Althouse: "As a veteran, I certainly recognize that this weekend's violence and killing of Chris Kyle were a tragic and sad event."

February 4, 2013

"As a veteran, I certainly recognize that this weekend's violence and killing of Chris Kyle were a tragic and sad event."

"My condolences and prayers go out to Mr. Kyle’s family. Unconstitutional and unnecessary wars have endless unintended consequences. A policy of non-violence, as Christ preached, would have prevented this and similar tragedies."

Ron Paul, on Facebook.

Via Memeorandum.

68 comments:

Automatic_Wing said...: Go away, preachy, holier than thou douchebag.; 2/4/13, 9:08 PM
Cody Jarrett said...: Still bitchy, but better than what he said earlier I guess.; 2/4/13, 9:08 PM
YoungHegelian said...: Amen I say to you: Twitter shall be the downfall of many a career in the years to come.

Hey, at least here we can shoot our mouth's off anonymously.; 2/4/13, 9:12 PM
bagoh20 said...: Damned wars are always chasing crazy people into spider holes. Then you have to go in and get them.; 2/4/13, 9:13 PM
chickelit said...: Maguro said...
Go away, preachy, holier than thou douchebag

He will--soon enough. He's a spent farce.; 2/4/13, 9:18 PM
edutcher said...: We had plenty of PTSD after WWII.

I'm sure he was against that one, too.; 2/4/13, 9:18 PM
Cody Jarrett said...: You suppose Rand made a phone call and said "Dad, could you please walk that stupid shit back a little? Maybe don't throw the war hero totally under the bus or make it sound like you're happy he's dead, huh? Okay Dad? I actually think I could be president, and the campaign starts in about ...17 minutes."; 2/4/13, 9:22 PM
Anonymous said...: "Unconstitutional and unnecessary wars have endless unintended consequences. Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in Iraq; every Monday these same oranges and lemons left America's back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves."

Everything is Gatsby Day.; 2/4/13, 9:34 PM
Revenant said...: Nice save, Ron.

The initial comment was pretty damned stupid, though.; 2/4/13, 9:36 PM
Jason said...: Fuck him. He was always a crank and a shithead, who surrounded himself with even bigger shitheads.

He's a way bigger turd than he lets on in campaigns. He's the Cedarford of Congress.; 2/4/13, 9:46 PM
Jason said...: Fuck him. He was always a crank and a shithead, who surrounded himself with even bigger shitheads.

He's a way bigger turd than he lets on in campaigns. He's the Cedarford of Congress.; 2/4/13, 9:46 PM
Methadras said...: Ron Paul proves why he is a used dishrag.; 2/4/13, 9:57 PM
Known Unknown said...: Hey, look at that equine run!

We'd better secure the barn door.; 2/4/13, 9:57 PM
KCFleming said...: Surprisingly, he still would have been a better Prez than Obama, which tells you how bad things are.; 2/4/13, 10:05 PM
a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...: Chris was practicing nonviolence and love for a fellow veteran when he was killed. So even granting the congressman's points which are debatable, qualifiable, they are then 'True,'; 'True' and unrelated.; 2/4/13, 10:14 PM
Once written, twice... said...: Kyle was a mass murderer who finally got his cosmic slapdown. Good riddance.; 2/4/13, 10:15 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and Myself,
*makes sign of the diamond*
I say unto you all is well, that he whosoever liveth by the unprotected CIA outpost, dieth by the unprotected CIA outpost in the hinterlands of imperial overreach, or perhaps maketh it out alive but speaketh not thereafter thereof on the thereafter affects thereupon thereabouts. Comments are closed. Amen.; 2/4/13, 10:36 PM
Palladian said...: Oh look, "Jay Retread" has switched from one of his "Moby" sock puppet accounts ("Right is right" is one) back to direct trolling.

