Tuesday, June 14, 2011
New Hampshire GOP debate: Ron Paul highlights
Link to youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HIcLh_C04U
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Man kicked out of national park because of Ron Paul bumper sticker
Rutherford Institute News: 05/20/2011 -
BLACKSBURG, S.C. — The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a 73-year-old Virginia resident who was allegedly ordered by a park ranger to remove his car from a national military park in South Carolina because of political messages attached to his vehicle. Jack Faw, whose ancestors fought in the historic battle memorialized at Kings Mountain National Military Park, contacted The Rutherford Institute after being told by a park ranger that the decal promoting a political organization associated with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), which was displayed on the back window of Faw's car, was not allowed in the park. In a legal letter to Park officials, constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead warned that the ranger's directive, which resulted in Faw being forced to leave the park, violated Faw's First Amendment rights, as well as National Park Service regulations. Whitehead also demanded assurances that Park employees will be properly instructed in how to respect the constitutional rights of visitors to the Park so that Faw and others will not face similar restrictions in the future.
Whitehead's letter to officials at Kings Mountain National Military Park is available here.
"The display of political messages from a vehicle is unquestionably expression protected by the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "This type of censorship is what you would expect in some foreign regime, not a public park in America."
Jack Faw is a frequent visitor to Kings Mountain National Military Park in Blacksburg, S.C., which marks the site where three of his ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. Faw visited the park on May 6, 2011, en route to his home in Virginia. Soon after arriving and in the midst of his tour through the exhibits, Faw was approached by a park ranger who asked Faw to come into the ranger's office. The ranger informed Faw that he must remove his car from the parking lot because it displayed a political decal that is not allowed in National Parks. On the rear window of Faw's passenger vehicle is a translucent decal promoting "Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty," an organization dedicated to reestablishing and furthering the principles embodied in the United States Constitution. Although Faw protested that he had a right to display the decal and asserted it was not causing any disturbance, the ranger insisted that the car be removed from the park, at which point Mr. Faw felt compelled to comply with the order and left the Park.
Insisting that National Park employees be properly educated about basic constitutional precepts in order to ensure that this incident is not repeated, attorney John Whitehead reminded Park officials that visitors to National Parks do not forfeit their First Amendment rights to speech and expression. Indeed, noted Whitehead, Faw's political messages on his vehicle appear to be wholly consistent with and allowable under regulations promulgated last October by the National Park Service concerning expressive activities by the public within National Parks. Furthermore, not only is the display of a political message on a vehicle unquestionably expression protected by the First Amendment, but a federal appeals court recently ruled that the right of citizens to freedom of speech applies within the confines of National Parks.
BLACKSBURG, S.C. — The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a 73-year-old Virginia resident who was allegedly ordered by a park ranger to remove his car from a national military park in South Carolina because of political messages attached to his vehicle. Jack Faw, whose ancestors fought in the historic battle memorialized at Kings Mountain National Military Park, contacted The Rutherford Institute after being told by a park ranger that the decal promoting a political organization associated with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), which was displayed on the back window of Faw's car, was not allowed in the park. In a legal letter to Park officials, constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead warned that the ranger's directive, which resulted in Faw being forced to leave the park, violated Faw's First Amendment rights, as well as National Park Service regulations. Whitehead also demanded assurances that Park employees will be properly instructed in how to respect the constitutional rights of visitors to the Park so that Faw and others will not face similar restrictions in the future.
Whitehead's letter to officials at Kings Mountain National Military Park is available here.
"The display of political messages from a vehicle is unquestionably expression protected by the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "This type of censorship is what you would expect in some foreign regime, not a public park in America."
Jack Faw is a frequent visitor to Kings Mountain National Military Park in Blacksburg, S.C., which marks the site where three of his ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. Faw visited the park on May 6, 2011, en route to his home in Virginia. Soon after arriving and in the midst of his tour through the exhibits, Faw was approached by a park ranger who asked Faw to come into the ranger's office. The ranger informed Faw that he must remove his car from the parking lot because it displayed a political decal that is not allowed in National Parks. On the rear window of Faw's passenger vehicle is a translucent decal promoting "Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty," an organization dedicated to reestablishing and furthering the principles embodied in the United States Constitution. Although Faw protested that he had a right to display the decal and asserted it was not causing any disturbance, the ranger insisted that the car be removed from the park, at which point Mr. Faw felt compelled to comply with the order and left the Park.
