NPR: The Debate Over the GOP Debate

The Debate Over the GOP Debate

I sure wouldn't want to be Ron Paul these days. The GOP congressman came under the full glare of the media spotlight this week after he was accused of saying America invited the Sept. 11 attacks at Tuesday's GOP debate in South Carolina. But now some people are questioning that interpretation of his remarks.

Media Matters looks at how Paul's comments about the role U.S. foreign policy plays in the Middle East were questioned by Fox News co-moderator Wendell Goler and then, it says, "distorted" by fellow candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Paul first said that terrorists had attacked the U.S. because "we've been over there; we've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East." Goler then asked if he meant that the U.S. "invited" the attack. Paul responded, "I'm suggesting that we listen to the people who attacked us and the reason they did it." Giuliani then called Paul's remarks "an extraordinary statement ... that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq."

During a post-debate interview, Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Paul: "Are you suggesting the United States of America caused the attack on 9-11?" Paul replied: "No, I think that's a cop-out." Hannity then asked: "Are you suggesting that our policies are causing the hatred of people that would cause them to want to kill us?" Paul responded: "I think it contributes significantly to it, and this is exactly what our CIA tells us."

The 9/11 Commission, in fact, also made the same point.

Media Matters particularly singles out CNN's American Morning program on May 16 for perpetuating the idea that Paul said America invited the attacks and not mentioning the clarifications he made about his remarks.

Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic's Daily Dish argues that the reaction to Paul's comments, "that he's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs," shows the intellectual fear gripping the GOP about discussing the war on terror.

2:41 PM ET | 05-18-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

There is no question that the Republican Party, under the leadership of Bush and the Neocons, have so abandoned true conservative positions in their embrace of the welfare/warfare state, that when a constitutional conservative like Ron Paul comes along and forces the likes of the Limbaugh/Hannity crowd to defend Neocon positions against true conservatism, it really becomes embarrassing for them.

Sent by tom davis | 9:57 AM ET | 05-19-2007

It just proves that Ron always has back-up for everything he says. I hope Hannity's car breaks down in a bad part of town. Ron is a real candidate and the Republicans and Democrats can go pound salt. They all lost their marbles.

Sent by Wayne | 2:43 PM ET | 05-19-2007

Bravo to Media Matters! Thank Goodness there's at least one watchdog for truth in the media. Media Matters wrote very succintly the dialogue that took place to clear up what most of the viewers saw despite the denial of biased mainstream media. Your NPR David Shore, seemingly among the latter group, didn't help matters in his broadcast. I expect more from NPR.

Sent by Mrs Goodnow | 6:30 AM ET | 05-20-2007

Republican or Democrat; they are both paid for by the same people, with the exception of Ron Paul. You are voting your freedoms away if you don't vote for someone who has a proven track record defending our constitution. Why would the mainstream media be afraid of Ron Paul winning. Because most of the people who own the media, like Rupert Murdock, have friends in the defense agencies who want to continue to make money from this war! Search Rupert Murdock on Google.

Sent by James Awood | 2:41 PM ET | 05-22-2007

The comments here are spot-on.

Ron Paul is the only candidate who understands how to remove the root cause of: Endless Wars, Domestic Spying, The Unitary Executive (dictatorship), The Silent Tax (inflation), The Militarization of Police, The Big Brother Control State, Support for Oppressive Regimes, The Military-Industrial Complex, and a host of other ills that persist regardless of whether Americans vote Democan or Republicrat.

The core problem is that the Leviathan Federal Government combined with the Wall Street cronies have created a militarized economy that is incrementally impoverishing and factually enslaving the American people. Domestic spying, National ID and military tribunals are here TODAY, and not some tin-foil hat paranoid delusion.

Our aggression overseas has created a world in which US leaders are less popular than Bin Laden. This is the 'shining city on the hill'? Why do they hate us? Because we have military bases in over 130 countries of the world.

Even social democrats should consider seriously how a corrupt and bloated federal government is a wasteful way to deliver social services to those in need. Implementing such programs at the state level ensures much better democratic control by the citizenry.

Ron Paul is our wake-up call. We must restore limited constitutional government and rule of law.

Sent by Winston Smith | 4:42 PM ET | 05-25-2007

Of course Ron Paul is right, and anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Islam knows this.

Embracing Islam mandates discipline and denial: Dress, diet, music, art, sexuality, and virtually every other aspect of one's waking life is severely restricted, and as any Saudi can tell you (and it's hard to believe one of them didn't tell Bush) expecting Democracy to bloom in an Islamic flowerbed is tantamount to planting rice in the Sahara. To be Muslim is to surrender the notion of free will and expression. In other words, to reject the notion of personal freedom, otherwise known as democracy. True, devout muslims do live in democratic societies, but participation in the general society is limited and such populations tend to be highly insular.

Since the discovery of Arabian oil in the 50s, the United States, polically and economically, has sought to plunder and control the Middle East, cultural differences be damned, and this prolonged assault spawned 9/11. In bin Laben's view, his was a long overdue counter-attack, and his goal is not to turn the rest of the world into an Islamic theocracy but to purify the Land of the Prophet of western infidels and the McDonalds and KFCs that came with them.

Democracy in the Middle East? Okay, imagine, if you will, a stroke of Merlin's wand granting every Islamic country from Egypt to Pakistan open elections for a supreme leader. Now, imagine that bin Laden's name is on every ballot. Need I go further.....

Sent by Bennett Caldwell | 10:47 PM ET | 05-28-2007

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