We are about a month away from Election Day. And what a sad event it will be.
Ron Paul was not nominated by the GOP, and they are regretting their candidate
more and more. Romney cannot open his mouth without putting in foot. Last night he
did not do so badly against Obama, but O has his weak points, such as the economy, OK,
not really his fault, except for the fact that he, the good Democrat, once again drove the
getaway car as the GOP robbed the American banks.
But that's another story. We've, uh, 'moved on.' To a park bench because that is the only
place that some Americans call home. And if Romney gets in, we may run out of those
as he might call them a false sense of entitlement. Coming from the mouth of a man who did
no service (as Dr Paul did - in wartime) this is rubbish.
I met Romney once; shook his hand, the whole bit. He held a fund raiser here in NYC
at the Sheraton Centre midtown, I got on the list with actor Mike Stranger, and he had his
cell phone out for the moment I got to shake Romney's hand. Which almost did not happen, as I am
not one of his rich kid groupies. After mentioning that I was an ex serviceman, one of about
all of three in the crowd of 500, he reluctantly allowed me to shake hand - and I told him
to his face that he was a weak, selfish and foolish person who would destroy America, then
asked him to step down.
SECURITY! All around me his acolyutes and paid thugs pushed me back, and grabbed Mike's
cell phone. DAMAGE CONTROL! OK, the party was winding down and I agreed to leave -
but NO, they wanted to arrest me - for embarrassing a candidate. That did it. These thugs were
not cops or even decent strongarms. I told them if they even tried I would get them arrested
and proceeded to embarrass his hapless attendees - who had paid $2,500 to get in - and Romney
did not even provide any drinks, as he boasted. Suckers!
I heard the BBC gave an account of it and talked about how in the US dissenters are dealt with. At
least I did not get tasered like some who go against the GOP.
So in a way, I guess I stand to gain from his getting in. I will have confronted and embarrassed
a president of the US. Not enough to die happy, but a modest gain for me; but not for the US,
and I hope he does not win.
And Paul may not either. OK, barring a miracle, he is off to write his memoirs, but solid and honest
memoirs they will be of decades of public and medical service.
Romney, ironically, came close to getting in - had he chosen the Latin candidate, Marc Rubio, as his
running mate, he could have scored big time - but no, he chose some Ayn Rand reading bozo
he would be more comfortable with instead.
The Latin community is perhaps better off not having this association. I hear many of them
are voting for O - but as the lesser of two evils. They are not fooled. Romney is already a
footnote to them, and they have as much as written his obituary: Humberto Caspa,
in El Diario/La Prensa, 25 Septeber, has this to say:
'A Romney solo le importa Romney.'
Translation - 'The only thing that matters to Romney is Romney.'
Enough said. If only everyone understood this months ago, the GOP might have nominated Paul.
But geschehen ist geschehen. So I accept that he will not be president, my support made probably no
difference, and all I can do at this point is wish him a happy retirement.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Ron Paul talks about hemp in Dakota
Few candidates talk about such real issues as hemp, of which the first American flag was made, and which could bring jobs to the US. Some candidates may be nothing more than foreign agents hoping to obfiscate for years and keep Americans from getting jobs. Ron Paul is for Americans getting industry. This causes foreing American hating agents positioned in the press, including the Murdoch press, to take aim at him so Murdoch loving America haters can get in the candidate of their choice. Below is an article about Ron Paul talking to real Americans in North Dakota:
Friday, February 3, 2012
Latin radio on the GOP hustings
In the last four years, the Latin community has added 2 million voters; 500,000 Latins a year turn 18. And they are not usually inclined to vote GOP. Such facts were pointed on by Fernando Escuelas, and his guest, Congressman Luis Guitierrez earlier this week on Radio Wado, 1280AM in New York.
In yesterday's New York Daily News a reader's letter was full of thanks to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich - for sealing the election for Obama this year.
But it does not have to be that way. Dr Ron Paul, who has a district full of Hispanics, many of whom are prosperous and contribute to his constant reelection success, is the one candidate who can get the Latin vote and beat Obama.
It seems that Romney and Gingrich go out of their way to lose the Latin vote; even when trying to pander to the Hispanic voter, the alienate him. Earlier posts on this blog by Carlos Reyes go into great detail on this, and Guitierrez pointed out that Romney and Gingrich tell Latins there are jobs in the military - which only highlights their deferments in the war. Rich kids who are ducking duty only to leave it to poor kids whom they hope will vote for them is how it pans out.
Maybe they do not think how this makes Ron Paul look good. By doing nothing, but letting these clowns speak, he looks good. Fact is he did not duck out. He was a doctor in the US Air Force, and continued in medical practice after his term.
There has not been much about him on the Latin radio, but let's see what happens with the Nevada primary, where he and his team will be talking to the largest growing bloc of voters. In general, he has been getting more press, including an entire article in the New York Times which is the post just before this one.
In yesterday's New York Daily News a reader's letter was full of thanks to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich - for sealing the election for Obama this year.
But it does not have to be that way. Dr Ron Paul, who has a district full of Hispanics, many of whom are prosperous and contribute to his constant reelection success, is the one candidate who can get the Latin vote and beat Obama.
It seems that Romney and Gingrich go out of their way to lose the Latin vote; even when trying to pander to the Hispanic voter, the alienate him. Earlier posts on this blog by Carlos Reyes go into great detail on this, and Guitierrez pointed out that Romney and Gingrich tell Latins there are jobs in the military - which only highlights their deferments in the war. Rich kids who are ducking duty only to leave it to poor kids whom they hope will vote for them is how it pans out.
Maybe they do not think how this makes Ron Paul look good. By doing nothing, but letting these clowns speak, he looks good. Fact is he did not duck out. He was a doctor in the US Air Force, and continued in medical practice after his term.
There has not been much about him on the Latin radio, but let's see what happens with the Nevada primary, where he and his team will be talking to the largest growing bloc of voters. In general, he has been getting more press, including an entire article in the New York Times which is the post just before this one.
NYT article on Ron Paul campaign in Nevada
Yesterday the New York Times (p. A18) had an article about Ron Paul and his campaign in Nevada. It reminded me of the vibe in the room at the Sheraton 10 days ago when Mitt Romney's people were whispering their fears of Ron Paul and the possibility that he would go third party. Richard A Oppel Jr. here writes about inside the GOP and how they are sometimes against Paul, but are having to accept him.
If they gave two minutes attention to the largest growing voter bloc in the US, the Latin vote, they would nominate him tomorrow; but there are too many Romneys in the party, who blatantly admit they do not care about the poor. Ron Paul does. And time the GOP cares about Ron Paul. See below for some an inside look at this:
HENDERSON, Nev. — Four years ago, an angry and dispirited educational database expert named Carl Bunce walked out of Nevada’s state Republican convention after party leaders shut down the proceedings rather than let Representative Ron Paul’s supporters nominate delegates for the national convention in St. Paul.
