Ron Paul Wins Second Republican Debate

Ron Paul, the maverick Republican from Texas, won the second debate in South Carolina last night.

As of this writing, 17,306 people have responded to the MSNBC interactive poll on the 10 Republican candidates after last night's debate. Once again, Ron Paul is in first place with positive ratings of 50% and negatives of 26%. Supposed "front runner" Guliani is well behind at only 22% positive and 51% negative. After Ron Paul, the next highest positive rating is Mitt Romney with 24%. On the Fox news text message poll, Ron Paul came in a close second, 25% behind Romney's 29%. Guliani was third with only 19%. The outpouring of support for Ron Paul and the apparent meltdown of "front runner" Guliani seemed to be the result of Guliani's ignorance of foreign policy facts. Ron Paul stated that the reason the terrorists attacked the US on 9/11 was the presence of US troops in the middle east. Guliani reacted with surprise and demanded that Dr. Paul retract the statement. Paul stood his ground and explained that the CIA had specified "blowback" against US policies as the main reason for the attacks. The fact that Guliani "had never heard" this explanation seems proof enough that he knows virtually nothing about foreign policy issues. Dr. Paul, in contrast, has been dealing with foreign policy for decades through his service in the US House of Representatives. He is the author of a book entitled "A Foreign Policy of Freedom." He made numerous speeches on the floor of the House prior to 9/11 in which he warned us about possible blowback from our irrational foreign policy, especially as it relates to the middle east. For more detail on the blowback issue see this article. Viewers apparently responded to Paul's courage in speaking the truth, even in the face of Guliani's indignant demand for retraction. In a post debate interview with Sean Hannity, Paul stuck to his guns. When Hannity asked what Paul would do about situations like Saddam Hussein's gassing of the Kurds, Paul responded that, unlike previous administrations, he would not have given the gas to Hussein. Americans have been brainwashed into thinking that history doesn't matter, that there shouldn't be any consequences when we meddle in the affairs of other nations. We are supposed to forget that it was the US that overthrew the elected government of Iran and installed the Shah. We are supposed to forget US support of the Taliban and Osama bin-Laden. We are supposed to forget that it is our own foolish policy of "nation building" that causes people around the world to hate us. Ron Paul hasn't forgotten. He tells the truth.