jbauer
03-02-2012, 09:44 AM
I didn't author this but this is exactly how I became a Ron Paul supporter. The power "we" hold whether we win the election or not is undeniable. We suceed each and every time we unplug one person from the machine. Keep trying, keep up the fight. We are in the midst of a revolution and revolution isn't popular until its popular!!! Remember at all times its the message not the man.
http://www.dailypaul.com/217734/letter-of-warning-to-the-gop
Letter of Warning to the GOP
Submitted by KingDiz on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 04:31
in Ron Paul 2012
50
votes ** I'd like to preface this to the Daily Paul crowd by saying that this was written directly to neo-cons who don't actually realize that they're neo-cons and that while some here might not relate to my opinions or share my journey to enlightenment, I feel that many will. **
I'm sick of my only option being which establishment candidate can you stomach the most? How many times will we have to say "I don't really like any of them, but..." and vote right down party line. I'm 29. I voted for the "compassionate conservative" Bush in 2000 because he was the republican. I defended the hell out of him and voted for him again in 2004, obviously, because he was the republican. Same in '08. I naively wanted Romney, but voted McCain (like there is any difference) so I could help the team win.
I listened to Rush and Levin and Glenn. I watched Foxnews and only Foxnews, regularly. I’d brag about how “I don’t watch the mainstream media” unable to see the irony that Fox has more viewers than every other cable news channel combined. I would go to Drudge multiple times daily and keep up with only the news cycle that he peddled. I was informed. I knew I was informed. Liberals know nothing, liberals hate and are destroying this country, liberals don't care about patriotism OR the constitution OR freedom, blah, blah, blah. While that's true, they don't :D I was never looking at the other side of the same coin. Why hadn’t they informed me of the path of destruction, debt, and disregard for our Constitution that the “conservative” majority Congress and Bush had actively been undertaking for the last two decades? Why don’t they ever talk about how deficit spending really started under Reagan, ramped up with Clinton, and then exploded with Bush? And why wasn’t I smart enough to see through it?
The reason is that the "conservative" party was hijacked long before many of us were ever born and we've never gotten a chance to truly appreciate or learn about what REAL conservatism is. We get accustomed to getting our news from comfortable sources. Sources that reinforce our beliefs, regardless of whether or not they are right. Here’s something everyone should know: Ron Paul is the last remnant of what, for the majority of our nation's history, was considered conservative.
You hear Rush or Levin say "neo-cons" and immediately you think of the David Frums or David Brooks or Bill Kristols. But in reality, they don’t even realize that they should be looking in the mirror. It’s every program on Fox; it’s all the talk radio personalities "conservatives" adore as these brilliant beacons of truth and knowledge. Hannity is one of the most vocal with his, "I'm not a republican, I'm a conservative." Whether its self-delusion or just ignorance, I couldn't tell you. Do I think these guys lack intelligence? Absolutely not. They have accrued a lifetime of knowledge and on many subjects, they are spot on. The problem is that very often they are not right and their influence is so pervasive that many people blindly follow them regardless. Myself included for a long time.
My awakening came just last spring when I got into an argument over our foreign policy. I rattled off all the talking points I had come to know as truth. "The world needs us to keep them safe. They might act like they hate us, but we'll see who they call when they need help. The terrorists attacked us for our freedom, our ideals, our culture, etc." It wasn't until I decided to open a book to better educate myself on why I believed, what I believed, that I realized how misinformed I had been. Have you ever said, "I like Ron Paul, except for his foreign policy?" I did too, frequently. If you ask the average GOP voter to describe RP's foreign policy in one word the most frequent responses would be "crazy" “dangerous” or "isolationist."
How could a guy so spot on about economic and domestic policy be so wrong on foreign policy? To better understand this I decided to read his book The Revolution: A Manifesto and got to see his views straight from his pen, without the bias.
