WTF was Ron Paul thinking

Image: Tweet by Ron Paul

Ron Paul has probably done more to spread the libertarian message than anyone else on the planet.  Unfortunately his brand of non-interventionism is tends to go to the extremes that often make him appear more of a crank than a serious politician, and probably does the movement more harm than good.

While most sane people oppose war and violence, it can be necessary to go there in order to deal with aggressive regimes.  Disagreeing with a war is fine, but the way to do it is to take it up with the government that declares it, not the soldiers who do the fighting.

Image: Westbro Baptists, not much difference in thinking.

Chris Kyle was an exceptional servicemen who excelled at his duties then dedicated himself to helping former servicemen to deal with the psychological affects of war, namely post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD.)  One of the people he was trying to help murdered him.

The reason for taking them out on shooting ranges was to place them in a familiar environment that they were competent with: 

"A lot of people are asking why are you taking somebody who is struggling out to go shooting? Well shooting for guys like us in the military is a very very familiar skill set. It's like taking a basketball player out to shoot hoops, you know? So shooting with military veterans who are trying to re-adjust can be very healing and Chris really used that well to his advantage to help people."

UPDATE: Breitbart reports that Paul has ‘walked back’ from his remarks: 

In a Facebook post meant to clarify the tweet, Paul wrote, "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," Paul wrote in his post. "A policy of non-violence, as Christ preached, would have prevented this and similar tragedies."

Acknowledging the feelings of the family is welcome, but the original remark should never have been made.  Ron should repudiate it in the interests of common decency.