I believe it would be fair to consider most paleo-conservatives and Green Party pro-labor factions to be "isolationist," in that they are opposed not only to foreign military intervention but open trade as well. They are happy to "look inward" at the United States alone and let the rest of the world get on as it may.

However, Dr. Paul always distinguishes the libertarian policy of non-interventionism from isolationism by emphasizing low tariffs for revenue, but never for punitive or protective reasons, and encouraging trade, travel and cultural exchange. He has also said he would be happy to play host to peace negotiations among other states as long as the U.S. would not be expected to promise any new American policy to either side.

He also seems to share, in some ways, the neoconservatives’ vision of America as a revolutionary influence (in a more American and less French way). He has stated many times that he believes by setting an example of what a real limited constitutional republic, with its unparalleled Bill of Rights and a sound market economy looks like, we could do a much better job of exporting our Enlightenment legacy around the world which sorely needs it.

In this article, Paul explains what he believes is the difference.

I understand that you may not agree with his definitions of these differing viewpoints, but it is relevant that they are his, that he discriminates between the two and chooses one - is it not?

A short side note in favor of his view:

1: We never hear complaints that China, Russia, Switzerland, Brazil or Mexico are "isolationist" states. They aren’t, are they? Even to the degree that they have statist trade policies, we don’t see them as isolationist, just normal countries with normal bad trade policies.

2: The oceans never protected us. When Washington, Jefferson, Madison, John Quincy Adams et. al. advised for friendship with all, alliance with none, our country was much less safe. The British were in Canada, the French in Louisiana, the Spanish in Mexico, and the U.S. had the weakest navy of all Atlantic powers.

3: The Blowback argument matters. If it is true that America was a sleeping giant on 9/11, targeted by religious fanatics’ due to their hatred of liberty, then we must keep fighting this purely defensive war of civilizations for the indefinite future. And if they were trying to scare us off, we had better steel ourselves and never back down.

If, on the other hand, we were attacked for political reasons, specifically the decade-long blockade of Iraq enforced from bases in Saudi Arabia, then more wars and occupations in the name of "draining the swamp" of dictatorships (unfriendly countries only, even though every single 9/11 hijacker was from a friendly one) could very well be a counter-productive way of securing the United States.

And if the enemy’s strategy is not to scare us off, but to trick us into over-reacting and spreading ourselves too thin until we are forced by bankruptcy to withdraw from the region completely (while radicalizing it in the process), then wouldn’t the prudent thing be to hold our horses and think very carefully about how we respond?

Thank you very much for your time.

Best,
Scott Horton

Oops. I called Obama "Netanyahu."

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"[T]he Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material at the nuclear facilities and LOFs [locations outside facilities where nuclear material is customarily used] declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement."

He might also point out that all the implosion systems in the world are worthless without some actual fissile material to implode, and that nothing else in the IAEA report is any of the IAEA's "beeswax" (That's a funny way of saying "business" for those readers who didn't grow up on American playgrounds.) He'd be right.

See also John Glaser here and Sy Hersh from May here [.pdf].

"I’ve been meaning to write to you for a while, but I just now got around to it.

"I grew up in Texas as a typical "Conservative Christian." As recently as a year or so ago, I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh on a regular basis. I started listening to him back in the early 1990s. I agreed with Rush on almost everything and equated his brand of conservatism to liberty.

"Fortunately, because of resources such as Mises.org and people such as Tom Woods and Lew Rockwell, I have found true liberty. (btw, I first heard of you from an interview of Tom Woods)

"These days I spend my 11am-2pm hours listening to Antiwar Radio. I really appreciate what you do. I have learned so much from you over the past year. Now I am a fellow Anarcho-Capitalist.

"I wanted to keep this short, but I thought you would like to know that you are influencing people."

I would. Thanks Chris.

"Celebrate, Israel, with all the joyous gratitude that fills your hearts, as we all do along with you.

"Then round up [Shalit's] captors, the slaughtering, death-worshiping, innocent-butchering, child-sacrificing savages who dip their hands in blood and use womenathose who aren't strapping bombs to their own devils' spawn and sending them out to meet their seventy-two virgins by taking the lives of the school-bus-riding, heart-drawing, Transformer-doodling, homework-losing children of Othersaand their offspringathose who haven't already been pimped out by their mothers to the murder godaas shields, hiding behind their burkas and cradles like the unmanned animals they are, and throw them not into your prisons, where they can bide until they're traded by the thousands for another child of Israel, but into the sea, to float there, food for sharks, stargazers, and whatever other oceanic carnivores God has put there for the purpose."

