The Iconoclast
Posted on March 21, 2013
According to Wikipedia,
"An iconoclast is someone who engages in iconoclasm—destruction of religious symbols or, by extension, established dogma or conventions."
Rand Paul is the original Republican iconoclast. And his iconoclasm might possible carry him to the GOP nomination.
Paul is not like his father, although he is certainly inspired by his example.
He is not as big of an iconoclast either. He cleverly moderates some of his views one day, just as he attacks scarecrows on another days.
Rand Paul intrigues me.
I am part of the Republican establishment, so I don't particularly love his constant attacks on the Republican establishment.
But I am not a neo-conservative, so I like, generally, his view that we need a far more humble foreign policy.
I agree with him completely on the need to end the war on drugs. We tried. We failed. We need to sue for peace. If Americans want to kill themselves using drugs, well, a country can only do so much to stop them.
I also agree with his new position on immigration. I would prefer a path to citizenship. but will take a quicker path to legalization.
I don't share Paul's views on the Federal Reserve, nor do I think we should return to the Gold Standard. I might be associating his thoughts with his father's thoughts on the Fed and the Gold Standard.
I like that Paul is pro-life, because I am pro-life.
I assume that Paul is okay with gay marriage. I am ok with gay marriage as long as religious institutions and private businesses are not compelled to recognize them.
Paul is against the use of drones in the United States on American citizens. Me too (and just about everybody else in America).
Paul is not afraid to take an axe to several sacred cows, including the idea that we have to invade Iran or that we have to continue this insane war on drugs. Paul also believes that we need neither a nanny state or a theocracy.
I am warming up to Rand Paul. I think he is the kind of iconoclast that could do a lot of good for the Republican Party. We need some of our obsolete idols to be smashed every once in a while.