The
Arab
American
News [Dearborn, MI]
Friday, February 24, 2012
Our endorsement: Ron Paul is the
right man for the job
It was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., perhaps America's greatest
civil rights leader and one of its most trusted moral compasses, who
once spoke out against America's penchant for dictating the affairs of
other nations through military and other interventions.
“Don't
let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine,
messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world...,” he
said in his landmark speech, 'Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam'
in 1967.
More
than four decades later, longtime Texas Congressman Ron Paul, 76, has
gained a loyal following, even among scores of youth voters, in large
part because of his own interpretation of that philosophy. Paul has
gained notoriety by cautioning against the consequences of the United
States' role as “policeman of the world” several times on the
Republican campaign circuit while emphasizing the need for military
spending and foreign aid cuts at a time when our money is needed at
home more than ever.
A return to true
diplomacy with the likes of Iran and other nations deemed to be threats
is the answer, the Air Force veteran Paul defiantly persists as he has
for years in Congressional hearings, not continued policies of
sanctions and interventions that cripple civilian populations along
with hostile rhetoric and condemnations that often only serve as the
pretext to more wars serving financial elites, part of the 'Military
Industrial Complex' former president Dwight D. Eisenhower warned
against.
Despite these noble stances, Paul is
often cast aside by the mainstream media and many staunch conservative
voters in large part because of his foreign policy positions.
The
Arab American News, however, sees Dr. Paul's refreshing, forthright
foreign policy philosophy as one of his greatest strengths at a time
when the specter of a potentially catastrophic war looms over
festering, misunderstood and misreported conflicts in the Middle East.
His positions are perhaps the best hope for even a remotely balanced
policy in the troubled region that we've seen in decades.
Paul
has also been the only major Republican candidate to resist the type of
anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant demonization, fear-mongering and
pandering to ultra-conservative voters in his party that has become
pervasive in the post-9/11 climate, despite continued studies showing
that terror threats posed by such groups have been greatly exaggerated
coming to light along with polls reaffirming the groups’ affinity for
American ideals and patriotism.
Speaking of
American ideals, Paul is the candidate with the most appreciation for
the Constitution in matters such as the requirement for Congress to
authorize war, the protection from illegal searches by the TSA, which
he believes is a rogue agency that should be abolished, and the power
and right of the government to issue its own currency instead of
relying on the private, interest-charging Federal Reserve banking
corporation.
Paul introduced a bill to audit
the Fed in 2009 and also has courageously fought and spoke out against
the nefarious National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was
passed under the cover of near-secrecy from the mainstream media on New
Year's Eve and authorizes the indefinite detention of American citizens
without trial. He introduced a bill to repeal those provisions and has
spoken out against other violations of civil liberties such as the
myriad proposed Internet censorship bills and the extension of the
PATRIOT Act, in line with the positions of major civil rights
organizations like the ACLU.
Other candidates
vying for the Republican Party nomination including Mitt
Romney, Rick
Santorum and Newt Gingrich continue to use the rallying cry of
“American exceptionalism” to score cheap political points at debates
that have been described by many as shallow, divisive and at times
cringe-worthy, all the while turning their backs on the values of
liberty and justice for all that made America so exceptional in the
first place.
In an interview with The Arab
American News this past November prior to a debate about the economy at
Oakland University, Paul reaffirmed his positions on many of the above
issues while reiterating his plans to make significant, honest and
much-needed cuts in military overspending later that evening.
That's
not to say there aren't concerns surrounding Paul, ranging from his age
to the hypothetical difficulties of making major policy transitions to
the potentially Earth-shaking proposed eliminations of five
government
departments including the Department of Education and Department of
Housing.
But Paul's consistent voice and
unwavering commitment to restoring American ideals at a time when
telling the truth to power has indeed become a revolutionary act makes
him a voice worthy of our support in this Tuesday's Michigan primary
election. With so few dynamic, true public servants in Washington like
Paul in this increasingly fascist era of corporations-as-people, we
must support those that remain with all of our political fervor going
forward.
On Tuesday, February 28th we recommend that you give your
vote to Ron Paul.
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RON PAUL TO VISIT DEARBORN
‘Doctors for Dr. Ron Paul’ event
Mon., Feb. 28, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.
Featuring a speech by Dr. Paul and rally
presented by the Arab Student Union of UM-Dearborn
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Copyright © 2012
The Arab American News, all rights
reserved. Reprinted by permission of Osama Siblani, Publisher
(Feb. 28, 2012 email).