Ron Paul
Feb/14/08 04:59 PM
I saw Ron Paul tonight in Gaston Hall. He's just as kooky as he appears on TV- rest assured. He certainly has some interesting ideas, but I found it surprising that he didn't speak from a speech. Now, some people like Mike Huckabee can pull this off. Paul couldn't. At times he appeared to just ramble and lose his train of thought.
Unfortunately (in my opinion) he seemed to focus his speech on what he thought the audience wanted to hear most. And I guess he did a pretty good job at that. His speech was mostly focused on ending the war in Iraq and discontinuing American imperialism. He also said that he thinks people should be able to smoke and drink whatever they want. You can bet that was popular.
I wish he had focused more on the entitlement and social programs that are bankrupting the US government. Though he did, in the question and answer session, touch on some of these, he could have done it more often. Two of his most impressive talking points, which he also discussed in Q&A are illegal immigration and abortion. He correctly believes that it is the government's job to protect its sovereignty through its national borders. He also has the guts to unapologetically say that hospitals shouldn't be forced to treat illegal immigrants when they show up for care. He correctly states that such circumstances often eventually bankrupt hospitals, eliminating emergency care for Americans and causing more harm than good. On abortion, he gave a touching story about how he became pro-life and again, refused to apologize it even though it was probably an opinion that wasn't too popular with the crowd.
Given his eccentricities, it was an interesting event. But, I just can't take him seriously when he talks about going back to the gold standard, which goes against everything I've ever learned in economics, business, and government classes my whole life, and when he claims that the only reason radical Muslims hate us is because we are involved in their territories. I just don't buy that. There's far more involved that some crazy extremists simply being bitter over the past.
Well, bearing any surprises, that's all for this stretch of seeing impressive/important speakers.
Good night.
Unfortunately (in my opinion) he seemed to focus his speech on what he thought the audience wanted to hear most. And I guess he did a pretty good job at that. His speech was mostly focused on ending the war in Iraq and discontinuing American imperialism. He also said that he thinks people should be able to smoke and drink whatever they want. You can bet that was popular.
I wish he had focused more on the entitlement and social programs that are bankrupting the US government. Though he did, in the question and answer session, touch on some of these, he could have done it more often. Two of his most impressive talking points, which he also discussed in Q&A are illegal immigration and abortion. He correctly believes that it is the government's job to protect its sovereignty through its national borders. He also has the guts to unapologetically say that hospitals shouldn't be forced to treat illegal immigrants when they show up for care. He correctly states that such circumstances often eventually bankrupt hospitals, eliminating emergency care for Americans and causing more harm than good. On abortion, he gave a touching story about how he became pro-life and again, refused to apologize it even though it was probably an opinion that wasn't too popular with the crowd.
Given his eccentricities, it was an interesting event. But, I just can't take him seriously when he talks about going back to the gold standard, which goes against everything I've ever learned in economics, business, and government classes my whole life, and when he claims that the only reason radical Muslims hate us is because we are involved in their territories. I just don't buy that. There's far more involved that some crazy extremists simply being bitter over the past.
Well, bearing any surprises, that's all for this stretch of seeing impressive/important speakers.
Good night.
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