Will GOP Ban Ron Paul From Future Debates For Iraq Comments?
Here's a fun postscript to the big dustup yesterday between Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul, who suggested at the GOP debate that the Sept. 11 attacks could be attributed to American foreign policy.
It looks like Paul will be banned from all future GOP debates -- that is, if Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis has his way:
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The chairman of the Michigan Republican Party said Wednesday that he will try to bar Ron Paul from future GOP presidential debates because of remarks the Texas congressman made that suggested the Sept. 11 attacks were the fault of U.S. foreign policy.Michigan party chairman Saul Anuzis said he will circulate a petition among Republican National Committee members to ban Paul from more debates. At a GOP candidates' debate Tuesday night, Paul drew attacks from all sides, most forcefully from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, when he linked the terror attacks to U.S. bombings.
It'll certainly be interesting to see how many RNC members sign this, won't it? Are these ideas really too hot for the GOP to even discuss?
Ah, the sweet smell of democracy in action!
How much more evidence do we need to show that these guys are blinkered to anything that doesn't comport with their worldview? It will be interesting to see if anyone signs on to this. Especially since you'd think that having someone presenting that opinion gives the other candidates an opportunity to explain why they think he's wrong (and score political points doing it).
May 17, 2007 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Party Of Ideas!!!
"Thank God George Bush is our president." -Rudy Giuliani
May 17, 2007 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just pathetic, but par for the course. Do you expect anything less from the party of Benito McRomney? They are closing ranks like the Soviet era apparatchiks they've become.
UA
May 17, 2007 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
President Bush was citing the words of Al-Qaeda during today's press conference with Tony Blair as justification for his policies. Why should Rep. Ron Paul be denied the same priviledge?
February 22, 1998, Edict of Osama Bin Laden:
I don't really think we should be taking the words of terrorists as face value as they have a motivated self-interest in pushing false propaganda. But if it's wrong for Rep. Paul to reference the words of Bin Laden it's just as wrong for President Bush. Or is it only OK to cite terrorists while fear-mongering and not in a sober discussion of foreign policy?
May 17, 2007 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope they do it. It will expose the GOP for the scairdy-cat zombies that they are, and should drive Ron Paul to go indy, maybe even run again on the Libertarian ticket.
That's the partisan political side, anyway. On the other side, Paul is the only thing that makes the GOP "debates" anything more than a predictable snooze. We'll lose one of the few remaining maverick voices when he's either banned or just drops out of contention. Yet another sad consequence of our stinking two-party perversion.
At least the Dems have Kucinich and Gravel for a while to keep things interesting and uncomfortable. BTW, the Chicago pbs station did nice long interviews with Paul and Gravel -- highly recommended if you're jonesing to hear something not scripted by an overpaid control freak. You can hear them at
http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx [5/14 and 5/15]
May 17, 2007 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm sure Prez Bush is only citing the real stuff. Not the propaganda.
He knows...looked into his soul, and all that...
"Thank God George Bush is our president." -Rudy Giuliani
May 17, 2007 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a joke this trainwreck that calls itself the "GOP" is. They are so afraid of factually-based, documented, EASILY-corroborated arguments that they BAN the guy who espouses them.
I hope they go ahead and ban him, because such an act will further demonstrate what an intellectualy cowardly lot these buffoons are.
Bloomberg/Paul?
May 17, 2007 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink