PDA

View Full Version : Opening an Americans Eyes




Slugg
07-02-2007, 06:56 AM
Here's a little article I wrote. Hopefully someone can find it useful. If nothing else, it could be some nice light reading.

Opening an American’s Eyes: An Instruction Guide.
by Slugg

I was raised Republican. My father, mother, grandfather and uncle’s all speak of Ronald Regan as the angle of the conservative movement. They always sympathized with George W. Bush and his overall disapproval. “Everyone want’s to blame Bush. That’s all the Democrats do is blame Bush” my father would say. “Democrats hate America,” was another phrase heard around our home consistently. My family was Neo-Con to the core.

My parents are in their 50’s and watch FOX news with appreciation for a ‘Conservatives’ view of the world. They despised CNN, ABC, MSNBC, and PBS for their ‘Liberal’ bias. My sisters have been recycling the phrase, “Freedom isn’t free” for the past 4 years as if it somehow justifies our current military endeavors. My family really was Neo-Con to the core.

I discovered Ron Paul before he decided to run for President. A friend introduced me to his congressional website while we were debating the moral character of our politicians. I repeatedly explained that all politicians were liars, but some just lied less. His response was, “This one doesn’t lie, and his voting record proves it.” I ignored Ron Paul for almost a year after that, I forgot he even existed. One day I stumbled across one of his videos on YouTube.com, I was both shocked and intrigued; I had to learn more. It was like I was relearning recent history. Many of the things I had taken for granted just were not true.

After about two weeks of solid research I realized that we need this man to be our President. So, now I had to convince my family. This was going to be a chore, but I was successful. Not only did they decide they were going to vote for him, they are now starting to assist in his campaign. They are donating their time and energy to helping him win. I hope to explain how a change this drastic was able to take place, and I hope it can assist you in conversing with ‘Neo-Con’ voters. The battle is not hard, the message speaks for itself. The trick is convincing people to honestly listen. So let’s get started.

Speaking the Message:
On several occasions Ron Paul has said, “It’s not me, it’s the message.” I believe this. Obviously the message, of any candidate, is ultimately what we are voting into office. However, most voters ignore message and fall to the temptation of the ‘popularity contest.’ So goal number one should always be to discuss concepts and message. The goal is to peak a persons interest into researching issues (not candidates, not yet anyway). Why? Because you don't want to pitch Ron Paul while you're they are realizing the inaccuracies of 'conventional wisdom.' The goal is to get people to research the issues they find important.

I believe this is, alone, the largest and most important step anyone can take before becoming an informed voter. So, this is where we start. I began by asking my father, “So, let’s ignore names for a minute, and let’s pretend you can create a perfect candidate. What qualities would he/she have? And what agenda would they push?” Over the next few weeks we would debate his answer (while not attacking his answer) and we would ‘daydream’ about perfect candidates. Never once, in this stage, did I mention Ron Paul. The best part of this conversation is you start debating message and credibility. Not politics. We discuss actual substance and this is where all ‘political’ conversations need to be. This is where Ron Paul always wins.

One advantage of discussing substance over candidates is it keeps things much less personal. It’s not offensive to most people when you ask, “Well, shouldn’t we demand more responsibility from our politicians?” It’s less offensive to ask something like, “Why do we see a constant downward trend in our country, regardless of who’s been elected?” Keep in mind, there are things we cannot do at this stage. We cannot attack or praise any politician outright. Our focus here is content. We do not want emotionally filled name calling.
We want people asking themselves, “Who is really looking out for the best interest of America?”

After my father and I debated message for about two weeks, we had reached a point were we agreed that, “No one is honestly looking out for the best interest of America. Not really. All politicians are in it for career and power.” Keep in mind, he reached this conclusion by discussing issues and the current situation compared to where he wants us to be. I avoided bashing anyone (though I slipped up from time to time) the goal is was to have him compare his ideal image of our country with what we have now. Eventually, he realized (just like I did) that we are no where near where we would like. This part seemed to instill some animosity towards common elected officials. Now we have a ripe voter hungry for decent politicians. Are there any?

Introducing Ron Paul:
I introduce Ron Paul by invoking patriotism. Let’s be honest, the ‘Neo-Con’ voter honestly believes they are helping our nation by voting mainstream Republican. But, they’ve been deceived. I ask, “If we value honesty, integrity, and consistency; are we electing people who personify these values? Honestly?” Remember, it swings both ways, we see both Republicans and Democrats lying. So I make sure to illustrate that neither party is perfect, and to be quite honest, right now they are both very far from perfect.

I also ask, “Why do we see more fingers pointing than problem solving?” We’re not talking about blame, we’re talking about responsibility. Everyone wants to blame, but no one’s willing to accept responsibility.

This leads us to patriotism. Isn’t our job, as decent hardworking Americans, to vote for the best person; or, as we talked about earlier, to vote for the best message? If we really love our country, don’t we have an obligation to be honestly informed? Let’s talk about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower was a staunch Republican. No one can question his patriotism or his military
knowledge. In his farewell address to the nation he warned American citizens that our loving and peaceful nation could fall to misplaced power. He goes on to say, “We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.” That’s right folks; this is a president warning us that the mixture of private defense corporations and our government poses serious problems. Have we been alert? Have we been informed? The answer is….yes.

Some of our politicians, some of our citizens, some of our powerful business men have been watchful and diligent. I remember telling my father about Ron Paul and he responded with a slight chuckle, “That wacko?” This is the response we want. “Yes,” I said, “Ron Paul only appears wacko because he’s been informed and alert; we have not.” It’s around this time that my father said, “Okay, let me research Ron Paul a little bit.” Victory! Ron Paul speaks for himself. He doesn’t need a salesmen, he only needs time to explain his position.

The Follow Up:
After about two weeks my father reported to me, “I really like Ron Paul, but he has no chance to win. If we waste our vote on him, Hillary will be president. We need to elect someone to beat Hillary.” Oh, really? Let’s take a step back and reassess our obligations as American citizens. Who do we need to vote for? We ought to be voting the message, we ought to be voting for who we really want, and we ought to be voting for the dream candidate we described earlier. So, if you like Ron Paul, support Ron Paul. Our founding fathers created our democracy for just this type of campaign. This is the time when we prove our founding fathers correct. Misguided decisions by our elected officials may infiltrate the government, but a well informed and active citizen holds the key to remove them. “Dad,” I said, “this is the time we wake up and give a free and peaceful country to your grandchildren.”

That was about it. He’s now working with his local meet-up group and telling all his friends about Ron Paul. Using the same reasoning I have also introduced Ron Paul to two ‘neo-con’ voter friends and three die hard democrat voters. Ron Paul’s message is powerful, the only obstacle is convincing people to dig deep and really contemplate the issues.
I hope this helps some of you. If nothing else, I hope it was slightly entertaining.
Regareds,
Slugg

austinphish
07-02-2007, 09:18 AM
Thanks Slugg. We all have a lot of work to do and it sounds like you are already kicking butt. I am currently trying to convert some friends who have never voted Republican, but I already have them talking about the need for R3volution in this country.

He, he, they don't even know that I am leading them right into Ron Paul's message.