RSDavis
12-13-2007, 04:13 PM
http://laceylibertarian.us/wp-images/rPaulRev.jpg
Ron Paul Roundup (12-13-07)
by RS Davis (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=337818110&Mytoken=F27F9BC3-C872-4AF2-9D7DD05901BD4E7249364607)
Hello Freedomphiles! I gotta tell you, guys, I think something must be working because my stack of Ron Paul stuff only seems to get bigger. Let's start today's Roundup with Dr Paul's attempt to get on the Virginia ballot. The Daily Press tells (http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-ronpaul.1212,0,5900308.story)us:
Volunteers and staffers for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul plan to turn over 20,000 signatures tomorrow to the State Board of Elections to get the Texas congressman on the Virginia primary ballot.
The dark horse candidate for the GOP nominations has raised eyebrows and gathered significant grassroots momentum in the past year from voters from across the political spectrum. Paul has picked up support from conservatives who like his stances on fiscal issues and also gotten support from liberals wooed by his statements condemning the war in Iraq. Paul signs frequently appear in random places in Hampton Roads, including repeated appearances on interstate overpasses.
All presidential hopefuls have until Friday to submit 10,000 signatures, and so far Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama are the only candidates officially on the Virginia ballot.
The Telegraph UK is writing (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/12/wuspols212.xml)about Paul's online success:
Ron Paul, a libertarian opposed to the Iraq war and government intrusion, is now drawing some of the largest crowds of any Republican candidate in Iowa and has raised more money on a single day than any of his rivals.
A campaign sign at his events boasts about the secret of his success: "Out next President is Ron Paul. Go ahead, Google him." Doing so harvests 1.49 million items – more than Hillary Clinton (835,000) and Barack Obama (637,000) combined.
On the campus of Dordt College, a private Christian university in the remote north-western corner of snow-blanketed Iowa, Dr Paul, an obstetrician/gynaecologist, was hailed by a gathering of more than 300 as a cult hero.
The Sioux City Journal is wondering (http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/top/23243fb82b12b570862573ae0080d233.txt)if he can turn that into real mainstream support:
Cindy and David Gray of Deloit, Iowa, made a 150-mile roundtrip to hear Paul, the sole presidential candidate they've seen in person in 2007.
"We've been on the Internet a lot," said Cindy Gray.
Both Grays said they're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils in an election, and Paul is the candidate they'll caucus for on Jan. 3.
Carman Lynner of Sioux City said he's generally not politically active, but his brother's enthusiasm for Paul caused him to take in the campaign event. He said the Internet is a sound campaign supplement.
"That is a real equalizer," Lynner said. "I think it is a tool and a pretty effective tool."
Indeed it is. USAToday reports (http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-12-11-ron-paul_N.htm):
Texas Congressman Ron Paul is getting help from an improbable source in his long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Video clips of Paul — who supports the gold standard and has sponsored a bill to abolish the Fed — ripping into Bernanke at congressional hearings are getting hundreds of thousands of hits on the video-sharing website YouTube.
The Paul tongue lashings (they can't really be termed question-and-answer sessions, as Bernanke barely gets a word in edgewise) have also been posted to other websites by Paul backers.
In the footage Paul, a physician by training, warns Bernanke, a Ph.D. economist and former chairman of Princeton's economics department, that he is shoveling too much money into the economy.
Newsweek's Howard Fineman has an exlusive interview with Ron Paul:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5tgVJiXRjw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOiDC7rQHsE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1_Murs9CD4
See it at the source (http://www.newsweek.com/id/73850).
Missoula Independent has Paul's finance ranking (http://www.missoulanews.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=D0560AEA-E170-1B00-182965E5804C23E9)in Montana:
It's 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning in Whitefish, only about 20 degrees outside, and supporters of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul stand on the corner of U.S. 93 and Baker Ave. waving placards and handing out campaign literature.
It's the kind of grassroots action that has helped Paul, who polls somewhere in single digits nationwide, get more than his share of media attention. But Paul's support runs deeper in Montana.
According to campaign finance information from the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C., Paul ranks second in fundraising among GOP candidates in Montana. According to the site Paul has pulled in $22,494 from Montana residents, putting him between Mitt Romney, who leads GOP fundraising in Montana with $31,100 and John McCain who has raised $14,475.
