Rand Paul Said What??

Ron Paul may have faded from the political limelight since his Presidential quest went down in flames but his son's star is on the up and up. Rand Paul is now the Republican nominee for the Senate seat in Kentucky, besting the local party's pick to replace Senator Jim Bunning. Paul's victory is a testament to the nascent power the teabaggers are beginning to hold in various conservative strongholds around the country. However, his views and recent statements are showing the mainstream just how far out there Paul and others like him are.

From Crooks and Liars:

Presidential bashing of corporate crime, corruption and greed is as American as apple pie. While Republican Teddy Roosevelt decried "malefactors of great wealth," his distant Democratic cousin FDR announced, "I welcome their hatred." But now just days after insisting the federal government had no right to bar racial discrimination in public accommodations, Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul again reversed victim and villain in calling President Obama's criticism of BP, "un-American."

In the face of the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, Paul rushed to the defense of BP on Good Morning America. When George Stephanopolous asked, "But you don't want to get rid of the EPA?" Dr. Paul's diagnosis was that the Obama administration was persecuting the oil giant and the American free enterprise system. Accidents, he insisted, "happen".

Paul's assertions may reside upon libertarian values, but they certainly are not American values. Accidents do not always just "happen," oil spills like that of which we are dealing with now must have consequences when the companies at fault did not take adequate precautions to prevent millions of barrels of oil from polluting the Gulf of Mexico. The same goes for enforcing anti-discrimination laws so that commercial establishments do not keep black people from sitting at the lunch counter as Woolworth's did not fifty years ago.

Mr. Paul, we have government for a reason, and that is to make people behave civilly and to respect each other's liberties. BP does not have the liberty to destroy an ecosystem that millions of people depend upon, let alone the myriad species that live in the waters and surrounding shorelines. The fact that someone with such horrifying views has made it a general election is both shocking and depressing. This year, it is the responsibility of the Kentucky Democratic party to take this seat back not only for politics, but for the common good.

Ron Paul Was Still In The Race?

There really hasn't been much about Ron Paul in the news lately, so perhaps it was time to wrap things up for the Texan Congressman. Paul had quite a movement on his hands, that is until people started voting and all of that money raised by a small but rabid base created such a huge sensation around him. He certainly made himself sound different from the rest of the Republican pack and it is no surprise that he will not be supporting John McCain. Yet in the end, the party begrudgingly chose McCain because....well, everyone else was just too terrible to stomach. Despite McCain getting all the conservative attention, there was a small light on Ron Paul last night as he formally ended his run.

From Reuters:

Paul, an anti-war libertarian, was the only contender to remain in the Republican race after Arizona Sen. John McCain clinched the party's presidential nomination in March.

As he ended his White House bid, Paul launched another campaign in a letter to supporters posted on his new Web site.

"With the primary season now over, the presidential campaign is at an end. But the larger campaign for freedom is just getting started," the nine-term Texas Congressman wrote, announcing the "Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty."

"We will be a permanent presence on the American political landscape. That I promise you," he said.

If Ron Paul wants to continue to siphon off a small but still sizable amount of right-leaning Independents and Republicans, then more power to him. His movement is evidence of the disintegration of the Republican Party as it splits and fractures after realizing that even with full power, their combined policy goals could not be successful.

Now I am not saying that they will break into Whigs, Know-Nothings and Abolitionists. Today's Abolitionists would be Democrats anyways and Kansas and Nebraska have worked out their differences in the last 160 years. All joking aside, the Republican Party is in disarray and Ron Paul's movement is certainly evidence of the disunity of the GOP.

McCain Places Third In Montana

Nearly three months have passed since John McCain became the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party. You'd think it would be pretty easy for him to win the remaining primaries and caucuses after everyone else had dropped out. Blow out margins are what we expect, yet for the last few contests he could barely register 70-80% of Republicans that turned out. Now tonight, in the nation's last contest, McCain couldn't even win. He couldn't even place second.

How's that for a unified base? The Democratic Party will come together, the Republicans should have for their own sake months ago.