Max Whittaker for The New York Times
{Robert Terhune, seated at the computer, signs up Paul campaign volunteers in Reno, Nev.}
Mr. Bunce and a handful of other Paul backers made the trip to Minnesota, but he said that once there they were harassed by other Republicans who threatened to tear off their Paul buttons and even trailed them into bathrooms.
Today, Mr. Bunce, 35, is running Mr. Paul’s Nevada campaign from a strip mall in this Las Vegas suburb. But this time, he and other Paul supporters are in the vanguard of the Nevada Republican Party: After the ugly scene at the state convention, they decided to work with the party that they felt had treated them as pariahs. It took time, and some rivalries remain intense, but now Mr. Paul’s Nevada backers are part of the state Republican machinery.
“Why commit suicide, and why protest like crazy people?” Mr. Bunce remembers thinking after being slighted at the convention in St. Paul. “We decided to choose our battles, and we moved into the party. To get involved in an organization, you have to be part of it.”
A quarter of the Republican Party membership in Clark County — which includes Las Vegas — are now Paul backers, estimates Tim Williams, the county party’s political director. Four of Nevada’s 17 county Republican chairmen are also supporters, according to Mr. Bunce. And Robert List, the state’s Republican national committeeman and a former governor, says four or five members of the state party’s 12-member executive board are backing Mr. Paul.
The turnabout showcases Mr. Paul’s long-term goal of changing the party from within, and highlights how, whether he wins or loses in Saturday’s caucuses, Mr. Paul is likely to be a force to be reckoned with should there be a fractured nominating fight that drags on throughout the spring. Efforts to work within the party leadership have also been eagerly embraced by his son Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, whom many Paul supporters see as the eventual heir to his legacy.
The Nevada caucuses now loom as a key test for Mr. Paul’s movement: After forgoing an expensive winner-take-all primary in Florida where they had no chance of success, his campaign is wagering all it has on Nevada and other coming votes in smaller-market caucus states like Colorado and Maine, part of a strategy to skim delegates in contests where they are awarded proportionally, based on the number of votes.
At stake for Mr. Paul in these caucuses and primaries is not the Republican nomination but whether his support structure will finally grow from what some establishment Republicans deem no more than a fringe effort driven by a handful of issues to a movement with the leverage to dictate policy and platform changes to the national Republican Party and its nominee.
“If nothing else, they are going to have to find a way to bring the Ron Paul people in, or risk losing to Barack Obama,” said James Smack, 44, a bank branch manager in rural Churchill County, Nev., who was elected vice chairman of the Nevada Republican Party last year with support from Paul backers and Tea Party supporters.
“The nominee marginalizes the Ron Paul people at his own peril,” said Mr. Smack, a Paul activist at the fateful state convention four years ago. “Placating them with some talking points isn’t going to work.”
Indeed, supporters’ hopes that Mr. Paul will be able to influence the wider Republican organization are a major reason that despite fourth-place finishes in the past two primaries, in South Carolina and Florida, his backers — and his fund-raising — remain robust.
Yet to some extent how much real leverage he can attain with the national party remains an open question and depends on how he performs in a series of contests to come, starting with Nevada, where he won 14 percent of the vote four years ago.
Expectations are even higher this year, but Mr. Paul faces a major hurdle: Mitt Romney’s strong base of support and organization here. In 2008, Mr. Romney won 51 percent of the vote, the same as in his home state, Massachusetts. Surveys of voters at the time showed that 9 out of 10 Mormons — about a quarter of Nevada caucusgoers — voted for Mr. Romney. While Mr. Romney seems to have had a ceiling of support in some other states, Republican officials here say the religious dynamic suggests he has a floor at about 25 percent.
Paul organizers hope to dent that through a heavy regimen of training for local organizers as well as relentless phone-banking. Some people who have indicated a preference for Mr. Paul say they have been called three times in recent days by campaign workers reminding them of the time and place of their local caucus.
“They are still seen as very strident and committed to their candidate,” said Mr. List, the former governor, who is now a lawyer in Las Vegas and has not endorsed any presidential candidate. But the relationships between Paul supporters and more establishment Republicans in the state are now “relatively harmonious,” he said, adding that is partly a reflection of Mr. Paul’s relaxed style. “They have increasingly been integrated within the party structure, and they are very active at the local levels and county levels and in our state organization.”
Mr. List doubts Mr. Paul can carry the state on Saturday but says he will walk away with delegates. “He’ll find friends wherever he goes,” Mr. List said. “He’s a bit of a phenomenon in this state.”
Friday, January 27, 2012
Albor Ruiz and the Hispanic press in NY on Ron Paul and Mitt Romney
The New York Daily News, which has not so far been partial to Dr Paul, gave him a good word on Wednesday (25 Jan.), when Albor Ruiz, in his article titled "GOP candidates play Cuba card to 'please' " - noted that the candidates were willing to say anything to "please" - exept for Ron Paul, of course...
The Latin GOP vote seems to be exclusively his - note that his district contains many Spanish speaking voters and they return him to office year after year.
In Saturday's (28 Jan.) El Diario/La Prensa, V. Morales Pagan writes an article titled "Romney so es amigo de PR" - pointing out that Romney was responsible for hundreds of job losses in the '90s in Puerto Rico; one victim of the unemployment was driven to consider suicide.
Romney has never been a friend of the Hispanic community. Utah, Michigan and Massachusetts are not states with a large percentage of Latin Americans.
In contrast, and as noted above, Congressman Paul has a good amount of them for supporters in Texas, and they will be reaching out to their brethren in the US to vote for Paul. No other GOP candidate has this base of support - that is why a recent article in El Diario/La Prensa was titled "Republicanos con problema ante latinos." It focused, however, on Romney and Gingrich and certainly did not include Paul as an example of GOP attitude against the Latin community.
Florida will be interesting, but even if, as Romney is hoping, he gets the Cuban vote in that state, he has no chance of getting the Latin vote in the rest of the nation. After Florida expect Romney to fall by the wayside.
Watch closely the Latin vote in these hustings, it has not yet been heard, but it will be.
The Latin GOP vote seems to be exclusively his - note that his district contains many Spanish speaking voters and they return him to office year after year.
In Saturday's (28 Jan.) El Diario/La Prensa, V. Morales Pagan writes an article titled "Romney so es amigo de PR" - pointing out that Romney was responsible for hundreds of job losses in the '90s in Puerto Rico; one victim of the unemployment was driven to consider suicide.
Romney has never been a friend of the Hispanic community. Utah, Michigan and Massachusetts are not states with a large percentage of Latin Americans.
