Hot Under the Collar

Trey Smith

For the second time today, I'm going to sing the plaudits of Glenn Greenwald! His latest column is a gem. He aptly points out that the primary reason that candidate Ron Paul riles up so many progressive supporters of Barack Obama is that, on many issues, the Republican Paul supports the progressive position far better than their own candidate!

This is not to suggest that Ron Paul is the poster child of progressive values. Some of his positions -- like on the issue of race -- are dreadful. But on most of the issues that progressives hold dear (see Greenwald's article for a long list), Paul is far more progressive than the president.

Needless to say, this fact makes a lot of people squirm. They don't want to be reminded of it and, as long as Ron Paul continues to be at or near the top of the GOP polls, they have to put up with Barack Obama not being able to paint himself as the genuinely liberal candidate.

Below is a superb political ad from Ron Paul campaign. If you saw it and it didn't reference Ron Paul, I bet most progressives would cheer and swear allegiance to whatever candidate was behind it.