UPDATE: Alright, so the Republicans held their Montana race in February. Still, the fact remains that McCain is not able to keep his base together

Ron Paul Hinting At Obama Endorsement?

Of course we are still in a heated primary battle (so the pundits and "experts" tell me) and Barack Obama has to beat Hillary off amongst the party faithful. Once that is done he'll be going after the independents and moderates who are demanding change in our government just as we are. Well it looks like he might just have one crazy Republican (aren't they all) and semi-moderate Ron Paul to back him in those parts Democrats rarely go yonder in. Oh and nothing is official about this either but what is important is that he Paul can't stomach McCain.

From CNN:

In an interview on The Situation Room, Paul told Wolf Blitzer that endorsing Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, “would really confuse” his supporters “because they know we have a precise program and we have to defend that program.”

Having a Republican win the upcoming presidential election is “secondary” for Paul who is more interested in defending the Constitution, having the country go in what he considers the right direction, having a sound currency, and achieving balanced budgets. Paul parts ways with McCain over McCain’s support for the Iraq war, his approach to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and his willingness to spend federal dollars to support military operations in Iraq.

Instead, Paul favors Sen. Barack Obama because of positions on foreign policy. “But that’s doesn’t mean that’s an endorsement,” Paul quickly added.

Of course it isn't an endorsement Ronnie, don't worry, I won't tell. Oh and to all those Hillary supporters that still think Obama isn't electable, does this mean people with an independent/right-leaning streak don't count either?

Get Back To Congress Ronnie

I am sad to say that Congressman Ron Paul is about to head back to Congress and step away from his Presidential aspirations. Even after raising tens of millions of dollars and acquiring many rabid fans, the delegate count just isn't high enough for him (less than ten versus several hundred for McCain gives you long odds). Now that we are steaming through February, primary season is looming in the Great state of Texas and Ron Paul ultimately wants to save his Congressional hide.

From The Politico:

Last night, the libertarian-leaning Texas congressman sent a message to his supporters signaling that he was scaling back his presidential bid.

The most telling passage:

"I also have another priority. I have constituents in my home district that I must serve. I cannot and will not let them down. And I have another battle I must face here as well. If I were to lose the primary for my congressional seat, all our opponents would react with glee, and pretend it was a rejection of our ideas. I cannot and will not let that happen."

Same as Kucinich, Paul has seen a real primary threat emerge back home. In both cases -- and see my colleague Josh Kraushaar's piece as a primer -- the challengers have made the case that the local congressman is gallivanting around the country on a quixotic quest, has lost touch with the folks back home and has taken stances out of line with the district.

Ron Paul may not be a Don Quixote, but with his millions in campaign funds, it'll be interesting to see what he'll do with that cash. Running for reelection in his part of Texas only costs a fraction of what he's got. Rumor has it The fact is the NRCC is nearly broke (and under investigation) and I'm sure they would love some of that dough. Though I doubt that Ronnie would be too willing to part with it for the type of Republicans that the NRCC tries to recruit.

NY For Paul Sounds The Death Toll For Rudy!

Despite how I feel on the issues (and there are many) with Ron Paul, I never question the tenacity of his minions. One in particular here in the Empire state by the name of Jim Ostrowski caught the eye of the Daily Politics though they didn't post this link to his blog. Perhaps they just got an official press release, whatever, the point is, NY for Ron Paul came out hard against Giuliani in their bid to win New York. Of course it is highly unlikely for Paul to win anything besides his current six delegates and multiple wins over Rudy Giuliani. Nevertheless, if they can beat Rudy, they can say stuff like this.

Buffalo, New York. January 21, 2008. Thousands of supporters of Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul are promising to work hard to pull a major upset in the primary election scheduled for February 5th, New Yorkers for Ron Paul announced today. Jim Ostrowski, one of the group’s organizers said: “Now that Rudy Giuliani’s campaign has collapsed, New York State is wide open and we intend to fight hard for those 87 delegates.”

In the winner-take-all primary, 87 delegates will be awarded, the largest single block of Republican delegates in the country. Recent polls show John McCain gaining on Giuliani but reports are that a new poll will show John McCain ahead. “That’s because of publicity from New Hampshire,” Ostrowski said, “not because of any great enthusiasm for McCain who lost here in 2000.”

