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RSDavis
03-26-2008, 11:02 AM
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Ron Paul Roundup (03-26-08)
by RS Davis
The Freedom Files (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=370798272&Mytoken=ADA8DCB9-81A3-408A-8DBE0EB9FA687C2C55039233)


Hello Freedomphiles! The Suburban Journals, who have already written about the Missouri Caucus Coup, have put out another piece (http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2008/03/24/news/sj2tn20080322-0323stc-caucus0.ii1.txt)on it:

Stafford said Paul supporters across Missouri organized through the Internet and even had practice caucuses.

But he said their main motive was not to put Paul in the White House.

"We weren’t shouting Ron Paul! Ron Paul!" he said. "It was about party ideals."

The caucus attendees passed a proposed rule change that could impact the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. During the first vote, Missouri’s 55 delegates are bound to vote for John McCain, who won the most votes during the statewide Republican primary Feb. 5. But Paul’s supporters want the delegates to have the option of voting for the candidate who best represents the platform of the Missouri Republican Party.

The Paul supporters also did their best to propose amendments that would change the party platform to include support for abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Federal Reserve, removing troops from Iraq, and removing Republican support for President George W. Bush.

"The bottom line is to keep the dialogue going," Stafford said.

That’s all well and good, but it misses the second half of the story in Missouri. Businesswire reports (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080325006318&newsLang=en):

The Ron Paul campaign has been receiving reports that Missouri GOP rules have been violated in the set-up and execution of several county Republican caucuses. Ron Paul supporters in Missouri have been attending their county caucuses and electing Ron Paul delegates to be seated at the Missouri Republican State Convention. However, there are concerns that many Ron Paul delegates to the Missouri Republican State Convention were disenfranchised and not properly seated.

On Thursday, March 20, campaign field director Debbie Hopper visited the Missouri state GOP headquarters to request a copy of the records needed to obtain the information to file challenges. She was told in front of witnesses that she could not view the report. To obtain the needed information, Ms. Hopper then used the contact information of county chairs listed on the state GOP website. On Saturday, March 22, the webpage containing their contact information had been removed.

The Paul campaign believes that a handful of GOP officials are playing machine politics and breaking their own rules to disenfranchise Paul supporters.

"The Republican party is in trouble and needs more participants in 2008, not less," said campaign manager Lew Moore. "It makes no sense for Missouri party leaders to exclude and marginalize the new activists they badly need to work at every level this fall."

Republican presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s supporters have been highly successful in several Missouri counties. In St. Charles County (suburb of St. Louis), Paul supporters filled 241 of the 274 country Republican delegate slots. In Jackson County (Kansas City), Paul supporters filled 162 of 187 delegate slots. And in Greene County (Springfield), Paul supporters filled 72 of 112 delegate slots.

You people in the other states should be paying close attention to what happened here in Missouri. You can use it as a blueprint and a crystal ball to see what possible outcomes and reactions will be. For instance, you people in Idaho. The Times News reports (http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/03/25/news/local_state/133457.txt):

For a group bent on changing the state party, they could be sitting in valuable positions. But Mike Mathews, Twin Falls County committee chairman, said he’s welcoming any in the group with an interest in working hard for the party.

"If they want to come out and work hard for the party, that’s great," said Mathews, adding that he’d only met a handful of them once or twice. "I just hope when it’s all said and done, we can all come together and support whoever the Republicans elect."

Other committee members weren’t as charitable. Stephen Hartgen, also a state committee member, said the local committee candidates all seem to be good people, but pointed to a Web site run by the group that hints they plan to use the local, state and national conventions to make Paul the party’s nominee.

The Paul supporters, he said, seem to be solely motivated by ideology while running for positions that require the kind of participation and meat-and-potatoes work he’s never seen them display.

"I don’t see anything in their materials that suggests they’re prepared to run things in any management sense," Hartgen said. "They’re basically trying to take back a decision that the American people appear to be making collectively about another candidate."