A couple announcements about our man. He will be speaking (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071212005958&newsLang=en)at the:
"Politics & Eggs" Candidates Forum
Featuring: U.S. Representative Ron Paul
Produced by The New England Council and the New Hampshire Political Library.
Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2007
8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Venue: The Bedford Village Inn
Bedford, NH
And also (http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/12/emw575915.htm)at the:
The Free State Project announces Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming New Hampshire Liberty Forum in Nashua, NH. Congressman Paul will cap a full weekend of noteworthy speakers including Senator John Sununu and Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von NotHaus. Ron Paul will speak on Sunday afternoon, January 6th.
Nashua, NH (PRWEB) December 13, 2007 -- The Free State Project is pleased to announce that Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul will be the keynote speaker at the closing ceremonies of the upcoming New Hampshire Liberty Forum in Nashua, NH.
Congressman Paul will cap a full weekend of noteworthy speakers including Senator John Sununu and Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von NotHaus. Ron Paul will speak on Sunday afternoon, January 6th.
The Boston Globe has picked up (http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2007/12/paul_offers_hea.html) on the Ron Paul healthcare ad:
The ad, which will air in Iowa and New Hampshire, shows a narrator talking about a "big tug of war" on healthcare. On one side are HMOs and drug companies, he says, as an image of a prescription bottle stuffed with bills appears. On the other side is government, which neglected injured Iraq veterans, the narrator says, as an image of a forlorn soldier sitting unattended in a hallway appears.
"I say we need Ron Paul for president," the narrator says. "One, he's a doctor, he's seen it all. Two, he's got the right idea, take the power from big business and the bureaucrats and give it back to the patients and the doctors they choose. Now that's the right medicine."
The ad's message fits in with Paul's libertarianism, which has caught fire among some voters, especially on the Internet. But it doesn't speak directly to the issues that are the focus of the healthcare debate -- how to cover more of the estimated 47 million Americans without health coverage, and how to make healthcare more affordable.
The Nolan Chart examines (http://www.nolanchart.com/article483.html) Paul's position on war and intervention:
The War with IslamoFascism. Let's look at that statement because it will help explain Dr. Paul's position. First of all, "war" can only be declared by Congress. America hasn't issued a real declaration of war since WWII and we haven't won a war since then. Because this "war" isn't a declared war, Ron Paul doesn't support it because as a congressman who was sworn to uphold the constitution, he understands that he has no right to do so.
Congress can only constitutionally issue a declaration of war if America is attacked or feels that an issuance of war is needed to protect us. America was attacked on September 11th, 2001. But it was attacked by 19 men who represent a larger network of men who hold similar extreme ideas. Fighting a "War" on "IslamoFascism" because of September 11th, makes about as much sense as fighting a "War" on "Depressed Asian Students" because of what happened at Virginia Tech last spring. Dr. Paul's response would have been to commit resources to catch the people who were actually responsible for and supported the attacks. This is why he voted in favor of going into Afghanistan, but now doesn't support the ongoing actions there since they are no longer designed to catch Bin Laden or others who are actually responsible for the attacks.
He also understands that part of the reason we were attacked was because of an interventionist foreign policy. Most of the Sept. 11th hijackers were Saudis. Non-coincidentally, they were upset because of our military presence in their country and the way we had influenced governments in their region. This is a priniciple the CIA calls "blowback" which is also the name of a book (by Chalmers Johnson) that was written pre-September 11th and warned that we should expect coming acts of reprisal by individuals or states because of our meddling in their affairs over the course of the previous few decades. At the time it was written, it was greeted with smug laughter (as noted in the book's introduction) exactly the same way Dr. Paul's comments were by other Republican candidates during the debate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5avEmnWrtk starting around the 2:19 mark) when he suggested our current policy was a "road to disaster." Killing terrorists by unconstitutionally going into sovereign countries instead of actually removing the major cause of their hate for us is akin to killing flies instead of removing the dead carcass in the middle of the room. Worse yet, we are not only not removing the carcass we are creating more carcasses on which they feed and multiply. Dr. Paul understands that America has a problem with people who hold radical Islamic views, but doesn't think that a "War" on an "Islamo-Fascism" is the way to solve the problem.