In contrast, and as noted above, Congressman Paul has a good amount of them for supporters in Texas, and they will be reaching out to their brethren in the US to vote for Paul. No other GOP candidate has this base of support - that is why a recent article in El Diario/La Prensa was titled "Republicanos con problema ante latinos." It focused, however, on Romney and Gingrich and certainly did not include Paul as an example of GOP attitude against the Latin community.
Florida will be interesting, but even if, as Romney is hoping, he gets the Cuban vote in that state, he has no chance of getting the Latin vote in the rest of the nation. After Florida expect Romney to fall by the wayside.
Watch closely the Latin vote in these hustings, it has not yet been heard, but it will be.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Ron Paul is the only candidate who can get the Latin vote
Mitt Romney has struck out with the fastest growing sector of the US voting public: the Latin vote.
That said, he has allies among them in Florida - but that, as the rest of the Hispanic population is pointing out, is as far as it goes. No less a columnist that Maribel Hastings has trashed him in the largest Spanish language paper in the US, El Diario/La Prensa. Carlos Reyes sent over the entire article and provided a simple summary in English as follows, with the article posted below:
Romney is two-faced, and the Latin population in the US has rejected his attempts to woo their vote. True, he has allies in Florida, and may pick one for his running mate, but the Cuban vote is not typical of the Latin vote over all, and in the other 49 states, he will lose it. The Latin community smells a rat with this man and will avoid him, with many leaders already calling for this to happen.
Below is the full article in Spanish:
Maribel Hastings
That said, he has allies among them in Florida - but that, as the rest of the Hispanic population is pointing out, is as far as it goes. No less a columnist that Maribel Hastings has trashed him in the largest Spanish language paper in the US, El Diario/La Prensa. Carlos Reyes sent over the entire article and provided a simple summary in English as follows, with the article posted below:
Romney is two-faced, and the Latin population in the US has rejected his attempts to woo their vote. True, he has allies in Florida, and may pick one for his running mate, but the Cuban vote is not typical of the Latin vote over all, and in the other 49 states, he will lose it. The Latin community smells a rat with this man and will avoid him, with many leaders already calling for this to happen.
Below is the full article in Spanish:
Maribel Hastings
Allana el terreno enarbolando posturas migratorias extremistas contraproducentes
Con la primaria republicana de Florida en puerta, la primera que manifiesta ampliamente el cortejo del voto hispano del estado del Sol, no deja de sorprender que republicanos como Mitt Romney sigan pensando que la estrategia que aplican para apelar al voto cubanoamericano del Sur floridano es la estrategia ganadora para atraer al voto latino del resto del paÃs en una elección general.
En el caso de Romney, el aparente casi seguro nominado presidencial republicano, resulta no sólo sorprendente sino indignante que mientras busca el apoyo del voto hispano de Florida, o más bien del voto cubanoamericano del Sur de la Florida con anuncios en español y cafecitos, su retórica antiinmigrante siga subiendo de tono, deseche cada vez más la reforma migratoria integral, amenace con vetar incluso el proyecto de ley DREAM Act –ambas cosas promovidas por los polÃticos cubanoamericanos que lo apoyan–, y para colmo, se jacte del apoyo recibido del arquitecto de las leyes antiinmigrantes de Arizona, Alabama y Carolina del Sur, Kris Kobach, una de las figuras más extremistas y divisivas del paÃs en el tema migratorio.
Como la moneda, Romney tiene dos caras.
Romney ya tiene en su esquina a los hermanos DÃaz-Balart, Lincoln y Mario, ex congresista y congresista republicanos de Florida, respectivamente, a la congresista Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, y a una lista de ex funcionarios de la administración de George W. Bush, entre esos, el ex senador, ex Secretario de Vivienda y ex presidente del Comité Nacional Republicano (RNC), Mel MartÃnez, y al ex Secretario de Comercio, Carlos Gutiérrez, todos defensores de la reforma migratoria integral y del DREAM Act para legalizar a jóvenes indocumentados que quieren proseguir estudios universitarios o ingresar a las Fuerzas Armadas.
Todas estas figuras argumentan ahora que la elección general será determinada por la economÃa y que Romney tiene las ideas para ayudarla a repuntar. Es decir, nada importa que su postura en inmigración sea diametralmente opuesta a lo que han defendido por años.
Es de esperarse que los anuncios en español, los cafecitos y el apoyo de estas figuras que hace cuatro años prefirieron al senador John McCain como candidato presidencial republicano sobre Romney, impulsen al ex gobernador de Massachusetts en la preferencia de los electores cubanoamericanos de Florida.
Aunque Romney emerja triunfante de la primaria floridana y con una mayorÃa del voto cubanoamericano en su columna, la verdadera prueba de fuego para cualquier republicano sigue siendo atraer ese 40% del voto hispano en la elección general de noviembre.
Ni siquiera en Florida, donde se concentra el voto cubanoamericano más conservador del Sur del estado, eso está garantizado porque en otras partes del estado, particularmente en el corredor I-4, ese voto se diluye con el sufragio de electores puertorriqueños que tienden a apoyar más a los demócratas.
Romney, como otras figuras republicanas, está apostando al descontento de un sector del sufragio hispano con las promesas incumplidas del presidente Barack Obama de impulsar y promulgar una reforma migratoria integral y en su lugar deportar una cifra récord de inmigrantes.
Pero lo que olvidan republicanos como Romney es que el voto cubanoamericano no es la norma en el resto del paÃs y que sus posturas migratorias extremas, particularmente contra los jóvenes que se beneficiarÃan del DREAM Act, son rechazadas por una mayorÃa de esos votantes hispanos que ya sea por lazos familiares, de amistad o por empatÃa, apoyan en grandes cifras una reforma amplia de las leyes migratorias, el DREAM Act y se ofenden ante las expresiones de los candidatos en contra de los inmigrantes, o de las cuestionables alianzas como la de Romney con Kobach.
Incluso en el voto cubanoamericano hay sectores que defienden el DREAM Act y que durante el intento fallido de aprobar la medida de manera independiente a fines del 2010 expresaron su rechazo a quienes se opusieron al proyecto por tratarse de jóvenes que no decidieron por cuenta propia ingresar a Estados Unidos sin documentos.
También persiste el rumor de que Romney estarÃa considerando sumar al senador cubanoamericano de Florida, Marco Rubio, como su compañero de fórmula, para atraer al voto hispano. Quizá lo ayude en Florida, pero no con el voto hispano del resto del paÃs tener a otra figura opuesta a la reforma amplia y al DREAM Act, o al menos con posturas ambivalentes.
Como digo una cosa digo la otra. El presidente Barack Obama y los demócratas, aunque tienen el apoyo de la mayorÃa del voto hispano, tienen ante sà el gran reto de movilizarlo en cifras suficientes que garanticen su reelección en estados clave y por ende, a la presidencia.
