This Still Doesn't Quite Explain It

Right Wing News has an article entitled "Why So Many Conservatives Hate Ron Paul". One reason is his stance on the Iraq War:

When you aim that sort of rhetoric at people who strongly support the war and feel that it's justified, moral, and in America's best interests, it's guaranteed to generate a huge wave of hostility. Additionally, Paul's thoughtless, "we must leave immediately, regardless of the consequences," position on Iraq comes across as poorly thought out. Even if you thought that the war was a bad idea and opposed it from day one, the idea that we can simply extricate ourselves from Iraq immediately because it's unpleasant, with no consequences, is the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from a 16 year old at an anti-war rally, not something you expect from a candidate for President. Even Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama, all of whom have spent months trying to convince their base that they're the most anti-war of all the top tier candidates, are saying we may be in Iraq for years to come.

The piece goes on to talk about how his platform is impractical, that it's too idealistic, and that he's a 9/11 truther, and that his supporters are obnoxious. The last part is true, his supporters are really, really, vocal. Obnoxious at times even. But people who buy into Ron Paul's views can't help but get excited. I get giddy when I hear Ron Paul say things about eliminating whole federal departments or ending the War on Drugs, or getting rid of the Patriot Act. His idea of the role of government in peoples lives makes sense to our collective memory. We know inherently that Ron Pauls ideas are true (just like the founding fathers did), that they are timeless. It's also true that our status as a beacon of hope for the rest of the world rests on the idea of us being a free country and getting government out of running our lives. So why do conservatives, who profess (as a principal) to believe in limited government, freedom, individual rights, hate Ron Paul?


I think that the conservatives who hate Ron Paul, to a certain extent can't bear the thought of what people would do without them. That the need to dictate to people on how to live their lives isn't monopolized by the left in this country. The conservatives who believe democracy and freedom can be imposed at the point of a gun are doing the exact same thing and telling people how to live their lives.

That's why if you look at some of the "conservative" boards. When they talk about Ron Paul, the arguments against him much degenerate into unhinged name-calling. Like what you would see on Daily Kos talking about George W.