Ron Paul Roundup (03-06-08)

[RSDavis]

Ron Paul Roundup (03-06-08)
by RS Davis



Hello Freedomphiles! Let me start today's Roundup with a little minor mea culpa. In the February 27th Roundup, I wrote the following:

• Daniel Brackins writes in The Hawaii Reporter about Ron Paul's CPAC speech, and wow, it only took him nineteen days to write it:
  
  • If there was any doubt about the direction Ron Paul's presidential campaign is headed, at his speech to Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 7, he left no doubt as to where he stood.
    
    The message Paul delivered to the large group of conservatives was one that left many former Romney supporters rallying behind Paul. With McCain's conservative values in question amongst many Republicans, Paul delivered a message of true conservatism that would make many Republicans hopeful for the future of America.
    
    Following the many boos that McCain received, Paul attacked McCain's liberal leanings resulting in mass applause and cheers from the crowd. Being the last candidate to speak at the grand ballroom, Paul's speech was the most direct many have ever heard, and the message sent out from his campaign was that it would be a taste of things to come.

Well, fuck me with an open umbrella, cause this morning I got the following note in my inbox from Daniel Brackens:

• I just wanted to clarify that my article about Ron Paul's CPAC speech did not take me 19 days to write. It took Hawaii Reporter 19 days to publish it.

It sometimes surprises me who it reading these Roundups. So, Daniel, I just want to say I am sorry for having a little fun at your expense, especially when it wasn't even your fault. Keep up the good work, and try not to hold this against me!

So, let's get down to biz'nazz, okay? MSNBC has a piece right now on the future of the rEVOLution. It's a thoughtful piece, unbiased, and it takes us, our man, and the mission seriously. I'd like to highlight a part about a young man new to politics because of Ron Paul:

• One of the idealistic young people who worked for the Paul campaign, Iowa State University student Jacob Bofferding, said he'll carry on Paul's crusade by working on the state legislative campaign of Eric Cooper, the faculty advisor for the Ron Paul student group which Bofferding led at Iowa State. Cooper is running for state representative as a Libertarian...
  
  ...Bofferding said his many hours of volunteer labor for Paul's campaign have, "made me permanently cynical, as I'm doomed to never approve of the drones and demagogues we're sending to Washington. I'm also able to take a much more critical approaching to daily economic news, such as the many rash moves made by the Federal Reserve."
  
  He added, "I would consider a career in politics if I even thought it possible for an honest man to break through the Establishment. The way Paul was treated by his own party and the media makes that unlikely. John McCain snickered at Paul on stage at every debate, and Mitt Romney even said in an interview 'Ron Paul deserves to be laughed at.'"
  
  He added, "Conditions in this country will have to improve before the American people accept an intellectual campaign similar to Paul's, versus the personality cult of Obama."
  
  Bofferding sounds pessimistic, although he seems to wish he weren't: "I hate to say that spreading the message of liberty is a waste of time, but it certainly does not sound like a fun job to me considering the war-hungry, government-dependent attitudes of Americans."

Fret not, Jacob. You're still a neophyte. I've been fighting this battle for years now, and with a little perspective, I think you will see things as I do. When looking at the bigger picture over the last ten years, never in all that time have libertarian ideas gotten more press, more excited support, more credibility than it has from the first day Ron Paul formed an exploratory committee to determine whether he should run for president.

You may be jaded and cynical from your experience, but try jumping into the trenches with me just five years ago. If you could do that, you would see this as a very exciting time, very full of promise. Don't give up, young man - freedom may yet be within our grasp.

Doug Mataconis writes on The Liberty Papers a piece about some of the ways supporters think Ron Paul could end up with the nomination, and concludes this:

• And the most ardent of Paul's supporters seem to think that this is a viable strategy even today. See here, here, here, and here, while some people engage in the wonderful pastime of speculating about someone's death.
  
  So what's going on here? Does the campaign really believe the wacko theory about stealing the nomination or are they just stringing people along for donations?

No, Doug. Haven't you ever been a sports fan? Don't you understand the never-say-die ethos of fervent supporters? We all know it's a long shot. We all know he has about as much chance of being the Republican nominee as Hillary Clinton. But we press on, because we believe in the man, and we believe in the message. We hope, deep in our hearts, that he will find a way to pull it out, but we know definitely that the longer he is in the race, the longer he is in the media, the better for freedom and peace.

The Austin-American Statesman reports that Dubya didn't call Dr Paul to ask for a McCain endorsement (and people say he's stupid):

• White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters Wednesday that Bush has called several of the Republican contenders who had dropped out of the race to urge them to rally around McCain.
  
  But there was no such call to Paul.
  
