With perhaps an emphasis on the word 'half'.  Others are probably less than 'half' decent.  Ron Paul talks the talk but will he walk the walk?  He has taken opposing views with both the 'left' and 'right' (I hate those terms and find them uninformative but people use them) but will he backtrack on his poicies if elected such as the current incumbent?  Even if he were perfectly honest and intended to carry out his promises would he survive in the 'system' of a heavily corporatised nation and an Military Industrial Complex Eisenhower warned about?

Here is an article that asks whether Ron Paul is more progressive than Obama.  Many perspectives are presented about Ron Paul but in the end I think you will find the answer in the article is, generally YES. http://counterpunch.org/davis04282011.html

To appreciate the MIC any President has to deal with here is an interesting series of articles and "insights of ten unique professionals, each with decades of experience in the armed services, the Pentagon bureaucracy, Congress, the intelligence community, military history, journalism and other disciplines".  'The Pentagon Labyrinth': http://dnipogo.org/labyrinth/

These kinds of "analyses" of Counterpunch are only one reason why I can't take that site very seriously. Furthermore, the article does not go into Paul's rationales for why he takes these stands.  

Here is some information on Ron Paul's stands on education as well as other topics:

http://www.issues2000.org/2008/Ron_Paul_Education.htm

Furthermore, Paul has sponsored the following pieces of legislation during this most recent Congress:

1) To provide that human life shall be deemed to exist from conception, and for other purposes;

2) To end membership of the United States in the United Nations;

3) To repeal the legal tender laws, to prohibit taxation on certain coins and bullion, and to repeal superfluous sections related to coinage;

4) Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to abolishing personal income, estate, and gift taxes and prohibiting the United States Government from engaging in business in competition with its citizens.

For Paul on other issues, see this link... Paul is so reactionary on many issues, he can rightly be termed a political neanderthal.

http://www.issues2000.org/Ron_Paul.htm

I appreciate Ron Paul very much for raising issues that are otherwise completely ignored by the dems and reps. for example, he has spoken as a medical doctor about how stupid it is to throw sick people (people with a drug addiction) into prisons. but as translator points out he has his funny little ways...for example he said he wouldn't have sent goverment aid to the flood victims in mississippi.

i don't personally see obama as 'smug'. he is radiantly intelligent though and the sheer surface area of his psyche tends to eclipse the dusty little retarded boulders that surround him (i.e. nearly all other politicians). as bill maher pointed out recently, he knows exactly how much political capital he has at any one time and when to use it. loads of things i disagree with him on but since when does anyone with a brain agree completely, or even a little, with the POTUS?

i still thank jesus (agnostic jesus: an imaginary dude who lives in my fridge) every night that mccain and palin didn't get in. christ it seems like a scary but ridiculous nightmare now! but no that really happened!!!! 

and whatever one thinks of ron paul look at the state of the other rep candidates.  it's like dave chappelle's sketch about a certain white family, but without the laughs. http://2012.republican-candidates.org/

Ron Paul understands the big picture - the US cannot keep funding wars and needs to radically change - the rest of the policies are small issues which affect US people and no one else - the foreign policy thing affects nearly everyone

Probably Ron Paul would be the better choice in comparison to other more fundamentalistic Republican politicians like Sarah Palin, etc.

But in my opinion Obama does a really good job, especially when you consider the difficult economical and political situation he has to master now. Of course Obama is just a politician and not a Messiah, but I feel much better since he followed Bush as US-President, because he is a much more tolerant, rational and competent politician. That's why I hope that the Americans will extend his presidency.

P.S.: Sorry, I am not a Native, but my English is hopefully somehow understandable and supportable for you guys!

Some people should read a bit more or look before they leap before painting with such broad brushes.  Counterpunch is an excellent website that includes book reviews and film reviews (both often of books and films you would never hear of).  In addition there are contributions by poets as well as some excellent information on Bach.  There is a wide variety of authours including the late Joe Bageant, Ralph Nader, Paul Craig Roberts (assistant secretary of the treasury in the Republican Reagan administration), former and present military figures in the US, CodePink members,  former CIA analysts, members of Voices in the Wilderness, Cindy Sheehan who lost her son in Iraq and protested outside Bush’s ‘ranch’, Missy Beattie who grieves for her lost nephew in Iraq and hasn’t a positive thing to say about Obummer, and so many more like the lady below.

The Freedom to Starve

Why the Left Should Reject Ron Paul

By SHERRY WOLF

"POLITICS, LIKE nature, abhors a vacuum," goes the revamped aphorism. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's surprising stature among a small but vocal layer of antiwar activists and leftist bloggers appears to bear this out. (from http://www.counterpunch.org/wolf12122007.html )

Born Again Loser

Gingrich Revolution 2.0

By ANTHONY DiMAGGIO

Newt Gingrich is a born again loser. 

After having stepped away from the political spotlight for nearly a decade-and-a-half, Newt's not-so-glorious return on Meet the Press as he announced his presidential candidacy last Sunday was more embarrassing than anything else.   His comments were symbolic of a corrupt, narcissistic, and hedonistic right-wing political culture that clings to brain dead ideas like the zombies in a George Romero film.  

Some reflections below from Gingrich’s interview with David Gregory:

(http://www.counterpunch.org/dimaggio05172011.html )

Clowns to the right and jokers to the left and the population stuck in the middle.

Excellent song, that... Reminds me of the movie, Resevoir Dogs..

Saying I don't particularly like the site doesn't mean that I don't appreciate some of the writers on it, particularly the late Joe Bageant.  I don't have a lot of time for Ralph Nader (although his early work as a consumer safety advocate was excellent) particularly since people who work for the PIRGs (public interest research groups) generally get paid near-starvation wages..

My critique, w.r.t. that particular article you cited on Ron Paul is that the analysis is very shallow.  The second article on Paul you posted provides more in-depth information.