Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Today in Meganity

tales of true crime, and Ron Paul. The former is relatively inoffensive. There are minor nits to pick, but the meat is in the RP post.
As an aside, before we begin, let me say I fall fully on the Dave Neiwert side of the debate over whether what matters more is RP's opposition to the war or his extensive history of ties to militias and believing in batshit crazy things. To my mind, it boils down to whether it matters that RP is right for the wrong reasons, and I believe it does. Presidential candidacies by men who aren't going to get the nomination or win as a third party entry aren't necessarily entirely quixotic endeavors. The candidates build organizations, identify reliable donors, and create space in the mainstream for practitioners of their particular brand of politics. Pat Robertson was never going to win, but that wasn't the point. And RP is serving as a meeting point for extremist elements of the right and left, which means claims like 9/11 being blamed on the New World Order are just going to get more and more common. All in all, Ron Paul scares me.
That said, you'd think Megan would at least give RP credit for the libertarian aspects of his wackadoodle portfolio. All but dismantling the Federal Government is supposed to be one of her fondest dreams. And yet, this is what she says;

Ron Paul is not going to win. Ron Paul is the ultimate refutation of the notion that money is what determines races. Like fellow Texan Ross Perot, Paul appeals to people who are fed up with the political process, including a lot of libertarians. But many of his positions are deeply unpopular, and he can't triangulate because his precise appeal to his supporters is the image of standing rock-steady in the face of politics-as-usual. Nor has he, as far as I can tell, injected his own politics into the race by forcing other candidates to kowtow to him. Since he can't win, and isn't forcing other candidates to react, why not use the platform he has to push a single issue? Not the Iraq war, upon which no one seems open to much persuasion, but something where he might conceivably actually change America a little? Wasting it on actually trying to get elected seems extravagent [sic].
Can anyone tell me what point Megan is trying to make here? What does
injected his own politics into the race by forcing other candidates to kowtow to him
mean? Does Megan wish he'd launch an anti-income tax candidacy? Anti-NWO order? Or does Megan want RP to sate her inner Steve Sailer and bring some militia-men of dubious racial views on the stage with him at rallies? I realize I'm being harsh, but this is yet another of those moments where it's unclear whether Megan is being dumb or sly. Sometimes I truly wonder.

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