With the Thursday announcement that Stephen Colbert will succeed David Letterman as the host of the Late Show on CBS next year, it is a good time to look back at Colbert’s in-studio interviews of RPI Chairman and Founder Ron Paul. While humor-filled, the interviews gave Paul a great opportunity to introduce his views to the Colbert Report audience on Comedy Central.
Paul’s first interview on the Colbert Report, in 2007, starts with loud applause in reaction to Colbert announcing Paul’s “no” votes on the USA PATRIOT Act and Iraq war. Paul elaborates on his pro-liberties and pro-peace ideas:
If you obey the Constitution, though, you will be a freer person than if you disobey it. If you allow the president to run wild and, you know, investigate and spy on people and start wars that aren’t declared, you could lose your liberties.
Paul proceeds to expand on what he describes as his constitutionalist perspective:
That’s especially when you should criticize the government — when they go to war incorrectly. Randolph Bourne, a famous writer many years ago, said, “War is the health of the state.” If you believe in liberty, you want to reduce the size and the scope of the state. So, therefore, you want to stamp out all wars and prevent wars from starting, whether it’s a war on drugs, a war in Iraq, or a war against poverty. All these wars are just to scare the people in order to give up their liberties and give up their money to the government so that they can solve all our problems.
Watch the full interview here:
Paul followed up his 2007 interview with additional fun and informative in-studio Colbert Report interviews in 2008 and 2011.
