Throughout his career, Ron Paul has been known for his willingness and eagerness to build broad coalitions of people who may disagree on many issues, but who come together on the central issue of peace and prosperity.
On September 10, 2008, Dr. Paul held a press conference with the presidential candidates of the three “minor” political parties at which he urged Americans to focus on the issues that bring us together rather than solely on political party affiliation. Dr. Paul appeared with Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney, Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin, and independent candidate Ralph Nader. The four political leaders agreed on a set of four principles, which included:
- Ending the Iraq war, bringing troops home from overseas, avoiding a new Cold War, and fighting to end war propaganda.
- Working to protect the Fourth Amendment protections and privacy of all Americans, rejecting torture, repealing or radically limiting the PATRIOT Act and other privacy-killing legislation.
- Opposing any increase to the national debt and paying America’s bills as they are incurred rather than burdening future generations.
- Seeking an investigation, evaluation, and audit of the US Federal Reserve, including the role it may play in providing corporate welfare to the well-connected.
This meeting was a very important inspiration for the creation of the Ron Paul Institute, which aims to carry on Dr. Paul’s work to build coalitions and engage in dialogue with people with whom we may otherwise have differences. Certainly the above four political leaders differed on many issues, but they agreed to put those issues aside in the interest of peace and prosperity. As Dr. Paul often says, liberty brings people together.
The Ron Paul Institute, therefore, rejects the false ideology that we must interact with only those who agree with us on every issue. A look at our board of advisors and academic board confirms that we practice what we preach. We celebrate diversity in the true meaning of the phrase, and work together on issues that unite us. We do not demand that people agree with every one of our positions before we will engage them in dialogue.
Our opponents ceaselessly attempt to discredit our efforts by pointing out ideological “deviations” in what we feature on the Institute’s website and even in what unrelated positions RPI friends and advisors may hold. Once again, they prove that they are the real isolationists.
Today the Ron Paul Institute published a sharp critique of US foreign policy written by former Reagan Administration official Paul Craig Roberts. Though we agreed with much that Dr. Roberts had written in the article, there were additional points that he made, specifically regarding the attacks on September 11, 2001, that were not the position of the Ron Paul Institute. The article, like all articles not produced in-house, was posted on the Ron Paul Institute website to stimulate debate and discussion. That is the purpose of an educational organization like RPI.
Because there seems to have been some confusion on this issue, we therefore find it necessary to clarify our editorial position. While we will not post uncritically those analyses and opinions with which we disagree in toto, we will still try to bring our readers perspectives that are at least in part worthy of consideration. With Dr. Roberts’ article, those perspectives dealt with Washington and NATO’s reckless policy toward Russia and the threat of such a policy to peace.
We hope you will continue reading and reflecting upon our work and that of others we choose to feature on RPI. We welcome your comments and input. We hope you will not allow our adversaries to frame the issues and will consider the alternatives we present.
Thank all of your for your interest in Dr. Paul’s efforts and those of his Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