Pero figuras como Romney le están allanando el terreno enarbolando posturas migratorias extremistas que serán contraproducentes en atraer ese sufragio en la elección general.
Eliseo Medina, secretario-tesorero del Sindicato Internacional de Empleados de Servicios (SEIU), dijo que Romney necesitará más de un cafecito para conseguir el voto hispano en una elección general.
Y el congresista demócrata de Illinois, Luis Gutiérrez, lo resumió asÃ: “Los votantes latinos pueden oler a un farsante y pueden oler que eso es lo que Mitt Romney es. Y si Mitt Romney cree que puede sacudirse la hediondez (de sus posturas antiinmigrantes) seleccionando a Marco Rubio como su compañero de fórmula, deberÃa pensarlo mejor”.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Coast to Coast, Ron Paul and the NDAA
George Noory and Linda Mouton Howe on Coast to Coast had their hands full this morning, with Jonathan Eamord, David Simmon, Tyrell Ventura, Gerald Solante and Alex Jones weighing in about the National Defense Authorisation Act and the Enemy Expatriation Act - the latter poised to strip US citzens of their citizenship and their rights - without due process.
The acts are heinous and unconstitutional; no surprise that Obama signed the NDAA on New Years' Eve, when everyone was out celebrating and he could sneak it in. This NDAA allows the Department of Defense to arrest citizens and indefinitely detain them without charge or evidence.
Scarier still, it was voted on by the legislators almost without resistance.
Almost, but not quite; three guesses whose name came up constantly in the discussions. Yesterday, for instance, Ron Paul put forward a bill to amend this. Not that he got a lot of support.
I am sitting here in NYC in Carolyn Maloney's district, and she has been avoiding me when I call about the hemp bill, and she will now have to work extra hard because I will be calling now about the NDAA.
But let's get back to Ron Paul. Tuesday his name came up at the Mitt Romney fund raiser at the Sheraton - where I was famously almost arrested for the 'crime' of embarrassing a candidate by
some of his fly-by-night security guards - because his supporters were anxiously whispering that he might take a third party route; and they were afraid of it. There was visible tension over the issue.
And if he does, Terell Ventura informs us, he just may get the best VP in US history - Tyrell's dad, Jesse.
So we live in interesting times, and if half of what Alex Jones tells us, we are about to be
bombarded with Level 4 germs and shot by the Army on orders of POTUS. I take Alex Jones with a grain of salt, but unfortunately, much of what he says comes true. So I do not arrogantly dismiss it.
But even without the dire predictions of this Texan broadcaster, this act is simply stupid. And Ron Paul is sensible; he opposes it, and so do I.
But the rest of the GOP candidates and Obama are do not oppose this, and that is why Ron Paul gets more contributions from military personnel than all the other GOP candidates and Obama put together - 74%.
The acts are heinous and unconstitutional; no surprise that Obama signed the NDAA on New Years' Eve, when everyone was out celebrating and he could sneak it in. This NDAA allows the Department of Defense to arrest citizens and indefinitely detain them without charge or evidence.
Scarier still, it was voted on by the legislators almost without resistance.
Almost, but not quite; three guesses whose name came up constantly in the discussions. Yesterday, for instance, Ron Paul put forward a bill to amend this. Not that he got a lot of support.
I am sitting here in NYC in Carolyn Maloney's district, and she has been avoiding me when I call about the hemp bill, and she will now have to work extra hard because I will be calling now about the NDAA.
But let's get back to Ron Paul. Tuesday his name came up at the Mitt Romney fund raiser at the Sheraton - where I was famously almost arrested for the 'crime' of embarrassing a candidate by
some of his fly-by-night security guards - because his supporters were anxiously whispering that he might take a third party route; and they were afraid of it. There was visible tension over the issue.
And if he does, Terell Ventura informs us, he just may get the best VP in US history - Tyrell's dad, Jesse.
So we live in interesting times, and if half of what Alex Jones tells us, we are about to be
bombarded with Level 4 germs and shot by the Army on orders of POTUS. I take Alex Jones with a grain of salt, but unfortunately, much of what he says comes true. So I do not arrogantly dismiss it.
But even without the dire predictions of this Texan broadcaster, this act is simply stupid. And Ron Paul is sensible; he opposes it, and so do I.
But the rest of the GOP candidates and Obama are do not oppose this, and that is why Ron Paul gets more contributions from military personnel than all the other GOP candidates and Obama put together - 74%.
One recurring question on the show was "why are they doing this?" It seems that it was manipulated past the press rather skillfully, though it is not hard to get stuf past the press, so maybe it is just laziness on their part - but still, why this bill and why the secret meetings with the Department of Defense? Gerald Solante gave us a bleak outlook of the economy, as well he might, having been burnt in the Jon Corzine affair - for those of you not quite familiar with that, perhaps because the press is a bit too lazy to make you familiar with it, Corzine is a former governor of New Jersey, and was involved in a fund where $1.6billion disappeared just as fast as the $2.3trillion from the Pentagon did just before 9/11. Google around if this is news to you. If not, you will know that there is serious theft going on and that the same people benefitting from it are making laws to put American citizens behind bars stripped of their rights. And maybe the American citizens they decide to arrest will be the ones asking hard questions. Jones opined that maybe this was all to hide their crimes, giving them power to protect themselves from investigation and angry, ripped off taxpayers, and said: "that's why they're scared that Ron Paul is introducing legislation to repeal the provision."
He noted that Sen Joe Lieberman may have subconsciously admitted what they were after when he said "I want you to be scared."
And I want most of you out of office and under investigation. Lock them up till they 'find' the millions, uh, billions, uh, make that trillions, they 'lost.' And let's not hear any more about this NDAA and the EEA.
What next, forced microchipping on our hands and foreheads?
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Ron Paul and the Latin vote
Just in from Carlos Reyes, who blogs at http://www.cuentasdebolivia.blogspot.com/
The candidates debates are getting more and more numerous here...but most seem to miss a large part of the audience, the ever growing Latino voter. UP 26% from 2008, it is now 12 million here in los Estados Unidos. Do the math; a winner needs at least 50 million votes. Even though the selection for the president is not based on a clear majority, it is done by electoral college, a system somewhat unique to this country, there is still a numbers game. So 12 million will make or break it for the candidate.
The candidates debates are getting more and more numerous here...but most seem to miss a large part of the audience, the ever growing Latino voter. UP 26% from 2008, it is now 12 million here in los Estados Unidos. Do the math; a winner needs at least 50 million votes. Even though the selection for the president is not based on a clear majority, it is done by electoral college, a system somewhat unique to this country, there is still a numbers game. So 12 million will make or break it for the candidate.
