Paul: ‘I could never support somebody who thinks that it’s funny to say bomb bomb bomb Iran.’
By on Sep 18th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Paul: ‘I could never support somebody who thinks that it’s funny to say bomb bomb bomb Iran.’
On MSNBC today, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) explained to host Norah O’Donnell that he refused former Sen. Phil Gramm’s entreaties for him to endorse Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) because he disagrees with him “on all the major issues,” especially foreign policy. “I mean I could never support somebody who thinks that it’s funny to say ‘bomb bomb bomb Iran,’” said Paul. “That, to me, is not somebody that I could endorse ever.” Watch it:
In April 2007, McCain sang “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran” to the tune of the Beach Boy’s “Barbara Ann” when asked at a town hall “when America is going to ’send an air mail message to Tehran.’”
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Iran President’s comments on Israel have been over the top, but I don’t see how this clown criticizes their rhetoric when he uses the same brand.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:15 pmThe American economy, and with it the global economy, is being engineered to collapse.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:18 pmSomeone who say ‘bomb, bomb, bomb’ whould not be in any government anywhere. Full stop!
September 18th, 2008 at 4:22 pmRon’s got guts. That said, his libertarian bent wouldn’t help much re:the economy, governing, etc.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:23 pmAnd yes, he is a crackpot. A principled, intelligent crackpot.
Guido the Loving OBGYN Says:
Osama did not kill our economy. Deregulation did.
And Ron Paul is for total deregulation of Businesses. Don’t forget that.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:23 pmThey say ‘Bomb Iran’ while they were bombing the economy…
September 18th, 2008 at 4:24 pmPay attention, righties!
This could have been your candidate to possibly restore the Republican party and Conservative values.
Yet you chose McSame.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
September 18th, 2008 at 4:25 pmI believe the canned response to this one is: anyone who doesn’t have a sense of humor needs to “get a life.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_92XTQ3UNxw
That is right, when called out for this “joke,” McCain instinctively criticized anyone who was offended by it.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:26 pmOne thing I’ll say for Ron Paul — he stays true to his beliefs and doesn’t compromise them for political expediency. Even though I think he’s a crackpot on a number of issues, I admire his honesty.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pm“Iran calls for destroying America and Israel” and yet Bush invades and occupies Iraq. Isn’t that “The Truth?”
September 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pmPretty sure this was bin Laden stated goal. Not so much about killing Americans as we’ve been told time and time again, but rather to bring an end to our financial dominance and subsequently our world dominance. Read: stop spreading western cultural values.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:31 pm“I could never support somebody who thinks that it’s funny to say ‘bomb bomb bomb Iran.”
I might, from time to time, have poked fun at Congressman Paul’s electoral constituency, but I must say that his refusal to endorse Senator McCain is helpful. At the very least, it is likely to push some of his fervent followers away from their polling places, and hopefully, more likely to encourage them to show up and cast a vote for the Obama-Biden team.
We need all the help we can get. A loss to McCain-Palin is unthinkable.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:32 pmAs I understand it Ron Paul’s non-belligerence, whilst remarkable and encouraging coming from someone on the right-wing is grounded in isolationism which is arguably a form of American exceptionalism.
His apparently “maverick’ attitude is restricted to foreign policy and relations ONLY, as far as I can tell. He;d rather have ZERO foreign relations.
He is as much an ideologue as any in the GOP, just with different priorities. The fact that he has one opinion that appears to align with the Democratic platform and liberal sensibilities means nothing and IMHO is not worth applauding.
Ron Paul wants the US to function in glorious isolation from the rest of the world. His ideal is to return the US to a loose confederation of States each with extremely limited local government.
Though he is GOP Congressman he’s a political freak, somewhat like Nader or Lieberman. He has no relevant public constituency and no power within his own Party. He’s opinions are IMHO purely academic.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:32 pmThe Truth Says:
Iran calls for destroying America and Israel, you guys don’t get mad. Isn’t that hypocrisy?
September 18th, 2008 at 4:36 pmThe American religious Right that always votes GOP calls for the destruction of Israel to fulfill the prophecy of the End Times and bring about the Rapture.
You don’t get mad. Isn’t that hypocrisy?