Insisting that National Park employees be properly educated about basic constitutional precepts in order to ensure that this incident is not repeated, attorney John Whitehead reminded Park officials that visitors to National Parks do not forfeit their First Amendment rights to speech and expression. Indeed, noted Whitehead, Faw's political messages on his vehicle appear to be wholly consistent with and allowable under regulations promulgated last October by the National Park Service concerning expressive activities by the public within National Parks. Furthermore, not only is the display of a political message on a vehicle unquestionably expression protected by the First Amendment, but a federal appeals court recently ruled that the right of citizens to freedom of speech applies within the confines of National Parks.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Deconstructing mainstream media coverage of Ron Paul's presidential bid
Ron Paul has received prominent media coverage since announcing his candidacy for president last week. I have been interested to see how the corporate media treated Paul this time around since he was treated abysmally during the 2008 campaign; however, his ideas have continued to gain popularity since then, and his economic views are highlighted by the ongoing economic crisis. After watching several of the televised interviews with Dr. Paul in the last week it is possible to ascertain a continuity of agenda in the questions posed to Paul. The current "playbook" of talking points used by the corporate media to characterize Paul consist of at least three key inferences:
1. Ron Paul and his views are "controversial".
2. Ron Paul wants to legalize heroin.
3. Ron Paul supports segregation (i.e. Ron Paul is racist).
In this first interview, slimeball Chris Matthews allows his totalitarian inclinations to shine through his liberal facade when he states "freedom doesn't seem to work" (that admission is at the 4:15 mark):
The host of Fox News Sunday also implied that Ron Paul wants to legalize heroin:
Watching this latest round of media appearances I was reminded of Paul's appearance on "Meet the Press" during the 2008 campaign when Tim Russert aggressively dogged Paul for the duration of the entire program:
1. Ron Paul and his views are "controversial".
2. Ron Paul wants to legalize heroin.
3. Ron Paul supports segregation (i.e. Ron Paul is racist).
In this first interview, slimeball Chris Matthews allows his totalitarian inclinations to shine through his liberal facade when he states "freedom doesn't seem to work" (that admission is at the 4:15 mark):
The host of Fox News Sunday also implied that Ron Paul wants to legalize heroin:
Watching this latest round of media appearances I was reminded of Paul's appearance on "Meet the Press" during the 2008 campaign when Tim Russert aggressively dogged Paul for the duration of the entire program:
Friday, May 13, 2011
RON PAUL OFFICIALLY ENTERS 2012 PRESIDENTIAL RACE
After lying dormant for three years the Rational Man: Ron Paul blog has sprung back to life. Why has this blog been resurrected? Because this morning Ron Paul officially announced his candidacy for president in the Republican primary. Speaking from New Hampshire Paul told "Good Morning America" that the time is right for another Ron Paul run. Here's the clip at Politico.
Here is a Youtube clip of the entire GMA interview. As is typical of the corporate media apparatus, the introductory package emphasizes Paul's ideological support for decriminalizing prostitution and hard drugs, but makes no mention of his efforts to audit the private Federal Reserve.
Paul's announcement should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the news stories about him the last few months. In April he won the South Carolina presidential straw poll (the runner up in S.C. was Mitt Romney, an old favorite of the Rational Man blog). And just last week a CNN poll found that Ron Paul has the best chance of beating Barack H. Obama in 2012, and a 1-day "moneybomb" fundraiser netted more than one million dollars from Paul supporters.
In February Ron Paul won the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll for the second year in a row. During the live coverage of the announcement Fox News aired footage from the 2010 straw poll when Romney-zombies could be heard booing when Paul was declared the winner. Later a Fox News infobabe apologized and assured the audience it was an "honest mistake". The two clips are below: first, a break down of the deceptive Fox News coverage, then the clip of the apology. Be sure to check out the 4:40 mark of the first video when the audience erupts into cheers, chants "Ron Paul!", and the speaker has to wait for the commotion to die down before announcing Paul as the winner.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
McCain lives on; Clinton prolongs inevitable
The only news out of the Pennsylvania Primary tonight is concerned with the Democratic race for the White House, as John McCain saddled into frontrunner status for the GOP nomination a long time ago. The question of most import on the Republican side now is when McCain will announce Mitt Romney as his pick for running mate. Regardless of who McCain chooses as his VP, you can rest assured that 2012 will be the year of Romney. Tonight, however, belongs to Hillary Clinton.
Clinton’s win gives her at least 66 more delegates for the party’s national convention. Obama still holds the overall lead in delegates. Here is analysis of the results from ABC News, and a supplemental report from the International Herald Tribune.
The conclusive victory in Pennsylvania was late-coming tonight, the vote lingering in the air for several hours as “too close to call.” A microcosm of the Democratic presidential contest it appears. Many commentators and political analysts (including at least some of Clinton’s own advisors) had declared Pennsylvania a “must-win” for Clinton, noting that even a substantial victory margin would merely put a dent in Obama’s significant lead in popular vote and number of delegates.
