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View Full Version : How did you "discover" Ron Paul?




Lindsey
03-01-2012, 05:58 PM
I am posting this in grassroots central, because I think our answers may spark an idea for someone else's efforts.

I am not so sure what inspiration my story will provide, but since I am asking the question, I will go first:

I knew nothing about Ron Paul during 2008 elections or earlier. I was registered as an independent in a closed primary state, and uninterested at that time, so I paid no mind to the primaries. In 2009, my partner and I happened to catch a documentary as it was airing on CNBC, called House of Cards. It was all about the housing market - CDO's, hedge funds, etc. Well this started us on a crusade to better understand the underpinnings of the collapse of the global economy, which ultimately led us consuming days of our time coming to grips with the reality of The Federal Reserve. We read and watched everything we could find on the topic. Somewhere along the line, one of the documentaries we watched included an interview with Ron Paul. We were intrigued impressed, we liked him, he made sense, he showed a lot of courage - so of course we googled him. "This guy ran for president in 2008. I hope he runs again, we need him!" We came for his sound economic reasonings, we grew to know and respect the rest of his platform, and we are here with unwavering support and re-shaped views of the world that will likely last our for the rest of our lifetimes.

So how did you "discover" Dr. Ron Paul?

chapchap70
03-01-2012, 06:00 PM
I looked him up years ago when Rush Limbaugh said this Doctor from Texas keeps voting no on just about everything. I was intrigued. It had to be after 96?

Adrock
03-01-2012, 06:03 PM
Heard of him in the 2008 run. Rand's 2008 Senate run is what was the catalyst for me though.

alucard13mmfmj
03-01-2012, 06:04 PM
alex jones =P....

gerryb
03-01-2012, 06:06 PM
Read Peter Schiff's "Crash Proof" in 2006 -- Ron started his run shortly after that -- so he was right on my radar.

splanky
03-01-2012, 06:07 PM
First came across RP in the 1970s. He campaigned for Reagan on 76 & 80 but like me he had become disillusioned with the gipper by 84. Anyway, I remember RP talking about holding Reagan's feet to the fire in 80. Campaigned for his lost cause in 88, as is my custom. Never dreamed he'd make a comeback in the new millennium. Donated thousands in 08. Bankrupt with bitter ex-wife in 12. Oh well. RP was our best chance all these years and too few noticed.

robmpreston
03-01-2012, 06:08 PM
I think it was like August 2007. One of the debate videos was at the top of Digg focusing on Ron Paul and i watched it and everything clicked immediately... finally someone who thought just like me! The rest is history

r3volutionpaul91
03-01-2012, 06:09 PM
honestly I do not remember, it just naturally happened if that make any sense, all I know is I discovered him around 2011 when he first announced he was running for pres.

Anti Federalist
03-01-2012, 06:12 PM
I vaguely recalled his efforts in the 80s, but in the "modern sense", through Alex Jones in the late 90s.

azxd
03-01-2012, 06:12 PM
Had a friend send me his neoconned speech ... That was all it took !!

eduardo89
03-01-2012, 06:15 PM
I convinced Queen Isabel to lend me some money to buy a fleet of ships and pay a crew. I sailed across a vast ocean and came upon Ron Paul.

I actually have no clue.

Massachusetts
03-01-2012, 06:17 PM
I've known about Ron Paul for a while now, but I didn't discover his greatness as a politician until early on in the campaign trail in 2011. I thought his debate performances and his foreign policy were what really drew me in.

AhuwaleKaNaneHuna
03-01-2012, 06:21 PM
I was posting at a political debate forum and someone posted a tube of Ron laying into Greenspan or Bernake ( I forget - it was late 2006 early 2007). That was exciting in itself. To then learn he was also running for Pres was over the top. My research into him after that only got better. His taking no lobby money blew me away. I did not know such a politician even existed.

NOBP

rpwi
03-01-2012, 06:21 PM
Heard about him from an internet forum about 12 years ago. Was already interested in the LP philosophy and Harry Browne but hadn't heard about Paul up to that point. Thought it was odd at the time that a libertarian was running as a republican...but I understand now :) While I was very impressed by Ron's no voting record, I probably didn't take Ron as seriously as other libertarian politicians and writers...especially in 2001 when he supported the invasion of Afghanistan (the Afghanistan government even offered an extradition process for Osama to the US!). At the time, I much preferred Harry Browne who was a solid anti-war libertarian. Things changed in 2003 when the Iraq war started and Ron started speaking out against it. Was solidly in Paul's camp once he started talking about bringing home the troops from Afghanistan (not just Iraq) as well as the rest of our military bases around the world.

playpianoking
03-01-2012, 06:22 PM
youtube related video probably. i remember seeing him in 08 debates and liking him.

oldsmobile98
03-01-2012, 06:22 PM
Someone had written "Google Ron Paul" on the wall in a restroom. I think that was the first time I ever heard of him.