If appropriate cosmic justice were visited upon you, Retread, for being the loathsome carbuncle you have been, I'd hate to be in your vicinity for fear of the collateral damage.; 2/4/13, 11:11 PM
Once written, twice... said...: Good one Meade.; 2/4/13, 11:28 PM
chickelit said...: Don't Retread On Meade, Jay; 2/4/13, 11:47 PM
Lyle said...: Violent Islamists don't give a damn about what Jesus Christ preached.

Libertarians are freaking stupid!; 2/5/13, 1:33 AM
Guimo said...: How is a sniper a war hero? He is rarely in a place of danger.; 2/5/13, 6:32 AM
Guimo said...: Chris Kyle's death is tragic and hard to accept, but there is also something slightly askew here. Throughout history, snipers have always been considered the bottom feeders of warfare. Yes, they play a valuable role, but they also maintain a low profile (no pun intended). It seems odd that he would write a book essentially bragging about his accomplishments. This is not hand-to-hand combat or charging enemy positions. Great marksmanship yes, but true courage?; 2/5/13, 6:45 AM
Cody Jarrett said...: Counter insurgent snipers are frequently in places of danger, dickhead.

Plus, he was a SEAL.

They go to a lot of bad places, and snipers go with them. Some of their kills are multi-thousand rounders, some of them are relatively point blank, exposing their positions to fire.

Don't talk about shit you don't know about or your'll wind up sounding as ignorant as Jay or Ron Paul.; 2/5/13, 6:50 AM
rhhardin said...: Having the right sentiment is so important.; 2/5/13, 7:00 AM
vet66 said...: Guimo; you are out of your league. It is about saving lives not the killing. Liberals idea of bravery is sniping from a position of relative safety provided by others risking everything. Are you intentionally ignoring the plight of the young Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban for standing up for women's rights? Did you applaud the efforts of SEAL TEAM 6 who risked it all to bring OBL to justice? Did you applaud the returning GI's from Viet Nam who were forced to abandon the South Vietnamese to the murderous NVA, Chicoms, Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot? Tell me, oh wise one, what have you risked lately other than a poorly prepared latte at Starbucks?; 2/5/13, 7:27 AM
Colonel Angus said...: Unconstitutional wars? Last time I looked both were authorized by Congress.; 2/5/13, 7:29 AM
Colonel Angus said...: How is a sniper a war hero? He is rarely in a place of danger

A combat zone isn't a place of danger?; 2/5/13, 7:32 AM
jr565 said...: This is my exact problem with Ron Paul & the Ron Paulians. They are in the right supposedly and yet they are to the left of mother jones on foreign policy and end up saying things that make me want to hurl things.
Just the other day a lib on these boards said almost the exact same thing and got me to say "go f yourself" for her efforts.
Well, there's no reason why Paul should avoid the same treatment. Go f yourself you crazy asshole. Stay retired, shut the f up and get off the stage. And take you Paulians with you.
We talk about RINOs being bad for republicanism. But what about the Paulians? Please go away!; 2/5/13, 7:36 AM
Tank said...: We Paulians are not going away.

Too bad for you.

Tough shit.; 2/5/13, 7:55 AM
Paul said...: While I am a Catholic, and I'm pretty peaceful, I'll have to ask Ron Paul this.

"What if they gave a war and ONLY ONE SIDE SHOWED UP."

For you see that is the dilemma we face. To ignore aggression is to be ran over and conquered.

The terrorist don't care if we are peaceful or not (don't believe me, ask the Buddhist who are attacked by Muslims.)

No Ron Paul, you are mistaken in thinking Jesus, when he said to turn the other cheek, ment to just stand there and die.

For you see, even St. Peter carried a sword.; 2/5/13, 7:57 AM
Michael McNeil said...: For you see, even St. Peter carried a sword.

Nor did Jesus take it away from him when he cut off sombody's ear with it.

