What is and is not wrong with Ron Paul

A reader writes:

I wondered what your thoughts are about NOM’s actions and also Ron Paul’s positions on marriage and whether there was anything you’ve written or could add on this issue. No candidate is perfect, as you often say, but NOM seems to be using very heavy handed tactics which bother me tremendously. Any ideas and thoughts would be much appreciated!

I haven’t followed it closely, but yeah, I think they’ve been heavy handed. And not just NOM. To hear the Manufacturers of Received Wisdom on both sides of the aisle tell it, Ron Paul *loves* drugs, gay marriage and abortion, as well as prostitution and white supremacy. He’s not just evil but keraaayyyzy evil. It’s the sort of stuff that works for people who listen to Talk Radio or Keith Olbermann and think of themselves as an informed electorate because they know how to repeat something they heard there.

But it’s obvious he doesn’t “favor” gay marriage or any of these other things any more than he favors the use of tobacco or addiction to alcohol or drugs. He favors libertarianism and keeping the state out of everything, including places it actually belongs, such as protecting the common good. He’s wrong on that last part, which is why I think Paul is wrong about marriage because I think marriage needs the protection of the state. But it’s simply rubbish to say he favors gay marriage. What he favors is separation of marriage and state.