I had gotten my hopes up for the possibility of a Clinton withdrawal as early as tomorrow. Clearly that is not going to be the case. Who knows how much longer the Democratic race will be stretched out, or how much longer it can afford to. There is no doubt in my mind that the Pennsylvania vote will be interpreted in terms of race by many pundits and political prognosticators. Early exit polling data regarding the voting intentions of minority voters was used by some to paint a picture of racial division and phylogenic nepotism. News writeups on Pennsylvania keep referring to Clinton’s “hard fought” victory there. From where I’m sitting it’s hard to tell who’s doing what fighting, never mind the merits of each side’s efforts.
Clinton’s win gives her at least 66 more delegates for the party’s national convention. Obama still holds the overall lead in delegates. Here is analysis of the results from ABC News, and a supplemental report from the International Herald Tribune.
The conclusive victory in Pennsylvania was late-coming tonight, the vote lingering in the air for several hours as “too close to call.” A microcosm of the Democratic presidential contest it appears. Many commentators and political analysts (including at least some of Clinton’s own advisors) had declared Pennsylvania a “must-win” for Clinton, noting that even a substantial victory margin would merely put a dent in Obama’s significant lead in popular vote and number of delegates.
I had gotten my hopes up for the possibility of a Clinton withdrawal as early as tomorrow. Clearly that is not going to be the case. Who knows how much longer the Democratic race will be stretched out, or how much longer it can afford to. There is no doubt in my mind that the Pennsylvania vote will be interpreted in terms of race by many pundits and political prognosticators. Early exit polling data regarding the voting intentions of minority voters was used by some to paint a picture of racial division and phylogenic nepotism. News writeups on Pennsylvania keep referring to Clinton’s “hard fought” victory there. From where I’m sitting it’s hard to tell who’s doing what fighting, never mind the merits of each side’s efforts.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Just what Ron is talking about
Today U.S. gold futures touched upon several records and leveled out above $1,000 an ounce, as the American dollar hit more record lows against foreign currency. This article from the Wall Street Journal looks at the crude oil figures. Here is a write-up from Reuters. Financial speculators suggest investors want precious metals that can support their portfolios better than the waning U.S. economy.
Of course, this news contains special interest for Ron Paul enthusiasts. The hegemony of the dollar in this credit-based economy and the gold standard have been key issues in the Paul platform, in the current presidential campaign as well as during his time in the congress. Mainstream press coverage of these financial rumblings still leaves the question of whether the county is in a recession up for debate. Congressman Paul has been directing attention to the growingly obvious recession for some time.
In response to today’s gold news, an essay by Paul was posted on his official campaign site. Dated April 23, 2006 and entitled “What the price of gold is telling us,” the article explores the history behind the events making today’s headlines. To quote the executive summary:
“One of the characteristics of commodity money-- one that originated naturally in the marketplace-- is that it must serve as a store of value. Gold and silver meet that test-- paper does not. Because of this profound difference, the incentive and wisdom of holding emergency funds in the form of gold becomes attractive when the official currency is being devalued. It’s more attractive than trying to save wealth in the form of a fiat currency, even when earning some nominal interest. The lack of earned interest on gold is not a problem once people realize the purchasing power of their currency is declining faster than the interest rates they might earn. The purchasing power of gold can rise even faster than increases in the cost of living.”
You can read the entire piece here.
John McCain’s anointment as presidential nominee shoo-in by the Republican Party meant that the news coverage of the campaign would shift its focus from the remaining Republican contenders to the Hillary and Obama battle royal. In discussing the presidential race with others I have found that many people are puzzled by Paul’s continuing campaign as a GOP contender, which seems to them like a painfully prolonged kamikaze bombing run. Some are struck by Paul’s apparent tenacity in what they perceive as a hopeless enterprise. Clearly McCain will represent the Republicans in the coming election; Paul’s pledge to be present at the party’s national convention seems futile, even more so than initiating a third party candidacy.
At this juncture I think it is safe to say that Paul is more concerned with retaining his seat in congress than with nabbing the White House. However, I look forward to the Republican National Convention in September (surprisingly not on the 11th, but right before). Something in my gut is telling me that Paul will make good on his promise to have his brand of libertarian ideals represented. If nothing else, it should make for some good TV.
My point is, taking the White House was never the goal of the Paul campaign. The cause is about ideals and ideologies, and in that sense Ron Paul has already won. See this piece from op-ed news for related sentiment. I will return to this important point sometime in the future.
Until next time, keep going for The Gold (literally now)!
Of course, this news contains special interest for Ron Paul enthusiasts. The hegemony of the dollar in this credit-based economy and the gold standard have been key issues in the Paul platform, in the current presidential campaign as well as during his time in the congress. Mainstream press coverage of these financial rumblings still leaves the question of whether the county is in a recession up for debate. Congressman Paul has been directing attention to the growingly obvious recession for some time.
