I have spent the better part of this week writing on behalf of Dr. Ron Paul. I did so because it became apparent that the powers that be were becoming scared and they started a malicious smear campaign against him to try and stop the momentum he has generated. I do not mind having a rational discourse about why one candidate would be better than another; that is what the process should be about. But when the machine that wishes to keep the status quo starts distorting the truth to achieve their ends; that is where I feel responsible to at least set the record straight so the debate can be fair. The ensuing debate after each article has been vigorous to say the least. I realized tonight though when reading the article by Joel Hirschorn what has been missing from the debate, alternatives.
Now let’s be fair up front. Dennis Kucinich is a principled guy. I really believe he is as honest as a politician can be. I would love to see a general election between the big government Kucinich against the limited government Paul. I also would like to hit lotto and probably have a better chance of that then seeing Kucinich in the general election. I felt the same way about Paul at the beginning but you cannot ignore his rise in the rigged polls and his fundraising from the grassroots level. I have heard a lot of people trying to wish Paul away but it simply has not happened. When you see the negative attacks orchestrated by the machine against him, you have to realize that he has become a viable threat now. So please, do not offer Dennis Kucinich as a viable alternative to Ron Paul. It is simply fantasyland.
That said, I will present why I find Dr. Paul to be intriguing as a candidate. First, he is clearly against the war and using war as a foreign policy. A Paul presidency would guarantee and end to the Iraq War and prevent the GOP dream of an Iran War. No more of our kids would die unnecessarily. The money being wasted abroad would be diverted to concerns about America. I like that. That makes sense to me. Secondly, he is virulently opposed to the consolidation of executive power and the resulting erosion of civil liberties. A Paul presidency would see the return of habeas corpus, a restoration of civil liberties, an end to the Patriot Act, and a return to proper checks and balances. War powers would return to the Congress where they belong. Torture as policy would end. Illegal wiretapping and data mining would end. That all makes sense to me. I like that. Thirdly, Dr. Paul seems to be one of the only people in government who understands the looming currency disaster we are facing. The nine trillion dollar debt would be paid down, primarily through the money no longer spent blowing other countries up. Sure, Halliburton would take a hit but overall Dr. Paul understands that empires collapse financially and that is where we are heading if we do not do something about it. I know that the other democratic candidates are busy promising all the nice “progressive” bonanzas we have been hoping for but you cannot have universal healthcare if you are broke. You especially cannot fund everything you want if you cannot even promise to pull troops out of Iraq. I am sorry but stabilizing our currency makes sense to me and yes, I like that.
Now there are some areas of a Paul presidency that I still would have questions about. Those questions would be answered during the general election campaigns and debates. More importantly though is we must understand how our government works. Just because Ron Paul believes in limited government, he would be forced to come to the center with Congress to get anything done and I am confident he would. The doom and gloom crowd pretends that as soon as he is sworn in he will eliminate all functions of the federal government. He can’t folks! He would have to work with Congress. But at least he would be moving to the center coming from the position that war as policy must end, civil liberties must be restored and we must pay down our debt to stabilize our currency. That is a lot to begin with that he will find plenty of agreement on with Congress.
So there you have it. I think that Dr. Paul is sincere and not owned by any corporations. He believes in his philosophy and does not read from a script. I have heard a lot of naysayers tell me why Dr. Paul is not the right candidate. Some reasons have been thoughtful and others slanderous. I really do not want to rehash that here. Given the state of the country, the three points I outlined about Dr. Paul seem to me to be the most important things we can focus on as Progressives and Americans. So I ask the naysayers to intelligently tell me who they think would make a better candidate. I assume the entire GOP field is out, and rightly so. Dennis Kucinich has zero chance of surviving the primaries and we all know it; so please do not offer up DK. That basically leaves Hillary, Obama and Edwards. Please tell me why any of them would be better for the primary issues discussed in this article or if there is another issue you feel is more important than what has been discussed.
No more smears. No more nonsense. There is too much at stake in 2008. Stay informed.
Anthony Wade, a contributing writer to opednews.com, is dedicated to educating the populace to the lies and abuses of the government. He is a 40-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.