In probably the most interesting story in the Roundup, marc writes (http://www.libertymaven.com/2008/03/25/proof-ron-paul-is-right-john-mccain-is-wrong/987/) on Liberty Maven about a recent survey with telling results:

If John McCain had his way a book released last month would be banned. "Who Speaks For Islam? What A Billion Muslims Really Think.." analyzes the results of a 6 year survey (2001 - 2007) about what Muslims think about America and the West. The survey sample represents "more than 90% of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims, making this the largest, most comprehensive study of contemporary Muslims ever done."

To put it simply, the findings show that Ron Paul is right and John McCain is wrong.

George Bush, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and all of the other neo-conservative war hammers are lying to the American people about what Muslims believe. It seems they are telling Americans what they themselves believe. Unfortunately, the capacity for belief by the American public usually outweighs the actual truth.

What is most interesting about this book is that it shows what Muslims actually believe, not what some so called "expert" author believes. As Ron Paul said so directly last year during that fateful debate moment with Rudy Giuliani, "They don’t hate us for our freedom, they hate us because we’ve been over there." He then gave Rudy Giuliani a reading list. There is no doubt that if this book were published back then it would be on that list as well.

I love being right. It’s good for the soul. ConnieTalk is writing (http://www.connietalk.com/cnn_vs_paul_again_032408.html)about the CNN blackout of all things Paul:

Now that there are only four presidential candidates left in the race - two Democrats, Senator’s Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton; and two Republicans, Senator John McCain and Congressman Ron Paul - you would think that CNN would finally have to shrug their shoulders and actually post the truth. You’d think now that Paul is no longer one of 10, or one of 5 - now that he’s the only other Republican candidate left, they’d have to finally acknowledge him. You’d think wrong. On CNN’s Election Center homepage today, the snapshot above is what they actually have up. Instead of placing Ron Paul next to John McCain, CNN has placed John McCain’s head higher than all the other candidates (Democratic and Republican) with the caption "PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE" below him; and Mike Huckabee, who dropped out of the race this month, is in the place where Ron Paul belongs, with a stamp that lets you know Huckabee’s "OUT."

Wired has a piece (http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2008/03/geek_defense) on a geek that may have killed someone, and they name-drop Ron Paul in there:

In his defense, the developer of the ReiserFS filesystem took the stand and displayed himself to jurors as a classic geek: intelligent, paranoid, anti-authoritarian, socially distant and at times logical to the point of irrationality.

Whether this is truly Reiser’s nature or not, the archetype is well-known in the computer programming world, and its representatives can be found in groups like the Cypherpunks, Ron Paul supporters, Slashdot users and Wired.com readers. But as Reiser’s rambling discourse visibly alienates the trial judge, his own lawyer, and, judging from body language, some of the jurors, the question is whether jurors will understand the geek defense.

I’m not entirely sure how to take it, honestly. There is a little truth to it, but it also seems to be an insult. Oh well, who reads Wired outside of the geeks about whom they wrote?

Steven Heller has an interesting piece in The New York Times where he writes (http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/ron-pauls-graphics-revolution/) about the artists of the rEVOLution:

Although Ron Paul may be mathematically out of contention for the Republican nomination, from what I can tell, he has inspired more do-it-yourself campaign graphics than any of the leading contenders from either party.

In addition to the stickers and buttons produced by his campaign, the Web is full of independent artists and designers — professional and amateur alike — who have contributed unofficial graphics to what is known among his supporters as the "Ron Paul Revolution." (See banksyforum.com, isupportronpaul.com, libertyposter.org, voteronpaul.com and zazzle.com.)

What is intriguing about this fervent grassroots response is how graphic styles designed to appeal to a youthful constituency have been built around Representative Paul’s grandfatherly appearance. Even some of the stylized poster portraits look more like those found on souvenir T-shirts commemorating someone’s retirement, or "the world’s best dad," than a political icon. Nonetheless the passion behind such an outpouring of good, bad and kitschy art and design cannot be ignored. So I tracked down a few of the artists and asked them to explain their work.