  "I don't believe Ron Paul has dropped out of the race yet," Perino said.
  
  "But obviously the president and Ron Paul have known each other for many years from their time in Texas, and I'm sure they'll speak at some point in the future," he said.

Yeah, maybe at the convention. Top-diamond libertarian Jeff Wrobel writes on The Nolan Chart an appeal to Mississippi voters:

• If you're a registered Republican in Mississippi and you're not a big fan of McCain, you can make your vote have a louder voice than it ever had before. You can make it louder than any other vote in the country. You can do this by voting for Ron Paul.
  
  Many traditional Reagan Republicans are unhappy with McCain's positions on many issues. He's very soft on immigration, his campaign finance legislation prevents pro-life candidates from getting the funds they need (and resulted in his nomination, I might add), he has not even acknowledged our enormous debt, he's in favor of NAFTA, he laughs at the idea of eliminating the Fed, he wants to continue to over-extend our military overseas, etc., etc., etc. Ron Paul is the true Conservative on all these issues.
  
  You say that you don't like Ron Paul because he's too radical? Don't worry! The race has been decided. Your vote for Ron Paul is not going to put him in the Whitehouse. What your vote WILL do is to send a message to John McCain that you are not happy with his liberal positions, and that he had better start moving to the right.

And left-libertarian Kipper Matthews writes a piece on The Nolan Chart about why he, as a Democrat, plans to vote for Ron Paul:

• I have always been a Democrat and thought that Republicans were out-to-get us working class Americans.
  
  My Democratic leaders have proven me wrong.
  
  I here-by denounce my affiliation with any political party and will only vote for Real People from this day forward.
  
  My Vote is for Ron Paul !

Right-libertarian Jake Morphonios writes on The Nolan Chart that we are on our own, helpless little wandering sheep:

• Yesterday Ron Paul kept his Congressional seat, but lost big in every other combination of contests. He only got 5% of the vote in Texas for President. Ron Paul supporters are going crazy trying to figure out what to do next. The campaign has, as usual, been slow to respond. Sure, they took the time to IMMEDIATELY update their "Now there were 3" screen to say "Now there were 2" (conveniently fogetting that Alan Keyes is still in the race). But how about some substance?
  
  There are so many good, effective and immediate actions that we could be taking if we only had a unifying voice. Ron Paul needs to give the Revolution direction. He needs to back up his tough talk about civil disobedience and taking on the evil neo-cons with a concrete plan that his followers can act upon.
  
  I hope that Ron Paul comes out of campaign retirement soon before the Revolution tears itself apart. I suggest we regroup and refocus our efforts before the entire Revolution fizzles out.

Jake, Jake, Jake - since when do we take our marching orders from Ron Paul? This has never been a top-down organization. Sure, things are in flux right now, but we'll bounce back. This is an important time for us, while we each must ponder the best way to continue the rEVOLution, now that Ron Paul is almost finished in the Republican primaries.

Fort Bend Now has a nice piece on Mark Elam, Ron Paul's political consultant:

• A Texas A&M graduate with a political science degree, Elam said he got his start in politics working with Phil Gramm in college, and later worked with Paul in the mid '70s on Ronald Reagan's campaign.
  
  Elam now serves as a consultant to Paul, and also as his congressional campaign manager. In Tuesday's primary election, Paul won 37,220 votes, beating challenger Chris Peden by more than 2-1.
  
  In Paul's presidential campaign, he's picked up just 14 delegates and clearly has no chance of winning. Yet Elam said the presidential effort "exceeded his and my expectations in terms of how far" Paul was able to go and what he was able to accomplish.
  
  Elam sees Paul's chief accomplishments as being related to "influencing the national debate" and acting to bring the Republican Party back to its core values of working to limit government's size and to take a non-interventionist stance in world politics.
  
  While Paul's stance against the war in Iraq has caused some to label him as anti-military, Elam said Paul's biggest donor group in his presidential race has been active military personnel in all branches of the service.
  
  "We assume that means they appreciate his stance," Elam added.