I went to the C4L Kickoff for Tennessee in Nashville in early 2009. Matt Collins still had long hair, and Rand Paul spoke. Things went from there.

The Free Hornet
03-01-2012, 06:34 PM
I don't know the first time with certainty but I was a Morton Downy Jr watcher (yes, the guy makes me cringe mostly now) and remember this show:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ0GBGckRKs

This goes back to 1988 and my introduction to the liberty movement started in 1987 (Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson was the first book I read, that matters).

Link to free PDF book of Economics In One Lesson from FEE. (http://www.fee.org/pdf/books/Economics_in_one_lesson.pdf)

Warmon
03-01-2012, 06:40 PM
I didn't find Ron Paul, he found me. I was a remnant.

splanky
03-01-2012, 06:41 PM
Heard about him from an internet forum about 12 years ago. Was already interested in the LP philosophy and Harry Browne but hadn't heard about Paul up to that point. Thought it was odd at the time that a libertarian was running as a republican...but I understand now :) While I was very impressed by Ron's no voting record, I probably didn't take Ron as seriously as other libertarian politicians and writers...especially in 2001 when he supported the invasion of Afghanistan (the Afghanistan government even offered an extradition process for Osama to the US!). At the time, I much preferred Harry Browne who was a solid anti-war libertarian. Things changed in 2003 when the Iraq war started and Ron started speaking out against it. Was solidly in Paul's camp once he started talking about bringing home the troops from Afghanistan (not just Iraq) as well as the rest of our military bases around the world.

Hello there you fellow Browne supporter you. Actually, I only supported Browne because of the alternatives. I've been a fervent Paul supporter forever but not really because of the libertarianism, more so because of his constitutionalism. Anyway, good to see somebody who voted like I did that far back.

SamuraisWisdom
03-01-2012, 06:43 PM
I convinced Queen Isabel to lend me some money to buy a fleet of ships and pay a crew. I sailed across a vast ocean and came upon Ron Paul.

I actually have no clue.

LOL What's weird is I was just reading some of Columbus's letters to Queen Isabella a few minutes ago. Get out of my head!! :p

But to answer the OP's question, I remember quite clearly how I "discovered" Ron. It was somewhere in the Fall of '07 when the republican debates were just starting to get more frequent. I was trolling around the internet and kept seeing bloggers and commentors throwing out the name Ron Paul. I actually thought it was pretty annoying because every political conversation would get turned into a Ron Paul thread. So finally curiosity got the best of me and I went and watched clips of the republican debates that had already taken place and was blown away by the fact that Paul spoke out against the wars in the Middle East! I couldn't be believe my ears. That was the first time I had seen any republican openly disagree with the Bush policy. So I did a little more research on him and began liking him more and more.

jacksonunit
03-01-2012, 06:43 PM
I'm a compulsive reader. I ran across a copy of "The Revolution" in my church's pile-o-books, and became a convert somewhere in the middle of chapter three.

I have "converted" three people by giving away exactly three copies. Sure, I cherry-pick, but you have to admit it's a fairly impressive record. One of my most outspoken "converts" is Jewish, and had been really concerned that Dr. Paul might be an anti-you-know-what, like the decepticoi (tm) keeps trying to tell everybody, but the book straightened him out. He has since converted several others.

CTRattlesnake
03-01-2012, 06:45 PM
Youtube...this summer.


I've been cured ever since

Invi
03-01-2012, 06:46 PM
I vaguely remember seeing Ron in a Republican debate in the 08 cycle, but I wasn't paying attention. I didn't know who he was, and had no interest in learning about the Republican candidates.

In December of 09, I met a man who is now very special to me, and he started talking to me about Ron Paul. It didn't take too long for me to realize what Ron was saying made a lot of sense.

centure7
03-01-2012, 06:47 PM
Youtube, October 2007. My life has been totally different ever since!

RPit
03-01-2012, 06:47 PM
STOP!!! DO THIS IF YOU WANT TO WIN!!
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?364229-STOP!!!!-DO-THIS-IF-YOU-WANT-TO-WIN!!-WA!!/page14

ps: sorry its just so important. Check out the testimonials at end of thread

WTF is wrong with you people this thread has been active for hours if not days and now you start talking about how bad it is. I have called about 10 people and have gotten better responses than the whole phone from home deal.

Voluntary Man
03-01-2012, 06:48 PM
1988 David Letterman

splanky
03-01-2012, 06:49 PM
I'm a compulsive reader. I ran across a copy of "The Revolution" in my church's pile-o-books, and became a convert somewhere in the middle of chapter three.

