Pirate's Cove

Romney has his good points and bad points (John Hinderaker at Powerline comes out in total support for Mitt), but, smacking around Ron Paul puts him in the good corner

(Boston.com) Mitt Romney, beginning a final push in this crucial first-caucus state, this morning took a swipe at Representative Ron Paul, who has been gaining momentum among Iowa voters.

“One of the people running for president thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Romney told voters here at Elly’s Tea and Coffee Shop, where a line stretched to the door to see him. “I don’t, I don’t trust ayatollahs … I don’t trust those who back Hamas and Hezbollah.”

In a debate two weeks ago, Paul said that when it comes to Iran, “the greatest danger is overreacting.”

And then there is Michelle Bachmann

(The State Column) “They find out that Ron Paul will not defend United States of America in the event of a nuclear attack,” Ms. Bachmann said Tuesday.

“He is just fine with Iran having a nuclear weapon and they have already stated they will just use a nuclear weapon against the United States … Ron Paul would be dangerous for the United States on foreign policy,” Ms. Bachmann added.

Once a person gets past Paul’s racism, anti-Israel notions, hanging with conspiracy nuts (including 9/11 Truthers), his own conspiracy theories, and all the other baggage, he/she learns that Ron Paul is a serious isolationist who tends to think the utter best of dangerous countries and people, and the worst about America. He lives in a fantasy world, and I’m not convinced in the least that, were he elected POTUS, he would learn that the world is what it is, not what he feels it should be. Say what you want about Obama, he has learned, to some degree, that the world is a big bad place, hence sticking with Bush’s Iraq timeline rather than his own 16 month one, the surge in Afghanistan, drone and other military strikes in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and other countries, as well as some other issues.

(NY Times) Ron Paul on Wednesday questioned the United States’ long military presence on the Korean Peninsula even as the death of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il raised concerns about the region’s stability.

“How long do we have to stay in Korea?” he asked at a campaign event at the Iowa Speedway. “We were there since I was in high school.”

It’d be wonderful if the US could pull its troops out of South Korea. Alas, this is more of the Paul fantasy world of isolationism. He’s the kind of guy who would have never wanted to stop Hitler, and would have blamed the US foreign policy for Pearl Harbor.