Consider my amazement when he tried to defend his positions by quoting from the founding fathers: Washington, Jefferson, and Adams. Wait…what? That can’t be. These same founding fathers that we hold in such high esteem shared the same foreign policy views as “crazy, isolationist” Ron Paul? It couldn’t be, yet it was staring me right in the face. If you don’t believe me, look it up for yourself. I read on. He considered himself not an isolationist, but a noninterventionist. If you’re anything like I was, you’re probably thinking, what’s the difference?
Consider this quote:
“It is easy to dismiss the noninterventionist view as the quaint aspiration of men who lived in a less complicated world, but it’s not so easy to demonstrate how current policies serve any national interest at all. Perhaps an honest examination of the history of American interventionism in the twentieth century, from Korea to Kosovo to the Middle East, would reveal that the Founding Fathers foresaw more than we think.
Anyone who advocates the noninterventionist foreign policy of the Founding Fathers can expect to be derided as an isolationist. I myself have never been an isolationist. I favor the exact opposite of isolation: diplomacy, free trade, and freedom of travel. The real isolationists are those who impose sanctions and embargoes on countries and peoples across the globe because they disagree with the internal and foreign policies of their leaders. The real isolationists are those who choose to use force overseas to promote democracy, rather than seeking change through diplomacy, engagement, and by setting a positive example. The real isolationists are those who isolate their country in the court of world opinion by pursuing needless belligerence and war that have nothing to do with legitimate national security concerns.”
That was enlightening truth straight from the mind of Ron Paul. Have any of you ever heard his foreign policy presented like that? I hadn’t. If you have and still consider him nuts, than I’m sorry I’ve wasted your time and you can just quit reading because I doubt anything else I can say will sway you. When you understand that though and really think about it, it’s no wonder the soldiers overwhelmingly support him, receiving five times the military donations as every other candidate combined. Unlike EVERY OTHER candidate who are all bankrolled by giant corporations and Wall Street, Ron Paul’s top 3 donors come from individuals in the US Army, US Air Force, and US Navy. Maybe instead of throwing that yellow ribbon on the back of your car, you actually listen to and support the troops. You know those same troops who support Ron Paul. Its sad how those who rail on about the injustices and dangers of governmental intervention in our country, fail to even question when we pursue the same actions overseas.
After understanding his views and finding myself agreeing with them, I decided to consider the whole package. Here we have a candidate who went to Washington D.C. having already served a lifetime in the private sector as an OB/GYN. Spurred to action by a deep understanding of history, our Constitution and sound economic policy and foreseeing the dangers inherent in the direction the country was headed, set out to make a difference. His principles were grounded in the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and knowledge of Austrian Economics. It’s easy to be consistent when you know what you believe in and have a framework on which you base your decisions, the Constitution. He never once voted to raise taxes, never once voted for an unbalanced budget, never once voted for anything he wasn’t expressly permitted to by his oath of office to that founding document.
There’s a reason he is never attacked on his record, it’s because they can’t. It’s flawless and purely consistent. There’s a reason he was the lone no vote in congress, over and over again, on bill after bill. He didn’t have the authority. Imagine how much integrity and personal courage it took to take that stand, time and time again, all the while knowing he was going to be labeled a kook or unpatriotic because of it. Imagine the patience of this man, surrounded by the cesspool of corrupt, ignorant, opportunists in politics only for the fame and fortune, shining the beacon of individual liberty and steadfastly moving onward converting followers’ one person at a time. They say that once you become a Ron Paul supporter, you’re a supporter for life. I believe that to be true. The message of true liberty, once understood, is too powerful.
