Liberty Maven

Like so many times in the past, there was a vote in the House of Representatives today and the vote was 413-1. If you follow the House you already know who the Congressman was who voted ‘no’. For those that don’t, his name is Ron Paul. Some say he is principled to a fault. Some say he is heroic. The truth is he is just a representative who takes his oath as… well… an actual oath.

This time the vote was for a resolution to call on China to end its crackdown on Tibet and release Tibetans imprisoned for “nonviolent” demonstrations. These votes are the kind where Paul is commonly the lone dissenter. It is a non-binding feel good measure where the U.S. tries to, albeit diplomatically, meddle in other country’s affairs. It is a waste of time and tax money.

It does give those in Congress the ability to pontificate against the human rights violations of another country, which is all nice and well-meaning. As a taxpayer I’d rather they pontificate about reducing spending, lowering taxes, and following the Constitution. If done through a press release or a speech to a specific organization I have no problem with individual elected officials denouncing such things. I take issue when you utilize the House chambers in an official capacity for a resolution that does absolutely nothing to help our country. Apparently, Ron Paul feels the same way.

What is quite sad about his single ‘no’ vote is the way the media reports it. Sure, they give quotes from the other representatives, but the only thing written about Paul is that he was the lone ‘no’ vote and he recently dropped out of the Presidential race. The truly sad part is that only the first part of that statement is true. He is still in the Presidential race.

The damage is done though, as it has been done so many times in the past year of his campaign. The media anointed him the “un-serious”, “dark horse”, “quixotic”, “long shot” candidate. They missed covering one of the greatest stories in recent political history and in doing so they not only marginalized Ron Paul, but many of their own viewers as well.