Friday, May 21, 2010

GOP comes to rue Paul



Since his electoral victory in Kentucky Tuesday, every time Rand Paul meets a microphone, bad things happen...To him. So much so that the GOP seems to rue Paul.

One cannot fault Paul for speaking his thoughts, but philosophically speaking, his views are as flawed as they are naive. They are naive and flawed in their utter reliance on absolutes. His views on Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 completely ignore the historical facts regarding Jim Crowe laws, the context in which they were applied, and their consequences to African-Americans in the South of that era.

"Accidents happen..." in his defense of BP and laissez-faire capitalism
ignores that company's history of legal and ethical violations and habit of putting profits before employee and environmental safety. Capitalism is not an inherently evil system, so long as its limits are respected and safeguards are in place, by means of government regulations, to protect those who might be harmed through the mindless pursuit of profit...Employees, persons living around corporate facilities, the environment.

The preamble to the Constitution states that the purpose of the government is to "...establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty...". Failing to adequately regulate industries which have the potential to cause grave financial, personal and environmental harm, or allow social injustices such as racism to go unchecked, would be an abdication of those goals.

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