The Houston Chronicle is taking a look (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5374328.html)at Ron Paul's more controversial and nuanced opinions, and turning a pointillistic work of art into a fingerpainting expo:
Less known to Paul's many Internet-driven supporters are earlier writings and speeches by the Lake Jackson Republican in which he made incendiary comments about African-Americans, immigration, AIDS patients and alleged victims of sexual harassment.
"Why don't they quit once the so-called harassment starts?" Paul wrote in a 1988 book, Freedom Under Siege.
In 1997, Paul took issue with the concept of global warming, arguing "the temperatures are getting cooler, on the average."
Ten years earlier, in 1987, he wrote that the United States should not have a national immigration policy and "should welcome everyone who wants to come here and work."
While some supporters say Paul's controversial views would not affect their support for his presidential run, some academics begged to differ.
CNSNews is talking (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200712/POL20071212b.html) about something I thought was already settled:
Cory noted that Libertarians have fought against long odds for more than three decades, battling the "partisanship" and "corruption" of Republicans and Democrats who "betray our principles of peace and freedom."
Ron Paul may be a "man of principle who is igniting a fire of liberty across the nation," but nevertheless, "he has an 'R' next to his name," Cory said.
Should the Libertarian Party pretend Ron Paul doesn't exist -- or "do we throw out 36 years of work, violate our own bylaws and principles, and convert to the Republican Party and join Dr. Paul?"
Cory said both choices are "horrible non-options."
So what? Just wait and see what happens with the Republican bid. Real Clear Politics has a piece about John Stossel's interview (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/my_interview_with_ron_paul.html)with Ron Paul:
Over the last few months, I've received hundreds of e-mails from people asking me to interview Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, so I did.
It's refreshing to interview a politician who doesn't mince words. It's even more refreshing to interview one who understands the benefits of limited government.
Here, then, is the first in a series of columns on my talk with Ron Paul. Some of Paul's answers are shortened.
After reading it, here is the excerpt (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/12/why-i-still-lov.html) that led Andrew Sullivan to say he still loves our man:
Q: So keep us safe, enforce contracts, run the courts, pollution rules and otherwise butt out? Leave us alone?
A: Basically that, which would mean if I'm elected, I should immediately take a pay cut. You know, because I wouldn't have so much to do.
The Washington Post is writing (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/11/ron_paul_a_writein_candidate.html)about an innovative grassroots campaign:
While the presidential campaigns are sending out reams of colorful fliers and slick brochures, some residents in Iowa and New Hampshire were surprised to discover the neat cursive handwriting of Janice Kramer on an envelope in their mailbox...
...Writing on the front and back of a piece of notebook paper in light blue ball-point pen, Kramer told one prospective caucus-goer that she has been married 36 years, has 11 children, and is convinced that Paul would make the best president. "Please consider voting for Dr. Paul at your Republican caucus on January 3, 2008," Kramer wrote.
Kramer said in an interview that her daughter asked her to get involved and "write a couple of letters" on behalf of the campaign, though she was already favorably disposed to Paul.
And finally, another open letter (http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/abbate1.html)from LewRockwell.com, this time to Individual Freedom Activists:
In contradistinction to Gordon's letter and most of the other open letters which argue for supporting the Ron Paul candidacy, this will instead argue for not losing sight of the big picture. Even if you believe that voting and political activism is not the right approach to ending or minimizing the impact of the State on yourself and your fellow human beings, you can hardly deny the impact of the "rEVOLution."
Even if you disagree with some of Ron Paul's positions – as target readers already realize, each one of us is not a Ron Paul – you must surely admit feeling some comfort or even joy when Paul stands up to Howard Fineman's insinuations and points out that the money collected by the I.R.S. is "supporting some real evil in the world ... pre-emptive war ..." Even if you believe that politics is detrimental to expanding individual liberty, aren't you at least thankful that Paul's candidacy has inspired so many outstanding grassroots efforts, e.g., the 5th of November "Money Bomb," the Tea Party celebration, the Ron Paul Blimp, etc.?
