The Libertarian/Ron Paul crowd is getting all stirred up with regards to Haiti

[TornadoTN]

I've got a friend that is batshit for Ron Paul. So I was interested to hear his (predictable) response to the outpouring of aid to Haiti.

I received a long diatribe about how this "UNCONSTITUTIONAL!" and an example of how "LIBERALISM IS KILLING THIS COUNTRY!". But he also directed me to their new response to this disaster: Grover Cleveland and the 1887 Texas Seed Bill.

Yes, seriously.

On his Facebook, he posted and sent me this:

What would President Grover Cleveland do in regards to foreign aid to Haiti? I agree with everything he said regarding the droughts in Texas when he was President and i am sure if he were President today i would agree with his stance on Haiti as well.

So I looked at the link he sent me to the text of Grover Cleveland's veto of the 1887 Texas Seed Bill. Essentially, it's saying - if we don't get anything back out of our money, then fuck em'. Don't believe me? Here you go:

I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people.

Source: http://mises.org/daily/3627

So yeah, support your government but don't expect it do shit for you. Pick yourselves up by the bootstraps, Americans and Haitians, and let the Free Market have it's way with you. I expressed my dismay and outrage at this statement of reasoning. I can safely say that that particular friendship has most likely ended. This line of thinking is sub-human and disgusting.

[Hello_Kitty]

1. At the mere mention of Mises I know I'm dealing with an idiot. eom

[DJ13]

2. This line of thinking is sub-human and disgusting.

And firmly entrenched in the GOP and our own DLC.

[leftstreet]

3. ROFL Ludwig von Mises Institute LOL

:rofl:

[TornadoTN]

4. Yep. But the quote is correctly attributed to Cleveland

Insanity at it's finest.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. These people are not human

They may walk, talk, eat & shit like regular people, but they're bots - pod people - assimilated by a self-centered, selfish race of sociopaths. Although it seems to me that sociopaths are becoming more common (or perhaps more outspoken) in our society, I cannot believe this dispassionately misanthropic message will resonate across the board. Perhaps some good will come of this; ordinary people will see libertarians for the pod people they truly are.

[bridgit]

6. Libertarianism is not really for this world - and human events such a Haiti scare the dog piss...

out of Libertarians cause it obstructs the view from their fairy castles :cry:
http://www1.sulekha.com/mstore/spk100/albums/default/Fairy%20Tale%20Fantasy,%20Neuschwanstein%20Castle,%20Bavaria,%20Germany.jpg

[LostInAnomie]

7. Question: Who the fuck cares what Grover Cleveland would do?

Besides greedy fucks looking for a intellectual justification to be greedy fucks.

[blondeatlast]

8. It'll be awhile before the PaulBearers get to this. They are desperately

trying to figure out how to claim Paul is correct about this.

Oh, yeah, and how to claim Paul isn't a racist, too.

[Blue_Tires]

17. +1

[Unvanguard]

9. Fuck them. If they'd like, they can think of it as long-overdue reparations for past behavior. n/t

[LLStarks]

10. Ron Paul in his own words on Haiti and donations (1 minute video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrQSzBHTsMk

Full video that also covers Yemen and body scanners (10 minutes): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqf8_nWPedk

[TornadoTN]

12. He goes back and forth so much

I guess he wants to keep his supporters satisfied and also not look like a giant asshole. Too bad his supporters don't share (most) of his sentiment.

I agree when he says, "The military could help if we are nearby, at least we aren't dropping bombs on them".

[laughingliberal]

20. Yeah, I liked that part where he said this was a better use of our military

...than dropping bombs on various countries. He gets it right, sometimes. He's united with Sanders in calling for an audit of the fed.

[mmonk]

11. The world of von Mises has no real world working models today.

It's like a government with no society.

[TornadoTN]

13. That's almost completely contrary to what they profess to want though

It's the bizarre reality of that mindset that I just can't grasp.

[Orsino]

14. They depend on each other for excuses to not feel empathy.

Sometimes, they have to shout down their guilt.

[muntrv]

15. Doesn't the Constitution include in it's preamble "provide for the general welfare?"

[postulater]

16. Cleveland mustn't have been a christian. Christians believe in charity.

[johnaries]

18. Grover Fucking Cleveland?

Yeah, pick a really "do-nothing" President. He is known because he was the only President who was elected twice non-consecutively.

But is that any reason to emulate him?

In the annals of American HIstory he is nothing. The Randians are really stretching here, as they tend to do.

[Drunken Irishman]

19. Yes. Grover Cleveland is a goddamn blueprint to a successful presidency.

:eyes: