In Defense of Ron Paul

Justin’s insinuation to the contrary aside, Paul never “duped,” or intended to “dupe” anyone. He made a good will effort to restore the historic spirit of the GOP, sparing no occasion to remind Republicans of how wildly at odds are their contemporary endeavors with the vision of their ideological brethren from times past. In return, he was all too regularly ridiculed and dismissed as a crank. Still, Paul refused to abandon his party by running on a third party ticket, a move that, given the almost fanatical loyalty of his impressive number of followers, would significantly hurt McCain’s prospects in the fall.

There is one final respect in which I differ with Justin. He thinks of both McCain and Paul as “mavericks.” I think that he is partially correct. Although the center-left establishment media have branded McCain a “maverick” for his willingness to depart from his party on a host of issues, there is nothing particularly brave or daring about his decisions to assume positions favored by the guardians of our “politically correct” orthodoxy. On the other hand, a person who defends his party’s ideals even when the vast majority of his fellow partisans have not only jumped ship by “compromising” with the members of the rival party, but actively worked to denigrate him as an “extremist,” is brave indeed.

This is Ron Paul.

And this is why it is he only who deserves the ascription of “maverick.”