In response to today’s gold news, an essay by Paul was posted on his official campaign site. Dated April 23, 2006 and entitled “What the price of gold is telling us,” the article explores the history behind the events making today’s headlines. To quote the executive summary:
“One of the characteristics of commodity money-- one that originated naturally in the marketplace-- is that it must serve as a store of value. Gold and silver meet that test-- paper does not. Because of this profound difference, the incentive and wisdom of holding emergency funds in the form of gold becomes attractive when the official currency is being devalued. It’s more attractive than trying to save wealth in the form of a fiat currency, even when earning some nominal interest. The lack of earned interest on gold is not a problem once people realize the purchasing power of their currency is declining faster than the interest rates they might earn. The purchasing power of gold can rise even faster than increases in the cost of living.”
You can read the entire piece here.
John McCain’s anointment as presidential nominee shoo-in by the Republican Party meant that the news coverage of the campaign would shift its focus from the remaining Republican contenders to the Hillary and Obama battle royal. In discussing the presidential race with others I have found that many people are puzzled by Paul’s continuing campaign as a GOP contender, which seems to them like a painfully prolonged kamikaze bombing run. Some are struck by Paul’s apparent tenacity in what they perceive as a hopeless enterprise. Clearly McCain will represent the Republicans in the coming election; Paul’s pledge to be present at the party’s national convention seems futile, even more so than initiating a third party candidacy.
At this juncture I think it is safe to say that Paul is more concerned with retaining his seat in congress than with nabbing the White House. However, I look forward to the Republican National Convention in September (surprisingly not on the 11th, but right before). Something in my gut is telling me that Paul will make good on his promise to have his brand of libertarian ideals represented. If nothing else, it should make for some good TV.
My point is, taking the White House was never the goal of the Paul campaign. The cause is about ideals and ideologies, and in that sense Ron Paul has already won. See this piece from op-ed news for related sentiment. I will return to this important point sometime in the future.
Until next time, keep going for The Gold (literally now)!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Remember the Maine
Ken Lindell, the Maine state coordinator for the Ron Paul presidential campaign, has dispatched an email message to Paul supporters recounting the Maine caucus efforts and imparting what remains to be done.
"Ron Paul has conceded that there is now little chance of a brokered convention, but has pledged to continue his campaign to bring his message of peace, freedom and prosperity to the Republican convention. The prize now is to have a significant influence in the future direction of the Republican party."
The emphasis now is on the Maine state convention. Lindell also mentions "Ron Paul activists" running for state offices. It is a whole new wave of change for the GOP; it seems that more than a few South Park Republicans have become Ron Paul Republicans.
You can find the Paul campaign Maine headquarters Web site here.
"Ron Paul has conceded that there is now little chance of a brokered convention, but has pledged to continue his campaign to bring his message of peace, freedom and prosperity to the Republican convention. The prize now is to have a significant influence in the future direction of the Republican party."
The emphasis now is on the Maine state convention. Lindell also mentions "Ron Paul activists" running for state offices. It is a whole new wave of change for the GOP; it seems that more than a few South Park Republicans have become Ron Paul Republicans.
You can find the Paul campaign Maine headquarters Web site here.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Results from Wisconsin, Washington
A warm welcome to cheese-heads, Emerald City-dwellers and all faithful readers!
A new day has dawned, which poses many implications, but for political junkies it means a fresh batch of presidential primary results to consider. On the Republican side, John McCain won both the Wisconsin and Washington state primaries. The Straight Talker cannot wait to own the mantle of Republican Front Runner. Ron Paul took third place in both contests. Paul has vowed to remain in the race up through the Republican National Convention.
Here is a writeup of yesterday's results from Al Jazeera English. Results, analysis, and candidate delegate count at The Liberty Papers. Results wrap-up from First Read on msnbc.com. Relevant commentary and discussion from the Blogger News Network. Finally, I leave you with this excellent piece by Sara Robinson from OpEdNews.com entitled "When Change is not Enough: the Seven Steps to Revolution." It is a refreshingly off-kilter analysis of the current political climate.
"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." - John F. Kennedy
Until next time, true believers, keep going for The Gold!
A new day has dawned, which poses many implications, but for political junkies it means a fresh batch of presidential primary results to consider. On the Republican side, John McCain won both the Wisconsin and Washington state primaries. The Straight Talker cannot wait to own the mantle of Republican Front Runner. Ron Paul took third place in both contests. Paul has vowed to remain in the race up through the Republican National Convention.
Here is a writeup of yesterday's results from Al Jazeera English. Results, analysis, and candidate delegate count at The Liberty Papers. Results wrap-up from First Read on msnbc.com. Relevant commentary and discussion from the Blogger News Network. Finally, I leave you with this excellent piece by Sara Robinson from OpEdNews.com entitled "When Change is not Enough: the Seven Steps to Revolution." It is a refreshingly off-kilter analysis of the current political climate.
"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." - John F. Kennedy
Until next time, true believers, keep going for The Gold!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)