I agree. Paul is not the ideal candidate, and I am absolutely in love with Dennis Kucinich. But I am personally going to work a lot harder to support Paul because he already has the organization, the money, the buzz, and let's face it, the number of supporters it's going to take to have a chance.
A lot of the Paul smears are based on two central fallacies: 1. Simple misinformation from liberals who have maybe heard a thing or two about Dr. Paul, but haven't looked into his campaign enough. It's time we, the progressives of this nation, took stock of where we're at and cut our losses. We can't win everything, but we can have peace and repeal the police state, and I think that that is a good start to achieving all our other goals. Remember, Paul won't be president for life, but he may be a good transition to a smarter, leaner, more responsive federal government as opposed to the current beaurocratic monstrosity that is impervious to the cries of the majority of its own citizens.
2. People confuse his personal values with his political platform. Personally, he's basically a soft anarchist and believes in no government, or very limited government whose only job is to protect--not coerce--its citizens. But he's not running on dismantling the government. Everything he wants to do--from abolishing the IRS, getting out of NAFTA and the WTO, changing immigration laws, etc. is going to require congressional approval. So he won't actually be that successful in phasing out popular programs (although he might help eliminate a lot of waste and corruption). But what he can do, as commander in chief, is stop the CIA and FBI from spying on citizens, stop the CIA from overthrowing other democratic nations, and end the current wars. This would not only go a long way to dismantling the ubiquitous military-industrial complex (which he is constantly critical of), but would reduce the federal budget, freeing up MORE MONEY for those social programs everyone is concerned about.
In short, Ron Paul is the smart choice for progressives who are more interested in having a meaningful impact on changing America's disastrous impact on the world than in simply registering a purist protest vote that will be unheard and unrespected by the democratic party establishment.
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Caleb Friz (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 28 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 1:03:38 AM
I don't like the racism of many of his "fans", I worry about those on the fringe of society (including myself) who would be hurt by his economic policies (you know not EVERY American lives in the contiguous US states! so states' rights would surely not help us, this is NOW, NOT 1913, you know) .. so his answers are Not Answers.
Besides acting like a pack of rabid animals (and consistently suggesting there is NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE, which is patently untrue . there is the SANE Dennis Kucinich), the Ron Paul bandwagon conveniently overlooks such issues as native sovereignty CONSISTENTLY. If one publishes any single piece of reservation about what they see about Ron Paul, they entire pack is on your back - and they don't answer the questions, they just take YOU to task. I posted my opinion about taking money from neonazis to get money for campaign funds, and I was beseiged when I pointed out that the writer from Mother Jones was kicked out of her local Ron Paul meetup group. This was just FACT.
But most woefully, Ron Paul himself has not come out for impeachment. He hems, he haws, and he wastes every day of your real live political energy by raising money for HIS CAMPAIGN, rather than advocating for national healing which is a return to the RULE OF LAW, something America (and all of North America really) is badly in need of. To wit: IMPEACHMENT.
I see this flag waving nonsense as just a nonsense unless you read the Constitution and then DO what it suggests. In this case, the US is subject to the international rules governing international law on torture, rendition, genocide and all else as it applies to CONDUCT in Afghanistan, Irak, Lebanon, Syria and now Pakistan (where US special forces are being sent send in as just COINCIDENTALLY Bhutto is assassinated, weird that, eh?)
If I fear anything about the US becoming even worse, it's what precisely would happen if people who can't think straight get into power following the disastrous BuZh adminstration, people who want Easy Answers as the climate change hits, the peak oil hits, the economic crash hits, the ME ONLY sensibility continues and hits a huge crescendo ..
Sure the Federal Reserve Bank and the stoopid, ignorant economists who run things for the Big Boyzd are pretty rotten - their just salesman for an insane economic system that eats up the resources of the entire planet. Score a point for Dr. Paul figuring THAT out - that their policies are an anathema.
However, the real problem with America is a SPIRITUAL One - not a political one and I fail to see how his winning is the answer. In fact, I cannot think of a single WORSE reaction than to see Ron Paul as President. And that is what it is -- pure reaction, and just more of the same old, same old. Same stuff, different TECHNIQUE.