I have "converted" three people by giving away exactly three copies. Sure, I cherry-pick, but you have to admit it's a fairly impressive record. One of my most outspoken "converts" is Jewish, and had been really concerned that Dr. Paul might be an anti-you-know-what, like the decepticoi (tm) keeps trying to tell everybody, but the book straightened him out. He has since converted several others.

Go ahead, say it aloud. You're in America, land of the ???? home of the ????? with fully protected speech. Go ahead, and instead of implying, call RP AN ANTI-SEMITE. You despicable whore.

Shelton88
03-01-2012, 06:52 PM
I found Dr. Paul from his views on the drug war. My view on marijuana introduced me to Ron Paul, but his views on liberty and free market made me a life long follower. I have now started my education in the origins of freedom, and the basics of the economy. Ron Paul is literally my hero, and i inspire to continue the cause of liberty for the rest of my life.

Lets_Race
03-01-2012, 06:55 PM
Reddit comment threads. Seriously.

EBounding
03-01-2012, 07:29 PM
In 2007 I'd always see signs and think "He's just a Republican Kucinich with a cult following".

4 years later, things are getting real with the debt and no one else is serious about addressing it. So I actually listened to him, and that's the story. :)

Paulite
03-01-2012, 07:39 PM
"From Freedom To Fascism" documentary by the late aaron russo

Danke
03-01-2012, 07:50 PM
Been a libertarian for a long time, so I heard his name on and off through the years. Then more so with AJ.

liberty2897
03-01-2012, 07:54 PM
For me, it started with running across a bunch of Thomas Jefferson quotes. I was discussing the quotes with my brother-in-law and how I wished we had a president that thought like that. He suggested that I look into Ron Paul. It wasn't enough to get me to look into Ron Paul because I didn't really want to even think about a Republican at the time. When it came time for renewal of the Patriot Act last year, I saw that Rand Paul was the only one to stand against it on that day. Harry Reid accused him of wanting to help the terrorists (or something like that). I was so pissed, that I started looking into Ron Paul on these forums. It didn't take me very long to become a supporter. It did take a while longer for me to be "un-brainwashed" from my liberal mindset. Once you realize that freedom is the opposite of government and that government is almost never the answer, there is no turning back. The single most important issue to me is stopping the police state: Patriot act, NDAA, SOPA, PIPA, Drug War, H.R. 347, militarized cops, etc

TheGrinch
03-01-2012, 07:57 PM
I'd voted libertarian in 2004 and heard about Ron prior to 2008 and saw him in some debates, but I always thought "Geez, I'm libertarian, and this guy who'd like 0% taxes is even too far out for me!"....

But I was sitting at a friend's house one day in 2008 waiting to go somewhere, and picked up Dr. Paul's latest book, "The Revolution: Manifesto", not even paying attention to who the author was... I got about 15-20 pages in before I was so impressed, and asked my friend "What class is this for?" (since it was the type of book normally reserved for political coursework). He tells me it's Dr. Paul, and I was immediately hooked.

Then came the financial collapse, which officially took my government skepticism into outright political abandonment. If both parties were going to let the "too big to fail" players to do whatever they want domestically like they were already financing and influencing overseas, then I officially had no more hope that even seemingly moderate McCain had a soul that couldn't be bought.... I had already grown to support Paul, but it was then that I went all-in, wrote him in, and have spent the last 4 years quite successfully planting the seeds of liberty with every person who would listen, and will continue to as long as it's needed...

goldpants
03-01-2012, 07:59 PM
2005/2006 time frame, I was investing in commodities, then gold miners. Read about Ron Paul on forums and then Lew Rockwell then Ludwig Von Mises and Austrian Economics. Once I learned how the fed worked, the difference between fiat and hard money, etc I was changed forever. There is no going back once you reach the point of no return as I am sure many here understand and others will soon discover.

p.s. I voted for harry browne so i was probably a low hanging fruit for the liberty movement

kathy88
03-01-2012, 07:59 PM
1988 on the Libertarian ballot for POTUS. Voted for him :)

Vet_from_cali
03-01-2012, 08:08 PM
Old school Avaroth videos. Those from 08' campaign know what I'm talking about.

fj45lvr
03-01-2012, 08:23 PM
saw him giving a televised campaign speech on Cspan in 1987 (he was right on the money with what he was saying and I was immeadiately impressed with someone telling it like it is). thanks C-span.

69360
03-01-2012, 08:25 PM
Late 07 or so. All the other candidates were horrible, Ron was awesome in the debates, decided to vote for him after reading up.

