I've watched each of the Republican Presidential Debates with fascination, looking for themes and subtexts, while enjoying the inherent parody and absurdity of the show.

One of the candidates stands out from the group, for his personal integrity and willingness to honestly express his views, this being Representative Ron Paul. If it weren't for him the proverbial Man from Mars (or average American voter) would have no inkling that prior to January 20, 2009 this country had faced an economic crisis or were thrust into a war on false pretense that had caused most of the deficit that the candidates decry. It is all blamed on something called "Obama." always uttered with ridicule and contempt. This thing, this scourge is the cause of all evil, and was the uniting theme of the group, as when the hostility among them got too great, someone, would say, "Even though we disagree on issues, we can all agree that we must get rid of Obama."



REP. PAUL: Well, I think Mr. Cain had blamed the victims. There's a lot of people that are victims of this business cycle, and we can't blame the victims. But we also have to point -- I'd go to Washington as well as Wall Street, but I'd go over to the Federal Reserve. (Cheers, applause.) They -- they create the financial bubbles. And you have to understand that; you can solve these problems if you don't know where these bubbles come from.



But then when the bailout came and -- supported by both parties. You have to realize, oh, wait, the Republicans were still in charge. So the bailouts came from both parties. Guess who they bailed out? (followd by No Applause) The big corporations, the people who were ripping off the people in the derivatives market. And they said, oh, the world's going to come to an end unless we bail out all the banks. So the banks were involved, and the Federal Reserve was involved.

But who got stuck? The middle class got stuck. They got stuck. They lost their jobs, and they lost their houses. If you had to give money out, you should have given it to the people who were losing it in their mortgages, not to the banks. (Cheers, applause.)



REP. PAUL: Well, I think we're on economic suicide if we're not even willing to look at some of these overseas expenditures, 150 bases -- 900 bases, 150 different countries. We have enough weapons to blow up the world about 20, 25 times. We have more weapons than all the other countries put together, essentially. And we want to spend more and more and you can't cut a penny? I mean, this is why we're at an impasse. I mean, this -- I want to hear somebody up here willing to cut something, something real. (Cheers, applause.)

.......what I want to say is this: Every day I'm out somewhere in the United States of America, and most of the time I am talking to moms across this country. When you talk about housing, when you talk about foreclosures, you're talking about women who are at the end of their rope because they're losing their nest for their children and for their family. And there are women right now all across this country and moms across this country whose husbands, through not fault of their own, are losing their job and they can't keep that house. And there are women who are losing that house.



I'm a mom. I talk to these moms. I just want to say one thing to moms all across America tonight. This is a real issue; it's got to be solved. President Obama has failed you on this issue of housing and foreclosures. I will not fail you on this issue. I will turn this country around. We will turn the economy around. We will create jobs.



That's how you hold on to your house. Hold on, moms out there. It's not too late.

I think if the question is does faith matter, absolutely. How can you have a country which is founded on truth, which begins, "We are endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights" -- how -- how can you have the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which says religion, morality and knowledge being important, education matters? That's the order: religion, morality and knowledge.



Now, I happen to think that none of us should rush in judgment of others in the way in which they approach God. And I think that all of us up here, I believe, would agree. (Cheers, applause.) But I think all of us would also agree that there's a very central part of your faith in how you approach public life. And I, frankly, would be really worried if somebody assured me that nothing in their faith would affect their judgments because then I'd wonder, where's your judgment -- how can you have judgment if you have no faith? And how can I trust you with power if you don't pray? (Applause.)



Who you pray to, how you pray, how you come close to God is between you and God. But the notion that you're endowed by your creator sets a certain boundary on what we mean by America. (Applause.)