And then there is the black vote. And the Asian vote, and that of many other groups. Just now, Obama may think he has most of the minorities and is safe. Four years ago he could think so; but four years is a long time in politics. So he may be in for a serious disappointment; which some say he has been.
Personally, I don't think he is quite such a disappointment - but then again, how did he let the bankers off in the latest round of Wall Street scandals? That hurt everyone. And he ought to have sent the bums to jail, not bailed them out. I just mean that I do not blame him for everything, or the general state of the economy, which is bad worldwide. Too may candidates are making their platform out of an anti-Obama tirade. Michele Bachman comes to mind, who was mentioned in El Diario/La Prensa (the largest Spanish largest daily in the US) as having, after Mitt Romney, the largest possibility of winning the GOP nomination. Heaven help us! She is so gaff prone that it scares me so bad I would rather see Obama in...I mean, the woman does not know her American history...and she brags about a John Wayne coming from her hometown, oddly named 'Waterloo'...which she has right except that the JW from Waterloo is not the star of the silver screen but rather a JW Gacy who screwed young men in Chicago and then chopped them up. No one, least of all all a Hispanic, wants a woman from Waterloo with a pyscho killer living down the road from her to be in the White House.
And the other candidates scare me as well, some simply for their lack of experience...or the fact that they quit the job they had to go on a campaign trail...
But on a positive note, there is one candidate in the GOP roster who has a good chance of getting that crucial 12 million votes: Ron Paul, who was listed as being in 4th back in November among the GOPers but has soared to second. He is a doctor (as was Che Guevara...apropos of doctors, and just to digress a bit...) and a former flight surgeon in the US Air Force...no draft dodger here.
His issues are spot on, with the economy at the top of the list. His district, in heavily Hispanic Houston-Galveston area of Texas, is doing very well. And of course, there is the big issue of immigration, which he is very realistic about. I say that in light of the fact that many think that to woo the Latin community they ought to go out and let in every last illegal and give them free this and free that. En absoluto; which translates as absolutely not. Those of us born here want to help our hermanos as much as we can, but we also have a respect for the law, and balance our desires in the light of reality. The US simply cannot let in everybody and their hermano...Nations have borders, whether they are between Texas and Mexico or Venezuela and Colombia. And people must work within the law or we would all just be stepping on each other. There is a problem with immigration to such an extent that it is not just illegals intruding into the realm of the anglo-sajone, but to the point that illegals are intruding upon their legal cousins and causing trouble in the ethnic communities in which they try to assimilate. And it cannot just simply go on.
That said, Obama is the only GOP candidate NOT endorsing the 'send 'em all back' mantra
or wishing to have an armed border.
Recently Obama visited Puerto Rico, in a veiled move to secure millions of votes - the boricua vote being the largest of any Spanish speaking voters. It may or may not work; the precedent for it is JFK, who gained a lot of support from that quarter, which has voted largely democrat ever since. That is how the likes of Charles Rangel stay in power here after all the scandals - bear in mind also he invests in the Dominican Republic, at least that is where he had his house which got him in trouble with the IRS.
The GOP seems to alienate many Latin voters, especially the likes of John McCain who after being against a border fence with Mexico is now supporting it and blaming the recent wild fires on illegal aliens; as if there were no other source of forest fires in the summer in Arizona. The Latin community was itself aflame at his remarks, which were rebutted by the likes of Fernando Escuelas here in NY on Radio Wado (1280 AM) on 21 June. It is one thing to be realistic about immigration - but another to fan the flames of rhetoric with unfounded accusations that target the Latin community - there has been enough of that lately, what with Casey Anthony trying to blame the death of her daughter on the maid, and the news reporter falsely crying rape and blaming non-existent Hispanics. That the GOP should join this chorus does not do much to secure 12 million votes.
What the GOP supporting Hispanic sees in this party is the pro-life stance, especially as over 10 million of those votes are Catholic; but was not JFK of that flock? And few people seem to know this, but Joe Biden is also a Catholic.
From perusing the Latin press, it would seem that the Latino vote is not set to go GOP - read Chris Canavan opining in El Diario/La Prensa on the 4th of July - and it is clear that the GOP, and its hardcore cousin the Tea Party, are not seen in a good light; he writes: "Al paracer, Bachman y sus aliados en el Tea Party prefieren ignorar la vision de Madison y, en su lugar, apoyar a una minoria en el congreso que promete detonar una bomba atomica si no consigue todas sus demandas." In plain English, it seems that Bachman and her mates in the Tea Party perfer to ignore Madison's ideas and replace them with their own, supporting a minority in Congress that will set off an atomic bomb if their demands are not met.
Of Democrats, who I personally see as much the same, I do not find such rhetoric in this or any other major Spanish language paper. Perhaps the fact that this paper is published in NY, along with a slew of others down to the freebies such as El Especialito - gives it a pro-Democrat slant; 11 out of 13 local reps are Democrats here, all or most long term incumbents. (12 out of 13 it was until Rep Weiner got caught with his pants down...)
And after such exposure Little Anthony got replaced by Bob Turner of the GOP, due in part to the Latino voters on Long Island.
Obama will not go as easily as Weiner; but whether he goes or stays I can guarantee will depend on the Latino vote. Which is not leaning towards the GOP lately, especially as Mitt Romney is in the lead. Romney, the son of a Mexican immigrant, well, technically, as his father was born in Mexico and came to the US at the age of five, is against most immigrants, as Albor Ruiz noted so well a few days ago in the New York Daily News - just in time to cast light on Romney's efforts to recruit the Latin vote in Florida. Today I heard this effort laughed at on 1280AM. So no wonder that in a room of 500 or so fundraisers last night at the Sheraton, right here in NYC with millions of Hispanics, there was not one to be found; the room was whiter than KKK meet in the deep south.
So with the far right of the GOP, or with the KKK, he may have made his mark. But he and most other GOP candidates these days are not wooing the 12 million.
It would behoove the GOP to choose the candidate(s) that will secure that for them, and Ron Paul is now the only choice.
Meeting Mitt Romney
Tonight a friend and I were on the list for a Mitt Romney fundraiser at the Sheraton in Manhattan. We went, we saw, and we were a bit puzzled. First off, it was completely devoid of any ethnic group other than white; which is my own, and I am proud of it, but this is America and something so unrepresentative of the US public as a whole, that is trying to represent and govern the US population as a whole, is off pitch. It also had a very low percentage of veterans - in a room of about 500 people, when asked to raise our hands, only about three hands appeared; and one of them was mine. So do the math; it was a bit awkward. Lots of rich white people who had little or no military experience between them trying to get a rich white man into the position of Commander-in-Chief of the world's largest military.
