affa
02-12-2008, 02:31 PM
Ron Paul stands for freedom. Pretty much everyone can get behind this idea. This march can be HUGE.
That said, some of the threads going on here give me great cause for concern.
Specifically, we need to understand that Ron Paul attracts people from all walks of life. Not just people like... some of you.
In addition to promoting this March, we need to seriously start pushing forth the truth about Ron Paul. That he is NOT racist. That he is NOT homophobic. Because right now? That's what a lot of people still think.
The last thing we need to do is have Ron Paul's rally be protested by organizations that SHOULD be on our side! We need to clear the air. We need the activists acrtoss the country on our side.
Say what you will (or, actually, maybe don't) about truthers, gay pride advocates, and other 'activists' that some of you ex-Fox News watchers hate with a passion, but they have a lot of experience with rallies. They can all be on our side, promoting RON PAUL.
I am NOT advocating people pushing their own message. What I am trying to get across is that if we do not make a move to include groups like this, we very well may end up being protested by them. And why? Because we failed to truly deal with the misinformation campaign against Ron Paul. Sure, we were satisfied, and it dropped out of the news cycle... but we did not address it as properly as we should have. How do I know this? Because I live in an activist city and people still don't know the truth - they still wonder. And they shouldn't wonder, because Ron Paul is no racist.
Specifically, the following groups have a lot of experience with large protests and/or rallies, and all should be on our side:
1. Minorities.
2. Anti-War
3. Gay Pride
4. Anti-WTO/IMF types
5. Truthers.
All of the groups above want freedom. ALL of them, to some degree, could and would support Ron Paul if they understood his message and we not filled with disinformation (specifically, groups 1,2, and 3 - we probably already have a good portion of 4 and 5).
I can tell you right now - anyone coming across some of these threads that is gay or lesbian, or supports gay and lesbian pride, would be turned off instantly by certain posters thinking that they're being 'funny'. I'm not trying to be a PC cop here - I'm trying to explain something that everyone here really needs to understand - we need everyone behind us. We need unity. We need freedom. And the last thing we need are organized protests against us from people that should be protesting WITH us.
We need to deal with the original smears. We need to reach out to the activist left. We need videos showing Ron Paul in action throughout the 80's, 90's, and 00's railing against the racism found in the War on Drugs (and the War on Terror, for that matter). We need to explain that he doesn't believe gov't should have anything to do with marriage. That he doesn't care what two people do on their own time. We need to get across that he would pardon non violent drug offenders. We need to FOCUS On this - on how many people he would effectively 'free'. This alone is a powerful dismissal of any claims of racism.
To the posters on this board who are homophobic - please, please understand you don't represent all of us. But a single post here or there implicates everyone, and it implicates Ron Paul.
This Ron Paul March should be HUGE. But in order to best accomplish that, we need to reach out to the people that are established protesters and ralliers, and get them behind the Ron Paul message ASAP!
That said, some of the threads going on here give me great cause for concern.
Specifically, we need to understand that Ron Paul attracts people from all walks of life. Not just people like... some of you.
In addition to promoting this March, we need to seriously start pushing forth the truth about Ron Paul. That he is NOT racist. That he is NOT homophobic. Because right now? That's what a lot of people still think.
The last thing we need to do is have Ron Paul's rally be protested by organizations that SHOULD be on our side! We need to clear the air. We need the activists acrtoss the country on our side.
Say what you will (or, actually, maybe don't) about truthers, gay pride advocates, and other 'activists' that some of you ex-Fox News watchers hate with a passion, but they have a lot of experience with rallies. They can all be on our side, promoting RON PAUL.
I am NOT advocating people pushing their own message. What I am trying to get across is that if we do not make a move to include groups like this, we very well may end up being protested by them. And why? Because we failed to truly deal with the misinformation campaign against Ron Paul. Sure, we were satisfied, and it dropped out of the news cycle... but we did not address it as properly as we should have. How do I know this? Because I live in an activist city and people still don't know the truth - they still wonder. And they shouldn't wonder, because Ron Paul is no racist.
Specifically, the following groups have a lot of experience with large protests and/or rallies, and all should be on our side:
1. Minorities.
2. Anti-War
3. Gay Pride
4. Anti-WTO/IMF types
5. Truthers.
All of the groups above want freedom. ALL of them, to some degree, could and would support Ron Paul if they understood his message and we not filled with disinformation (specifically, groups 1,2, and 3 - we probably already have a good portion of 4 and 5).
I can tell you right now - anyone coming across some of these threads that is gay or lesbian, or supports gay and lesbian pride, would be turned off instantly by certain posters thinking that they're being 'funny'. I'm not trying to be a PC cop here - I'm trying to explain something that everyone here really needs to understand - we need everyone behind us. We need unity. We need freedom. And the last thing we need are organized protests against us from people that should be protesting WITH us.
We need to deal with the original smears. We need to reach out to the activist left. We need videos showing Ron Paul in action throughout the 80's, 90's, and 00's railing against the racism found in the War on Drugs (and the War on Terror, for that matter). We need to explain that he doesn't believe gov't should have anything to do with marriage. That he doesn't care what two people do on their own time. We need to get across that he would pardon non violent drug offenders. We need to FOCUS On this - on how many people he would effectively 'free'. This alone is a powerful dismissal of any claims of racism.
To the posters on this board who are homophobic - please, please understand you don't represent all of us. But a single post here or there implicates everyone, and it implicates Ron Paul.
This Ron Paul March should be HUGE. But in order to best accomplish that, we need to reach out to the people that are established protesters and ralliers, and get them behind the Ron Paul message ASAP!