Fresh off his best showing, 14% and second place in Nevada, Ron Paul is poised to enter the first rank of presidential contenders on Super Tuesday. Ostrowski said that “when New York Republicans hear Ron Paul’s message of lower federal spending, border security and avoidance of costly nation-building oversees, they will vote for Ron Paul over Washington insider McCain.” Ostrowski noted that Ron Paul’s proposed spending cuts will particularly help New York which traditionally sends more tax dollars to Washington than it gets back.

“Before you vote for John McCain, ask yourself: can he beat Hillary Clinton in November?” Ostrowski said. He noted that Ron Paul exit polls show him doing well among the very groups a Republican needs to attract in November: independents, opponents of the Iraq War, moderates and young people who want the country to move in a different direction from the one that Washington insiders like Clinton and McCain have in mind.

Wow, fourteen percent in Nevada, thats.......still terrible, especially in a more libertarian-minded state than most. Paul certainly has raised a lot of money and fame, but votes are still few and way too short of the *cough* front runners. I know, they're all terrible on the right and anyone could have a shot, but the likelihood of Paul emerging from that dust cloud is still slim to none.

P.S. Thanks for dissing Rudy, I still loving hearing sweet nothings like that.

Ron Paul Wouldn't Appreciate Bloomberg's Efforts

Our Mayor/potential candidate for President got together with Governor Ahhhhnuld and Governor Rendell to talk about infrastructure recently. Although their politics differ in many regards, apparently having good roads to drive on and rails to carry freight is something they all agree on. I wish that our current President cared, but we already know that he doesn't give a shit about anything. That goes for much of Congress and all of the Republican candidates for President, especially Ron Paul, who wants to do away with the IRS because, well, we survived as a nation before the income tax started in 1913. Um, Ronnie, you know you couldn't have driven across the U.S. at that point in time with any kind of speed or efficiency because there wasn't a national highway system at the time (funded by taxes in case you Paulites didn't know, roads just don't grow on trees). Ok, thats enough about Paul, its time to get down to business.

From The NY Times:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg attacked Washington politicians on Saturday for what he called short-sighted, politically motivated spending while the nation’s roads, bridges and airports fall apart.

“Infrastructure isn’t sexy or glamorous, and it doesn’t make for great headlines,” Mr. Bloomberg said in Los Angeles, “but it is one of the most important issues facing our country.

“And make no mistake about it, we have an infrastructure crisis.”

Joined by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican, and Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, the mayor announced the creation of a nonpartisan organization that will advocate for more, and smarter, federal spending on infrastructure.

The organization, Building America’s Future, will comprise elected officials and others, and it will be financed by the Rockefeller Foundation, a frequent collaborator with the mayor on pet projects.

Oh yeah, that asphalt is smokin! Of course it is even hotter to ride those rails. Thats where America's future should be built more and more.

Ron Paul Forgot About The U.S.S. Cole

Whoops, the anti-war candidate of the right forgot about the events not even eight years ago, that's gotta hurt when your in a crowd of warhawks like McCain, Giuliani et al.

Ron Paul The Racist?

CNN's Anderson Cooper did a big story on Ron Paul's highly controversial newsletters from the late 80s and early 90s the other day. It goes the terrible things that are said in there, but never really got to the bottom of the story. When Ron Paul was confronted about them, he claims he has no idea who wrote them and doesn't feel like investigating who did. Let the past be the past? That's bullshit, this is the race to be President, Paul better expect this to be dragged out until he either comes clean about what was written or slowly die out on the campaign trail.



Seriously Ronnie, expose the writer if it wasn't you.

Hannity Flees Chanting Ron Paulites

There's nothing quite like watching Sean Hannity on the run. I've met the man before at a radio industry convention and I must say he was as disgusting in person as he is on television. He had nothing but insults for my employer at the time (I'm sure you can guess what radio station I'm talking about). Now that his network tried to throw out Ron Paul from the debate, while Giuliani can't even match his numbers, they are getting their due. Watch out cliff, here comes Sean!

