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The Revenge of Ron Paul
Friday, May 18th, I arrived at the Minnesota Republican Party State Convention in St. Cloud. The convention could best be described as “The Revenge of Ron Paul”. Four years ago Ron Paul was denied the opportunity to speak on the National Stage, but not this time. For four years, the Ron Paulers have been working underground, using organizing skills that would make Democrats blush, to unseat the entire “Establishment Party” on Saturday and to sweep the entire slate of delegates and alternates going to the National Convention. (There was a humble token given by ceding a tie to Michele Bachmann.)
By securing a 5th state of pledged delegates Ron Paul has ensured he will: 1. Be on the ballot as a candidate; 2. Have full stage time and media coverage, and 3. Have a great deal of power. The big question swirling around was….”will it be chaos or cohesion”? Will Ron Paul try to unseat Mitt Romney as the all but appointed Presidential Candidate, or is his agenda simply to ensure the Republican Party cannot ignore his pet issues? I would hope someone (hint hint Rand) would ask him to be clear on his agenda going forward, because as of right now his base is whipped up like a rabid beaver itching to pick a fight.
While there, I decided to try and find out their plans, so on the second day I went ‘super-secret undercover spy’ and played a Ron Pauler. I observed some very interesting things about them:
1. Friday, they flexed their muscle and easily won the endorsement of the “Party” for their candidate for Senate.
2. They are extraordinarily organized, and the ‘leadership’ was able to keep their machinations under-wraps until the time of their choosing. I do envy their organizing ability and strength; I just wish it could be used to remove Obama from office. (That is an issue of division which I’ll discuss later.)
3. They can respond amazingly quickly. On Saturday, the Romney camp put out flyers labeled “Conservative Unity Delegate Slate” (which made the RP’s look like exactly what they were, sneaky) the Paulers quickly responded with flyers of their own, but it was not the entire slate. I know this because I achieved part of my ‘super secret spy’ goal: getting info funneled to me. I was impressed that a campaign which is struggling for financial support can product a full color, high quality flyer for their designated candidates.
4. The Ron Paul camp is divided. Talking to many Paulers I found there to be two distinct camps. Those who would rather wear the chains of liberty, still standing on their principles, and those who are politically smart enough to understand that if it comes down to Romney/Obama it would be suicide to pout and sit it out. The former group tended to be very angry, some rather rude, and all mesmerized by “Papa Ron”. It was like they were Obama-worshipers, only their god was Paul. I found the idol worship rather disturbing as a Christian and as a conservative. What is best and worst about the ‘R’ party is our fierce sense of individualism. However, it frequently works to our disadvantage because we have the tendency to act like cats being herded. We all know we are cats, we all know we like our freedom, but we just can’t always figure out how to work together to achieve it.
The latter group was very amiable, and I tended to be drawn to them. They were very intelligent, very well read. They could articulate their principles and defend them, though we might disagree. They did NOT seem to have as intense worshipping of Paul, but maybe it was just practicality and resignation that the best for the country is to defeat Obama. I met a very intelligent, good natured Jewish Paul supporter and had a very interesting and enlightening discussion about why he would support Ron Paul’s foreign policy stance. He felt that it was important that America take the chains off Israel and let Israel do what it needs to do to defend itself. I found that perspective in total agreement with mine, but I countered that if it not for the threat of American action, Israel would have been “run into the sea” by now. After some back and forth, we agreed to disagree. Why do I bring him up? If push came to shove, he told me, he would vote for Romney. I took much comfort in that.
5. Ron Paulers have cleaned up their act. For the most part, some are on the verge of anarchists, but the leadership has trained them well, and cleaned them up. There was not a bedraggled, scroungy, ruffled one in the bunch. One or two looked questionable, but were still well put together. They blended. They fit in. They achieved the goal of respectability. They had handlers in each CD/SD district who kept check on their people’s behavior. They were trained, disciplined, and focused.