Then Mitt spoke; actually somewhat well at first, let me give him some credit, he is not a bad speaker. But then he went on and on, reciting stanzas of the US national anthem, and seguing into a story about how he personally took a casket of a dead soldier to the grieving parents, and how everyone on the plane had their hands on their hearts etc etc etc. He jerked those tears a bit too much, and should have refrained from using this family's loss as his personal photo op. When I reached out my hand to him and mentioned that I was a former serviceman, his face went dead and he could not turn away from me fast enough.
I guess he likes his servicemen dead in a casket. That kind does not talk back; that kind does not tell him that America needs a better man than him to lead, as I did. I came at him live, and all I got for it was a ridiculous security detail telling me it was a crime to embarrass the candidate.
A crime? Well, maybe, yes, somewhere in the world I am sure it is. But this was NYC, part of NY state, part of the US of A. Not a crime. A right. Then they told me not to leave, and physically blocked me from leaving. Which, as any American citizen might well know, is a crime. I was on the way out. They had no right to obstruct my exit. They would have been in their rights to open wide the door and see me out into the night, tossing out the dissenter with various exhortations about going to the lower realms, but instead they tried to hold me and threaten me with arrest. But none dared call the police, as they knew damn well what would happen. The NYPD does not allow itself to be used as a silencing tool for politicians. If they had made arrests, it would not have been me.
So their tough guy antics just served as welcome comic relief after listening to Mitt Romney making long speeches about how he loves the military - probably in an attempt to block out the reality of his multiple deferments. He needs to cut that nonsense out and refrain from threatening servicemen if they show up and ask him hard questions. Which they have every right to do - they fight for that right to exist when they join up. Romney did not fight for that right; he fought against it.
Truth will out. And it will embarrass people like Romney. But thanks to the Constitution, everybody here, whether they were in the military or not, have that right....unless maybe Romney gets in and sics his goon squad on us.
So I hope he doesn't. And I also hope that the US gets a better president that Romney, hopefully someone with real military service.
So my friend, who they told to stop filming this, met me outside and we just had a laugh about the whole episode. Lots of clowns get lots of money and try to buy the White House but we're pretty certain this is not going to happen. Watch for Mitt Romney to get voted out of any states that have lots of servicemen or non-white populations. The GOP would do well to take note of his lousy performance in NY and start thinking seriously about a candidate with a wider base of appeal and military service.
Then Mitt spoke; actually somewhat well at first, let me give him some credit, he is not a bad speaker. But then he went on and on, reciting stanzas of the US national anthem, and seguing into a story about how he personally took a casket of a dead soldier to the grieving parents, and how everyone on the plane had their hands on their hearts etc etc etc. He jerked those tears a bit too much, and should have refrained from using this family's loss as his personal photo op. When I reached out my hand to him and mentioned that I was a former serviceman, his face went dead and he could not turn away from me fast enough.
I guess he likes his servicemen dead in a casket. That kind does not talk back; that kind does not tell him that America needs a better man than him to lead, as I did. I came at him live, and all I got for it was a ridiculous security detail telling me it was a crime to embarrass the candidate.
A crime? Well, maybe, yes, somewhere in the world I am sure it is. But this was NYC, part of NY state, part of the US of A. Not a crime. A right. Then they told me not to leave, and physically blocked me from leaving. Which, as any American citizen might well know, is a crime. I was on the way out. They had no right to obstruct my exit. They would have been in their rights to open wide the door and see me out into the night, tossing out the dissenter with various exhortations about going to the lower realms, but instead they tried to hold me and threaten me with arrest. But none dared call the police, as they knew damn well what would happen. The NYPD does not allow itself to be used as a silencing tool for politicians. If they had made arrests, it would not have been me.
So their tough guy antics just served as welcome comic relief after listening to Mitt Romney making long speeches about how he loves the military - probably in an attempt to block out the reality of his multiple deferments. He needs to cut that nonsense out and refrain from threatening servicemen if they show up and ask him hard questions. Which they have every right to do - they fight for that right to exist when they join up. Romney did not fight for that right; he fought against it.
Truth will out. And it will embarrass people like Romney. But thanks to the Constitution, everybody here, whether they were in the military or not, have that right....unless maybe Romney gets in and sics his goon squad on us.
So I hope he doesn't. And I also hope that the US gets a better president that Romney, hopefully someone with real military service.
So my friend, who they told to stop filming this, met me outside and we just had a laugh about the whole episode. Lots of clowns get lots of money and try to buy the White House but we're pretty certain this is not going to happen. Watch for Mitt Romney to get voted out of any states that have lots of servicemen or non-white populations. The GOP would do well to take note of his lousy performance in NY and start thinking seriously about a candidate with a wider base of appeal and military service.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Appeal to Iowa caucus voters to support Ron Paul
Today is the first day of the New Year. So far, so good. And even better that Ron Paul is gaining in the polls.
I happen to have some ties to his constituency, after all, it is my business address - my sister and I moved Minawear - a natural clothing company using hemp and other natural textiles - to it after many years in Santa Monica. In my youth I joined the navy in Houston, which is Ron Paul country. His district is one of the largest in the nation - about the size of the state of Massachusets. It is doing much better economically than that state, and much better than other districts on average. They call it the Golden Triangle.
So I have I guess a very basic reason to support Paul: the economy, stupid. But there are other reasons. One is the military. For starters, Paul was in. An officer and a doctor during Vietnam. Added to this he is balanced on his military thinking, not just running around gung-ho like some other candidates, many of whom were never in uniform. No surprise that there is presently a groundswell of support from active and former serviceman such as myself.
And then there is his initiative to create jobs in the US. That ought to be JOBS. Again, the economy stupid. But not without the ecology. What Paul wants is to make hemp - from which the first flag was made - and on which the original copy of the US Constitution was printed - legal for US farmers to grow. Some are against it, especially if they do not want the US to compete with China. Or to have its own textile industry, or manufacture paper....or use it for 25,000 other uses, as Popular Mechanics noted it had.
I spend most of my time on the East Coast. And I see what Santorium and Romney have done. And I compare it to what Paul has done. And I pray to God Paul wins.
And my plea to my fellow beings in Iowa is that you back the man who has the years of experience, military service, professional standing, is a veteran of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Banking Committee - Congressman Ron Paul. For a stronger America.
I happen to have some ties to his constituency, after all, it is my business address - my sister and I moved Minawear - a natural clothing company using hemp and other natural textiles - to it after many years in Santa Monica. In my youth I joined the navy in Houston, which is Ron Paul country. His district is one of the largest in the nation - about the size of the state of Massachusets. It is doing much better economically than that state, and much better than other districts on average. They call it the Golden Triangle.