Johnny Appleseed
03-01-2012, 08:26 PM
He came to me in a dream holding the constitution and explained to me that it put into words what is written on every heart at birth

UNC08
03-01-2012, 08:27 PM
The first GOP debate during the 2008 cycle. Blew my mind.

Okie RP fan
03-01-2012, 08:30 PM
Heard Ron's name mentioned ONCE during the 2008 elections and that was through my grandpa who mentioned to me that this guy named Ron Paul was gathering massive support from the youth. Forgot about him until last Spring until, literally, one day a light bulb went off in my head and two words popped up in my head: Ron Paul. So, I instantly started researching and knew after about one minute that Ron was my guy.

Don't remember much else, other than it seemed like destiny to me.

scottditzen
03-01-2012, 09:39 PM
This was my intro to Ron Paul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfcBnCX6_TY

Keith and stuff
03-01-2012, 09:39 PM
Lewrockwell.com in the 2000s when I was in a military library

sdsubball23
03-01-2012, 09:45 PM
It was somewhere around 2005-2007, I was into the 9/11 conspiracy and I think someone in that movement talked about voting for Ron Paul and that drew me in.

randpaul2016
03-01-2012, 10:08 PM
Researching 9/11, wars, the truth etc. Google, Youtube, Alex Jones...

NoOneButPaul
03-01-2012, 10:36 PM
In the spring of 2007 his campaign bus drove by me on the way to college and I asked myself...

Who the fuck is Ron Paul?

So... I googled him :)

I started watching him in the debates, and the rest is history...

Fermli
03-01-2012, 11:10 PM
1988 David Letterman

haha that's awesome.

DanConway
03-01-2012, 11:43 PM
I read about his 434-1 votes and his consistent Constitutionalism in 2002, when I was still in high school. I knew at once I had found a politician who was actually worth a damn. He, alone among major politicians, agreed with the positions I had already taken on my own: all of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, all the time, for everyone. I knew he had my vote the second he declared in 2007 and again in 2011.

Of course I haven't known about him as long as, say, Voluntary Man, but can anyone match or beat me for knowing about him as young?

Voluntary Man
03-01-2012, 11:56 PM
I read about his 434-1 votes and his consistent Constitutionalism in 2002, when I was still in high school. I knew at once I had found a politician who was actually worth a damn. He, alone among major politicians, agreed with the positions I had already taken on my own: all of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, all the time, for everyone. I knew he had my vote the second he declared in 2007 and again in 2011.

Of course I haven't known about him as long as, say, Voluntary Man, but can anyone match or beat me for knowing about him as young?

You got me. When I was a HS sophomore, I was a hardcore Reaganite.


But, so was Ron....back then.


In any case, Reagan turned out to be mostly talk, and I was pretty clueless back then, anyway. It took me longer than it did Ron to figure out we'd been duped.

I wish I'd been as smart as young as you.

patriot2008
03-01-2012, 11:59 PM
I saw him with Bruno. Wow. Who's the stud?:p

whippoorwill
03-02-2012, 06:05 AM
Zegist the movie. So glad I turned on to Paul verse...well being a tinfoil hat dude :-)

DanConway
03-02-2012, 06:26 AM
You got me. When I was a HS sophomore, I was a hardcore Reaganite.


But, so was Ron....back then.


In any case, Reagan turned out to be mostly talk, and I was pretty clueless back then, anyway. It took me longer than it did Ron to figure out we'd been duped.

I wish I'd been as smart as young as you.

That's a clever defense, nonetheless, and I wouldn't say it's invalid. I respect that. Reagan said a lot of great things, but wasn't quite up to par when it came to action.

Besides, this isn't a contest. All people who came to support Ron Paul by their own understanding (the only way worth a damn) have my respect, whether it was 25 years ago or yesterday, at the age of 15 or 85.

Tankbot85
03-02-2012, 09:13 AM
I watched the Zeitgeist video. The third part about the Fed blew my mind. I could not believe it. I started researching and stumbled across Ron Paul videos on youtube. Have been a supoorter ever since.

crhoades
03-02-2012, 09:20 AM
Lewrockwell.com. Probably started following him 05-06. I remember when I heard that he was throwing his hat into the 08 race an I went into the living room to tell my wife and best friend how excited I was that this guy was running.

Feeding the Abscess
03-02-2012, 09:25 AM
The Giuliani stand-off. I had recently read Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body (helped me recalibrate my mind, restoring my instinct to ask why? to everything), was flipping through channels, stopped on Fox News, and in the first sentence I heard from Ron Paul, I knew.

