Conor Friedersdorf observes that Ron Paul was hardly uninvolved in the race-baiting newsletters that he’s now trying to disavow, thus using racism as a tease for political gain—leading actual racists on with their rhetoric simply for popularity’s sake—which is publicly disgusting and privately exploitative. But this is far from the only way in which Paul betrays those who trust him. As I’ve noted before, the newsletters are relatively trivial, compared to Paul’s other moral and political failings. He consistently exploits libertarianism itself for political gain, claiming to be a defender of freedom while, in fact, not believing in it, and not being a libertarian—in precisely the same way that he exploited racism for the same purposes.
Consider: using racist-seeming rhetoric to appeal to white people who really hate blacks, even though you don’t yourself hate blacks or take substantive steps to harm them once in office, is in Friedersdorf’s words, a serious moral failing. But so, too, is using libertarian-seeming rhetoric to appeal to libertarians, even though you are not yourself a libertarian and, if elected, would in fact take steps to harm liberty. Paul does just this: he believes, and has said on the floor of the United States Congress that he believes, states have the authority to send armed agents into your bedroom to drag you from the arms of your loved ones. He believes the U.S. Constitution provides no guarantee against such an unutterably tyrannical act. Yet he pretends to be a libertarian. He believes states should be free to censor your speech, yet he pretends to believe in the Constitution. He believes that the federal government should prohibit women from choosing whether to have an abortion—that is, he believes he has the right to initiate force against them to stop them from using their own bodies as they see fit. Yet he pretends to be a libertarian and a federalist. He has no moral opposition to the war on drugs—just wants it done at the state level. Yet he pretends to believe in freedom. He has denounced the separation of church and state, one of the indispensable cornerstones of any free society, yet he pretends to believe in the Founding Fathers’ vision of individual rights and limited government. He speaks up proudly on behalf of aggressive slave states, from the Confederate States of America to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and yet he pretends to believe in liberty, and has persuaded masses of idealistic people who believe in liberty that he is one of them. Just as Ron Paul is not himself a racist, but uses race-baiting language to get the votes of those who are, so he is not himself a libertarian, but uses liberty-sounding language to get the support of good people who actually do believe in freedom. It’s a shame, and it’s humiliating.
Comments policy