Peter bearing a sword is very interesting because the Roman State basically forbade military weapons such as swords (except in special circumstances) in the hands of civilians.; 2/5/13, 8:15 AM
Derve Swanson said...: so, we're still pretending iraq attacked us on 9-11?

no.

we committed our forces, and our
money, for the purple fingers, to allegedly protect their women and children. remember?

stick with the narrative old men commenters. the young folks paying off the bills for your wars of choice will remember...; 2/5/13, 8:15 AM
Derve Swanson said...: "What if they gave a war and ONLY ONE SIDE SHOWED UP."

well, that's kinda what happened...; 2/5/13, 8:16 AM
Derve Swanson said...: But what about the Paulians? Please go away!
----------------------

heh.
more and more recruits... every day.

your 2-party system is unaffordable, and failing the future.; 2/5/13, 8:18 AM
Michael McNeil said...: so, we're still pretending iraq attacked us on 9-11?

When did “we” (the U.S.) ever pretend that? There's nothing along those lines, for instance, in the authorization for the use of military force (which contains quite a number of justifications) that was passed by Congress before the war.; 2/5/13, 8:20 AM
Derve Swanson said...: so the sniper killed a whole bunch of guys acting defensively trying to protect their civilian population during the u.s. invasion.

and he's a big hero for protecting the invading u.s. troops.

I wonder how many lives might have been saved -- on both sides -- if we'd never invaded iraq in the first place.

hard to keep pretending this was a heroic action by the u.s., considering the overall iraqi population death count.; 2/5/13, 8:26 AM
Larry J said...: Guimo said...
Chris Kyle's death is tragic and hard to accept, but there is also something slightly askew here. Throughout history, snipers have always been considered the bottom feeders of warfare. Yes, they play a valuable role, but they also maintain a low profile (no pun intended). It seems odd that he would write a book essentially bragging about his accomplishments. This is not hand-to-hand combat or charging enemy positions. Great marksmanship yes, but true courage?

Perhaps you should do some research on snipers before asking your questions. For example, the top Marine sniper from Vietnam was Carlos Hathcock with more than 90 confirmed kills. He didn't just sit in a tree somewhere and snipe at passers by, he actively went out and hunted the enemy, often by himself. One of his opponents was an enemy sniper who was hunting him. Hathcock got off the shot when he saw the sun glint off the enemy's scope lens. He shot him through his scope which means the other guy also had Hathcock in his sights.

Snipers spend a lot of their time working with a spotter well away from other troops. If they get in trouble, no one will be able to help them and their chances of surviving capture are zero (enemies hate snipers). A big part of the sniper job is reconnaissance without being detected, sometimes for extended periods. It isn't for the faint of heart.; 2/5/13, 8:33 AM
Brian Brown said...: Ron Paul is a racist and a loon.; 2/5/13, 8:37 AM
Brian Brown said...: Jay Retread said...
Kyle was a mass murderer who finally got his cosmic slapdown

Remember, you silly ignorant's "support the troops"!!!!; 2/5/13, 8:40 AM
Anonymous said...: Blogger Mary said...

so the sniper killed a whole bunch of guys acting defensively trying to protect their civilian population during the u.s. invasion.

and he's a big hero for protecting the invading u.s. troops.

I wonder how many lives might have been saved -- on both sides -- if we'd never invaded iraq in the first place.

hard to keep pretending this was a heroic action by the u.s., considering the overall iraqi population death count.

2/5/13, 8:26 AM
________________________________________

Could you give me your opinion of Alvin York and Audie Murphy?; 2/5/13, 8:53 AM
jr565 said...: Tank wrote:

We Paulians are not going away.

Too bad for you.

Tough shit.

luckily, Ron Paul is. Sucks to be you. So who are you going to vote for now? Gary Johnson? Candidates endorsed by code pink?; 2/5/13, 8:54 AM
jr565 said...: Tank wrote:

We Paulians are not going away.

Too bad for you.