When was the last time you saw so many people (Albert Jay Nock's Remnant?) so energized and interested in so many of the topics we have been advocating for so long? And as you may be aware, the phenomenon goes beyond the United States.
http://www.brendangates.com/forumlogo.jpg
Ron Paul Roundup (12-13-07)
by RS Davis (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=337818110&Mytoken=F27F9BC3-C872-4AF2-9D7DD05901BD4E7249364607)
Hello Freedomphiles! I gotta tell you, guys, I think something must be working because my stack of Ron Paul stuff only seems to get bigger. Let's start today's Roundup with Dr Paul's attempt to get on the Virginia ballot. The Daily Press tells (http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-ronpaul.1212,0,5900308.story)us:
Volunteers and staffers for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul plan to turn over 20,000 signatures tomorrow to the State Board of Elections to get the Texas congressman on the Virginia primary ballot.
The dark horse candidate for the GOP nominations has raised eyebrows and gathered significant grassroots momentum in the past year from voters from across the political spectrum. Paul has picked up support from conservatives who like his stances on fiscal issues and also gotten support from liberals wooed by his statements condemning the war in Iraq. Paul signs frequently appear in random places in Hampton Roads, including repeated appearances on interstate overpasses.
All presidential hopefuls have until Friday to submit 10,000 signatures, and so far Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama are the only candidates officially on the Virginia ballot.
The Telegraph UK is writing (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/12/wuspols212.xml)about Paul's online success:
Ron Paul, a libertarian opposed to the Iraq war and government intrusion, is now drawing some of the largest crowds of any Republican candidate in Iowa and has raised more money on a single day than any of his rivals.
A campaign sign at his events boasts about the secret of his success: "Out next President is Ron Paul. Go ahead, Google him." Doing so harvests 1.49 million items – more than Hillary Clinton (835,000) and Barack Obama (637,000) combined.
On the campus of Dordt College, a private Christian university in the remote north-western corner of snow-blanketed Iowa, Dr Paul, an obstetrician/gynaecologist, was hailed by a gathering of more than 300 as a cult hero.
The Sioux City Journal is wondering (http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/top/23243fb82b12b570862573ae0080d233.txt)if he can turn that into real mainstream support:
Cindy and David Gray of Deloit, Iowa, made a 150-mile roundtrip to hear Paul, the sole presidential candidate they've seen in person in 2007.
"We've been on the Internet a lot," said Cindy Gray.
Both Grays said they're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils in an election, and Paul is the candidate they'll caucus for on Jan. 3.
Carman Lynner of Sioux City said he's generally not politically active, but his brother's enthusiasm for Paul caused him to take in the campaign event. He said the Internet is a sound campaign supplement.
"That is a real equalizer," Lynner said. "I think it is a tool and a pretty effective tool."
Indeed it is. USAToday reports (http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-12-11-ron-paul_N.htm):
Texas Congressman Ron Paul is getting help from an improbable source in his long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Video clips of Paul — who supports the gold standard and has sponsored a bill to abolish the Fed — ripping into Bernanke at congressional hearings are getting hundreds of thousands of hits on the video-sharing website YouTube.
The Paul tongue lashings (they can't really be termed question-and-answer sessions, as Bernanke barely gets a word in edgewise) have also been posted to other websites by Paul backers.
In the footage Paul, a physician by training, warns Bernanke, a Ph.D. economist and former chairman of Princeton's economics department, that he is shoveling too much money into the economy.
Newsweek's Howard Fineman has an exlusive interview with Ron Paul:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5tgVJiXRjw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOiDC7rQHsE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1_Murs9CD4
See it at the source (http://www.newsweek.com/id/73850).
Missoula Independent has Paul's finance ranking (http://www.missoulanews.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=D0560AEA-E170-1B00-182965E5804C23E9)in Montana:
It's 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning in Whitefish, only about 20 degrees outside, and supporters of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul stand on the corner of U.S. 93 and Baker Ave. waving placards and handing out campaign literature.
It's the kind of grassroots action that has helped Paul, who polls somewhere in single digits nationwide, get more than his share of media attention. But Paul's support runs deeper in Montana.
According to campaign finance information from the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, D.C., Paul ranks second in fundraising among GOP candidates in Montana. According to the site Paul has pulled in $22,494 from Montana residents, putting him between Mitt Romney, who leads GOP fundraising in Montana with $31,100 and John McCain who has raised $14,475.
