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Does Ron Paul Have Asperger's Syndrome?

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STIM CITY? Paul (Photo: Getty Images)
In the great tradition of George W. Bush's rumored undiagnosed learning disabilities, might Ron Paul, the libertarian/Republican/racialist candidate for president, have a hidden disorder of his own? Could Paul have Asperger's Syndrome, the autism spectrum disorder characterized by extremely awkward social interactions along with obsessive behaviors and interests? If you've seen Ron Paul on television recently—or taken a glimpse at his platform—there's no question he displays the symptoms.

When he came out to greet Jay Leno on Monday night, Paul walked with his eyes down to the ground. He didn't look his host in the eye (another symptom!), and cackled—grossly inappropriately for a presidential candidate—every time he brought up America's train wreck of an economy (the joke, after all, is on all of us). Check one for impaired social interaction.

As for obsessive behavior: If you're not one of the seven people who have ever cared about the gold standard, it would seem that this is something of an obsessive interest for Ron Paul. It's like a 19th-century version of World of Warcraft.

Even if Paul doesn't have Asperger's, many of his supporters may. Tech-nerds are disproportionately affected by the syndrome, and Paul's campaign—driven by online "viral marketing" —is disproportionately affected by tech-nerds.

At wrongplanet.net, the online Asperger's hangout, there's plenty of talk about the Ron Paul Revolution. According to one thread, Paul "stims," or suffers from repeated body twitches body movements, another symptom of Asperger's. On WrongPlanet, there's also a 14-page thread for Ron Paul fans. Elsewhere on the Internet, there's even a fake, tongue-in-cheek "Aspies for Ron Paul" homepage.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Paul's techie, nerd-heavy base would suffer from Asperger's. In Ron Paul's universe, meet-ups don't necessarily happen in real life; just last week, there was a 240-strong World of Warcraft rally in which avatars from across the nation came together. According to the World of Warcraft Insider, "The rally started outside Ironforge with approximately 240 players (with 400 members in their RP Revolution guild) and traveled to Stormwind, Westfall, Booty Bay, Ratchet, and finally Orgrimmar." You can't get more Aspie than that.

So there's some good news: Even if Ron Paul doesn't win the election—and let's admit it, there's no chance he will—we can still go back to the gold standard, or at least our Aspie Warcraft avatars can.

Comments

What in the hell are you talking about on this entry? Oh my god. Ok, so let's go back through all of Jay Leno's talk shows and compare who looks directly at the host every second. Actually, let's look at the chair configuration, um, it's more facing the audience. But you wouldn't know that, because no one will ever interview you on TV. You wouldn't think that it's hard enough to turn your head to talk to Jay, especially if you might have a neck problem, or have been hauling ass for Months like RP has. and the lights on the stage are too bright to even see the audience.

I've watched him speak a couple times, on TV, he's more clear on things than McCain, Hillary, Far more clear on things than Romney and much less of a cocksucker than Rudy G. He's a runner, he's been a doctor, in the military, and in the House of Reps for like 20 years. so I think he by far passes the qualifications for social interaction. Dumbfuck.

but hey, you like your other candidate, that's cool. nevermind that the war is totally fucking the economy, so good luck having a job over the next few years. Maybe we should look forward to substandard discount walmart health care, or maybe we should look forward to being pwned by the chinese.

Posted by: ms0000006 on January 9, 2008 10:06 PM

What in the hell are you talking about on this entry? Oh my god. Ok, so let's go back through all of Jay Leno's talk shows and compare who looks directly at the host every second. Actually, let's look at the chair configuration, um, it's more facing the audience. But you wouldn't know that, because no one will ever interview you on TV. You wouldn't think that it's hard enough to turn your head to talk to Jay, especially if you might have a neck problem, or have been hauling ass for Months like RP has. and the lights on the stage are too bright to even see the audience.

I've watched him speak a couple times, on TV, he's more clear on things than McCain, Hillary, Far more clear on things than Romney and much less of a cocksucker than Rudy G. He's a runner, he's been a doctor, in the military, and in the House of Reps for like 20 years. so I think he by far passes the qualifications for social interaction. Dumbfuck.

but hey, you like your other candidate, that's cool. nevermind that the war is totally fucking the economy, so good luck having a job over the next few years. Maybe we should look forward to substandard discount walmart health care, or maybe we should look forward to being pwned by the chinese.

Posted by: ms0000006 on January 9, 2008 10:06 PM

LOL! Is the author trying to prove that Dr. Paul is a genius? Did everyone know that Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton are both suspected to have had Asperger's Syndrome? If this is a sign of a higher intelligence quotient, I want to have Asperger's Syndrome! Maybe that's what this nation needs. Only one source among many can be found here: http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/aspergersyndrome/a/041003.htm. The author needs to do better research next time. To my fellow "Aspies" out there... Peace!

PS: About the twitching, the author needs to also research on this aspect from a war veteran's standpoint. Find how many of them twitch because of their service to this nation.

Posted by: arcblatt on January 10, 2008 7:50 AM

Ron Paul's acolytes have Asholer's Syndrome.

Posted by: Simon Scowl on January 10, 2008 11:58 AM

Advertisement

Did you ever notice that the many folks who trash the gold standard never support their opinion? They simply dash it off, as though the gold standard cannot be defended.

In actual truth, the gold standard can be defended or attacked, just like any other policy position. Here are some defenses:

Alan Greenspan:
"under the gold standard, a free banking system stands as the protector of an economy's stability and balanced growth... The abandonment of the gold standard made it possible for the welfare statists to use the banking system as a means to an unlimited expansion of credit... In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation." Alan Greenspan.

Murray Rothbard:
http://www.mises.org/mysteryofbanking/mysteryofbanking.pdf

The Rothbard book is a good introduction. For a shorter (and not as good) intro, consult Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard


Posted by: flababa on January 10, 2008 11:23 PM

arcblatt, that's not how it works.
Having assburgers doesn't make you a genius. Einstein and Newton were never diagnosed. Even if they had it that doesn't mean that it caused their greatness.
Aspergers is a disease, not a super power. And knock off the historical appropriation bullshit.

Posted by: icemonkey on January 11, 2008 11:45 AM

Is this what hipsters are doing for fun these days? I get it - you don't like Ron Paul. He's not my candidate either (that would be Barack Obama) but this is just mean-spirited. The man's views on foreign policy are much more well-informed than those of every other GOP candidate. Somewhere along the way Asperger's Syndrome became every armchair psychologist's favorite thing to diagnose more idiosyncratic individuals with. OK, he can be socially awkward, has nervous twitches, and has an intellectual focus on the gold standard (a less popular concept than, say, "change" or "9/11") - suddenly he has Aspergers? Oh wait, some people who support him have Aspergers, that means he has it too. I guess that means Rudy Giuliani is a straight-up retard (oh wait, that might actually be true).

Posted by: BallroomBlitz on January 11, 2008 6:47 PM


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