Yeah, with Ron Paul as the header, I'd have to figure the intensity of the thread would happen. So far, I'm hanging in, trolling along, getting bumped around by the crowd, trying to restrain my irritation with the boors whose elbows are out, and step around those speaking in tongues. It's a zany day at the open air market, for sure. As far as I can tell, the *only* thing Glenn consistently supports is clarity. What that seems to require of readers is a tolerance for ambiguity; some have more than others. Don't bail yet SomeNYGuy. I really think that what Glenn's after here is an honest airing. I'm not ready to label Glenn on the basis of a single post - not when so many of his other posts have resonated for me. Ron Paul would be a difficult candidate to profile under the best of circumstances, let alone a comment thread such as this one. I'd argue on behalf of offering "the benefit of the doubt."

I won't call you a moron. And, I won't even tell you that I was politically astute, or even plugged into the 2000 election. I wasn't reading online at the time; what politically commentary I was following was principally from the mainstream press. But, all it took to convince me was one segment of watching GWB on television to know precisely where we were headed. Having owned a mortgage company at one time, the question my spouse and I ask each other is a real simple one. "Would you make this person a loan?" In both cases our collective answer was a rapid, unequivocal, "NO!" Speaking only for myself, GWB held few surprises for me. And, I will tell you, quite honestly, I have the same response to Ron Paul. I'm happy to watch him be the gadfly. I'm glad he's in the running. But I would no more vote for Ron Paul than I would vote to extend GWB's reign.

I won't disabuse you of your many erroneous assumptions. I daresay your sense of righteous indignation feels too good to forfeit on the basis of a few more facts. I only said GWB held few surprises. Was I prescient? Could I have told you each and every step in advance? Nah. But as each next step unfolded, I honestly wasn't surprised. The man simply struck me as very bad news. I made a gut level decision based on instinct. At the time, it was an easy call. You know, like the thesis in Blink. For those more attuned to the press, I guess Molly Ivins was unrelenting in her assessment. I understand there were others. All I'm telling you now, is I have the same gut level response to Ron Paul. And, that was before reading Glenn's post, following up on the many links people provided, or carefully considering his supporters many observations. There are many places I trust my gut. Reading people is one of those places.

And, fwiw, I wouldn't trade my aging 5-speed, quad 4, Pontiac Grad AM for a garage full of Ferraris. Now, a Lamborghini, might be a different deal. However, much as a car has a certain eye-appeal, I tend to rely on Consumer Reports.

There may be a merit to pointing to another blog. I followed Paul Rosenberg over to Open Left for his diary on Ron Paul. A person commenting made reference to his blog post: More crazy uncles for President, fewer capitulating sellouts in Congress. In this post Martin speculates on how Ron Paul is likely to attract angry, disaffected voters. I think it's worth a look. A snippet:

... And then you have Paul himself. The reason Paul is so wildly popular is that he represents an outlet for angry, disaffected Republicans who simply cannot or will not bring themselves to vote Democrat. Beyond the cranks, crazies, 9/11 truthers, and racist hate groups who are falling over themselves for Paul, there is a huge range of angry moderates, independents, and libertarians who oppose the Iraq fiasco, the PATRIOT Act, and our empire of oil. These people would be more than willing to convert to the progressive cause, but their cultural and social mores have so completely inculcated in them the belief that Dems are weak and compromising that they won’t do it. So Paul is their “steam vent,” if you will. ...

http://tinyurl.com/22lwlb

No argument, Kitt. I saw a 3% figure upthread. I don't mean to imply I agree with 'wildly popular,' although $4mil in one day is significant support. What got me ruminating (insert a Bebop reference to cow here), were the articulate folks here yesterday offering a passionate defense of Ron Paul. While I tend to agree with Glenn's thoughtful airing of Paul's platform, there is much about Ron Paul that makes me more than queasy. If thoughtful, articulate people are willing to overlook all the red flags (a Bebop reference to a bull in a pasture here), I wonder why that is. What appealed to me in Martin's post was his exploration of that phenomena.

I would argue that chopping wood is a sane and noble fall thing to do. I think putting an axe and splitting maul to work on a log might even make you a hero. That's darned hard work...and can be dangerous, too. Watch out for your toes!

:-) :-)

I suspect you're hardly ever tame. Today is one of those gorgeous fall days in the Rockies. Too pretty to be inside, and the water in this thread is too cold in which to swim. I'm heading for a nice cold amber beer instead. Beer, some victuals, a patio chair, and a couple of hounds. I'd wish you the same.