Shalit was a bit more forgiving:

"I hope this deal helps achieve peace between both sides, Israel and the Palestinians. …

"I would be very happy if the [Palestinian prisoners] were all released so that they can go back to their families and their lands. I would be very happy if this happened."

First of all, he ain’t really a politician. Everyone knows that. Even TV says here’s a candidate who’s always been about using his office as a platform to teach people about liberty, not enhance his own power and prestige. Way back in the 90s the Washington Post did a story about how lobbyists don’t bother coming by his office because he thinks everything they want is unconstitutional, and so he can never be bought.

Paul is a doctor. Not a lawyer.

He gives back much of his office budget every year, never takes taxpayer-paid junkets around and refuses the plush congressional health care and retirement plans. The man’s even been with the same woman since they were 16.

Okay, so he could be a decent man, not the typical DC snake, but could still be horrible on all the issues.

But he’s good on everything that counts at all:
War
Empire
Torture
Assassinations
Trials
Spying
Speech
Religious freedom and tolerance
Whole Bill of Rights
Secrecy
Executive Power
Bailouts
Corporate Welfare
Monetary and Fiscal policy
Taxes - the best ever in the world on taxes
Business Regulations
Guns
Drug War
Federalism

Look at his voting record. There’s no hypocrisy in it. He’s been consistently for good shit, and against bad for 40 years.

Read A Foreign Policy of Freedom, for example.

And the man deserves his honorary doctorate in economics, having written more than a couple great books, including the Minority Report of the Gold Commission from 1981.

Paul’s been right about the terror war all along.

He’s been right about the federalization and militarization of the police all along.

He’s been right about the financial bubbles all along. And he’s right about the budget being blown and the danger that the government will have to destroy the dollar - and all savings denominated in dollars - in order to pay off the debt.

Limited constitutional republic, or imperial collapse and devastation.

It’s more than just a simple choice. It’s an actual no-joke real opportunity.

A few hundred bucks to the Revolution SuperPac and/or one vote in a Republican primary wouldn’t kill ya. Am I right? Paint a sign. Talk to your neighbors. Run a table at a thing or something. Do something!

Okay, thanks.

(Is it just me, or is it just a little bit strange, even in 2011, that Ron Paul stands virtually alone in Washington against the presidential murder of an American citizen? Shit’s ugly out there.)

Also, Matt Barganier, Jason Ditz, John Glaser and Bryan Beyer have been tearing it up over at the Antiwar Blog lately. Go check ‘em out.

See also this hilarity.

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Today on Antiwar radio with Scott Horton:

William Astore will be on to discuss his latest piece Siamese Twins Sharing the Same Brain: How the Military and the Civilian Are Blurring in Washington. Read it here.

Bio: William J. Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF) and professor of history, is a TomDispatch regular

____________

Grant F. Smith will be on to talk about the influence of AIPAC in the latest push for a war with Iran. Read his latest here.

Bio: Grant F. Smith is the director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C.

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Glenn Greenwald will be on to discuss the Wikileaks grand jury latest.

Bio: Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator prior to becoming a contributor (columnist and blogger) to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics. He has also contributed to other newspapers and political news magazines, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The American Conservative, The National Interest, and In These Times.

Greenwald is the author of three books: How Would a Patriot Act? and A Tragic Legacy and Great American Hypocrites.

In October 2010, Greenwald won the Online Journalism Award for Best Commentary, for his investigative article on the arrest of U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning as the alleged leaker to WikiLeaks.

____________

Michael German will be on to discuss the FBI’s new guidelines and why the ACLU is opposed to them. Read the background article here.

Bio: Michael German is an ACLU Senior Policy Counsel and former FBI Agent

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Dr. David Krieger will be on to discuss just how many nukes still threaten humanity. Read his piece here.

Bio: David Krieger is a founder of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and has served as President of the Foundation since 1982. Under his leadership the Foundation has initiated many innovative and important projects for building peace, strengthening international law, abolishing nuclear weapons and empowering a new generation of peace
leaders.

Dr. Krieger has lectured throughout the United States, Europe and Asia on issues of peace, security, international law, and the abolition of nuclear weapons. He has received many awards for his work for a more peaceful and nuclear weapons-free world.

He has been interviewed on CNN Hotline, MSNBC, NPR and many other television and radio shows nationally and internationally.

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Marcy Wheeler will be on to discuss the Thomas Drake affair. Read her coverage of the case here.

Bio: Marcy Wheeler is an American blogger who wrote in The Next Hurrah prior to contributing primarily to Jane Hamsher’s FireDogLake (FDL), since early December 2007. She also contributes occasionally to Markos Moulitsas Zuniga’s aggregated blog Daily Kos, Arianna Huffington’s aggregated news site and blog The Huffington Post, Michigan Liberal, as well as other online sites, and to the "Comment Is Free" section of the Guardian Online. She goes by the name of EmptyWheel.