Well, at least Ron Paul is a real Maverick.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:37 pmLike Paul or not, he is absolutely correct. Grandpappy McSame’s shameful “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” is not funny. And it is equally embarrassment for McCain to say that we are a nation of democracy when he doesn’t want to use diplomacy or sit down talks with Iran, Venezuela, and other allies. The international leaders are just waiting and seeing who guts into office in 2009. They are though with the clown President and have tuned him out and McCain’s same Bush rhetoric is turning these international leaders off.
McCain has just lost all of Paul’s support and his supporters. I don’t agree some of Paul’s philosophies, but I do give him two thumbs up for the guts to not caving into McCain.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:37 pm“The international leaders are just waiting and seeing who guts into office in 2009.”
Oops. Should be gets not guts. I had a McCain senior and gaffe moment.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:39 pmIran calls for destroying America and Israel, you guys don’t get mad. Isn’t that hypocrisy?
September 18th, 2008 at 4:41 pmThe Truth Says:
Iran calls for destroying America and Israel, you guys don’t get mad. Isn’t that hypocrisy?
*
sure did take awhile for
the trolls to show up, didn’t it?
are you guys on strike?
#
September 18th, 2008 at 4:41 pmHi Mr.P!
Glad to see at least your done name jacking.
How ya doing?
No more classes for today?
Shouldn’t you be in your dorm room playing Guitar Hero?
September 18th, 2008 at 4:46 pmThe Truth,
Your name should be: The Spin
However, it’s actually not hypocritical, in any way, to hold our Government officials and elected leaders responsible for making jokes about killing people when it doesn’t represent our beliefs. Iran is not our government.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:54 pmA bellwether? Republicans jumping ship?
September 18th, 2008 at 4:59 pmArn Gunnutes,
now that is amazing!
when mcsame loses these
guys then you know he’s
really lost it.
#
September 18th, 2008 at 5:02 pmEXACTLY! I agree one hundred percent. McCain’s “joke” disqualifies him to represent the People of the United States.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:04 pmStupid troll.
I suppose you think the next time someone yells “kill the ref”, the NFL commissioner should nuke Cleveland?
You see, a lot of people don’t care for the good ol’ U.S.A. And many of them have very good reasons to say mean things about us. However, the fact remains that there is no official policy of “America hating” in Iran and, so far as anyone has been able to tell, they have taken no official action against us. When a rational person looks at the facts, Iran is not an imminent threat to anyone so? Bombing them would be a criminal act.
Moron.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:05 pmThat’s a libertarian for you. They’ve got some great things to say, but when you look at the whole package, yikes!
These guys think there should be no regulation of corporations. WTF!?
September 18th, 2008 at 5:05 pmSee, bombs KILL PEOPLE. It’s sick, really. Just sick. I thought he thought “war is hell”. Bullshit.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:05 pmI don’t think anything about this particular Ron Paul statement his hypocritical because he has never supported any of these wars. I think his political and social theories are basically delusional and some are downright crazy, but he seems honest about them
September 18th, 2008 at 5:07 pmYes, Ron, it was not funny. Very, very sick when you really think about it.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:08 pmMcCain is an extremely unstable man and has no business running this country. He lacks the temperament to make sound judgments. Professional therapists who deal with vets have diagnosed him with severe PTSD. We need a calm person running our country, not some guy or girl who’s always on edge and likely to explore emotionally.
America doesn’t a Nervous Nelly with his finger on the nuclear button. McCain is a blustering buffoon and would be very dangerous to have as our leader. We’ve already got one blustering buffoon running our country. We can’t survive one more.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:08 pmPeople are coming to perceive Israel as the snakepit of the earth.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:11 pmThe Truth Says:
Iran calls for destroying America and Israel, you guys don’t get mad. Isn’t that hypocrisy?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Rightwing MORONS make things up, just flat pull them directly from their rectal databases and it makes me LAUGH like I am laughing NOW. Can you cough up any quotes where Iran called for destroying America? You CANT? Imagine my suprise. You are a fool who thinks WE are as dumb as YOU. Just because you believe ANYTHING you are told doesnt mean you look like anything but an IDIOT spewing this stupidity in the reality based universe.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:12 pmIs it just me or are the already really stupid trolls getting even stupider>
September 18th, 2008 at 5:15 pm“Iran President’s comments on Israel have been over the top, but I don’t see how this clown criticizes their rhetoric when he uses the same brand.”
