Nick, who responded to Dougâ€™s recent post made some great points and some which I disagreed with. I was going to respond to the original postâ€™s thread, but as my response became longer and longer, I thought it should be a stand alone post.

Hereâ€™s what Nick had to say:

Ron Paul is dead wrong on the islamofascism matter, but I simply donâ€™t care. Right now I see us at a crossroadsâ€¦do we go further down the Euro-style nanny state road? Or do we turn back and recognize liberty for what it is? Ron Paul manages to piss me off everytime he starts saying thereâ€™s no threat in the middle east. A lot. Islam was founded by a violent intolerant man, and anytime an islamic government (instead of a secular government of islamic people) is allowed to flourish, these same traits will rise again. Until the middle east takes a page from Ataturk, it will always be a hotbed of intolerant violence. Always. It can be argued that weâ€™ve given them *excuses* to act the way they want to, but thatâ€™s something entirely different. Anyone with any understanding of history knows that â€˜Palestineâ€™ was created purely as an anti-Israel propaganda tool. But Ron Paul is still the only candidate Iâ€™d vote for. What I want to know is why they didnâ€™t ask the DOCTOR about healthcare reform (Giuliani gave a great answer by the way). Why didnâ€™t they ask him about anything else? I figure a lot of us find his Iraq War answers distasteful, but he can win a LOT of friends with his talk of domestic problems. And the domestic thing is the ONLY thing iâ€™m looking at right now.

I agree with Nick: if Ron Paul is going to be in the race, I wish he would focus on domestic issues. Iâ€™m not saying that he should go against his principled anti-war beliefs (which is more than what I can say about the unprincipled and opportunistic anti-war candidates on the left) but he really isnâ€™t saying anything all that much different than anyone else who opposes the war.

I think his assessment of Islam is spot on as well. Thereâ€™s a danger with all religions becoming extreme and militant; right now Islam is the religion which has the most extreme elements and a significant threat to our liberty.

I wish I could focus on Ron Paulâ€™s domestic agenda and ignore his naivetÃ© about external threats to our way of life. I think itâ€™s this issue which is keeping him from having more wide spread support because I think many rank and file Republicans are libertarian at heart on the domestic side. If there was such a candidate who would advocate Paulâ€™s domestic policies and a more effective foreign policy than the current administration, I would support that candidate in a heartbeat.

Iâ€™m beginning to contemplate more of a â€œsurvivalistâ€ attitude as it relates to Islamic terrorism. Maybe its time to adopt an â€œevery man for himselfâ€ policy? We know the government cannot or will not defend us from every threat, whether foreign or domestic. Hell, far too often the threat comes from the government itself! Truthfully, the first and last responsibility of self defense belongs to the individual. This is why the right to bear arms is so critically important and why every effort to limit the individualâ€™s access to firearms should be resisted at every turn.

What are the chances of my family, friends, or me being a victim of terrorism anyway? Perhaps I should adopt the â€œit doesnâ€™t affect meâ€ attitude of one of my readers (Josh) who couldnâ€™t care less about what would happen to the Iraqis if coalition forces suddenly left Iraq in its current state. Some believe that al Qaeda and other Islamic terror groups will bring their fight back to American soil if such a withdrawal from Iraq were to take place. I happen to think there is some validity to that theory. But so what? If the next attack happens in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, or anywhere but my back yardâ€¦itâ€™s not my problem right?

Iâ€™m not quite to that point yet. I still care too much about my fellow man. But if I ever do decide to embrace this â€œevery man for himselfâ€ approach, Ron Paul will have my full support.