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Politics

Ron Paul: Eat, Drink, Smoke Whatever You Want

Nick Gillespie | 10.24.2011 7:49 AM

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Via the Washington Examiner's Charlie Spiering, an account of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) talking to college kids:

Surrounded by over 1000 University of Iowa students, Ron Paul gave a barn-burning speech on personal liberty that resonated with the college crowd.

"We need a new generation that cares about the rule of law and the constitution." Paul declared to heavy applause.

Paul encouraged the students to use their personal liberty for "excellence and virtue," but asserted that liberty granted them the right to do as they pleased.

"If your spiritual life, which is a serious responsibility, and your intellectual life is a serious responsibility, why is it that we assume you can have free decisions there, why shouldn't you have free decisions on what you eat, drink, smoke and put into your own body?" he asked, followed by a roar of approval.

More here.

Hat tip: Twitter feed of the great Jim Harper.

Bonus Paul statement: Face the Nation asks former Sen. Rick Santorum and GOP presidential candidate how he would react to his competitors getting the party's nod: "Ron Paul would give me a little indigestion, I'd have to take antacids on foreign policy."

Reason on Ron Paul.

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NEXT: Herman Cain's Glib Confusion

Nick Gillespie is an editor at large at Reason and host of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie.

PoliticsRon Paul
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