“Iran calls for destroying America and Israel, you guys don’t get mad. Isn’t that hypocrisy?”
He actually never said the famous quote. He didn’t say map, nor “wipe off”. The translation was terrible. Even if he did, it would be open for interpretations as pretty much every non-NATO Muslim government would prefer a map without Israel over a map with Israel.
It’s all pretty much a Western Media propaganda hoax.
“His apparently “maverick’ attitude is restricted to foreign policy and relations ONLY, as far as I can tell.”
He wants to kill the Fed and the IRS asap…
“And Ron Paul is for total deregulation of Businesses. Don’t forget that.”
September 18th, 2008 at 5:37 pmWell, and would be much truer to deregulation than the average Republican, apparently. No Fed that gives cheap money to banks to fill market bubbles, for example.
Yep, EugeneDebs they do appear to be “desperate” with the stupid.
September 18th, 2008 at 5:37 pmMcSenile is ready to bomb I-ran on day one if only he could remember where exactly it is…
McMoosekiller is ready to bomb the Russkies on day one, because she knows that they are hiding somewhere to the west of A-las-ka, across the Bering Sea…
September 18th, 2008 at 5:58 pmFor those of you that operate off of assumptions instead of taking the time to look up the facts…
Ron Paul is NOT for total deregulation.
He is for Freedom of the market with laws acting as the regulations and that means ENFORCING the laws… not ignoring them when it is your political buddies doing it… if that was done the polution problems would not be a problem because polluting other peoples air and water would be cause for being taken to court.
Also remember deregulation did NOT cause the current financial problems… the current laws were broken and the republican administration looked the other way. That is fascism not free markets. If people didnt think the government would bail them out they would not have taken the risks… i.e. if the free market was running the show they would not have made the gambles.
Ron Paul is NOT isolationist… his views are rooted squarely in the Founding Fathers own views… Trade and be friends with all… defend yourself from those who wont be friends and be the WELL WISHERS of other peoples freedoms….
Ron Pauls social and domestic views are directly derived from the Founding Fathers views. We have all lived in a world where the republicans have twisted those views but kept the language and so now we instinctively feel all things republican are bad even if those things are based on Americas roots but have simply been hijacked by the empire lovers.
Freedom is not anarchy… it wasnt when America was born and it isnt now… with Freedom comes law. The law being applied only on those without political connections is what has led to this situation we are in today. Going back to Freedom with Law is truely American.
Ron Pauls conservative views sound like normal Republican views… the difference is Republicans only mean for those restrictions to apply to others not them and their own old boys networks… Ron Paul believes in applying his freedom agenda evenly with all people … no special favors for cronies. IF that was done then the things people most care about on the left would be realized… you are simply brainwashed by the rightwingers just as the rightwingers themselves have been brainwashed by the neocons… you believe that the neocon way of being conservative is all there is… they have deceived everyone…
September 18th, 2008 at 6:06 pmNeocons want to bomb Iran before Bush finishes his 2nd term,but if that did not happen, bombing Iran will come right after McCain becomes a president.
In support of such ideas, Palin will be attending a political rally in front of the UN in New york against Iran.
Leiberman’s mentoring to Sarah is beginning to pay off.
Sarah’s handlers say that she was able to figure things out by herself after she saw Iran 10,000 miles away,just like when she was able to see Russia from Alaska which transformed her into a foreign policy expert.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:12 pmggibson, corporations are sued every day for all kinds of violations, including for issues over pollution. What happens? Using their virtually limitless bankroll they unleash an army of lawyers on the courts and the plaintiffs and almost always succeed in dragging things out until whichever private individual or non-profit runs out of money, patience, or both.
Hell, there are cases where these companies simply filed delaying action after delaying action until the person who brought the case died.
Do you really believe that industries like Big Oil are afraid of the courts? Look at how Exxon is still fighting to overturn fines levvied against them for a major disaster that happened 20 years ago! And they are winning too.
Turning policing of the free market over to the court system is tantamount to giving big companies the power to do just about anything they like. We have seen again, just this week, what a modest amount of removal of regulation and oversight has done for the American free market. The CEOs walked away with tens of millions while the rest of us are seeing our retirement funds sliced and diced. And how exactly is oversight from the courts expected to enforce restitution for their criminally reckless actions?
