Greg Krehbiel
Sen. Paul misses his political speech to make a political point?
by Greg Krehbiel on 24 January 2012
You’ve probably heard that Sen. Rand Paul missed his flight to D.C. to speak at the annual pro-life rally on Monday because he was arguing with some jack-booted TSA agents over a pat-down.
The cynic in me wonders if he calculated which was better for his political future — (1) going along with the TSA goons so he could make it to the pro-life rally and win points with that crowd, or (2) causing a fuss with TSA and winning points with the anti-TSA contingent.
(I realize I’m being rather hard on the TSA folks here. I don’t actually blame the workers — or at least not most of them. I’m sure they’re “just following orders.”)
But I get the impression that the Paul family skews in the “true believer” direction. I suspect that he caused a fuss with TSA because he believed it was the right thing to do.
And that’s most of what scares me about Ron Paul as a candidate for president.
A willingness to go it alone and suffer the consequences for your convictions is an admirable trait in a man. It’s not always a good trait in a leader of men, and almost certainly not a good trait in a politician.
2012-01-24 » Greg Krehbiel
24 January 2012 @ 4:04 pm
Hmmmm….it also contains some interest for those of us who have observed the endless debates between Christian pro-lifers over how the Pauls rank the sanctity of innocent human life when it bumps up against the sanctity of a particular version of federalism.
I can admire a man for constitutional minimalism. I have a harder time when that guy claims that his constitutional minimalism doesn’t allow for the federal government to ensure the physical safety of those he admits have a right to life. That idea is as alien to the constitution as anything in Roe.
And now you have a guy who misses a chance to address the pro-life constituency on the politically most important day of the year for them, while his father is running for President, in order to make a (very valid) point about the TSA, which he probably gets a couple of dozen opportunities to make each year.