The Only Place Ron Paul Will Is In A Fantasy Land

Ron Paul has proved he can earn gobs of money, the scorn from both the political left and right and millions upon millions of hits on the World Wide Web, but all the pundits want to know...can he make a statement in the World of Warcraft? Ok, most politicos have probably never heard of this, it is an interactive video game where people can fight each other online with mythical creatures and what not.

Since Ron Paul is having trouble breaking into any polls and has a slim chance at winning any sizeable blocs of votes come caucus and primary days, he's going to have to settle for a fantasy land....or at least a virtual march through this video game.

From RawStory:

On New Years Day, Paul-backing devotees of the online multiplayer game are planning a march through WoW's sprawling virtual universe to show support their candidate. Participants will be represented by one of an array of mythical avatars that populate the fantasy-themed game, in which players take on adventures and duel against rival characters.

WoW Insider, who first reported the story, says political activism should have a home in the game.

"Now, we here at WoW Insider are politically neutral when it comes to Warcraft, so we won't advocate joining these guys (and we also won't advocate forming a 'Horde for Hillary'guild to oppose them)," writes the blog's Mike Schramm. "But we are 100% in support of bringing widescale opinion expression of any kind into the game itself, so this should definitely be a fun event."

Personally, I'll be sleeping in for a good part of the day, but if video game players want to watch a few dozen or even a few hundred (if they're lucky) Ron Paul supporters use their computers or USB-connected video game controllers to 'march' on the World of Warcraft, then so be it. If I was Mr. Paul I'd take anything I could get....and apparently he does.

Ron Paul Presses The Meat

I was about to pay for coffee this morning when I found this written on one of my dollar bills, it certainly qualified for my first laugh of the day but it is Ron's positions, and his hypocrisy that makes me chuckle most. Tim Russert fails to counter him on relevant points, but that isn't anything special for Timmy boy.

Well Paulites, come hither and attack me for those earmarks of Paul's, or simply sidestep the subject as most of you do.

Glenn Beck Wants To Tongue Ron Paul?

Parents, shield your children's eyes, everyone else remember to swallow the coffee before reading this or else the monitor will be splattered because when it comes to Glenn Beck, he can always catch the audience off-guard (perhaps thats what he hardly has much of an audience). The Beckster invited libertarian Republican candidate Ron Paul on the show and he really got Glenn's rocks off, semi-literally that is.

From Crooks and Liars:

Download (577) | Play (697) Download (420) | Play (345) (h/t Bill)

Warning: Do not view this clip within one hour of eating, as it may induce severe gastrointestinal distress and/or vomiting.

Ron Paul joins Glenn Beck to further his platform of eliminating taxes and the IRS. I’ll leave aside the fact that a presidential candidate is endorsing citizens break existing laws as a “reasonable civil disobedience” and merely point out that while I think everyone can get behind not having our taxes go to wasteful projects like the black hole of the Iraq occupation or bridges to nowhere, our taxes also pay for a lot of really good things as well–like federal infrastructure, education and health care for seniors and veterans, and I can’t believe people could have spent the last seven years with the Bush Administration and not see the value of keeping those programs funded.

But piddly little details like that do not bother Glenn Beck. In fact, Beck finds himself quite aroused by Ron Paul.

GB: What is your proposal?

RP: Mine is to get rid of the IRS and not replacing it with anything by cutting a lot of spending, because we lived without an income tax before 1913, so I’m not interested in the flat tax or the…or the sales tax. Although anything would be better.

GB: Yeah. Just what you’re saying. I mean, you’re speaking, you’re speaking…you know. If we weren’t both men…you know. I’d like to french kiss you on the whole abolishing the IRS thing… You had me at hello.

I seriously do not want to hear about Glenn Beck french kissing on TV, whether its Dina Sansing, Ron Paul or anyone else. You would think Glenn could show a little respect to the candidate, even if he is for abolishing our modern way of life (at least after 1913).