Face it, the economy under a Ron Paul-style government be a basket-case in no time at all. The consumer would become a second class citizen who would have even less say than they do now over product safety and the impact on the environment.
The EC is rapidly becoming the powerhouse economy of the world, and that is because of strong oversight and consumer protections, not in spite of it. The conservative model is in meltdown here in America, and Dr. Ron Paul’s prescription is entirely the wrong cure.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:21 pmIf it were true yes, but Ahmadinejad has never called for the destruction of Israel, he has predicted that the “zionist regime in Israel” will “collapse”, the whole “wiping Israel off the map” quote was a mistranslation which the Islamophobes grabbed onto and ran with .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnA75S6M4Nk&feature=PlayList&p=F1A75451811EEE8E&index=0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjTeyd3XVvU&feature=PlayList&p=F1A75451811EEE8E&index=1
September 18th, 2008 at 6:27 pmggibson1 says:
“the polution problems would not be a problem because polluting other peoples air and water would be cause for being taken to court.”
Here’s my problem with this formula: who can afford good lawyers? Some of the worst polluters… How am I going to afford a group of comparable lawyers when I’ve already spent my money on doctors and I’m already half-dead from the pollution?
The environment should not be left in the hands of the “free-market”. This too should be regulated (and enforced!) by the Government.
I don’t doubt Paul’s intentions. I just don’t think he’s thought all the way through his proposed policies. It relies on everyone playing nice and we’re just not there (yet). If he had his way, money would rule all.
In my opinion, it would ultimately have more disastrous effects than the Bush Administration. It’s the exact opposite direction that we need to be headed in, in order to face our current challenges as a Nation.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:48 pmAnders Says:
Exactly so
September 18th, 2008 at 7:23 pmtacitus Says:
RIGHT ON, great post
September 18th, 2008 at 7:24 pm#40: EugeneDebs Says:
Is it just me or are the already really stupid trolls getting even stupider>
September 18th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Answer: Trolls on these threads haven’t changed a bit. It is the same number and they are just a stupid, and distracting from the topic as they have ALWAYS been on ThinkProgress.org.
From time to time, I come into check to see if anything has been done to clean out the trolls. It is a waste of time. ThinkProgress.org is a Ron Paul/NeoCon stink hole, because that is the way the folks that run it want it. God forbid something positive and progressive should come from these threads.
There are other blogs that do not have this problem, EugeneDebs. Find ‘em. I did.
September 18th, 2008 at 8:05 pmSorry my english… it was early in the morning… what I meant is:
September 18th, 2008 at 10:26 pmSomeone like MacCain, who make a stupid coment as ‘Bomb, Bomb, Bomb.’ Should not be in any government, anywhere!
Wayne Says:
And Ron Paul is for total deregulation of Businesses. Don’t forget that.
True, but he is also against corporate socialism, in the form of taxpayers bailing out banks and corporations. Calling him a crackpot is not entirely correct as some posters do. I don’t agree with some of his social ideas, but Remember Obama is as much for invading countries and perpetual war, and Biden says he is a Zionist.
Practically speaking, I would have taken a Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich ticket over what the Dems and Repubs are offering.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:37 pmAnders Says:
The Truth Says:
Iran calls for destroying America and Israel, you guys don’t get mad. Isn’t that hypocrisy?
If it were true yes, but Ahmadinejad has never called for the destruction of Israel, he has predicted that the “zionist regime in Israel” will “collapse”, the whole “wiping Israel off the map” quote was a mistranslation which the Islamophobes grabbed onto and ran with .
Geesh…..I’m glad someone is telling like it is. When I hear Liberals and Lefties spouting the same half-truths and information cleansing as the Conservatives, then I know there is only one party with the illusion of two. The same as the FISA bill, Georgia invading South Ossetia, 9/11, Al-Qaeda, and now oil drilling.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:41 pmThough he is GOP Congressman he’s a political freak, somewhat like Nader or Lieberman. He has no relevant public constituency and no power within his own Party. He’s opinions are IMHO purely academic.
Yeah, but McCain didn’t think so. He asked for his endorsement. I love and hate Paul. I respect him for standing up to the Repubs and not bowing down to them.
September 21st, 2008 at 8:12 pm