by Mike Whitney
Ron Paul is the
only antiwar candidate who has a (microscopic) chance of winning in
2012. He’s also the only candidate who will make an effort to restore
the Bill of Rights and reverse Congress’s decision to allow the
president to “indefinitely” imprison American citizens without due
process.
For these reasons alone, Paul should garner the support of
leftists, liberals, and progressives. But he won’t, because liberals are
convinced that Paul will try to dismantle the social programs upon
which the elderly, the infirm, and the vulnerable depend.
These concerns
are not without foundation. Paul opposes government meddling in the
market and sees Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security as steps towards
socialism. That means, there’s a good chance that these programs will
come under fire if Paul is elected. The question is: How should we
balance our concerns about Social Security with our opposition to the
war(s)?
To answer that question, we need to create a “hypothetical”.
Let’s say, Paul
surprises his critics and wins the presidency in a landslide victory in
November 2012. Then – in his first public appearance as
president – he issues an executive order to stop all Social Security
payments immediately, thus cutting off the meager revenue-stream that
millions of the nation’s elderly need to scrape-by.
Isn’t this the worst-case scenario? Isn’t this what liberals are really worried about?
Okay, so let’s
say it all goes-down just as we said. Let’s say Paul tries to
strangle Social Security from Day 1. Isn’t that still infinitely better
than another Falluja, another Haditha, another Abu Ghraib, another
bombed-out wedding party?
Yes, it’s wrong
to deprive the sick and elderly of some pittance so they can eek by, but
is it as wrong as blowing women and children to bits in their own
country, in their own cities, in their own homes?
It’s a question
of priorities, right? So, what’s more important; ending the bloodletting
or some potential threat to Social Security?
Paul will stop the killing. We should use our vote to do the same.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion, forthcoming from AK Press. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com