A couple announcements about our man. He will be speaking (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071212005958&newsLang=en)at the:
"Politics & Eggs" Candidates Forum
Featuring: U.S. Representative Ron Paul
Produced by The New England Council and the New Hampshire Political Library.
Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2007
8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Venue: The Bedford Village Inn
Bedford, NH
And also (http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/12/emw575915.htm)at the:
The Free State Project announces Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming New Hampshire Liberty Forum in Nashua, NH. Congressman Paul will cap a full weekend of noteworthy speakers including Senator John Sununu and Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von NotHaus. Ron Paul will speak on Sunday afternoon, January 6th.
Nashua, NH (PRWEB) December 13, 2007 -- The Free State Project is pleased to announce that Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul will be the keynote speaker at the closing ceremonies of the upcoming New Hampshire Liberty Forum in Nashua, NH.
Congressman Paul will cap a full weekend of noteworthy speakers including Senator John Sununu and Liberty Dollar founder Bernard von NotHaus. Ron Paul will speak on Sunday afternoon, January 6th.
The Boston Globe has picked up (http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2007/12/paul_offers_hea.html) on the Ron Paul healthcare ad:
The ad, which will air in Iowa and New Hampshire, shows a narrator talking about a "big tug of war" on healthcare. On one side are HMOs and drug companies, he says, as an image of a prescription bottle stuffed with bills appears. On the other side is government, which neglected injured Iraq veterans, the narrator says, as an image of a forlorn soldier sitting unattended in a hallway appears.
"I say we need Ron Paul for president," the narrator says. "One, he's a doctor, he's seen it all. Two, he's got the right idea, take the power from big business and the bureaucrats and give it back to the patients and the doctors they choose. Now that's the right medicine."
The ad's message fits in with Paul's libertarianism, which has caught fire among some voters, especially on the Internet. But it doesn't speak directly to the issues that are the focus of the healthcare debate -- how to cover more of the estimated 47 million Americans without health coverage, and how to make healthcare more affordable.
The Nolan Chart examines (http://www.nolanchart.com/article483.html) Paul's position on war and intervention:
The War with IslamoFascism. Let's look at that statement because it will help explain Dr. Paul's position. First of all, "war" can only be declared by Congress. America hasn't issued a real declaration of war since WWII and we haven't won a war since then. Because this "war" isn't a declared war, Ron Paul doesn't support it because as a congressman who was sworn to uphold the constitution, he understands that he has no right to do so.
Congress can only constitutionally issue a declaration of war if America is attacked or feels that an issuance of war is needed to protect us. America was attacked on September 11th, 2001. But it was attacked by 19 men who represent a larger network of men who hold similar extreme ideas. Fighting a "War" on "IslamoFascism" because of September 11th, makes about as much sense as fighting a "War" on "Depressed Asian Students" because of what happened at Virginia Tech last spring. Dr. Paul's response would have been to commit resources to catch the people who were actually responsible for and supported the attacks. This is why he voted in favor of going into Afghanistan, but now doesn't support the ongoing actions there since they are no longer designed to catch Bin Laden or others who are actually responsible for the attacks.
He also understands that part of the reason we were attacked was because of an interventionist foreign policy. Most of the Sept. 11th hijackers were Saudis. Non-coincidentally, they were upset because of our military presence in their country and the way we had influenced governments in their region. This is a priniciple the CIA calls "blowback" which is also the name of a book (by Chalmers Johnson) that was written pre-September 11th and warned that we should expect coming acts of reprisal by individuals or states because of our meddling in their affairs over the course of the previous few decades. At the time it was written, it was greeted with smug laughter (as noted in the book's introduction) exactly the same way Dr. Paul's comments were by other Republican candidates during the debate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5avEmnWrtk starting around the 2:19 mark) when he suggested our current policy was a "road to disaster." Killing terrorists by unconstitutionally going into sovereign countries instead of actually removing the major cause of their hate for us is akin to killing flies instead of removing the dead carcass in the middle of the room. Worse yet, we are not only not removing the carcass we are creating more carcasses on which they feed and multiply. Dr. Paul understands that America has a problem with people who hold radical Islamic views, but doesn't think that a "War" on an "Islamo-Fascism" is the way to solve the problem.