So I have I guess a very basic reason to support Paul: the economy, stupid. But there are other reasons. One is the military. For starters, Paul was in. An officer and a doctor during Vietnam. Added to this he is balanced on his military thinking, not just running around gung-ho like some other candidates, many of whom were never in uniform. No surprise that there is presently a groundswell of support from active and former serviceman such as myself.
And then there is his initiative to create jobs in the US. That ought to be JOBS. Again, the economy stupid. But not without the ecology. What Paul wants is to make hemp - from which the first flag was made - and on which the original copy of the US Constitution was printed - legal for US farmers to grow. Some are against it, especially if they do not want the US to compete with China. Or to have its own textile industry, or manufacture paper....or use it for 25,000 other uses, as Popular Mechanics noted it had.
I spend most of my time on the East Coast. And I see what Santorium and Romney have done. And I compare it to what Paul has done. And I pray to God Paul wins.
And my plea to my fellow beings in Iowa is that you back the man who has the years of experience, military service, professional standing, is a veteran of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Banking Committee - Congressman Ron Paul. For a stronger America.
Support gathers for Ron Paul
Ron Paul, as we predicted, is overtaking the rest of the GOP candidates. After months of ignoring his sensible, level headed policies, the media are forced to take note and in the last two weeks there has been a plethora or pieces written on him. In mid-December, Katharine Q. Seelye in the New York Times noted "After Mr. Cain suspended his campaign on Dec. 3, many non-Romney, non-Paul voters coalesced around Mr. Gingrich....A November poll by the Des Moines Register placed him second in Iowa behind Mr. Gingrich, with the support of 18 percent of likely caucusgoers."
Note the words "behind Mr Gingrich." Then fast forward a week to Christmas day when the same reporter, talking about Gingrich's failure to even get on the ballot in Virginia, has this to say of Newt: "The misstep is bad news for Mr. Gingrich on several levels. Virginia is his adopted home state. Failing to gather enough signatures in one's backyard creates an image problem, at the very least." The state is one of 10 that vote on 6 March, known as Super Tuesday.
Some of the reporting on Paul was negative, as the press scramble to give its readers some idea of who he was, they turned to some old newsletters and found some articles that he had not written that they used to put him in a bad light - Jim Rutenberg and Richard A. Oppel Jr., on the 20th of December published an article titled "New Focus On Bias In Articles Paul Printed." Then it all disappeared as quickly as it came. Someone else tried to imply he was anti-Israel, conveniently forgetting that he was the only GOP congressman to defend Israel in 1981. Paul may be said to be neutral in Israel and more concerned with US interests than what other countries are doing. Aliyah Shahid of the New York Daily News on Christmas Eve weighed in with a distraction to all this when he talked about the Donald dumping the GOP - as if that made any difference to anyone.
That same day, in the Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal, David Yepsen, a longtime political correspondent for the Des Moines Register, noted that the one candidate attracting hordes of new people is Ron Paul. He follows with criticism of the GOP for their stance on immigration, which is alienating people of Latino ancestry and driving them into the Democratic Party. Prescient this was as Romney was to take a hard line stance on immigration during the holiday season, which saw most GOP candidates busy as beavers in Iowa. The NYT on the 27th went into detail about all of this, their poor reporters forced to spend their holidays far from 8th Avenue; some went even further and ventured yet further, going far afield of the main activitiy in Des Moines, where they noted that Ron Paul was operating in small towns like Maquoketa, a three-hour drive from the Iowa capital.
Wherever the canvassing was taking place, the fight was getting rough, and the NYT reported on the 30th that a wealthy Republican called up two servicemen to fly his private jet around Iowa and attack Ron Paul for his foreign policy. This never happened, and in the same article (by Richard A. Oppel Jr.) it is reported that "Mr Paul's national security positions drew raves from many veterans, students and others..." Quoting Ret USArmy Sgt 1st Class Tony Snook, the article showed strong support for Paul from the service. Snook noted: "He would get us out of our difficulties overseas. You should choose your fights wisely." Snook, it mentioned, was wounded in Iraq in 2007. Oppel went on to note that active-duty and retired service members overwhelmingly lean to Mr. Paul, who received almost double the amount of contributions that all the other GOP candidates together received in September. He is certainly gaining strength, and his opponents senseless attacks are not working. What is working is his common sense; Bill Watson, a former GOP central committeeman, summed it up for the article: "If you listen to him long enough, he makes more sense."
And people are now listening long enough, not being dissuaded by wealthy GOP members with private jets or ignorant journalists.
One person listening is Kelly Clarkson, the first ever "American Idol" winner, whose popularity shot up just after she tweeted her support for Paul; her new song, "Stronger", shot up on Amazon from #38 to #2 and is on Apple's iTunes charts at #10.
That's all for now folks, I am going out to buy a copy of "Stronger" and hope you will too...and of course, vote for Ron Paul - so this nation can be stronger.
Note the words "behind Mr Gingrich." Then fast forward a week to Christmas day when the same reporter, talking about Gingrich's failure to even get on the ballot in Virginia, has this to say of Newt: "The misstep is bad news for Mr. Gingrich on several levels. Virginia is his adopted home state. Failing to gather enough signatures in one's backyard creates an image problem, at the very least." The state is one of 10 that vote on 6 March, known as Super Tuesday.
Some of the reporting on Paul was negative, as the press scramble to give its readers some idea of who he was, they turned to some old newsletters and found some articles that he had not written that they used to put him in a bad light - Jim Rutenberg and Richard A. Oppel Jr., on the 20th of December published an article titled "New Focus On Bias In Articles Paul Printed." Then it all disappeared as quickly as it came. Someone else tried to imply he was anti-Israel, conveniently forgetting that he was the only GOP congressman to defend Israel in 1981. Paul may be said to be neutral in Israel and more concerned with US interests than what other countries are doing. Aliyah Shahid of the New York Daily News on Christmas Eve weighed in with a distraction to all this when he talked about the Donald dumping the GOP - as if that made any difference to anyone.
That same day, in the Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal, David Yepsen, a longtime political correspondent for the Des Moines Register, noted that the one candidate attracting hordes of new people is Ron Paul. He follows with criticism of the GOP for their stance on immigration, which is alienating people of Latino ancestry and driving them into the Democratic Party. Prescient this was as Romney was to take a hard line stance on immigration during the holiday season, which saw most GOP candidates busy as beavers in Iowa. The NYT on the 27th went into detail about all of this, their poor reporters forced to spend their holidays far from 8th Avenue; some went even further and ventured yet further, going far afield of the main activitiy in Des Moines, where they noted that Ron Paul was operating in small towns like Maquoketa, a three-hour drive from the Iowa capital.