RonPaul101.com
03-02-2012, 10:12 AM
In 2009 I read the book Crashproof by Peter Schiff and it started me on the economic understanding of what is wrong, and led to the whole picture of liberty and Ron Paul. So for me it started with one book on economics on a long train ride.

thehungarian
03-02-2012, 10:19 AM
Oddly enough it was conservative talk radio and the conservative blogosphere that drove me to Ron Paul, particularly Sean Hannity. I kept hearing Hannity talk about just how much he disagrees with Ron Paul on foreign policy, like he's trying to prove his credentials to the bloodthirsty masses. Also kept reading in the comments of HotAir, RedState and Ace how much of a "fool" or "idiot" or "crazy" or how "dangerous" Ron Paul was. So while on a trip to the local bookstore I spotted Ron Paul's book The Revolution, which I think had just been released. Read it and pretty much agreed with everything in it. Haven't looked back since.

TheFreeEconomy
03-02-2012, 09:36 PM
I was surfing on YouTube one day and stumbled upon the Jon Stewart clip where he addressed the media's blackout of Ron Paul. I heard his name a few times during the 2008 election but never really looked into him. Stewart's video piqued my curiosity as I began researching about his policies. The first thing that struck me about his message was his mastery of economics. It was his advocating of deregulation and free markets that first drew me towards him. By extension, his libertarian and foreign policy ideals struck a chord with me as well.

The Northbreather
03-02-2012, 09:42 PM
back of a painted up RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT 2008 RV in the redwood mountains of CA:D

Some around here like to call it the State of Jefferson.

Sullivan*
03-02-2012, 10:10 PM
I voted for him on November 4th, 2008... He was on the ballot here in Montana, and then in 2009 or so I really started paying too much attention to politics, and I sort of gravitated towards Ron Paul vids on YouTube... And things sort of grew from there.

Mises_to_Paul
03-03-2012, 03:05 AM
Was a super Friedmanite and came across Rothard's famous critique of Friedman.

I forget what happened at that point, but eventually I came across some association of Rothbard with Paul and took it from there.

I think this was in early 2007. So my path was basically (starting as a high school senior of age)...

Founders/Locke/Classical Liberalism-->Friedman/Chicago Crowd--> Rothbard/Austrian/Anarchist crowd---> Ron Paul

WhistlinDave
06-07-2012, 02:03 AM
I first heard of him in the 2008 election cycle. Discussing politics one day, my wife's cousin said, "Hey, there's this guy running, and he wants to legalize weed. Actually he wants to end the entire war on drugs. His name is Ron Paul." I asked, "What else does he stand for?" And he said, "I don't really know, but that sounds good enough for me." I didn't really do anything with this information at the time though, I was duped into change that I believed in (and regretted later).

Since then I've done a lot of reading online about the war on drugs, marijuana, etc., and this subject has always been very interesting to me, and I guess Ron Paul's name has come up here and there in reference to the failures of the war on drugs and how we need to end it. Then when the Republican debates started up, somebody mentioned to me Ron Paul was running again, so I started watching the debates from the very first one, and I was instantly hooked on RP. Everything he says makes so much sense, and I couldn't believe there was really a politician like this! And then of course, those debates were like a gateway drug, and I moved on to a YouTube addiction that consumed me. And now here I am, registered Republican after voting for a Dem president for the last 20 years....

I hope no one minds that I resurrected this thread. You can let it die again if nobody else has anything to add...

andrer
06-07-2012, 02:26 AM
Through internet comments. The libertarians where the only people actually knewing anything about economics, so I googled him in sep 2011 after have heard about him being an libertarian, and have been a fan since then.

Weston White
06-07-2012, 02:48 AM
I learned about Ron Paul at the same time I started watching Alex Jones and researching the surrounding events of 9/11 and other such false-flags, and political, economical issues that we are being entirely mislead about. Which I had discovered purely by accident in early 2007, while installing a Google/YouTube video database script for a phpBB online gaming forum; as I was working on (learning how to script) modifying the forum and finding videos to populate the database, I (namely out of boredom) began watching the videos that I came across, one led to another, and so on, until I became totally hooked.

Dogsoldier
06-07-2012, 03:27 AM
Well I would say Michael Badnarick was the first person that opened my eyes.

Later found out about Paul.

JohnM
06-07-2012, 05:52 AM
Round about August 2007. Decided to research the folks who were running for president. I had this vague recollection that there was this Republican guy who had opposed the Iraq war. [I take a pretty dim view of the Democratic party because most of them support abortion, and I took a very dim view of the Iraq war because it was (IMHO) unjustifiable, pointless, and just plain dumb.]

Looked on Wikipedia. Discovered that it was Ron Paul. And that he was strongly anti-abortion. Check. Discovered he had always spoken out against the invasion of Iraq. Check.

