As for the other candidates, I am not happy with any of them at this point, and if there are no other candidates that I believe will make the US a better place, I will simply do a write-in vote. Yes, chances are very good (if not 99.99999%) unlikely to win, I’d rather do that than compromise.

That is just my opinion on the matter.

As for the people supporting Paul or other candidates, hey, it is a free country, and they are free to believe whatever they want. I have no problems with that.

Some of these solutions are simple. Why make it complicated. If we left Korea or Japan or Germany or Iraq, what would happen? Would the Chinese move in? Who knows? We are not the world police, nor should we militarily intervene because an oil company was backdoored by a corrupt government. I point to Vietnam and our interest in the 60′s (Domino theory). Once we left things got worse, but aren’t they looking better now?

If you don’t want to support Ron Paul because he accepts neo-Nazi money, that’s your choice. Suggest another candidate that is as honest and consistent as Ron, and I’ll support him/her. Don’t just give me a candidate that will flip-flop on the issues or change their stance because it’s not popular at the time. I don’t agree with everything that Ron says, but at least I know where he stands.

If you show me a shred of evidence that McCain or any other candidate knowingly takes and keeps neo-Nazi money, the same standard would apply. I’ll bet you can’t. And I know why.

Ron Paul is the perfect illustration of Mencken’s maxim that for every problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat . . . and wrong. But such ideas have great appeal to those who think in simple terms. And no question of U.S. involvement abroad can be rightly assessed without a case-specific consideration of the U.S. interests at stake, and how the involvement advances those interests.

These fringe groups are Americans, and I may disagree with what they say or stand for, but they are Americans. I, and I’m guessing you, have defended their right to say it.

As far as any candidate taking their money, well, McCain is broke. I bet you he would take their money. Obama and Clinton probably take money from politically extreme groups as well. Giuliani has been under suspicion for taking money from the mafia. Everyone takes the money handed to them on the campaign trail and spends it. The important thing is that they act in the best interest of ALL their supporters. Sadly, Bush did not listen to ALL, just the ones that contributed the most (MBNA), and pushed through a bill that made it harder for individuals to declare bankruptcy (Another topic, another time).

Now, does that necessarily make Ron bad even if he knows where it came from? Should he return it? I wouldn’t. In fact, I think it is rather ironic that that money might be used to give one of the few Republican candidates that met with minority group leaders a boost in campaigning. I don’t recall Romney or Giuliani doing that.

Joshua, I know I probably won’t change your mind, but thanks for giving us a place to debate.

As for distinguishing far left from far right, in my view, it does not matter in this case. I was looking into Ron Paul, but this news changed my mind very quickly. Thanks for the heads up.