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Andy Worthington will be on to talk about the latest from the Gitmo Files. Read his work here.

Bio: Andy Worthington is a British freelance investigative journalist, author and filmmaker, specializing in Guantanamo and the "War on Terror," but also covering revolutionary movements in the Middle East, and UK politics. He writes regularly for newspapers and websites including the Guardian, Truthout, Cageprisoners, and the Future of Freedom Foundation. He also write occasionally for the Daily Star, Lebanon, the Huffington Post, Antiwar.com, CounterPunch, AlterNet, and ZNet. His website - http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/ - is one of the top 100 world politics blogs, was archived by the British Library in January 2011, and receives around 250,000 page views every month.

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Robert Higgs will be on to discuss economics.

Bio: Robert Higgs an American economic historian, economist of the Austrian School, and a libertarian anarchist. His writings in economics and economic history have most often focused on the causes, means, and effects of government growth. He is a Senior Fellow in Political Economy at the Independent Institute, and is the editor of Independent Review. He is an adjunct faculty member of the Ludwig von Mises.

__________

Ray McGovern will be on to talk about General Keane’s push for attacking Iran. See his latest here.

Bio: Ray McGovern is a retired CIA officer turned political activist. McGovern was a Federal employee under seven U.S. presidents over 27 years, presenting the morning intelligence briefings at the White House for many of them. He currently serves on the Steering Committee of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

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Kelley Vlahos will be on to discuss the Center for a New American Security annual conference. Read her latest piece here.

Bio: Kelley Vlahos has spent over a decade as a political reporter in Washington DC. Currently, she is a contributing editor for The American Conservative magazine and its daily weblog, @TAC. She is also a Washington correspondent for the DC-based homeland security magazine, Homeland Security Today, a long-time political writer for FOXNews.com, a regular columnist for Antiwar.com and a contributor to CriminalJustice.Change.org. Her web site is http://kelleyvlahos.com/

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Hillary Mann Leverett will be on to discuss the spin connecting Iran and al Qaeda. Read her latest here.

Bio: Hillary Mann Leverett is CEO of Strategic Energy and Global Analysis (STRATEGA), a political risk consultancy. She worked as Director for Iran, Afghanistan and Persian Gulf Affairs at the National Security Council in the George W. Bush administration. She also served as Middle East expert on the Secreatary of State’s Policy Palnning Staff, and Political Advisor for Middle East, Central Asian and African issues at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

From 2001-2003, she was one of a small number of U.S. diplomats authorized to negotiate with the Iranians over Afghanistan, al-Qa'ida and Iraq. In the Clinton Administration, Leverett also served as Political Advisor for Middle East, Central Asian and African issues for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Associate Director for Near Eastern Affairs at the National Security Council, and Special Assistant to the Ambassador at the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

_____________________

John Lindsay-Poland will be on to talk about how the DOD is using drug wars as an excuse to build bases in Latin America. Read his latest here.

Bio: John Lindsay-Poland is Research and Advocacy Director of the national interfaith organization Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). He has served as director of the FOR Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean since 1989. He is editor of FOR’s Colombia Update; founded the FOR’s Colombia Peace Presence team; and is author of articles, reports and books on U.S. military policy and history in Latin America, including: Military Assistance and Human Rights: Colombia, U.S. Accountability, and Global Implications (2010); a 2008 report (with Amnesty International); Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama (Duke University Press, 2003); and Inside Panama (with Tom Barry, 1995, Interhemispheric Resource Center).

_____________________

Eric Margolis will be on to discuss the latest developments in Yemen.

Bio: Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. His articles appear in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the Khaleej Times and other news sites in Asia.

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Congressman Ron Paul will be on to discuss Libya and the latest out of Congress.

Background Reading:

• Gates slams Kucinich over ‘dangerous’ call to end Libya war.
• House Rejects Bill to Defund NATO Operations in Libya.
• Ron Paul: We Are Laying The Groundwork For A Future American Dictator.

Bio: Dr. Ron Paul is the Republican Congressman for the 14th congressional district of Texas. Paul serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, the Committee on Financial Services and is Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy where he has been an outspoken critic of American foreign and monetary policy. He has gained prominence for his libertarian positions on many political issues, often clashing with both Republican and Democratic Party leaders.

_____________

Chase Madar will be on to discuss the use of torture by the United States. Read his latest here.

Bio: Chase Madar is an attorney in New York and a member of the National Lawyers Guild. He writes for TomDispatch, the American Conservative magazine, Le Monde Diplomatique, The Huffington Post, The Nation and the London Review of Books.