On the issues, there are a couple of stories. Self-described Statist author Analysis writes (http://www.nolanchart.com/article3285.html) on The Nolan Chart about Ron Paul and school choice:

The congressman is in favor of vouchers and promotes "parental choice" to where they want their child to go to school. These include private, parochial and religious schools. Giving vouchers to a parent to send their child to a religious or parochial school is cutting close to the establishment clause and church and state separation since the tax credit will help fund such schooling. I am concerned about the repercussions this might have on the separation of church and state we have enjoyed.

Furthermore, while the vouchers may help some families, but it will leave others behind who can’t pay for the rest of the tuition or may be inconvenienced by transportation to the school of their choice. Is the 3000 dollars in tax credit (as proposed by the Ron Paul for President Website) enough to pay for the schooling of your child if you want him to go to a prestigious private school? The tuition for private schools here in San Diego can reach from 9500 to 13000 dollars. New York City schools are even more. What about the ones who can’t afford to bring their children to better yet less convenient school almost every day? I am sure Dr. Paul means well, but I am concerned that this "choice of schooling" will only privilege those who can afford it.

This guy has it all wrong. First of all, if the vouchers are given to parents with no stipulations as to where they are spent, there is no violation of the establishment clause. The parents choose religion, not the government.

Second, this author ignores the power of the market. If everyone had vouchers to take anywhere they wanted, private schools would become the biggest growth industry in America for some time. Everyone would be trying to fill a niche - Evangelicals, conservatives, liberals, libertarians, transhumanists, followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

There would be more options for more people than we can even imagine at this point. But that said, even if it didn’t work out that way, with all the people who can afford it jumping ship to high-end private schools, that will just open up more spots in the high-end government schools for kids who can’t afford the difference. That is still improvement.

FortBendNow writes (http://www.fortbendnow.com/pages/home/push?article-Paul-Marks-Iraqi-War-Anniversary-With-Renewed-Calls-To-Withdraw%20&link=push::target_page&id=54397-Paul-Marks-Iraqi-War-Anniversary-With-Renewed-Calls-To-Withdraw&instance=home_news_lead_story)about Ron Paul and foriegn interventionism:

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Lake Jackson) has marked the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq with a statement calling America’s actions a "march to war paved with false assumptions and lies," and a renewed call to withdraw.

Paul made his remarks in his weekly column, "Texas Straight Talk." He said that the Bush administration "manipulated" Americans into believing Iraq was involved with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and that the news media was "complicit in this war propaganda."

"Five years ago last week, the US military’s ’shock and awe’ campaign lit up the Baghdad sky. Five years later, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and nearly four thousand Americans dead, we should pause and reflect on just what has been gained and what has been lost," Paul said. "From the beginning, the march to war was paved with false assumptions and lies. Senior administration officials claimed repeatedly that Iraq was somehow responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

Paul also said the administration’s assertion that Saddam Hussein had control of weapons of mass destruction were a part of the false claims.

"They claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They manipulated the fear of the American people after 9/11 to further a war agenda that they had been planning years before that attack," Paul noted. "The mainstream media was complicit in this war propaganda."

Paul also pointed out that even before the terrorist attacks, he spoke out in opposition of military intervention in Iraq.

Marc writes (http://www.libertymaven.com/2008/03/26/ron-paul-has-a-bipartisan-plan-for-social-security/989/) on Liberty Maven about Paul’s plans for Social Security:

Ron Paul is like the smart kid in the class the teacher no longer likes to call upon to give answers because he’s right most of the time. In the case of solving the Social Security problem Ron Paul has a solution that both Democrats and Republicans could love. If only they’d pay attention to the man.

Yesterday, the trustees for Social Security and Medicare released a report saying that both will be completely depleted by 2041 and 2019 respectively. The "oxy-moronic" thing about this is that these programs are deemed "trust funds" in the first place. There’s certainly no trust in a fund that is slated to eventually be wiped out.

