Conflicted Libertarian

Cong. Paul’s speech at CPAC was well-received.  Don’t take my word for it; Politico reports that Paul packed the house for the first time at the conference.  Paul filled the conference hall:

Paul was the only speaker so far to fill the entire convention hall at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and some of his supporters were turned away after the room reached its capacity of 1,100 people.

He also spoke to his non-interventionist foreign policy:

“We are now spending one trillion dollars a year to manage our world empire,” he said. “There is nothing wrong with being a conservative and having a conservative belief in foreign policy where we have a strong national defense and don’t go to war so carelessly.”

I, however, felt his best part was when he alluded to the terrorist rights issue (I am trying to quote from a video not Politico and it is approximately right):

“Somebody in the Administration,…makes a determination that that individual is a threat…[even if they are an American citizen]…he can be assassinated.” 

There’s more.  After citing the imprisonment of Eugene V. Debs and suggesting he might have been assassinated today, Paul warned that preservation of liberty is necessary:

“This is protecting the whole integrity of our country and our Constitution and the rights of the individual.”

Paul also cited the erosion of habeas corpus, the acceptance of “secret detention” and basically warned the conservatives that this is a threat to them and is not consistent with conservative traditions.  This was important.  I am glad it was well-received (although there was some booing) and conservative activists need to hear it.  Military tribunals and loss of rights for “terror suspects” is a threat to conservatives. 

Paul admitted his Presidential campaign has increased his visibility on places like Fox News.  I agree with that too.  He also called for freedom of expression and tolarance for other viewpoints. 

I conclude with this observation:  Ron Paul is not a charismatic speaker.  This is actually good.  It is the strength of his ideas that draw people to him.

Tags: Constitution, CPAC, Eugene-V.-Debs, habeas-corpus, military-tribunals, politico, rights, Ron Paul