_____________

Adam Morrow will be on to talk about the latest developments in Egypt and Gaza.

Bio: Adam Morrow is a journalist for IPS News, working out of Cairo Egypt

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Journalist Seymour Hersh will be on in a pre-recoreded interview with Scott done earlier in the week. He will discuss his new article, "Iran and the Bomb: How real is the nuclear threat;" the lack of evidence for Iran's interest in nuclear weapons after 2003, despite extensive satellite and covert surveillance (and even before then, the idea was to counter an Iraqi nuclear weapon, not threaten Israel or the US); how the 2011 NIE reinforces the 2007 assessment, and makes the harsh sanctions on Iran look even more indefensible; Obama's acute isolation within the White House echo chamber; and some sane advice from retired ambassador Thomas Pickering: stop hectoring Iran about a non-existent nuclear weapons program and negotiate like grown-ups.

Bio: Seymour Hersh is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters. He has also won two National Magazine Awards and is a "five-time Polk winner and recipient of the 2004 George Orwell Award."

His work first gained worldwide recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. His 2004 reports on the US military’s mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison gained much attention.
_______________________

Benjamin Tua will be on to discuss the winners and losers in the new Middle-East. See his latest here.

Bio: Benjamin Tua is a retired Foreign Service Officer. He served in Israel from 1982-1985. He currently is an independent analyst and Foreign Policy In Focus contributor.

Anthony Gregory will be on to discuss his new introduction toAMurray Rothbard’sAWall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy.ARead his latest article here.

_______________________

Bio: AnthonyAGregoryAis a research analyst at the Independent Institute, Editor in Chief of Campaign for Liberty, moderator of the Beacon, policy adviser to the Future of Freedom Foundation and columnist for LewRockwell.com. He guest edits Strike the Root. His writing has appeared in such places as the Christian Science Monitor San Diego Union Tribune, Antiwar.com, the Journal of Libertarian Studies, Counterpunch, the American Conservative, Liberty Magazine, the Mises Institute blog, the Stress Blog, The Libertarian Enterprise and Liberty and Power, as well as in textbooks, journals and other outlets, and has been translated in several languages. He wrote for Michael Badnarik’s 2004 campaign. He got his B.A. in history at UC Berkeley in 2003, where he wrote his thesis on the 1993 Waco disaster.

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Gareth Porter will be on to discuss the Taliban and Pakistan. Read his latest here.

Bio: Gareth Porter is an American historian, investigative journalist and policy analyst on U.S. foreign and military policy. Porter has written regular news reports and news analysis on political, diplomatic and military developments in regard to Middle East conflicts for Inter Press Service since 2005.

________________

Jeffrey Kaye will be on to discuss the smear campaign against the "other" Scott Horton, whose award-winning article on the Gitmo murders has been attacked.

Background Reading:

• Scott Horton’s article
• Alex Koppleman’s attack piece
• Jeffrey Kaye’s defense of Scott Horton

Bio: Jeffrey Kaye is a writer and psychologist. He writes regularly on torture and other subjects for Truthout, The Public Record and Firedoglake. He also maintains a personal blog, Invictus - http://valtinsblog.blogspot.com/.

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John Glaser will be on to discuss the assassination of Osama bin Laden and his article on the American deep state.

Bio: John Glaser is an editorial assistant at The American Conservative.

___________________________

Kelley Vlahos will be on to discuss her look into the Persian Gulf syndrome. Read it here.

Bio: Kelley Vlahos has spent over a decade as a political reporter in Washington DC. Currently, she is a contributing editor for The American Conservative magazine and its daily weblog, @TAC. She is also a Washington correspondent for the DC-based homeland security magazine, Homeland Security Today, a long-time political writer for FOXNews.com, a regular columnist for Antiwar.com and a contributor to CriminalJustice.Change.org. Her web site is http://kelleyvlahos.com/.

___________________________

Joshua Holland will be on to talk about his latest article, Five Eye-Opening Facts About Our Bloated Post-9/11 ‘Defense’ Spending.

Bio: Joshua Holland is an editor and senior writer at AlterNet. He is the author of The 15 Biggest Lies About the Economy (and Everything else the Right Doesn’t Want You to Know About Taxes, Jobs and Corporate America)

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Today on Antiwar radio with Scott Horton:

Jason Ditz will be on to discuss the latest in war news.

Bio: Jason Ditz is the news editor for Antiwar.com

_____________________________

Sheldon Richman will be on to discuss Memorial Day

Bio: Sheldon Richman is editor of The Freeman, published by The Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, New York, and serves as senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation. He is the author of FFF’s award-winning bookSeparating School & State: How to Liberate America’s Families; Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the Income Tax; and FFF’s newest book Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State.

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