Throughout his campaign Ron Paul has repeatedly outlined a solution to the problem that gives both the Democrats and Republicans reason to smile. Paul proposes to utilize some of the massive amounts of money saved by switching to a non-intervention foreign policy to help those people currently dependent until the programs can be phased out over a long period of time. He would let the younger people immediately opt out of the program. The approach is a sensible and gradual approach.

Democrats want nothing more than for us to be out of Iraq. This plan takes care of that. Republicans want to phase out Social Security and other welfare programs due to their burden on the economy. This plan takes care of that.

This is the second thing by Marc in this Roundup. I’m going to keep an eye on this guy - he writes good shit. The Daily Collegian has a piece (http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/03/26/paul_to_visit_psu.aspx) about Ron Paul’s upcoming visit to infamously historic Penn State:

Presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, will speak at Penn State on April 11 in response to a "sizeable" demand from students, his campaign announced yesterday.

Paul will be speaking at 5:30 p.m. in 100 Thomas, where he will address "freedom and the Constitution," said Jesse Benton, communications director for Paul.

The demand from Penn State students was "more than we can keep track of," Benton said, adding that Paul enjoys speaking to young people.

Additional specifics about the event will be released at the end of the week.

Penn State College Libertarians President Alex Weller said his group has been requesting a visit from Paul for more than a year.

"It’s important to reach as many students about the liberties and freedoms that are slowly being taken away," he said. "I hope that students will come with open ears and will listen to Dr. Paul’s message and consider voting for him for president."

And finally, Sean Scallon’s finale (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/56417) on the rEVOLution:

Dedicated enough to stand in heat, snow and rain to wave save signs or hang signs from freeway overpasses or even pilot a blimp, yet ornery enough to damn the campaign..s own TV commercials, the Paul campaign truly was a model of decentralization. Everyone basically did their own thing or did their own thing in small groups, for better or worse.

The Paulites were not the most sophisticated when it came to politics. Because the campaign was so decentralized, its opponents and reporters could figure out what was going on, or figure out where Paul..s supporters were making strong efforts by just reading Ron Paul Forums.com. But being mostly amateurs at politics, what could one reasonably expect?

Yet, no candidate on the GOP side at least had as many passionately dedicated supporters to one candidate as Rep. Paul. Indeed that passion for the man and for what he stood for was the only thing that kept the whole enterprise together given the individual difference and rivalries which split even the best of campaigns. No candidate on the GOP side had supporters as creative as Paul..s, using the internet, the Ron Paul Blimp, Ron Paul Radio and Ron Paul Audio, self-produced DVDs and campaign commercials, a whole host of ideas and methods to spread Paul..s name far and wide. Isn..t it fair to ask if Republican..s problem is the candidate generating the most passion among the voters averaged just 5 percent in most state primaries? Where are the passionate McCain supporters? Or did McCain win more-or-less by default?

What will those Paul supporters do in the future now that the campaign is "winding down?"

Keep the flames of rEVOLution burning, that’s what! We can push pro-liberty candidates from every party, organize around them, send them money, write about them. We can let anyone who wants to restore freedom to the Republic that the first stop is with us.

See you next time!

Top blogs since the last Roundup:
This is the Government You Want to Manage the Economy? (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=370770373&Mytoken=6BE9DA46-F3A0-4668-9551F42F2A9291ED57745742)
I Have Nothing Funny to Say About This (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=370473427&Mytoken=6BE9DA46-F3A0-4668-9551F42F2A9291ED57745742)
Kevorkian to Euthanize Congress, Approval Rating Soars (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=370417289&Mytoken=6BE9DA46-F3A0-4668-9551F42F2A9291ED57745742)
The FCC is Un-American (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=370397479&Mytoken=6BE9DA46-F3A0-4668-9551F42F2A9291ED57745742)
Herod Superstar (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=370344389&Mytoken=6BE9DA46-F3A0-4668-9551F42F2A9291ED57745742)
Gay Bash THIS Guy - I Dare Ya! (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=370073770&Mytoken=6BE9DA46-F3A0-4668-9551F42F2A9291ED57745742)


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molly_pitcher
03-26-2008, 08:39 PM
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