It’s because of Dr. Ron Paul that for the first time in my life I’ve donated politically, volunteered for a campaign, sought to educate myself more fully on economics, history, the Constitution, the dangers of the Federal Reserve and interventionism (foreign and domestic) and why I believe what I believe. Finally, I’ve got a candidate that I want to vote for; I’m excited to vote for and will do what I can to inspire others to vote for. That’s why myself and millions like me will be voting for Ron Paul and no one else. The GOP can once again nominate whatever puppet, establishment candidate, they’d like. And when Obama wins re-election, you can all stand around scratching your heads and pondering why, but just remember that I tried to warn you.
http://www.dailypaul.com/217734/letter-of-warning-to-the-gop
Letter of Warning to the GOP
Submitted by KingDiz on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 04:31
in Ron Paul 2012
50
votes ** I'd like to preface this to the Daily Paul crowd by saying that this was written directly to neo-cons who don't actually realize that they're neo-cons and that while some here might not relate to my opinions or share my journey to enlightenment, I feel that many will. **
I'm sick of my only option being which establishment candidate can you stomach the most? How many times will we have to say "I don't really like any of them, but..." and vote right down party line. I'm 29. I voted for the "compassionate conservative" Bush in 2000 because he was the republican. I defended the hell out of him and voted for him again in 2004, obviously, because he was the republican. Same in '08. I naively wanted Romney, but voted McCain (like there is any difference) so I could help the team win.
I listened to Rush and Levin and Glenn. I watched Foxnews and only Foxnews, regularly. I’d brag about how “I don’t watch the mainstream media” unable to see the irony that Fox has more viewers than every other cable news channel combined. I would go to Drudge multiple times daily and keep up with only the news cycle that he peddled. I was informed. I knew I was informed. Liberals know nothing, liberals hate and are destroying this country, liberals don't care about patriotism OR the constitution OR freedom, blah, blah, blah. While that's true, they don't :D I was never looking at the other side of the same coin. Why hadn’t they informed me of the path of destruction, debt, and disregard for our Constitution that the “conservative” majority Congress and Bush had actively been undertaking for the last two decades? Why don’t they ever talk about how deficit spending really started under Reagan, ramped up with Clinton, and then exploded with Bush? And why wasn’t I smart enough to see through it?
The reason is that the "conservative" party was hijacked long before many of us were ever born and we've never gotten a chance to truly appreciate or learn about what REAL conservatism is. We get accustomed to getting our news from comfortable sources. Sources that reinforce our beliefs, regardless of whether or not they are right. Here’s something everyone should know: Ron Paul is the last remnant of what, for the majority of our nation's history, was considered conservative.
You hear Rush or Levin say "neo-cons" and immediately you think of the David Frums or David Brooks or Bill Kristols. But in reality, they don’t even realize that they should be looking in the mirror. It’s every program on Fox; it’s all the talk radio personalities "conservatives" adore as these brilliant beacons of truth and knowledge. Hannity is one of the most vocal with his, "I'm not a republican, I'm a conservative." Whether its self-delusion or just ignorance, I couldn't tell you. Do I think these guys lack intelligence? Absolutely not. They have accrued a lifetime of knowledge and on many subjects, they are spot on. The problem is that very often they are not right and their influence is so pervasive that many people blindly follow them regardless. Myself included for a long time.
My awakening came just last spring when I got into an argument over our foreign policy. I rattled off all the talking points I had come to know as truth. "The world needs us to keep them safe. They might act like they hate us, but we'll see who they call when they need help. The terrorists attacked us for our freedom, our ideals, our culture, etc." It wasn't until I decided to open a book to better educate myself on why I believed, what I believed, that I realized how misinformed I had been. Have you ever said, "I like Ron Paul, except for his foreign policy?" I did too, frequently. If you ask the average GOP voter to describe RP's foreign policy in one word the most frequent responses would be "crazy" “dangerous” or "isolationist."
How could a guy so spot on about economic and domestic policy be so wrong on foreign policy? To better understand this I decided to read his book The Revolution: A Manifesto and got to see his views straight from his pen, without the bias.
Consider my amazement when he tried to defend his positions by quoting from the founding fathers: Washington, Jefferson, and Adams. Wait…what? That can’t be. These same founding fathers that we hold in such high esteem shared the same foreign policy views as “crazy, isolationist” Ron Paul? It couldn’t be, yet it was staring me right in the face. If you don’t believe me, look it up for yourself. I read on. He considered himself not an isolationist, but a noninterventionist. If you’re anything like I was, you’re probably thinking, what’s the difference?
