A Memo to Mona Charen
I wrote this:
Memo to Mona Charen
1. Ron Paul is Inconsistent:
The logic here is based on a debate answer in a lightning round in the California Debate back in early May. The transcript is located here from the section:
MR. GILMORE: With respect to Scooter Libby, I actually was an elected prosecutor. I handled many cases myself, and I also managed many other cases. The law has to apply within the in discretion of the prosecutor. Now if a president is going to exercise, which I have, by the way, done myself as a chief executive, pardons or clemency, in this particular case, as high profile as it is, you have to go to the American people and make your case as to why that kind of discretion ought to be applied. And if you can’t make that case, then you shouldn’t do it.
MR. MATTHEWS: So we don’t want another Marc Rich.
MR. GILMORE: Pardon?
MR. MATTHEWS: Never mind.
MR. GILMORE: No, that’s right. (Laughter.)
MR. MATTHEWS: Okay. Does anybody want to pardon him? I want to save time here. Does any gentleman want to raise his hand and say pardon him?
REP. TANCREDO: Well, yeah. Yeah.
MR. MATTHEWS: Okay, Congressman Tancredo wants to pardon him.
REP. TANCREDO: I would say pardon him, but right after or before you pardon Ramos and Compean, two people who are presently serving in — prison time for actually doing their job on the border.
MR. MATTHEWS: Okay.
Dr. Paul, do you want to pardon him?
REP. PAUL: No, he doesn’t need a pardon. But he doesn’t need it because he was instrumental in the misinformation that led the Congress and the people to support a war that we didn’t need to be in.
MR. MATTHEWS: Okay.
Please note the answer that Mr. Gilmore gave:
MR. GILMORE: — like others I think that we have to deal with these papers with respect to illegal immigrants, not with respect to all Americans. We should not have a national ID card. We should have that more diffused across the states.
With respect to Scooter Libby, I actually was an elected prosecutor. I handled many cases myself, and I also managed many other cases. The law has to apply within the in discretion of the prosecutor. Now if a president is going to exercise, which I have, by the way, done myself as a chief executive, pardons or clemency, in this particular case, as high profile as it is,
you have to go to the American people and make your case as to why that kind of discretion ought to be applied. And if you can’t make that case, then you shouldn’t do it.
Then Mr. Tancredo says that he would pardon him, however, he relates this in connection that Ramos and Compean should be pardoned as well. This ties in with Tancredo’s staunch stand on Illegal Immigration. It is right after this that Dr. Paul speaks “In a lightning round”. In my opinion, Dr.Paul is adding to what Jim Gilmore spoke of in bold print above.
It seems to me that Dr. Paul’s answer: “No, he doesn’t need a pardon. But he doesn’t need it because he was instrumental in the misinformation that led the Congress and the people to support a war that we didn’t need to be in.”
In my opinion, once seen in connection with the proceeding two answers, Dr. Paul was making his comment in relation to Jim Gilmore’s statement.
2. Dr. Paul does not embrace Isolationism. He has time and time again been quoted as being a Non-Interventionist, only to be misquoted in a majority of the Main Stream Media as an Isolationist. Here is a link to a response written by Dr. Paul himself:
http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=cc287b0f-941c-4b07-88e9-9e992810f700
Perhaps the events of the world as they pertain to Korea, China, Vietnam, and the pressures to use Military Action over and over again is what prompted Eisenhower to give his “Warning about the Military Industrial Complex” in his farewell address to the nation. The assertion “Isolationist” is completely unfounded due to the writer’s lack of understanding about what Dr. Paul’s philosophy is. I agree that Nixon was an "Internationalist". I do think it merits mentioning that during the Nixon Administration that the Executive Branch grew greatly and many of the Departments created were beyond the reach on Congressional Checks and Balances. Though Judicial Checks and Balances remain in theory, they exist only in a case-by-case basis and the actual reach of these departments remain unchecked except by Executive Discretion. It would seem appropriate as well to remind the reader how the Nixon Administration ended.
3. Serious issues arise with a Government too big to know what is going on internally. In regard to executively created growth, a Ron Paul Presidency would be instrumental in pruning back the growth that has occurred long before Nixon served as Eisenhower’s Vice-President. Dating back to before the time of Wilson, the Executive Branch, in my opinion, has long been in serious need of reorganization and cutbacks. The answer to problems lie within the intelligent discussion of what the problem is. Without the normalization of these discussions, how can “We, as a People”, have any hope of analyzing what actually ails our country. The answer in my opinion, is not bigger government.
4. People who feel disenfranchised with their government have reached out to Dr. Paul’s Candidacy. The writer has committed a fallacy here by reversing the flow of logic. It is these people who have reached out to Dr. Paul, not the other way around. As a student of history, I have to ask, was Martin Luther a conspiracy theorist in regard to the expansion of the powers and indulgences of the Papacy in the time before the Reformation? Were the Sons of Liberty conspiracy theorists when they held the Boston Tea Party? In the circles of English Government, was it not reasonable to levy taxes in regard to the expense of defending the colonies? Should we blindly follow the lead of a Government that is supposed to be answerable to the People, or should we retain our rights to help dictate how We, the People are Governed. It has been said, and it is of worth repeating that,
“Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Freedom”
"Government is not reason, nor eloquence. It is force. And like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master."
--
George Washington
"In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself."
--
Alexander Hamilton
"Unless the mass retains sufficient control over those entrusted with the powers of their government, these will be perverted to their own oppression, and to the perpetuation of wealth and power in the individuals and their families selected for the trust. Whether our Constitution has hit on the exact degree of control necessary, is yet under experiment."
--
Thomas Jefferson
"A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away."
--
Barry Goldwater
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."
--
Ronald Reagan
Humbly, I hope that this is of benefit in answering Mona Charen’s “Memo to Ron Paul Supporters”…
-Publius Rex, Jr.-