Also discovered that he was a man of integrity (never voted for a pay rise, never voted for an unbalanced budget, believed in sticking to the constitution). Definite plus. Discovered he strongly supported freedom of speech and freedom of association. Another big plus. Watched him on Youtube at the South Carolina debate explaining blowback. Here was a man who actually understood the Middle Eastern mindset, and was honest enough to tell people truth that they didn't want to hear.

I was hooked.

So hooked that I even ended up changing my long held views on the legalization of drugs. :eek:

Working Poor
06-07-2012, 06:08 AM
I found him by doing a search to find out who was standing against the BS in government

dancjm
06-07-2012, 06:43 AM
Came across a video on Youtube in about 2006. In it there was this dude giving a speech in congress and telling the truth.

I was like, wtf is this?

:D

EBounding
06-07-2012, 07:01 AM
I heard about him from time to time before 2008 as being the "anti-war Republican kook" a few times on Limbaugh. I heard more about in him '08 but just wrote him off as a Republican Kucinich. I started paying attention to him more in 2010 when Rand won, but I still didn't agree with his foreign policy. I decided to support him in 2011 during the debt ceiling situation (no one else was serious about addressing it).

I sent him my first political donation even though I didn't even agree with his foreign policy. But after you literally invest in someone, you want to learn more about them. I found that I was wrong and being fooled this whole time with the wars. It was a relief because I was never entirely comfortable with the fact that we never declared war, so I had no reason to defend them anymore.

Origanalist
06-07-2012, 07:31 AM
On a neocon web site I had been at for years. I was reading an exchange between a poster who insisted he was right about everything when he clearly wasn't and another who was making sense. Long story short, here I am.

Carlybee
06-07-2012, 07:56 AM
Similar to Origanlist except it was a Progressive board that was originally the official John Kerry forum in 2004. I spent way too many years there arguing with fools ultimately getting banned for talking about Ron Paul and spreading the concepts of liberty. I have never dealt with a more vile contentious group which was made up of mostly Obamabots and communists. Good news is I came away with a few other RP friends and even have a few dems that post at the new forum we made who voted for RP in their primaries this year.

Root
06-07-2012, 08:04 AM
Ron Paul Appreciation Thread on another message board.

SilenceDewgooder
06-07-2012, 08:07 AM
I was taking a class (forget which one) for my degree and in the section we were reading, they were attempting to explain the monetary structure of the US. The book had roughly 3 short paragraphs about the Fed, which I knew little about, but apparently more than what the book was willing to talk about. So when I get curious, I search until I find similiar answers from dissimilar sources (the source is as important as what you read, if not more). Try doing a search on google about the Fed without having Dr. Paul's name pop up on just about every link. I did try to avoid the links that contained Dr. Paul's name to leave the political side out of the equation. Finally, having read the history of how the Fed came about, I watched a video (I believe from 2002) from the Von Mises institute in which Dr. Paul was speaking. And it seemed like everything he had predicted had come true. So, that lead me to listen more and the more I listened, the more logical Dr. Paul's views were becoming compared to the "reasons" that were being plastered all over the tv.

Until this, I despised politics (to a great extent I still do) but now I feel compelled to be active in the process, not for myself, but for the future world that my daughter will know. How could I ever describe myself as a good parent if I do not act to change the despairing future, that I see, is being prepared for my daughter?

Origanalist
06-07-2012, 08:11 AM
Similar to Origanlist except it was a Progressive board that was originally the official John Kerry forum in 2004. I spent way too many years there arguing with fools ultimately getting banned for talking about Ron Paul and spreading the concepts of liberty. I have never dealt with a more vile contentious group which was made up of mostly Obamabots and communists. Good news is I came away with a few other RP friends and even have a few dems that post at the new forum we made who voted for RP in their primaries this year.

Carlybee, I have to ask. How does one go from a progressive to supporting liberty? Not trying to be an ass, but genuinely curious.

seyferjm
06-07-2012, 08:16 AM
I found out who he was through Myspace in 2008. Various bands had Ron Paul 2008 as a "top friend" (Gosh, that sounds old-school now lol) and I checked him out but dismissed him as a liberal, since I ASSumed that bands would not support a conservative. I ended up looking into him again in late 2009 and was hooked after that. Since then, I have donated and worked in Iowa after Christmas.

trey4sports
06-07-2012, 08:17 AM
i saw him on O'Reilly and though he was a nut.

Turns out truth is nutty in a time of universal deceit.

paulbot24
06-07-2012, 08:30 AM
Zeitgeist. After watching that movie I started scouring the internet. I don't even remember exactly "what" I was looking for. Next thing I know, I'm on youtube and found his "What if..." speech. Then I saw his "electability" speech in the 2008 primaries. DONE!

