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too bad no one in his own party would stand behind him on this
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If we secure our boarders we don’t need to worry about terrorist.
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USA would never have a President like Ron Paul.
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Please hate the war and respect the men fighting it.
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We can best respect them by bringing them home.
These men are sons and fathers and brothers and friends who are being exploited by a governing body of war mongering thieves who want to use them as body guards for their over seas business.
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Tell em Ron
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God Bless Ron Paul
Ron Paul 2012 For a real change!!!
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I’m not seeing a coherent argument. Firstly, the Marque and Reprisal Act was an attempt by Paul to provide an alternate option to long-term occupancy of countries harboring terrorists by authorizing the military/mercs to target individuals rather than the middle-east as whole. The problem was that Bush and Congress disregarded this strategy and chose the option that Paul was vehemently against. Secondly, Rand and Ron are on polar opposites when it comes to Israel. Ron is a harsh critic of Israel
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@Syphalis1 offers US no benefit sure. But somebodys real happy about these wars. Cmon dont take that smile away from them.
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uh oh, this Congressman is speaking truth, common sense, and logic
quick, someone pull the plug, spin his words, and make him look crazy before the American people pull their heads out of their . . . you know what, nevermind
Obama 2012 right?
Palin 2012 right?
the neo-conservative and progressive movements march on . . .
WAKE UP AMERICA, this man’s message, when objectively assessed, WILL UNITE US ALL in the timeless principles of those now cliche words “life” and “liberty”
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It just boggles my mind that this can continue….
Our country is broke, getting broker… and then we are stuck in these retarded occupations that offer us NO BENEFIT!
This seriously makes my brain hurt. If you support this “war”… and I do not throw this un-PC term around lightly….. YOU ARE A RETARD AND DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT THIS WORLD!!!
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