It brings us much joy to see the Republican primary get ever-murkier, as GOP greats (well, the greatest they have to offer) Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain are threatened by Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul's growing popularity.
More disturbingly, though, some Democrats and independents are showing odd signs of falling in love with the two GOP freaks or at least, as Jimmy Carter fittingly confessed, of having "lust in their heart." This is not fine.
It's getting so bad that the Kucinichs are smitten: the previous apple of Dennis's eye, his wife Elizabeth, proudly proclaimed that her husband would consider a Kucinich/Paul ticket (or was it Paul/Kucinich?), because Paul is "also a truth teller." Of course, she's British, and her accented, dry humor may have eluded us and the campaign press corps (who find John "Bomb-bomb-bomb bomb-bomb Iran" McCain the funniest person in the world.)
Yes, we like Paul's early and dogged opposition to the war in Iraq. And yes, we can only dream that Hillary Clinton, with all that First Lady experience, or John Edwards, the uber-progressive, would have been as decisive as Paul on this issue. And yes, many of us appreciate his unwavering defense of civil liberties, his misgivings about NAFTA and his willingness to cast principled votes.
But if that's it, then why not just draft the real thing, perhaps Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee (the ONLY vote in Congress against the use of military force after 9/11) or Democratic Congressman Mel Watt (the ONLY vote in Congress against Megan's law). At least with them you won't get someone who introduced the Sanctity of Life Act of 2005 recognizing the personhood of fetuses; someone who cast the only vote against a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act; who raises the specter of a worldwide gun control movement (if only); and whose supporters include a sickening number of white supremacists (on stormfront.org, a discussion board for those "interested in white survival," Paul is endorsed in bold type on the home page, which also features headlines such as "Wealthy Jewess Killed by Black Secretary." Seriously.
The infatuation with Huckabee at first seems easier to understand: he appears easy-going and witty, unlike, for instance, Romney and his glacial grin; he seems laid back, but not lethargic like Fred Thompson; he doesn't openly hate poor people and immigrant children like, well, everyone else in the Republican party; and, so temptingly, the Wall Street Journal despises him. This is all good, but surely it's not good enough to give him the old McCain 2000 treatment, as the slothful mainstream media is already doing (they're bored, he's refreshing, they love him).
Huckabee boasts that Christian conservatives consider him one of them (that should be your first clue), but that he's "not mad at anybody." Unless you're planning a same-sex union, which he equates to slavery. Or unless you're pro-choice, since abortion too is like slavery (maybe that's how Southern conservatives make sure their supporters know slavery was bad: by saying it was kind of like gay people, or kind of like terminating a pregnancy, it was THAT bad). He also blames "the holocaust of liberalized abortion" for America's need to "import" workers. That's nice.
The first governor with a concealed-carry permit ("Don't mess with me"), Huckabee is a strong supporter of a national "right to carry" bill, and blamed the high death toll in the Virginia Tech shooting rampage on the fact that no one had a concealed gun. I can't imagine he was saying this in jest, but as so many political observers point out, he's really funny.
Huckabee, with more than a tinge of admiration for George W. Bush, recently called the Iraq war "the defining battle [...] for Western civilization itself." This would not include the theory of evolution, which he doesn't believe in, as he made clear at a recent debate and in at least one interview ("science changes with every generation and with new discoveries, and God doesn't"). At least he hasn't equated evolution to slavery or the holocaust. Yet.
I can see why Republicans are warming up to these guys, when their other choices include a candidate who I promise you will one day be deemed certifiable (Giuliani), a non-human (Romney), the oldest man alive (McCain), the second oldest man alive (Thompson), and Jason from Friday the 13th (Tom Tancredo).
The Democratic primary may not be delivering the deep belly laughs so cherished by Chris Matthews, or the kind of straight talk popular with those deeply invested in white survival. But on balance, I'll take even Clinton's shaky public humor and shakier trustworthiness over Paul's righteousness, Huckabee's wit, and the devious and unfunny realities they obscure.
Follow Paul Jenkins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulcJenkins
Similar considerations apply to his bill on abortion, and his attitude on federal laws about gays. He says individuals as individuals have inalienable rights on their own, not because they belong to a particular group, be it hetero- or homosexual.
Ron Paul is a rare man of integrity and courage who is not owned by moneyed special interests like Hillary, Obama, Giuliani and so on.
