Powers- That- Be Go After Ron Paul
This commentary posted on the Santa Rosa Press- Democrat web site this morning is at least the third hit piece in the mainstream media aimed at Ron Paul over the last few days. ABC/Yahoo News ran a couple similar ones that they left up on their main page a couple days each.
That's just the three I've seen. Never mind that anti- Paul pieces by the smaller commentators and bloggers. They're scared to death Ron Paul might end up polling in the top three, or even winning, the Iowa GOP caucus.
Love or hate Ron Paul, it really is something watching the media and other powers- that- be absolutely beside themselves over someone they feels threatens the power structure of the status quo.
Labels: Ron Paul
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:38 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Looks like the free-market media corporate media consolidation is working out really well for Ayn Rand's little booger buddies, eh?
Take a look at how the Sims post handled Ron Paul fund raiser coming to town, or the interview. Its a joke to the out of area people that would rather slander or jest instead of research and report.
Yes, this guy is extreme...just look at what he is saying. Unbelievable.
“Little by little, in the name of fighting terrorism, our Bill of Rights is being repealed. The 4th amendment has been rendered toothless by the PATRIOT Act. No more can we truly feel secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects when now there is an exception that fits nearly any excuse for our government to search and seize our property. Of course, the vast majority of Americans may say “I’m not a terrorist, so I have no reason to worry.” However, innocent people are wrongly accused all the time. The Bill of Rights is there precisely because the founders wanted to set a very high bar for the government to overcome in order to deprive an individual of life or liberty. To lower that bar is to endanger everyone. When the bar is low enough to include political enemies, our descent into totalitarianism is virtually assured…”
“I’m not a terrorist, so I have no reason to worry.”.
We need to remember that the vast majority of times search requirements have been nullified using the PATRIOT Act have been for War on Drug related issues.
President Obama is set to sign a bill authorizing unlimited detention of Americans suspected of terrorist activities. You have to wonder just how wide the definition will be for "terrorist activities" once government agencies realize they can hold someone indefinitely if they can label a suspect as being guilty of such?
And that's the beauty of candidates like Ron Paul or Gary Johnson: You can expect they would not sign such a bill. That can't be said of Obama or any of the other Republican candidates.
Well, remember it's Iowa we're talking about and its infamous electronic voting. There's no need to worry Ron Paul will place in the top three.
No, we're talking about the Iowa caucuses which are precisely the opposite of secret voting. People taking part in the caucuses have to vote publicly, in person, in front of their neighbors. There is no secret ballot, no electronic voting machines that could be hacked.
And the Paul campaign has announced that they will have organizers at every single one of the caucuses. Presumably they will keep their own tally, so it's pretty hard to see how this one could be "stolen."
- tra
It's fascinating to watch the Republican establishment scrambling about, in a near-panic, desperately trying to innoculate the public from the effects of a Paul win in Iowa. According to the establishment spin, if Paul wins in Iowa, then Iowa doesn't really count. Neat trick!
But I do think it's true that even if Paul did manage to win the Republican nomination, many of his hard-line policy positions (privatizing Social Security, for example) -- along with such self-inflicted PR wounds as his wacko newsletters and his long history of associating himself with various flavors of wingnuttery -- might well doom his campaign in a general election.
But in the battle for the Republican nomination, I think the obstacle that Paul will have the most trouble overcoming is that his scathing critique of U.S. military imperialism overseas is just absolute heresy to many Republican voters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V36MT5lAMrc
No wonder mainstream (militarist) Republican "leaders" appear to be in fullblown panic mode. Having this guy running around the country drawing record crowds and rising in the polls, while he continues to loudly proclaim his heretical foreign policy views -- well, that's not quite what Republican insiders had in mind for this primary. But those "leaders" are in a tricky position, because if Paul and his followers feel that the Republican establishment is conspiring to deny him the nomination -- even if he's the frontrunner going into the convention -- then there's the risk that Paul could go the third-party route, which polls suggest would hurt the Republican nominee a lot more than it would hurt the Democrats.
Personally, if Paul doesn't win the Republican primary (and at the end of the day, I don't think he will) I'd love to see him go the third-party route, regardless of whether that seems likely to help Obama or whether that seems likely to help whoever does end up being the Republican nominee. I just think it's extremely helpful to the nation to have someone like Ron Paul out there talking about the way our aggressive overseas military actions create "blowback." Sadly we're not going to hear that from "mainstream" candidates in either one of the major parties.
- tra
I highly doubt Ron Paul will go third party. Although he ran as the Libertarian Party candidate for President back in '88, I just don't see him doing it.
The Libertarian Party would be his best bet, should he choose to do so if only because they have ballot access in most states. If he went with any other party he'd have to start at square one just to get on the ballot.
Past 2 term Republican Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, is supposed to announce his switch to the LP tomorrow (Wednesday) and supposedly seek their nomination since he's been completely ignored by the Republicans. There's already some squabbling going on within the LP over Paul vs. Johnson.
I've been supporting Johnson from the start, even as a Republican candidate. If Paul should surprise me and try and seek the LP nomination, I'm not sure where I'd stand but it's too early to start fighting over as far as I'm concerned.
Here's an article that takes a close look at why, in the words of the author, "...Ron Paul, who well into the fall was just a cause of indigestion, has finally started to cause serious incontinence in the ranks of the GOP establishment."
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/stimulus/2011/dec/27/countdown-iowa-paul-or-gop-what-do-conservatives-w/
- tra
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