Ron Paul? Really? Are you sure about that?

Every couple of days, I get emails, letters and telegrams from you, my valued readers, asking something along the following lines:

"Stegan, we know you're a huge Dennis Kucinich fan, but what do you think about the "Ron Paul Revolution"?"

I have to admit, I'm new to the Ron Paul watch, so I decided to check out some of his positions. He's anti-war and would pull us out of Iraq (good), against the Patriot act (very good), against trade deals such as NAFTA (good), wants to take us out of the UN (huh?), abolish the Federal Reserve (um, okay), abolish the IRS (alrighty then), return decisions on abortion and contraception to the states (BAD), repeal all federal gun laws (BAD), return all decision making power over medicine and education to the states (BAD), and make the rights of homeschooling families paramount (WHAT?).

His views appear to have drawn in support from white supremacists and the forced birth crowd, as well as certain numbers of anti-war republicans and people who enjoy saying "Ron Paul" while intaking their favorite illegal or semi-legal substance. To each their own, I say. I mean, as a Dennis Kucinich supporter, who am I to judge who you vote for?

But let me ask the Paulies this- your boy wants to return a large number of powers to the individual states. Have you looked at your state assembly (or legislature, or what have you) lately? Some of them only meet every two years! They think teachers unions shouldn't be allowed to strike! They think they know better than anyone what you, or your partner, or your mother should be allowed to do with your bodies! They are, in short, elected officials. The minor leagues of elected officials, no less. And while I'm honestly not a big fan of Congress, I think they've usually got smarter people telling them what to do than your standard breed local politician.

In the final analysis, it seems like Ron Paul really just wants to pass the buck down to the states (and the UN) and create a system of federal governance where the bigwigs in Washington can sit back and say "Hey, it's not my problem!"

Which, now that I think about it, might be the perfect system of government for the early 21st Century United States- we have after all become the "Hey, if it doesn't affect me, I don't care about it" culture. Hm- maybe I should reconsider this whole Ron Paul thing...