P.S. I am still angry at my history teachers for lying to me and especially the media for hiding and attempting to marginalize this man that would turn out to be my hero. However, I would like to thank MSM (especially FOX) for encouraging me to turn off my television as a source of real information.

Karsten
06-07-2012, 10:08 AM
I looked him up years ago when Rush Limbaugh said this Doctor from Texas keeps voting no on just about everything. I was intrigued. It had to be after 96?

Rush touted Ron Paul ever????

outfoxed1
06-07-2012, 10:13 AM
After years of hearing how he was a "kook", I finally took some time and researched the man for myself. I think part of that was due to how I finally realized that Wall St funds BOTH presidential candidates. That was when I sort of woke up.

I was amazed to find out that Ron Paul has been preaching a consistent message the last 30 or so years, and has been RIGHT about a myriad of issues(and predicted most of what we now see). The man gets no respect, which is a disgrace.

SilenceDewgooder
06-07-2012, 10:15 AM
Rush touted Ron Paul ever????

Rush actually supported Paul's budget plan, on his show.

Slacker
06-07-2012, 10:22 AM
In 2008 he was the only politician I liked but I was only a teenager and not really political. Then I left the country and was living in Latin America and became politically aware after Obama backed a Coup d'état in Honduras. I was seduced by Fidel's and Chavez's anti-imperialist rhetoric but I never bought into the idealistic socialism. When I finally came back home in 2011 and I promptly joined the Ronulans, I started reading about free markets and became a Libertarian and then only like a week later became a full blown Anarcho-Capitalist.

kuckfeynes
06-07-2012, 10:28 AM
Kind of backwards actually. Heard his name but never really paid attention because he was a Republican, and as far as I was concerned in my limited understanding it was all Republicans' fault that we were at war. Started with Ayn Rand which led to Murray Rothbard, the Austrians, Mises.org and LRC, and only then did I realize that Ron Paul had a part in that lineage. Even after I had embraced the philosophy, it took me a while to wrap my head around why this guy was in the Republican party. Only after looking at his voting record and seeing the 434 to 1's and learning the history of Goldwater, Reagan, and the LP did I understand and get on board.

Carlybee
06-07-2012, 10:37 AM
Carlybee, I have to ask. How does one go from a progressive to supporting liberty? Not trying to be an ass, but genuinely curious.

I wasnt really but I was very anti war and supported Kerry to get Bush out...learned shortly thereafter that would have been a fallacy anyway but I was still not quite enlightened. I am still a bit socially liberal but fiscally conservative. The real turning point for me was reading Ron Paul's speech on Neocons. The learning process has been ongoing since. I think of myself as libertarian but truth be known am probably more ancap.

DRFilms1
06-07-2012, 10:59 AM
I'm in a unique position to convince NeoCons because I was one. Kinda. I'm 45 years old and during the late 80's and early 90's I listened to Rush while I drove my truck as an electrician in VA. I liked Perot at that time even though Rush didn't. Then Perot dropped out and then came back, he seemed kinda wacky so I ended up supporting Bush against Clinton. I moved back home to GA and started listening to Boortz and quickly decided that I was a Libertarian so I registered as one and donated to the party. I voted for Harry Browne but was discouraged and finally realized that a 3rd party candidate can't compete against the other two. If any candidate could have awoken the people as much as Harry Browne and still not come close to winning then it was a lost cause. I voted for GW Bush against Gore, and after 9-11 I defended our actions, I defended Bush for at least 7 of his 8 years in office. I made excuses for no WMDs, I argued with fellow workers who were 9-11 "truthers" and punched holes in their arguments with ease. I saw the debate in 08 with Paul saying it was our actions that provoked 9-11 and I refused to believe it calling him a crazy old man. When Herman Cain announced his run, I jumped right on board having listened to him for years fill in for Neal, and having watched a lot of Beck. Until he came out with 9.9.9. I was a supporter but once he did that he lost me. How could he? Did he not read the Fair Tax and know that it calls for a repeal of the 16th amendment? Then I saw Dr Paul say we started this back in 1953 and I was like "What is he talking about?" so I googled him and it... the rest is history. Once you do your own research as they all tell you to do but most don't want you to do you realize that Paul has been right the whole time. I knew back in '06 that the ARM mortgages were going to cause a housing market crash, he knew years earlier and everyone called him nuts. They then called him nuts when he told the truth about the motives for 9-11. "Maybe he was right all along" I told myself. Come to find out he was. The rest is history. I have convinced many of my friends that were in the same boat as I was and knew I was a strong Bush defender. They knew that if I could accept that maybe the government didn't tell the whole story about domestic issues, that maybe they also don't tell the whole story about foreign issues, that they too should look further into the reasons behind many things they defended.