Consider this quote:
“It is easy to dismiss the noninterventionist view as the quaint aspiration of men who lived in a less complicated world, but it’s not so easy to demonstrate how current policies serve any national interest at all. Perhaps an honest examination of the history of American interventionism in the twentieth century, from Korea to Kosovo to the Middle East, would reveal that the Founding Fathers foresaw more than we think.
Anyone who advocates the noninterventionist foreign policy of the Founding Fathers can expect to be derided as an isolationist. I myself have never been an isolationist. I favor the exact opposite of isolation: diplomacy, free trade, and freedom of travel. The real isolationists are those who impose sanctions and embargoes on countries and peoples across the globe because they disagree with the internal and foreign policies of their leaders. The real isolationists are those who choose to use force overseas to promote democracy, rather than seeking change through diplomacy, engagement, and by setting a positive example. The real isolationists are those who isolate their country in the court of world opinion by pursuing needless belligerence and war that have nothing to do with legitimate national security concerns.”
That was enlightening truth straight from the mind of Ron Paul. Have any of you ever heard his foreign policy presented like that? I hadn’t. If you have and still consider him nuts, than I’m sorry I’ve wasted your time and you can just quit reading because I doubt anything else I can say will sway you. When you understand that though and really think about it, it’s no wonder the soldiers overwhelmingly support him, receiving five times the military donations as every other candidate combined. Unlike EVERY OTHER candidate who are all bankrolled by giant corporations and Wall Street, Ron Paul’s top 3 donors come from individuals in the US Army, US Air Force, and US Navy. Maybe instead of throwing that yellow ribbon on the back of your car, you actually listen to and support the troops. You know those same troops who support Ron Paul. Its sad how those who rail on about the injustices and dangers of governmental intervention in our country, fail to even question when we pursue the same actions overseas.
After understanding his views and finding myself agreeing with them, I decided to consider the whole package. Here we have a candidate who went to Washington D.C. having already served a lifetime in the private sector as an OB/GYN. Spurred to action by a deep understanding of history, our Constitution and sound economic policy and foreseeing the dangers inherent in the direction the country was headed, set out to make a difference. His principles were grounded in the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and knowledge of Austrian Economics. It’s easy to be consistent when you know what you believe in and have a framework on which you base your decisions, the Constitution. He never once voted to raise taxes, never once voted for an unbalanced budget, never once voted for anything he wasn’t expressly permitted to by his oath of office to that founding document.
There’s a reason he is never attacked on his record, it’s because they can’t. It’s flawless and purely consistent. There’s a reason he was the lone no vote in congress, over and over again, on bill after bill. He didn’t have the authority. Imagine how much integrity and personal courage it took to take that stand, time and time again, all the while knowing he was going to be labeled a kook or unpatriotic because of it. Imagine the patience of this man, surrounded by the cesspool of corrupt, ignorant, opportunists in politics only for the fame and fortune, shining the beacon of individual liberty and steadfastly moving onward converting followers’ one person at a time. They say that once you become a Ron Paul supporter, you’re a supporter for life. I believe that to be true. The message of true liberty, once understood, is too powerful.
It’s because of Dr. Ron Paul that for the first time in my life I’ve donated politically, volunteered for a campaign, sought to educate myself more fully on economics, history, the Constitution, the dangers of the Federal Reserve and interventionism (foreign and domestic) and why I believe what I believe. Finally, I’ve got a candidate that I want to vote for; I’m excited to vote for and will do what I can to inspire others to vote for. That’s why myself and millions like me will be voting for Ron Paul and no one else. The GOP can once again nominate whatever puppet, establishment candidate, they’d like. And when Obama wins re-election, you can all stand around scratching your heads and pondering why, but just remember that I tried to warn you.