I am not attacking Ron Paul personally. I think within the confines of his thinking, we have seen very great things from him throughout the years. But ideologue answers are not ANSWERS, they are reactions. Everyone in CONgress should be as high minded about keeping the lobbyists out of their offices; but this does not qualify one REALLY to be the US President inheriting the rich decay and fall of an empire in modern history - which is exactly what is about to "hit".
Baiting people is not The Answer. Accepting that some of us wish to work for Dennis Kucinich to continue to grow as both a leader and as a human being seems a better use of my precious time on this planet, and that is what I am going to do. I have no regrets whatsoever about my choice. He is the man with a plan, a sane, adult, well thought plan to save not "just" America, but an entire planet using all the God-given talents of the people that are in America today.
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ladybroadoak (37 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 384 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 3:21:33 AM
Just so you know the money that he raised was raised by individuals supporting Ron Paul and had nothing to do with the Ron Paul campaign, infact if you read anywhere Paul has mentioned the money he states he was in shock. It was a grass roots movement.
As far as social beinfits :If you want a free ride get in line with next regime because last i knew it was a Communist contries where you stood in line and got free food handed to you by your goverment. I am so tired of lazy people saying we need more social programs it's a democracy get off your butt and work for your own money stop taking it out of my paycheck! I don't want to give my hard earned money that can go to much better uses then for you to sit and get lazy! and when is beliving in Aliens more sane then beliving in the Constituion?
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Kitt Rezner (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 4:02:45 AM
Is it better for a DC to decide on issues facing people in ?
Paul thoughts
Solutions for climate change
Those industries which pollute need to pay a tax on that pollution. As opposed to buying carbon credits from a farmer, me, to sequester carbon in my fields.
Social Issues -
How did FEMA do in New Orleans? Would not it be better for those areas that were effected by the storm to have a plan. require construction that would withstand hurricane force winds, earthen shelters, lowering energy requirements at the same time. As opposed to DC deciding what is best and turning away truckloads of relief supplies.
Health care, what about the fact that the latest NAFTA requires us to sign up with codex standards. Not allowing us to choose an alternative medical path.
Education, that has been a disaster at the federal level. Another layer of hoops to jump through and if you opt out the Feds withhold your highway funds.
I think that Paul wants to return control to a local level, as opposed to DC where they are trying to require me to keep track of every time I move an animal, it is born gets sick, etc.. This simply raises the price of production for small farmers and concentrates power in a few large hands.
Native Soverignty?? As to your point of wether we are living in 1913 or 2008. Are you speaking of people being born in the US or giving all lands back to descendants of the iriquois who migrated here at some point themselves. He has addressed the first issue.
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john w (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 9 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 9:42:39 AM
I'm sorry, perhaps this country has been too dumbed down to understand the simple math behind Ron Paul's politics. There is a looming $11 trillion shortfall in social security and medicare over the next 30 years. How do proponents of these entitlement programs intend on paying for this shortfall? Borrowing more money, going deeper into debt. It's brilliant. Borrow, borrow, borrow, borrow, and borrow some more. Already, we have a weak dollar, a fiat currency, and seriously underreported inflationary pressures. Going deeper into debt to maintain the status quo is killing this country.
What's worse than all of this? A litany of republican candidates who want to maintain this status quo and enact tax-cuts, further compounding the problem.
That's why I support Ron Paul. That's why MANY savy people support him.
I resent that you feel the need to label Ron Paul supporters "racists". We're not. At least not all of us. Don't know where you got that idea, but you have no factual support for such a wide-sweeping assertion, I can guarantee you.
I cannot vote for someone who supports the Patriot Act, as Hillary and Obama did, as did most of the Republican candidates. Ron Paul voted against it twice, as well as numerous other bills which deny us the constitutional right to privacy, unreasonable searches, etc.
Perhaps if the school system did a better job of teaching the constitution and ignored trying to teach global warming, our citizenry might actually understand the deep doodoo this country is in.
So, I respect your right to vote for Dennis, but he's part of the problem here. Take some time and think about all of the trillions of dollars we've wasted fighting unconstitutional wars, giving our money to other countries so they can kill each other, and going deeper into debt to finance all of this horse pockey. Then look for a candidate who wants to end the madness. There's only one.