6. They ADORE Ron Paul. I can’t tell if it’s the grandpa syndrome he inspires (I’d say the vast majority were between 17 and 30), if it’s the libertarian legalizing drugs, or the intense hatred for all things military. They really hate what they view as our military complex and interventionism in foreign affairs. Sadly, many don’t pause long enough in their rants to actually ask those of us in the vilified “Establishment” what we really think about our current situations throughout the world. Despite what those in the DC Beltway think, most Republicans are not fans of Bush’s big progressive global agenda. While we want to encourage democracies, I’d say based on what I see in the new Tea Party influenced conservative party, we are not in favor of ESTABLISHING democracies. I wish the Paul people would unite with us on what we can agree on with this. We are more alike than we are apart. (At least for us 9-12′rs)
7. Somehow the Paulers have managed to take a diverse group of various interests and unify them to act like the unified Obama voters. They vote based on how their leaders tell them. That never works well for the Establishment, as we always have someone “going rouge”. We are those darn herded cats. But Ron Paul has managed to unify his base over their fear of enslaving debt, anti-military stance, and a “do no harm” attitude. (Ihave always had issues with that: who gets to define “harm”??)
What readers should take from these observations:
1. Don’t dismiss the Ron Paulers. They have had a LONG time to stew over the perceived insult to their “Papa” at the ’08 convention. They are set on payback.
2. They are organized. The Republican Establishment would be well served to identify and welcome the more tolerant, less anarchist wing of the Paulers. The elephant needs to learn how to unify while retaining its independence. We in the party could learn a thing or two about organizing from these people. In fact, if we could harness that energy and efficiency they could teach the old elephant some new tricks which could make the Democrats quake in their boots. (I’d use other language not so lady like, but you get the picture)
3. The Paulers are here to stay, at least some degree. There will be those who abandon ship when Paul fails at Nationals, but there will be those who stay and fight on. I pray, and PRAY, AND PRAY that we will all unite to defeat the man who idolizes Marxists and communists. Not many of us are satisfied with Romney, but he is what we will have. At least he’s not Obama. While he won’t affect change nearly as far reaching nor as quickly as we all desire, he will cease the blood loss.
My plea to the sane Ron Paulers;. We need you in our party. We share more than we don’t share. We all have one goal: (except the progressives who have infiltrated both the parties) Reduce the size of government, restore freedom, liberty, and a government not on the threat of a dictatorial power grab.
I walk away from this experience a little wiser, a little more motivated, and with a great sense of trepidation. This Grand Ole Party needs to figure out its direction because currently it has none. We need a vision. A reason to feel PASSIONATE. We need a Reagan when there is no Reagan.
Maybe that is what the experience of this convention has taught me. We, each as INDIVIDUALS, need to get off our butts, get engaged, unify on common ground of constitutional principles knowing that despite all our differences we can come together as one. Not as the collective, but as a collection of Individuals. The passion the Paulers bring gives me strength to challenge my apathetic (but well meaning) friends who “can’t be bothered”, or worse “I just hate politics.”
There is a lot of change going on in the Republican Party. While the Democrats are quite firmly entrenched in progressivism, the elephant still retains its steadfast commitment to liberty, freedom and limited government.
We should work together, Tea Party and Paulers, to eject those progressive republicans who have tainted the reputation of our majestic symbol. I would like to think that Ron Paul would whole heartedly agree.
Trayvon Martin’s Mother Files Trademark Papers
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to several news accounts, Trayvon Martin’s grieving mother has filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to trademark phrases used in protests of her son’s death.
The phrases “I am Trayvon” and “Justice for Trayvon” are included in Sybrina Fulton’s filing, and her attorney claims that the phrases would be used on things like CDs and DVDs to help people in similar situations.
The phrases have been used by people protesting Trayvon’s death last month and, with other phrases, are popping up on apparel sold online.
Example of hoodie for sale online
Another fad brought on by the controversy surrounding Trayvon’s death is for people to start wearing “hoodies” similar to the one Trayvon was wearing the night he died. There is even a Facebook page dedicated to people wearing hoodies in honor of Trayvon.
Even Barack Obama’s re-election campaign has gotten in on the hoodie fad by marketing Barack Obama 2012 hoodies on Obama’s campaign website.
