Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) February 4, 2013
Well, that kicked up a firestorm that even made it onto Fox News (quoting me! Cool!), which you can read about here.
So Ron Paul felt the need to clarify. I mean it’s not an apology. It’s not taking it back, it is clarifying what he said earlier.
Oh, no, actually it’s digging his hole even deeper. From his Facebook page:
As a veteran, I certainly recognize that this weekend's violence and killing of Chris Kyle were a tragic and sad event. My condolences and prayers go out to Mr. Kyle’s family. Unconstitutional and unnecessary wars have endless unintended consequences. A policy of non-violence, as Christ preached, would have prevented this and similar tragedies. -REP
See, notice that none of that even contradicts prior statement. Calling it tragic doesn’t negate his initial implication that it was Kyle’s bad karma or something like that come back on him. In fact, the idea that this was somehow his just deserts for having served this country in Iraq or something is actually reinformed by this statement. What he thinks is that he can say something that sounds kind of like he is walking it back, while in fact reinforcing his previous point.
And as a point of fact, non-violence in foreign policy is neither practical or Christian. I have long said that the most Christian act our armies ever did was to liberate the concentration camps. I simply do not believe that Jesus has outlawed self-defense, and he certainly hasn’t outlawed selflessly giving or risking our lives in the defense of others. Consider for instance, the story of Col. Joshua Chamberlain at the battle of Gettysburg. He was every bit the idealist in the war, believing that it was a holy war to end the blight of slavery. “But the cause for which we fought was higher; our thought wider...” he once said, “that thought was our power.” And in the Battle of Gettsburg, he and his 20th Maine was the end of the line, at Little Round Top. If his unit gave way, the Confederates could move their cannons onto that height and bombard the rest of the Union line. The battle almost certainly would have been lost. This was, in all bluntness, one of those moments in the war when the Union might very well have lost if it went the other way. And it very nearly did. As they were fighting his unit began to run out of ammunition. So he ordered a daring bayonet charge on the enemy and won his portion of the battle and possibly the entire Civil War. And he did so for the most Christian reasons, to see his brothers and sisters in chains in the South be freed.
Or Sgt. Dakota Meyer, one of the few living recipients of the Medal of Honor. Here is the President presenting the medal to him:
When you listen to this story of a man who braved incredible danger in an attempt to save his band of brothers, and ultimately was only able to save their bodies, and how he risked his life over and over to save good Afghan, I cannot help but say that this man acted in a profoundly Christian manner. This is not to denigrate good people of other faiths, but if we are going to talk about what a Christian should do, this is it.
Which is why, I suppose, that Mr. Meyer took Ron Paul to the woodshed on twitter:
Hey @ronpaul have you lost you mind? That sword protected your freedom. Guess since I live by it I deserve to get murdered as well? #wow
— Dakota Meyer (@Dakota_Meyer) February 4, 2013
It is ironically almost exactly the same message that some twitterer named Razor said earlier today...
@ronpaul So all veterans, once done serving our nation with honor, deserve to be murdered as civilians? Wow.
— Razor (@hale_razor) February 4, 2013
...but the difference isn’t really the message but the messenger.
How bad was it? So bad that even his own son, Rand Paul, was distancing himself from his father. From Ben Shapiro:
In the aftermath of Ron Paul’s despicable tweet today slamming US Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, murdered on Saturday while helping a fellow soldier learn to cope with post traumatic stress syndrome, Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has told Breitbart News exclusively, “Chris Kyle was a hero like all Americans who don the uniform to defend our country. Our prayers are with his family during this tragic time.”
Thank you, Rand Paul. And God bless you, Chris Kyle.
Some are saying tonight that Ron Paul has deep sixed the political ambitions of Rand Paul. But I think Americans can and do recognize that the sins of the father do not belong to the son. I mean, that principle is actually built into the Constitution itself. In the Treason clause, you might have noticed an odd phrase “no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood.” It is a rebuke of an old English doctrine called the corruption of the blood, where if one member of your family was found to be guilty of treason, the entire family was punished. By rebuking it, it was saying, you are not responsible for the actions of your family—even those you are married to. Your father can commit treason and it shall not be held against you. Certainly we can the same attitude about saying something monumentally dumb. And I think most Americans tend to agree. They might wonder how far the apple falls from the tree—his very name suggests his father wanted to ensure his son was as libertarian as he was—but we will judge him on his own merits. As he should be.
Hat tip: Twitchy.
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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years. I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence. If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the Blogger’s Defense Team button on the right. And thank you.
Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates. And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here. And you can read a little more about my novel, here.
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Disclaimer:
I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct. In some cases, the conduct is even criminal. In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system. I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence. This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.
In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him. Do not call him. Do not write him a letter. Do not write him an email. Do not text-message him. Do not engage in any kind of directed communication. I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.
And for that matter, don’t go on his property. Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him. Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision. Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).
And do not contact his organizations, either. And most of all, leave his family alone.
The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report. And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request. That this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.
And let me say something else. In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above. But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.
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