Exceptions test the rule. Ron Paul is an exception. We might have to revise some rules.

One rule in politics is: Don’t obsess about arcana unfamiliar to voters; stick to issues they care about.

Ron Paul has long flouted that rule.

That’s one reason why mainstream journalists often dismiss him as a “nut.” He keeps talking about issues outside the scope of what journalists say we should care about. This makes his causes appear — to insiders and reporters and the like — ridiculous.

Specifically, he keeps talking about monetary theory in general and the Federal Reserve in particular.

Now, there are several good reasons why journalists don’t talk about monetary theory. Milton Friedman memorably declared (it’s memorable because I remember it) that monetary theory was the most difficult area of economics. And if Friedman saw it as difficult, you can be sure your standard journalism major is going to find it harder than getting a quotation out of J.D. Salinger’s dog Phoney.