The Houston Chronicle is taking a look (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5374328.html)at Ron Paul's more controversial and nuanced opinions, and turning a pointillistic work of art into a fingerpainting expo:
Less known to Paul's many Internet-driven supporters are earlier writings and speeches by the Lake Jackson Republican in which he made incendiary comments about African-Americans, immigration, AIDS patients and alleged victims of sexual harassment.
"Why don't they quit once the so-called harassment starts?" Paul wrote in a 1988 book, Freedom Under Siege.
In 1997, Paul took issue with the concept of global warming, arguing "the temperatures are getting cooler, on the average."
Ten years earlier, in 1987, he wrote that the United States should not have a national immigration policy and "should welcome everyone who wants to come here and work."
While some supporters say Paul's controversial views would not affect their support for his presidential run, some academics begged to differ.
CNSNews is talking (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200712/POL20071212b.html) about something I thought was already settled:
Cory noted that Libertarians have fought against long odds for more than three decades, battling the "partisanship" and "corruption" of Republicans and Democrats who "betray our principles of peace and freedom."
Ron Paul may be a "man of principle who is igniting a fire of liberty across the nation," but nevertheless, "he has an 'R' next to his name," Cory said.
Should the Libertarian Party pretend Ron Paul doesn't exist -- or "do we throw out 36 years of work, violate our own bylaws and principles, and convert to the Republican Party and join Dr. Paul?"
Cory said both choices are "horrible non-options."
So what? Just wait and see what happens with the Republican bid. Real Clear Politics has a piece about John Stossel's interview (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/my_interview_with_ron_paul.html)with Ron Paul:
Over the last few months, I've received hundreds of e-mails from people asking me to interview Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, so I did.
It's refreshing to interview a politician who doesn't mince words. It's even more refreshing to interview one who understands the benefits of limited government.
Here, then, is the first in a series of columns on my talk with Ron Paul. Some of Paul's answers are shortened.
After reading it, here is the excerpt (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/12/why-i-still-lov.html) that led Andrew Sullivan to say he still loves our man:
Q: So keep us safe, enforce contracts, run the courts, pollution rules and otherwise butt out? Leave us alone?
A: Basically that, which would mean if I'm elected, I should immediately take a pay cut. You know, because I wouldn't have so much to do.
The Washington Post is writing (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/12/11/ron_paul_a_writein_candidate.html)about an innovative grassroots campaign:
While the presidential campaigns are sending out reams of colorful fliers and slick brochures, some residents in Iowa and New Hampshire were surprised to discover the neat cursive handwriting of Janice Kramer on an envelope in their mailbox...
...Writing on the front and back of a piece of notebook paper in light blue ball-point pen, Kramer told one prospective caucus-goer that she has been married 36 years, has 11 children, and is convinced that Paul would make the best president. "Please consider voting for Dr. Paul at your Republican caucus on January 3, 2008," Kramer wrote.
Kramer said in an interview that her daughter asked her to get involved and "write a couple of letters" on behalf of the campaign, though she was already favorably disposed to Paul.
And finally, another open letter (http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/abbate1.html)from LewRockwell.com, this time to Individual Freedom Activists:
In contradistinction to Gordon's letter and most of the other open letters which argue for supporting the Ron Paul candidacy, this will instead argue for not losing sight of the big picture. Even if you believe that voting and political activism is not the right approach to ending or minimizing the impact of the State on yourself and your fellow human beings, you can hardly deny the impact of the "rEVOLution."
Even if you disagree with some of Ron Paul's positions – as target readers already realize, each one of us is not a Ron Paul – you must surely admit feeling some comfort or even joy when Paul stands up to Howard Fineman's insinuations and points out that the money collected by the I.R.S. is "supporting some real evil in the world ... pre-emptive war ..." Even if you believe that politics is detrimental to expanding individual liberty, aren't you at least thankful that Paul's candidacy has inspired so many outstanding grassroots efforts, e.g., the 5th of November "Money Bomb," the Tea Party celebration, the Ron Paul Blimp, etc.?
When was the last time you saw so many people (Albert Jay Nock's Remnant?) so energized and interested in so many of the topics we have been advocating for so long? And as you may be aware, the phenomenon goes beyond the United States.
http://www.brendangates.com/forumlogo.jpg