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Everybody takes sides. When the chips are down on important issues, everybody can eventually be found on a side of their choosing. Those that claim to be neutral on the important issues of life are either ignorant of the reality of where they truly stand or are attempting to deceive someone. Percentages are higher on the latter, which is unfortunate because it creates a disingenuous world where people carry false banners of affiliation and advertise ideological beliefs that contradict the way they really think and act.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s interview with Don Imus over the Israeli embargo of the Gaza Strip raises a number of disturbing questions about where this self-proclaimed Republican stands on a number of important questions. Ron Paul, a longtime isolationist, shocked many when he not only admonished Israel’s lawful blockage of the Gaza Strip, but also said that Israel’s action were nothing short of an act of war. When Imus mentioned that Israel was not attempting to stop humanitarian aid in the region, rather weapons being smuggled to the terrorist organization Hamas, Ron Paul released a tirade of unbelievable statements.
Paul legitimated the terrorist organization Hamas and
attacked both Israel’s and America’s attempts
to restrain terrorist organizations using boycotts and
embargos. Specifically, Paul denounced actions taken
against known terrorists and enablers in Palestine, Iran
and Iraq under Saddam Hussein. According to Ron
Paul’s thinking, the terrorist organizations and the
countries that harbor them have been victims of Israel and
America’s inability to continue to reach out in
friendly dialogue. Ron Paul told Imus, “America
should tell Israel they are on their own.”
Paul’s assertion that we should abandon our ally
Israel is shocking but it is only the tip of the iceberg of
the congressman’s misguided thinking. If we are to
question Ron Paul’s anti-Israel stance, should we not
also question his overt anti-America stance?
Ron Paul’s interview with Don Imus is riddled with
“blame America first” rhetoric. Paul starts
like a modern day liberal by minimizing radical Islamic
terrorism and placing the terrorists as victims and America
as an imperialistic aggressor. The congressman also shows
how naive he is regarding the differences between past
aggressors of the world and the modern terrorist.
Highlighting this point, Ron Paul casually says of Hamas,
“Yeah, they’re probably not the best people in
the world, but you know, didn’t we talk to the
Soviets…?” This disconnect from the realities
of terrorism combined with a “blame Israel and
America first” mentality does not represent the
Republican Party and is not in the same universe as
conservative values. Ron Paul not only sounded like a
Democrat when talking to Don Imus, but his rhetoric
embraced the worst of the beliefs and values of the modern
liberal. Ron Paul’s own words demand that he be
asked, “Whose side are you on?”
The assertion that because America supports elections in
the world we must also support and lift up terrorist
organizations such as Hamas is more than simply wrong,
it’s repulsive. If Ron Paul really believes that,
then his long-term view of the world can be measured in
inches. Americans have the sense, the ability and the right
to reject terrorist organizations no matter how they come
to power. America doesn’t abandon its allies for its
enemies. Israel is being attacked by Hamas daily and it is
here that war has been declared, not in the country’s
attempt to safeguard itself through embargos.
We all take sides and we are all accountable to which camp that places us in. Ron Paul does not have to adhere to conservative values or even to the Republican Party. He is not required to be a friend of Israel or even to have positive American sentiment, but he needs to be clear about where he stands, which camp he really calls home. Ron Paul, whose side are you on?