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Justin Green (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 11:46:10 AM
The purpose was to offer a viable alternative. I knew that some would only be offer Kucinich, who I outlined is a good guy but has zero chance. If you wish to get behind him fine. I will ask the question again. When it is general election time and DK has cowed to Hillary Clinton as his choice, who will you vote for Hillary? Because ultimately DK said so? That is no solution. That continues the corporate control of america.
I am sorry that you felt attacked, i can assure you I have not attacked anyone who speaks intelligently on what they believe. But please leave the nonsense about racism out of this debate. It is unseemly and untrue.
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Anthony Wade (134 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 433 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 1:04:20 PM
A new aspect of the RP craze hits the stage...while Dennis Kucinich is (imho) worth discussing, debating and worth fighting for (or with), RP really doesn't stand an ice cube's chance in hell.
The Author needs to come to terms with the fact that this country is and will remain - a War Machine. Of course we would all like to change that but it isn't going to happen. Let's get real, folks ! You cannot change this system from within. It's water tight, sealed off, sold out and well on it's way as a 100% bonified fascist (full fledged btw, not the light version as RP would have it) War Machine. Get your facts straight for a change and get real. The MIC knows RP doesn't stand a chance. They're certainly laughing there arses off over this. And do try to think outside of the box. The MIC is not limited to Banks and large Corperations in the USA.
No blindfold required, thank you !
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Tony Forest (4 articles, 10 quicklinks, 115 diaries, 996 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 4:21:21 AM
I agree the machine can steal alot but it cannot steal more than 5-6% of a general election without getting caught. So theoretically, Paul could win if the people are pissed off enough. Do you think the MIC wanted the dem revolution of 2006? Hell no. The bottom line is they got beat because the grounswell overode their cheating.
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Anthony Wade (134 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 433 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 1:53:09 PM
Your own apathy is blinding you. The country will always be a war machine? It will only be that way when people continue to support and believe in the war machine. At the end of the day, the country isn't a machine but a group of people working together to achieve a desired goal. Is War what you want? Is War what your neighbors want? Do your friends want War? Where is the War machine coming from? I will give you a clue... It comes from people who are focused, dedicated and determined to keep it going.
Kucinich is a good guy. If you pay attention to him, he says that he supports Ron Paul and agrees with him on a great many things. So the guy you want to support actually supports the guy that you don't want to support. Oh noes, what ever will you do when faced with such a dichotomy?
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dave562 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 2:53:02 PM
Unfortunately negative campaigning is part of politics and I've seen an ample helping of it from the Ron Paul crowd when they form a lynch mob to attack anybody critical of Ron Paul's policies. I fully agree with you that personal attacks are undesirable and add nothing to the debate. So yes, lets keep the debate based on issues and facts.
You are making an oblique attack on Kucinich based on your prognostications about the viability of his campaign. I thought we'd gotten beyond the mainstream media tactic of covering a horse race instead of a candidate's platform. Please stick to the issues, the stakes are far too important for hand waving away a candidate and limiting the discussion of issues. Condescendingly saying how nice he is, does not provide an excuse for this sort of attack.
That said I will tell you why I find Dr. Paul to be an undesirable candidate. The stretch of logic involved in claiming that we can solve the problem of a government taken over by corporate interests by crippling the government component, the only component which nominally represents we the people, and deregulating the corporate component, the component that has accomplished the coup, borders on shear insanity. OK, maybe that's a bit strong, but it surely qualifies for fantasyland.
Ron Paul feels like part two of a one-two punch team out to destroy the nation to me. We've had seven godawful years of decline and destruction from a president who was sold to us as a simple and sincere man who was going to unite us and who would continue to shrink the deficit through tax cuts and deregulation. Yeah, right. Now that this dictator's term is hopefully drawing to a close, this man who promised to show us the magic of the private market as he trashed our country, our constitution, our legal system, we are told how terrible government is, away with it, more tax cuts, more deregulation, an environment more favorable to corporations. Enough simple minded ideological solutions, this is the time, Ron Paul is not the man.
I said some very nice things about DK and I meant them and you accuse me of atacking him for stating the obvious??? He has zero chance, he is done, finished. I wished he would have the guts to run as an independent but he will not, he has said so.
By the way, the government is the part that stands for the people, not corporations? Are you serious? Have you looked around your government lately? When you cast your vote for Hillary in November i want you to think back to this moment when you actually decided that you would vote for her and the continuing corporatization of America.