And finally, Lew Rockwell posted the comments of an atendee to Ron Paul's speech at the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association:

• Writes Daniel: "RP spoke today before the annual lobby day of the National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association here on the Hill. They are the group that wants government to stay out of their business. It was an enormous success. It was standing room only, with Amish organic farmers sharing space with Capitol Hill staffers and local farm advocates. The room was full of local farm products and unpasteurized milk and milk products, delicious farm-made meats and sausages, artisan breads. As soon as RP walked in, there was a hush across the crowd. He was introduced by the great local farm guru Joel Salatin to an enthusiastic standing ovation that was so ferocious that it surprised RP. He spoke near a large Ron Paul chocolate sculpture that an artisan chocolatier had crafted for the occasion. His speech was interrupted several times by loud applause and when he finished his message of self-reliance and government non-interference, there was another extended standing ovation. Another Congressman followed him and remarked at how difficult it was to follow Ron Paul. You could tell: half the room cleared out when RP left. What is interesting about the speech of the Member who followed RP is that several times he emphasized that he was 'just like Ron Paul' on this or that issue. That would NEVER have happened before this past year's events. Members would have gone out of their way to say how different they were from him. Now the opposite is true. And most of his applause lines were when he emphasized how like Ron Paul he is. What a great event! With gallons of that demon raw milk that the government doesn't want you to have!"

See you tomorrow, Freedomphiles!

Top blogs since the last Roundup:
My New Favorite Show
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[Larry Lee]

Once again a knock-out compilation of articles Rounding Up the Ron Paul day. Thank you very much.

I will take this opportunity for a tiny piece of unrequested constructive criticism.
When offering an apology to another it involves a fairly formulaic format -- "I am sorry for fill in this blank with exactly what you are sorry for without deflecting humor or sidetracks." This can be followed by assurances that it won't happen again. Also optional AFTER the genuine apology is a statement explaining but not excusing the error. e.g. "It was clearly my error for not contacting Daniel Brackens before publishing my article concerning his article to see if there might be a reason for the delay in publication." A thoughtful person as yourself would obviously wonder why it took 19 days to publish an article that by that time was really out of date given the pace of the presidential race.
My reason for taking the time to write this is that I believe the simple apology can go very far in our current atmosphere of anger and cynicism toward encouraging better communication and lowering the level of verbal violence seen both in writing and speaking. As our nation and world continues to "shrink" we really must keep up with skills needed to survive well and help others to do the same. Thankfully, this can be done without any governmental assistance. (OK. That last sentence did have a little sarcasm in it, but I mean it in a lightly humerous way in keeping with a Libertarian stance of lessor government being better government.)

[RSDavis]

Originally Posted by Larry Lee

Once again a knock-out compilation of articles Rounding Up the Ron Paul day. Thank you very much.

I will take this opportunity for a tiny piece of unrequested constructive criticism.
When offering an apology to another it involves a fairly formulaic format -- "I am sorry for fill in this blank with exactly what you are sorry for without deflecting humor or sidetracks." This can be followed by assurances that it won't happen again. Also optional AFTER the genuine apology is a statement explaining but not excusing the error. e.g. "It was clearly my error for not contacting Daniel Brackens before publishing my article concerning his article to see if there might be a reason for the delay in publication." A thoughtful person as yourself would obviously wonder why it took 19 days to publish an article that by that time was really out of date given the pace of the presidential race.
My reason for taking the time to write this is that I believe the simple apology can go very far in our current atmosphere of anger and cynicism toward encouraging better communication and lowering the level of verbal violence seen both in writing and speaking.

That's basically what I did, right? Just in my own irreverent style. I've actually been talking to him for two days now. He's running for Congress in Hawaii.

- R

[Larry Lee]

Yes. That is basically what you did. I'm just trying to help hone your apology skills to make them actually powerful. The power of an apology relates to its directness, fullness, accuracy, and completeness.
You got the directness part by responding immediately to D.B. since he was the one involved.
You blunted the fullness of your apology by referring to it as "little minor". It may be so to you but probably not to Daniel B.
You say you were sorry for "having a little fun....". That missed the accuracy part. You are really sorry for having put something in print based on an assumption on your part without checking with your fellow colleague first. A standard I think you intend to hold yourself to and appreciate in others as well.
You got the completeness by putting your apology in print for all to see and not limiting yourself to talking with Daniel B.

An apology is offered when we realize our mistake. Our intent of the apology is to repair any harm done and restore the relationship. The amazing power of a full and complete apology is that it usually results in a relationship that is stronger than it was prior to the error being made.

It sounds like I'm making a lot more out of this incident than it calls for, especially since you have been communicating with him further and everything seems to be patched up. I guess I'm just taking the opportunity to share a lesson I have learned the hard way and through some formal training classes as well. I certainly am not trying to criticize you, but rather point out a small area where a slight change can reap large rewards for both parties involved based on my own experiences.
I do tend to have somewhat of a "fixer" personality, and I saw a small spot after having read so many pages of incredibly good editing and editorializing. So my "fix it" gene went into gear to make you perfect again.
You really are doing a great job at least from my viewpoint and I will continue looking forward to reading your work daily.
Thanks for "listening".

[RSDavis]

Thanks! He's going to be featured in the next Roundup, I think.