Why You Should NOT Vote For Ron Paul

Everyone knows about Ron Paul now. He broke the record for most amount of money raised in a single day, gets a ridiculous amount of hits for his name on the internet and is a dark horse in the Republican primary, specifically for his anti-war stance and pulling troops out of Iraq. It all sounds so good at first, but there is more to the man than meets the eye. Generally for a politician, you can see below the skin from policy positions and especially from his voting record.

From DailyKos:

Ron Paul wants the US to withdraw from the UN or at least from UNESCO.

Ron Paul has authored legislation saying that life begins at conception, to prevent federal money from being spent on family planning (that would include contraception), and has tried to amend the Constitution to "guarantee the right to life."

Ron Paul has tried to repeal the Occupational Health and Safety Act, to abolish the minimum wage, and to eviscerate Social Security.

Ron Paul wants guns in schools.

Ron Paul has tried to repeal the Davis-Bacon Act to guarantee employees of federal contractors the prevailing wage and wants to make it easier to decertify a union.

Ron Paul wants to amend the Constitution to end birthright citizenship.

Ron Paul wants to dismantle the Federal Reserve and prepare for a return to the Gold Standard, which would destroy the economy.

And those are just the beginning, there are many, many, many more where that comes from. So to those moderate-conservative Democrats and Independents out there considering their support for Ron Paul, you better think twice before going into that polling booth.

PBS Goes After Ron Paul

Not to attack him, just to see what the hell is going on with this Republican dark horse. Here is PBS's advance edition, airing on December 14th:

Pimps For Paul

I don't know if the Republican-Libertarian will start a Pimps for Paul link on the campaign website, but the endorsement from Dennis Hof is certainly making headlines. After hearing what Paul had to say in person, the owner of the infamous Bunny Ranch is set to raise money for the Republican dark horse. He'll be calling on his bunnies to do the same.

From The Reno Gazette-Journal:

After sitting through a 20-minute press conference with Paul, Hof vowed to put up a collection box outside the door of his Moonlight Bunny Ranch brothel to take up contributions for the candidate who he says, "Makes a lot of sense, doesn't he?"

"I'll do it today," he said. "I'll get all the Bunnies together and we can raise him some money. I'll put up a collection box outside the door. They can drop in $1 dollar, $5 dollar contributions. What a great way for the working girls to support Ron Paul. It's just the right thing to do."

Paul's campaign was surprised to see Hof, flanked by two prostitutes, emerge from a limousine outside of Lawlor Events Center this morning. They arrived with MSNBC journalist Tucker Carlson, who has been traveling with Paul for a piece he's writing for the New Republic. (Carlson stopped to pose with Brooke Taylor above. Photo by James Ball, RGJ)

"Dennis Hof is a good friend of mine, so when we got to Nevada I decided to call him up and see if he wanted to come check this guy out," Carlson said.

Hmm, Carlson is a good friend of Hof's? That isn't too surprising I guess, Carlson can go wherever he pleases to get his rocks off. That's none of my business, just something to think about, thats all.

Back to Paul, his spokesman sees no problem in accepting the money. I wouldn't know why anyone would want to bring it up, especially when you look at where the other candidates get their cash from. It isn't the most set-upon endorsement someone could get, but hey, it's news nonetheless.

Will Ron Paul Support Impeachment?

Paul talked to students last week about limited government and what the constitution is supposed to be about. To him, the purpose of our cherished document is to preserve liberty and restrain the government. Well under Bush, our liberties have been hampered and now it is time to restrain the Executive in our government. It is written in there that when confronted with a tyrant, we must impeach him out of office.

So what say you Ron?

Taking Ron Paul Seriously

Everyone is paying attention to Ron Paul. Internet fanatics have loved the web traffic about him for a while. Now political bigwigs are opening their ears, eyes and minds at the incredible amount of money he raised in one single day. I would love to see a people-powered Democrat raise cash like that but it is still a testament to the increasing status of the Internet.

Now, will it translate into votes? Obama and Dean will be watching for sure.

The Big Chin Meets The Republican No Neo-Cons Like

Ron Paul's New Message

For the New Hampshire voters that love to "live free or die." No other Republican certainly endorses the state motto like he does.