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Anthony Wade (134 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 433 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 1:57:33 PM
So much for taking you seriously, they're all out to get my cult leader, bring out the true believers. You folks have now sunk into paranoid delusion, another one of the classic signs of cult-hood. Your appeal to victim-hood, while dominating the bandwidth with your right-wing nonsense is absurd. You cult members have zero chance. We've already seen 7 years of your type of thinking, no more, thanks.
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all owners (1 articles, 56 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 140 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 3:55:52 PM
Your ignorance is staggering. Did you even read my articles? Apparently not. I have conistently said that i have some concerns about Paul but was asking who you think was better? You come in here and claim that Paul is my cult leader?
Goodbye shill.
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Anthony Wade (134 articles, 2 quicklinks, 44 diaries, 433 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 4:09:41 PM
Your Arrogance and Ego Dwarf your Diminutive Intellect.
I've read some of your stuff, the quality can often be discerned with the title, as is the case here. And my answer to your question is Dennis Kucinch, but you aren't listening because close-minding authoritarians don't do that, they only try to dictate.
Not buying it, but nice try.
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all owners (1 articles, 56 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 140 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 5:43:51 PM
are you ready for this.... YOU HAVE A CHOICE to buy the things you want to or not. If you do not like a corporation you do not purchase from them. if you do not like your representation in government, vote them out. Have you ever heard of free will. It is a huge responsibility and it is OURS. I also do not want the government taking care of people, my community does that. i go out every week and volunteer my time to make my community better. If we all did that we would live in a better nation and one that takes responsibility for themselves and their neighbors. Remember Free will and freedom of choice are important to the fabric of our society and I feel we have lost touch with that long ago.
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Col (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 9 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 4:39:48 PM
Free Will: Spring 2007, after seeing that I paid $52K federal income tax, I dropped out. My wife, daughter and I are done paying federal income tax. I'm not a slave to pay for big government social benefits, so I'm not paying anymore. (No debt, $ in the bank for 4+ years, some IRA/401K funded.) This is my free will to stop paying for corruption. Note to big-government folks - you can create more programs for which my family will qualify, but you can't make me work to tax my wages to pay for the programs.
Alternative: a few months ago my father started sending "we must defeat ____" emails. I told him to provide a positive alternative rather to the candidates he doesn't like. He found Ron Paul and now has a cause to support.
Thanks for the forum for everyone's ideas!
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john 2 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4 comments)
on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 3:56:09 PM
I and about a thousand plus single mothers in my community would love to pay fifty-two thousand (52 k) Federal Income tax every year for the rest of our lives. Some of them live on less then ten thousand (10 k) per year; I haven't even spoken about some the elderly people in our community. Talk about elitist. You have no idea where most of the people live. Most of the people in our country do not approach 52 k working two full time jobs. WOW! We really feel sorry for you and going to have a special prayer for you. Poor, Poor guy. One of the terribly disenfranchised in our land in our land of the rich on the backs of the poor. You are the type of thinking person that supports Ron Paul, the others poor suckers just don't think.
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pratliff94 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 940 comments)
on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 5:06:32 PM
If Ron Paul does not get the GOP nomination Unity08 will kick into action trying to unite antiwar/pro-peace. Allot of names have been suggested, the top two now are: Ron Paul-Dennis Kucinich 08 ticket.
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Jeanette Doney (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 304 comments)
on Friday, December 28, 2007 at 6:15:18 AM
I have spent the better part of this week writing on behalf of Dr. Ron Paul. I did so because it became apparent that the powers that be were becoming scared and they started a malicious smear campaign against him to try and stop the momentum he has generated
Please dude, get real. Do you honestly and truly believe what you wrote there? Isnt the reverse the real truth? We have been inundated with Paul cultists, post after post from folks with one comment to their credit, two or five whatever, and each in a Saint Paul thread only. Yet you claim some conspiracy against him, how disengenuous can you get?
I have stated before that I understand the deperation of progressives to find some candidate worthy of support. I have also noted that most of this support from the left is shameful in its lack of knowledge about the libertarian position, one that is anathema to any real progressive. Paul may be correct about ending wars of imperialsim, and that i