Tough shit.

luckily, Ron Paul is. Sucks to be you. So who are you going to vote for now? Gary Johnson? Candidates endorsed by code pink?; 2/5/13, 8:54 AM
jr565 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/5/13, 8:54 AM
jr565 said...: Ah yeah, now I remember who I said go f yourself to. It was Mary.
Go f yourself again Mary.
Oh, and its hard for me to tell, is she a far left wacko or a Paulian? Can you tell the difference?
See my point?
How is what she said different than what Ron Pail has said plenty of times?; 2/5/13, 8:57 AM
Roger Zimmerman said...: "Big L" Libertarians such as Ron Paul (and much of today's Libertarian party) _start_ at the non-agression principle, and proceed directly to government as a necessary evil (those that are not outright anarchists and pacifists). This leads to the U.S., with its powerful military, as the root of everything bad in the international arena. And so, heroes become at best victims of the government machine, and, at worst, co-perpetrators.

They lack the moral-philosophical foundation which demonstrates the need for government to protect individual rights, including inter-nationally. Indeed, with their fundamentally subjective view of morality, many Libertarians see Jihadists as "freedom fighters" of another sort, doing the appropriate anti-government thing as determined by their cultural milieu. Since morality is subjective, who are we to say they they are doing anything wrong? At the very least, it is none of our government's business (the argument goes).

Obviously, the US government has done many things wrong in foreign affairs and militarily. We should criticize it specifically for those errors. But, we should also recognize that, in the long arc of history, America has been a force for good in the world. And taking the battle to the Islamists, though not executed perfectly, is, broadly speaking, a good.

The Paulists do not have that nuance. They are reflexively anti-American in their foreign policy, and this outburst is reflection of that attitude. That is why - despite the sense he makes in domestic policy - he is not qualified for the office he holds.; 2/5/13, 9:01 AM
jr565 said...: Mary wrote:

But what about the Paulians? Please go away!
----------------------

heh.
more and more recruits... every day.

your 2-party system is unaffordable, and failing the future.

and your third party candidates will continue to get less votes than Ralph Nader, while you continue tilting at windmills.

In the meantime you will ensure candidates who vote for biggest govt continue winning. Which in fact is the point with many libertarians. You're far left not right.; 2/5/13, 9:02 AM
Guimo said...: Good comment, Larry J. I'm always willing to listen.; 2/5/13, 9:05 AM
Synova said...: Because constitutional and necessary wars are automatically consequence free to the men who fight them?

My first thought, and even with the sanitized version of Paul's statement is... how is this different from Fred Phelps? Really. At the basis of it, how is it different?; 2/5/13, 9:28 AM
JPS said...: Mary:

"so the sniper killed a whole bunch of guys acting defensively trying to protect their civilian population during the u.s. invasion."

Your comment illustrates just how fine a line exists between decrying our actions and actually rooting for the other side.

Here's a suggestion. Do an image search for Chief Master Sergeant John Gebhardt. Read how that little Iraqi girl came to be in his arms, how he provided the only solace and rest she could find after insurgents murdered her whole family and shot her in the head.

No doubt you'll simply respond that none of this would have happened if it weren't for our going in there. And you may have a point.

But your view of the insurgents as guys just acting defensively, trying to protect their civilian population, would come as news to a great many Iraqis.; 2/5/13, 9:57 AM
Larry J said...: Guimo said...
Good comment, Larry J. I'm always willing to listen

Here's a pretty good article about snipers and their training. If you're interested, here's a link about Carlos Hathcock. Yeah, it's Wikipedia but it seems pretty well referenced.; 2/5/13, 10:28 AM
jr565 said...: and Ron Paul, while we all commend non violence as a way of life, did Jesus's non violence protect him when the Romans decided to beat him and then nail him to a cross?; 2/5/13, 10:47 AM
RazorSharpSundries said...: Ron Paul, the war was constitutional you peacenik, the Dems in congress gave Bush 2 the big thumbs-up. All wars have unintended consequences. All actions do. I like the new improved version of Paul, the one that actually sticks up for America's friends in the middle east.; 2/5/13, 10:55 AM
jr565 said...: Synova wrote:
My first thought, and even with the sanitized version of Paul's statement is... how is this different from Fred Phelps? Really. At the basis of it, how is it different?

