

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio). (Melina Mara/THE WASHINGTON POST)

This week, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-Texas) “views on foreign policy are more in line with liberal anti-war Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) than with the Republican Party.”

It was meant as a diss. But Santorum just may have won Paul more converts. Why not put the two peace-loving, civil-liberty-favoring, avant garde congressmen together on a ballot?

Merging polar opposite sides of the political spectrum could be one of the most politically pure, bipartisan ideological unions yet. Through that union, political dualities would ideologically balance each other out, appealing to divergent ends of the political spectrum.

If elected, Paul has said he would consider Kucinich for his cabinet.

On New Year’s Eve, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act, despite “serious reservations.” The act makes it legal to indefinitely hold Americans in military detention. We may be fast approaching an Orwellion reality: “War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength.”

Paul and Kucinich both oppose the NDAA, which Paul calls a “slip towards tyranny.” Kucinich has been a consistent advocate for peace in the U.S. Congress, stated before the House of Representatives in recent weeks that the “bill authorizes permanent warfare anywhere in the world.”

Apparently, the youthful and invigorated “Paulbots” agree and are more interested in nation building here than abroad. Along with bringing back into the fold discontented youth and progressives, Democrats must come to terms with articulating a coherent and consistent message on war spending, which is at odds with promoting civil and human rights.

Then there’s the war on drugs waged in the ghettos of America—disproportionately impacting people of color and the poor; however, supported by leading Democrats, is highly criticized by the Libertarian Paul.

On Nightline, after the Iowa caucuses, one young Ron Paul volunteer in Iowa said because she believed that her generation would fare worse economically than her parent’s generation.

And she hopes that Paul could help keep that from happening.

Joy Freeman-Coulbary, a Washingtonian, is a pacifist, lawyer and blogger. You can reach her at freemancoulbary@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter @enJOYJFC.

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