Ron Paul, Age 76.I know. Yesterday, I promised you something aside from politics the next time we got together, but what follows is just too good to pass up. Stick around. Believe me, you'll get a kick out of it.
First, though, a small bit of got-to-get-it-off-my-chest.
(If you really can't stand any political talk, scroll down until you see the next photo. I'll understand.)
(I won't like it, but I'll understand.)
I was quite disappointed last night. I truly thought that Ron Paul might win a state or two - North Dakota, especially, and then possibly Alaska. It didn't happen. He finished second in four states of the ten up for grabs (which is almost more maddening than if he had finished last, since there were brief glimmers of hope that got shot down as the night wore on.)
I'm still proud to have cast my vote for him in Massachusetts. He is, in my estimation, the most honest and the most consistent of the four remaining Republican candidates. He is the only candidate, Republican or Democrat, whose budget plan will actually cut the national debt. He is the leading proponent for individual liberty and a restoration of true Constitutional government. He is the only candidate espousing a policy of bringing our troops home from overseas (immediately) and using monies currently spent overseas to get things done at home instead. He is the only candidate calling for an end to the ridiculous, wasteful, and entirely unconstitutional "War" on drugs. No other candidate is addressing the true root cause of so many of our financial woes - The Federal Reserve - and calling for a return to currency with true value, based upon the gold standard, as opposed to paper money printed at whim by government (no matter how much inflation it may cause down the road.) He is...
Unelectable.
I say that with a proviso. He is unelectable THIS TIME AROUND. And, since he is 76-years-old, I don't think we'll see him making another run at it when he's 80. However, he has repeatedly said that, unlike the other candidates, his campaign is not about he specifically being elected to any office. It is, rather, about the promulgation and proliferation of ideas, of values, of things which, until he brought them up, were not being discussed by anyone else. He has brought those ideas to the table, they are now at least being discussed, and the hope is that other good men and women will step forward during future campaigns, champion those causes, and become the candidates who will be electable.
I rarely become as emotionally attached to a candidate as I have to Doctor Paul. That's mainly because I rarely find a candidate who not only espouses so many of my own ideals, but who also speaks his honest mind and let the chips fall where they may. He is the most amazingly unscripted, unpolished, unapologetic, and REAL person, running for president, I have ever seen in my lifetime. Even those who disagree with his proposals tend toward an admiration of those qualities.
OK, enough hero worship. I have something concerning Ron Paul that should tickle the fancy of most, no matter if you agree with him or not politically. Look at this:
Know who that is? It's Ron Paul, back in the late 1970's, taking part in the annual Republican vs. Democrat congressional baseball game. Look at that swing! It is classic. If I hadn't told you it was Dr. Paul, a congressman, you might have bought it had I said it was a professional, perhaps a Double A second baseman.
Here are another couple of shots of Ron Paul sporting the classic Houston Astros uniform of the day (his congressional district is in the Houston area.)
Can you imagine Newt Gingrich in a baseball uniform? It would look like five pounds of sausage in a four-pound sack. Rick Santorum? Maybe, but I get the impression that Rick was probably stuck out in right field if he played Little League. Maybe I'm wrong. And Mitt Romney? He looks utterly awkward and poseur-like wearing jeans. I can't imagine him in any athletic uniform other than, possibly, polo.
Ron Paul is the only player from either side to ever have hit a fences clearing home run in the annual congressional game.
Even if he wasn't such a magnificent candidate, as a long-time player of baseball and fast-pitch softball I'd still have to admire him just for that.
(Now, if anyone knows who he hit that home run OFF OF, I'd love to know.)
Soon, with more better stuff.
17 comments:
He does look pretty good in the Astro's clown suit
I agree with your analysis of the Senator and if he's still a candidate (he says he will be) when the primary finally gets here, I will probably vote for him ...since we don't have a favorite son in the race
Who knows? California might even still be relevant in June
Sweet. . .
Altho, I'm not sure I can take a candidate seriously who would willingly don those old Astros parfait unis. . .
And let's see. . . if he's 76 today, he was 46 in '82. . . so he was certainly in his 40s, if the photo was taken in the late 70s
OK, count me impressed. . .
I admire Dr. Paul, too.
But you knew that.
I have to agree completely with your assertions about Ron Paul's physical/athletic prowess. He and you are about on a par, of sorts, with respect to being able to still play the game in your 40s and even into your 50s now too! Very admirable traits, indeed! (Plus, I agree that I also think he is a very honest man which is something one doesn't usually get vibes along those lines for many -if any -politicians!
Here's hoping he's still around at the end of all of the primaries. Because he is the only one who won't have any dirt on him.
I can't say I agree 100% with his views. But I don't agree 100% with...
So what do you think about the situation with Peyton Manning?
oh dearie me, you're blogging about Amurrican politics and baseball, two topics that I know very little about. so I think I'd better just shut up and read what other people have to say. Bye.
You sell a fine kettle of fish and I 'm tempted to buy, but for the time being I "ll stick with Obama. He hasn't been perfect but he's done well enough to deserve a second term.
I like him as a person. I hope his anti-Semitic and questionable racial prejudices have been out grown, as his earlier writings made him a little scary to me. I do think he has some good ideas and I agree on his stance about war and spending. I also agree that we must live by our own decisions and suffer the consequences, but not everyone can make those decisions with good knowledge and that is why I believe in social programs.
We need more statesmen, fewer politicians. He's a statesman. And a baseball player. Two pluses.
I admire him immensely because, as you pointed out, he is REAL, and HONEST. I agree with him on many, but not all things, but heck, I don't agree with ANYONE 100% of the time. And he's unelectable.
Just FYI...you know why he's not running for re-election for his House seat? The Texas Republican party doesn't like him becasue he won't fall in line like a good lacky should, so they gerrymanderd him out of his district, where they LOVE him. That's politics for ya.
S
Sorry your man didn't fare better, but... like one of your commenters said, he's too quirky.
Hence I SHOULD like him.
heh heh
i find those same qualities admirable as well. it grinds my gears that the media only talks about the other three candidates, but we;ve covered that ground before.
ok, i am obviously a very unwell mind but you've got paul in a baseball uniform, you suggested romney in polo duds. now i am thinking of newt in a sumo diaper....pain and bachmann doing a bizarro synchronized swimming routine. yeah, ditch the debates and let's get them all playing sports.
Can you imagine Newt Gingrich in a baseball uniform?
EEEEIIIIEEEE!!! My eyes! My mind! It burns at the image.
You're lucky that I like you so much that I can forgive you for instilling that image into me.
I used to feel that way about Howard Dean... Granted he's not a Constitutional scholar, but I do think he's an honest man. As for Gingrich in a baseball uniform -- Babe Ruth kind of comes to mind... Those pictures of Ron Paul -- definitely reasonably dishy!
I'm for the Irishman: O'Bama! ;-)
I am going to wash my mind now .. those images of Newt, Rick and Mitt are frightening
I honestly didn't know that much about Ron Paul until I read you today. I had pretty much dismissed him as this decade's Ross Perot. It is a little frustrating to find out in the same article that he's got so many good planks in his platform AND he has no chance. Hopefully though he'll earn some time at the podium come convention day and he can plant his seeds.
Most people I know don't really like any of the Republican canidates right now, except for the Ron Paul fans. They are obsessed with the man. My brother practically foams at the mouth when he talks about how Ron Paul MUST be our next president.
I'm afraid I've lost all hope in our political leaders at this point. I have a hard time getting excited about anyone right now. Still, I would definitely be voting for Ron Paul.
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