Wherever the canvassing was taking place, the fight was getting rough, and the NYT reported on the 30th that a wealthy Republican called up two servicemen to fly his private jet around Iowa and attack Ron Paul for his foreign policy. This never happened, and in the same article (by Richard A. Oppel Jr.) it is reported that "Mr Paul's national security positions drew raves from many veterans, students and others..." Quoting Ret USArmy Sgt 1st Class Tony Snook, the article showed strong support for Paul from the service. Snook noted: "He would get us out of our difficulties overseas. You should choose your fights wisely." Snook, it mentioned, was wounded in Iraq in 2007. Oppel went on to note that active-duty and retired service members overwhelmingly lean to Mr. Paul, who received almost double the amount of contributions that all the other GOP candidates together received in September. He is certainly gaining strength, and his opponents senseless attacks are not working. What is working is his common sense; Bill Watson, a former GOP central committeeman, summed it up for the article: "If you listen to him long enough, he makes more sense."
And people are now listening long enough, not being dissuaded by wealthy GOP members with private jets or ignorant journalists.
One person listening is Kelly Clarkson, the first ever "American Idol" winner, whose popularity shot up just after she tweeted her support for Paul; her new song, "Stronger", shot up on Amazon from #38 to #2 and is on Apple's iTunes charts at #10.
That's all for now folks, I am going out to buy a copy of "Stronger" and hope you will too...and of course, vote for Ron Paul - so this nation can be stronger.
Surprising turn around in New York Post
The New York Post usually seems to be anti-Paul, but an article by Jacob Sullum on 24th December is 100% in support, and rebuts the obnoxious critics. In its entirety, here it is below:
"Ron Paul vs. Empire"
Reporters routinely describe Ron Paul's foreign policy views as "isolationist" because he opposes the promiscuous use of military force. This is like calling him a recluse because he tries to avoid fistfights.
The assumption that violence is the only way to interact with the world reflects how oddly circumscribed foreign-policy debates are in mainstream US politics and why Paul's perspective is desperately needed in the GOP.
As the Texas congressman has explained many times, he supports international trade, travel, migration, diplomacy and cultural exchange. He supports military action when it's necessary for national defense - in response to the 9/11 attacks, for example.
The innaccurate "isolationist" label marks Paul as a fringe character whose views can be ignored. Given the dire consequences of reckless interventionism, that clearly isn't the case.
This week, America officially ended its Iraq war, nearly nine years after launching it based on the false claim that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to us because he had weapons of mass destruction.
The war, which replaced a brutal dictator with a corrupt government that may not be able to maintain peace, cost us $800 billion and nearly 4,500 American lives. More than 100,000 civilians were killed.
The regime American installed in Afghanistan is even weaker and more corrupt than the one in Iraq. Ten years later, we still have 100,000 troops in Afghanistan. So far, the war has cost about $500 bilion, 1,800 American lives and thousands of civilain casualties.
The United States would've avoided both of these costly nation-building projects if Congress had listened to Paul - or even to George W. Bush circa 2000, who (as Paul frequently notes) ran on a premise of a "humble" foreign policy that would not aim to solve all the world's problems. Now that the same people who supported the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are portraying Iran as an intolerable threat, some Paulian skepticism surely is appropriate.
That's especially true when the federal government borrows 36 cents of every dollar it spends, racking up a debt as big as the entire US economy. At the Nov. 22 debate, Paul corrected Mitt Romney, who complained that the Obama adminstration is "cutting a trillion dollars out of the defense budget." Actually, Paul said, "they're not cutting anything"; rather, "they're nibbling away at baseline budgeting and its automatic increases."
America has its military personnel in 150 countries, has nearly doubled its defense budget in the last decade and accounts for more than two-fifths of the world's military spending.
Paul challenges this mindless militarism. "We have an empire," he bluntly noted at the same debate. "We can't afford it."
For 35 years Paul has spoken truths that foreing policy mavens pf both parties prefer to ignore: that the Constitution give Congress alone the power to declare war, that unjustified interventions breed resentment that undermines our security, that there is a difference between military spending and defense spending, that foreign aid rewards autocrats and their cronies and that economic sanctions are an "act of war" that hurts people in the name of punishing the governments that oppress them.
If there's really no room for these arguments in the GOP, that it the party's fault, not Paul's.
"Ron Paul vs. Empire"
Reporters routinely describe Ron Paul's foreign policy views as "isolationist" because he opposes the promiscuous use of military force. This is like calling him a recluse because he tries to avoid fistfights.
The assumption that violence is the only way to interact with the world reflects how oddly circumscribed foreign-policy debates are in mainstream US politics and why Paul's perspective is desperately needed in the GOP.
As the Texas congressman has explained many times, he supports international trade, travel, migration, diplomacy and cultural exchange. He supports military action when it's necessary for national defense - in response to the 9/11 attacks, for example.
The innaccurate "isolationist" label marks Paul as a fringe character whose views can be ignored. Given the dire consequences of reckless interventionism, that clearly isn't the case.
This week, America officially ended its Iraq war, nearly nine years after launching it based on the false claim that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to us because he had weapons of mass destruction.
The war, which replaced a brutal dictator with a corrupt government that may not be able to maintain peace, cost us $800 billion and nearly 4,500 American lives. More than 100,000 civilians were killed.
The regime American installed in Afghanistan is even weaker and more corrupt than the one in Iraq. Ten years later, we still have 100,000 troops in Afghanistan. So far, the war has cost about $500 bilion, 1,800 American lives and thousands of civilain casualties.
The United States would've avoided both of these costly nation-building projects if Congress had listened to Paul - or even to George W. Bush circa 2000, who (as Paul frequently notes) ran on a premise of a "humble" foreign policy that would not aim to solve all the world's problems. Now that the same people who supported the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are portraying Iran as an intolerable threat, some Paulian skepticism surely is appropriate.
That's especially true when the federal government borrows 36 cents of every dollar it spends, racking up a debt as big as the entire US economy. At the Nov. 22 debate, Paul corrected Mitt Romney, who complained that the Obama adminstration is "cutting a trillion dollars out of the defense budget." Actually, Paul said, "they're not cutting anything"; rather, "they're nibbling away at baseline budgeting and its automatic increases."
America has its military personnel in 150 countries, has nearly doubled its defense budget in the last decade and accounts for more than two-fifths of the world's military spending.
Paul challenges this mindless militarism. "We have an empire," he bluntly noted at the same debate. "We can't afford it."
For 35 years Paul has spoken truths that foreing policy mavens pf both parties prefer to ignore: that the Constitution give Congress alone the power to declare war, that unjustified interventions breed resentment that undermines our security, that there is a difference between military spending and defense spending, that foreign aid rewards autocrats and their cronies and that economic sanctions are an "act of war" that hurts people in the name of punishing the governments that oppress them.
If there's really no room for these arguments in the GOP, that it the party's fault, not Paul's.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)