I was actually going to ask the same question a different way -namely "Is Phelps a Ron Paulian"?
Because, as you say, Mary's reaction seems awfully similar to Phelps.; 2/5/13, 11:03 AM
Synova said...: There's also no reason at all to think that PTSD, even severe PTSD, makes a person murderous.

Promoting or allowing that "turned into murderers" interpretation is profoundly violent, in turn, towards those who suffer from PTSD as well as those soldiers who don't.

And those like Ron Paul (or Mary) seem to think that violence makes them a better person. Disgusting.; 2/5/13, 11:26 AM
Alex said...: Jay Retread and Mary - you are disgusting pieces of filth.; 2/5/13, 11:35 AM
Alex said...: Go troops and wipe out the enemy to the last man!; 2/5/13, 11:35 AM
jr565 said...: Jay Retread wrote:
Jay Retread said...
Kyle was a mass murderer who finally got his cosmic slapdown

SO if someone were to assassinate Obama, he had it coming, I guess.
Because he did authorize drone strikes which led to the deaths of thousands from on high.; 2/5/13, 12:57 PM
jr565 said...: Maybe when those kids got assassinated at the schools they had it coming because their school had a problem with armed guards there to protect them.
Live by the plowshare die by the sword as it were.
What say you Jay Retread?; 2/5/13, 12:59 PM
Derve Swanson said...: How is what she said different than what Ron Pail has said plenty of times?
---------------

Truth kinda kills your false macho, huh?

Wait... respond logically and tell me to go play with myself a third time, eh tough guy?

Thinkers and reasoners beat violence, any day. No wonder you react so strongly when others point that out...; 2/5/13, 5:05 PM
Derve Swanson said...: And those like Ron Paul (or Mary) seem to think that violence makes them a better person.

------------

??? You think I said that?

Are you really this stupid, or just playing this way on the internets?; 2/5/13, 5:07 PM
Derve Swanson said...: jr565 said...
Maybe when those kids got assassinated at the schools they had it coming ...

--------

Wow, what a sicko who can't differentiate between those two situations. Just... wow.; 2/5/13, 5:07 PM
Derve Swanson said...: There's also no reason at all to think that PTSD, even severe PTSD, makes a person murderous.

----------

Just don't take em for "therapy" to the shooting range, ok?; 2/5/13, 5:08 PM
Derve Swanson said...: There's also no reason at all to think that PTSD, even severe PTSD, makes a person murderous.
-------------

If you're asking my theory? I don't think it was PSTD. I think Kyle prolly pissed the mentally ill guy off, and he deliberately killed the two fellows out of anger.

Maybe they ate his sandwich without asking, or questioned his masculinity or something, and with a gun in his hand and their backs turned... problem solved.

Isn't that how it works with you macho types? Whoever has the biggest gun ... "wins"? That's what we seem to be devolving to, in our thoughts and in our actions.

Power over reason.
Yeah, baby!; 2/5/13, 5:11 PM
Derve Swanson said...: Go troops and wipe out the enemy to the last man!

---------

But first... make sure you properly identify the... "enemy".

That's what we have trials for, here at home, you know...; 2/5/13, 5:12 PM
Derve Swanson said...: did Jesus's non violence protect him when the Romans decided to beat him and then nail him to a cross?

-----------

Dude, you need to learn a little bit more about THAT story. Funny how you're still talking about his ... weakness, all these years later.

Maybe, just maybe, that was all in the Plans? ;-); 2/5/13, 5:13 PM
Derve Swanson said...: No doubt you'll simply respond that none of this would have happened if it weren't for our going in there. And you may have a point.

-------------

By Jove,
I think you've (finally) got it!

My work here is done.; 2/5/13, 5:14 PM
hombre said...: Jay Retread wrote: "Kyle was a mass murderer who finally got his cosmic slapdown. Good riddance." 10:15

And the Obamadrone, Retread? How about Fast and Furious Holder? Cosmic slapdowns in order for them, or just the guy with 2 Silver Stars and 5 Bronze Stars. No venom for the chickenshit killers by proxy?

Just askin'.; 2/5/13, 5:15 PM