Ron Paul will get us out of Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. He will work for the elimination of the IRS, the restoration of a stable currency and smaller federal government. He will not work for putting people out in the street if they have come to rely on Social Security or Medicare.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/11/12/paul/
WE LOVE RON PAUL
Look back to candidates from your preferred party; Kerry, and Clinton for example. Both men polled well below the rest of the pack at this point in the election cycle and managed to win the nomination.
Reading many of the comments and articles on the site I see that the consensus seems to be that government is the only entity capable of taking care of our poor, our weak, and our elderly. I vehemently disagree with that point. Government should make it easier for people to take care of themselves. Those who cannot should be able to turn to their families (I wonder how many of you sent your parents away to a nursing home for convenience), or to charities. This is how this country used to operate, and it worked. People should be able to depend on each other. Most of the money that is spent on these programs is mismanaged, and please remember that it was the Democratic party that led the way in screwing up the Social Security Trust Fund. The modern Republican party acts like a more violent version of the Democratic party. People seem to be more concerned about looking as if they are tolerant or caring than about the importance of our foundation; Liberty and Capitalism.
Don't blame Capitalism for all ills in society, blame Collectivism, in all forms, Governmental, Corporate, and Non-Profit. The success of America's economy was always driven by individuals and small businesses. We should allow them to succeed again.
As for the flamers. I grew up poor, the child of immigrants, in the projects surrounded by every nationality imaginable. I have worked hard and now am becoming better off year by year. Most of you who say you want to help the poor and ignored are rich white people living in the suburbs scared to set foot in the inner city and you know it.
Here are some links for consideration:
OBAMA & CLINTON voted for war funding (along with Feinstein, DODD & BIDEN) - includes $78 Billion for missiles and war craft and $50 Billion for ongoing operations in Iraq: http://votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=V3717&can_id=9490
EDWARDS voted for war funding even before 9/11: http://votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=V2602&can_id=21107
EDWARDS voted AGAINST child tax credits: http://votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=V3006&can_id=21107
and here's a doozy for ya:
EDWARDS voted AGAINST Women's Health & Cancer Rights (he must be feeling pretty bad right now considering his wife's health issues): http://votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=V2375&can_id=21107
I AM SICK OF THE LIES & DECEPTION!!!
I'm a Democrat and I am proud to say I am voting for RON PAUL.
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"Abortion: Ron Paul's "libertarianism" famously does not extend to the right of a woman to control her body. In February he introduced H.R. 1094, "[t]o provide that human life shall be deemed to exist from conception." He voted against overriding Bush's veto of the stem cell bill"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/5/193414/2787
"Still, libertarian orthodoxy can't fully explain Paul's hostility to gay rights, and indeed to gay people in general. The Libertarian Party, which nominated Paul as its presidential candidate in 1988, has strongly opposed the so-called Defense of Marriage Act from the beginning; Paul supports it. While he opposed the "Federal Marriage Amendment" that would have outlawed gay marriage everywhere, he actually cosponsored the odious "Marriage Protection Act," which would nonsensically bar federal courts from considering challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, which is a federal law. "The definition of marriage--a union between a man and a woman--can be found in any dictionary," he writes condescendingly. Despite Paul's disingenuous claims that he is a "strict constitutionalist," most legal scholars agree that the so-called Marriage Protection Act would be unconstitutional.
You also will not find Paul listed among the 124 co-sponsors of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2007, which would repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays and lesbians from serving in the military. Maybe he's worried that they'll take their "gay agenda" to far-flung corners of the world. He also doesn't want gay people adopting children while they're not serving in the military, either.
On a personal level, we have this 1993 quote wherein Paul equates homosexuality with "sexual deviance."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/5/193414/2787
Liberals/progressives should be terrified by both of these candidates.
Anyone who believes different assumes benevolence. To Assume Benevolence Is Foolish.
Centralization of power allows for corruption. It does not mater what the intent was originally.
People by nature act in their own self interest.
Socialism Sucks !!! Stop helping the corruption.
Vote For Change; Vote Ron Paul.
Choose your own destiny after he is elected.
Paul is right on the economy,
Paul is right to follow the Constitution (what a radical concept to follow the Constitution).
Another point, if I may; the blogger complains of a "white supremacist" who supports the Doctor- well, Ron Paul doesn't court or choose his supporters- unlike Clinton... and I must say that the rabid Zionists of AIPAC frighten me a whole lot more than some gun-toting supremacist.