I don't hate Hannity, but it's still tough when I think back to how he and others (the whole of Fox News, just about) treated Ron Paul. I make room for the fact that people were in the dark, but I hope there is a point in the future where Ron Paul can be recognized, and hopefully some brave individuals will admit they were wrong, but I doubt it.
In 2008 I was so disgusted with the state of affairs that I had all but given up hope. Hated the Bushes. Hated the Clintons. Hated McCain, Obama…the whole show. Ron Paul was the ONLY person talking about the rule of law, the Constitution, a sensible foreign policy, etc…he renewed my hope, but the establishment disregarded him. In 2012, however, they came together to crush him. What happened to Sanders in 2016 happened to Paul (albeit to a lesser degree) in 2012…look at the support he garnered from military personnel.
Q…you know this, right?
Aside from a few issues…it is not unnoticed by people such as myself that Trump's actions are achieving many of the objectives RP supporters were pushing during his candidacies. Perhaps Ron Paul's campaigns demonstrated that you weren't going to take down the establishment with a philosophical or ideological candidate, however good his positions…you needed a stronger personality to penetrate the hubris while convincing the red-state republicans, so used to neoconservative rhetoric, that you're not a peacenik. You have to change the lingo, so instead of talking about free trade, Trump talks about bad trade deals. Instead of "bring the troops home" he talks about "peace through strength." It's more palatable to the common folks…the "normies." POTUS may not be a libertarian like the RP, but he'll get us closer than ever…and down the road we can have a peaceful, more intelligent discussion about the proper size and scope of central governments…after the enemy has been vanquished.