Ron Paul and the Schadenfreude of the Left.

I wish I spoke German. It seems to me that those Germans have a word for everything. My all-time favorite word is "spannungsbogen", which, if Frank Herbert hasn't lied to me, means "span of the bow", or "the time between when you realize you want something and when you reach out to grab it." I suspect that's not a real meaning, but I like it all the same. (You gotta love the internet. It knows everything! ["Spannungsbogen!". Waff rolled the ancient word on his tongue: The span of the bow! How far back you draw the bow before releasing your arrow.])

I'm not sure that "schadenfreude" is the best word for this, but it's pretty freaking close. See, it's my opinion that the Obama supporters are disappointed, and rightfully so, with their last pick. I think they bought "hope and change". They grabbed on to it with both hands. And if they are honest with themselves, they are extremely disappointed with the performance of Mr. Obama.

Now, we have Ron Paul. RP represents real change - a dramatic shakeup to the political structure. Many people say "Dr. Ron Paul cured my apathy" and they mean it. He talks about liberty and personal responsibility and some people eat that up. Some do not.

But what causes the critics of Ron Paul to so vociferously oppose him? They call us a "cult" and worse. They label him a "kook" and worse. But why does the guy bring out such strong emotions, on both sides?

While I can't explain every reason, or even many of the reasons, for that matter, I do want to explore an idea I had last night. How disappointed the Obama fans must be! They heard him say - "No lobbyists in my cabinet." only to see a cabinet FILLED with lobbyists. They heard "I will close Guantanamo." only to see it still open today. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Bradley Manning, NDAA, TSA and DHS. How many other promises can I list here? If you're an Obama supporter willing to view the thing honestly, my guess is you already have your own list of failures.

And now they see us, doe-eyed with hope of change, believing that one man can make a difference. And they feel the anguish of their own dashed hopes - and this anguish cause them to disparage our hope of change. "Once burned, twice shy" is the sage observation of antiquity - or somewhat less antique: "We won't get fooled again!"

So while "He'll dismantle every social safety net that exists" rolls oddly easy off the tongue, the real reason some people ridicule RP supporters is because they've been "burned" and don't want to see it happen to us. "You fools, there is no hope." they seem to say.

I still have hope. I had a little hope with Mr. Obama. But he looked like a servant of "Big Finance", and so that hope was very small. Ron Paul is a servant of the people. Or at least this is what I believe. And to you people who'd rather have an agent of the Banks run your country than some homophobic, racist, elitist, Ayn Randian, pro-lifer, anti-Israel, anti-semitic conspiracy theorist - I say "Yes, any day of the week and twice on Sunday!"