Bastiat's The Law
06-07-2012, 02:12 PM
Saw him interviewed by Aaron Russo in Freedom to Fascism in 2006. I was pretty blown away by his candor and said to myself, "Wow, I wish someone like that would run for President!" Little did I know that my wish would be answered 15 months later. I forgot about him until I heard somewhere that there was a republican running in 2007 that had a libertarian streak, found out it was Paul and then I tuned in to see him interviewed on Bill Maher. Maher being the clueless, ahistorical liberal that he is conducted a very weak interview, basically calling Paul a kook for not supporting the Civil War. Ron set him straight though by citing historical facts about the war, I cheered him on! I was a student of history and I never heard the point Paul brought up that all other nations on earth ended slavery without a civil war. This intrigued me, here was a guy running for President that had a libertarian streak and really knew history and cited it in his arguments. I love how Bill Maher cocks his head like a confused puppy when Ron proceeds to give him a history lesson.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8vFeMbfu3E

Lindsey
06-07-2012, 06:21 PM
Saw him interviewed by Aaron Russo in Freedom to Fascism in 2006.

Yes! That's the documentary I saw him on that started me down this road. (Although I didn't watch until 2010ish.)

trey4sports
06-07-2012, 06:26 PM
Rush actually supported Paul's budget plan, on his show.


uhhh, well, kind of.

He actually had the audacity to claim that Ron Paul copied his (Rush's) ideas and touted them as his own. Yeah, really.

Bastiat's The Law
06-07-2012, 09:52 PM
uhhh, well, kind of.

He actually had the audacity to claim that Ron Paul copied his (Rush's) ideas and touted them as his own. Yeah, really.
He actually said the words "Ron Paul" which was a huge step. Up until then I don't think he ever referred to him by name.

juvanya
06-07-2012, 10:15 PM
Im not sure. He was my second choice in 2008 after Obama. Probably from the debates or some forums.

patriot2008
06-07-2012, 10:41 PM
I voted for him back in 1988. I started to dislike both parties and politicians. I didn't know about him, but I just read the voters pamphlet and he sounded much better.

Then 90's all threw Alex Jones to today

Feeding the Abscess
06-07-2012, 10:54 PM
i saw him on O'Reilly and though he was a nut.

Turns out truth is nutty in a time of universal deceit.

You know what I want to see? Ron's interview with O'Reilly shortly after 9/11.

DerailingDaTrain
06-08-2012, 12:23 AM
I discovered Ron Paul about 6 yrs ago through my oldest brother.

R3volutionJedi
06-08-2012, 12:28 AM
I ran into him in front of the capitol in 2010 as a 15 year old :)

Ender
06-08-2012, 01:01 AM
After 911, I heard some dude on the radio saying that no one had even read the Patriot Act and that it was unconstitutional.

I thought: "Whoa, a politician that speaks the truth? How'd that happen?" I looked him up online and it was this old guy named Ron Paul and I wondered at the time why he didn't run for president, but I figured it would never happen. I started following his House speeches etc and liked him more and more.

I was 14 at the time.

When he announced his candidacy for 2008, I almost cried- never thought I would vote in my lifetime.

Sullivan*
06-08-2012, 03:27 AM
On the ballot in Montana in '08 - voted for him because he wasn't McCain, Obama or third party.

thatpeculiarcat
06-08-2012, 03:36 AM
I'm an avid numismatist and around 2008 I got interested in Norfed (Liberty) Dollars.
Ron was depicted on one or two at the time and I thought I'd google him.

I'm glad I did.

The moment in the South Carolina debate when he went off on Carl Cameron is what did it for me though.

Anti Federalist
06-08-2012, 03:40 AM
How did you "discover" Ron Paul?

Mitt Romney endorsed him in 2008.

:rolleyes:

Anti Federalist
06-08-2012, 03:41 AM
d'oh

Anti Federalist
06-08-2012, 03:42 AM
stoopid dupe post

Dogsoldier
06-08-2012, 04:21 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wiYdUe36_Q

Any way we can get a pro Ron Paul youtube video using this song?

Seriously This should have been done already.

When Dr. Paul came out on stage in texas and I heard the roar of the crowd I could just hear this song coming on as his theme song.

Warrior_of_Freedom
06-08-2012, 10:03 AM
I saw him on T.V. and googled him.




Any way we can get a pro Ron Paul youtube video using this song?

Seriously This should have been done already.

When Dr. Paul came out on stage in texas and I heard the roar of the crowd I could just hear this song coming on as his theme song.
Every time I hear it, I think of Hulk Hogan playing guitar in tights

But it is a good song.

There's Americans... then REAL Americans :P