Barack Obama 2012 hoodie
Is this the work of a grieving community? Or is it the work of people trying to exploit this young man’s death for their own financial gain?
Curiously, there’s no record of Sybrina Fulton filing to trademark her son’s Twitter account name, “No_Limit_Nigga”.
To Caucus or Not to Caucus…
Posted by: | CommentsThe Minnesota Precinct Caucuses will be held February 7. All across the state, people will gather together to discuss and vote for the 2012 Presidential candidates they support in the upcoming elections. Unlike a primary where citizens take a few minutes to sign in and vote, a caucus can take hours to complete as people stump for their candidates, discussions of party platform positions ensue and those who only show up during major election-years sigh in boredom, wondering when they’ll be able to cast their ballot.
In 2008, a friend and I attended our local caucus and were dismayed by the amount of time it took to participate. We were amazed by the fact that in the face of an ailing economy and two socialist-leaning Democrat opponents to whomever the GOP ultimately nominated, that time was devoted toward pushing an anti-abortion stance on a platform where the anti-abortion stance was already stated. After about two hours of listening to people debate the pros/cons of each candidate and all the platform ideas, we finally were able to cast a ballot for the candidate of our choice. We then were divided into smaller groups to further discuss the goals of our party. While it was interesting to learn more about our particular State’s election process, we were not surprised by the fact that generally, our caucuses are not very well attended. It would seem that a simpler version like a primary process would draw more people from the general public than the caucus process does.
The GOP's 2012 Presidential Candidates
This year, while looking at the field of Presidential candidates, I am feeling indecisive about attending tomorrow’s caucus. I have no burning conviction about any of them, in fact, the more I learn about each 2012 Presidential candidate, the less convicted I am that any of them will be able to defeat Obama in November, and the more I am convinced that this is all fake – a drama being played out by actors who have been tapped to make a big show over defeating Obama, but who in the end, will not, and the only people who aren’t in on the joke are the American People.
Two of our choices are perpetual presidential candidates: Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. I supported Mitt over McCain in ’08, but as time has passed my support for him has waned. The very fact that Obamacare was modeled after Romneycare is enough to prove that a vote for Romney is like voting Obama-lite, much in the way voting for George W. Bush was – the “compassionate conservative” who increased government, removed liberties (Patriot Act), and increased our debt (albeit not as quickly as Obama has, but still walked the Progressive line in many ways). Romney may act “Presidential” and look the part (to some), but he does not inspire anything but lukewarm feelings. The fact that the media and the GOP elite (including Ann Coulter – talk about a 180 in her opinion!) are intent on naming him the nominee way before the race is through makes me wonder if we are being set up to fail and have four more years of Obama or if the elites (on either side) believe that Romney will be just as much of a puppet to their whims as Obama?
As a fiscal conservative and borderline libertarian, Ron Paul appeals to me in the fact that he will cut spending and find ways to keep the government out of the Nation’s business. I agree with his stance that we don’t need to be in the wars we are currently fighting, but I disagree with his isolationist view. His stance on Iran seems to be somewhat naive – these are not the kind of people with whom we can sit down and have “talks.” The fact that many of his supporters are also part of the Occupy Wall Street crowd and that he is a supporter of that crowd also makes him less favorable in my eyes. On issues like our economy and the Fed, I agree with Congressman Paul; however, I don’t believe, as he has said, that he is the right messenger for his message. A debate between Paul and Obama could easily become a circus, with Obama looking like the cool-minded intellectual and Paul becoming that crazy uncle whom you invite to Thanksgiving just to see what will next come from his mouth. The people who support Paul can be like me – fiscal conservatives who appreciate his hard stance on keeping the dollar strong to anarchists who lean toward no government at all. It is the fringe group of “Paulites” who worry me the most – can a person be taken seriously as a Presidential Candidate when his supporters are borderline criminal in their behavior? (Unless, of course, you’re talking about Obama, but the fact that he has the media’s support makes his somewhat shady alliances moot since the media refuses to report on those facts.)
That leaves Santorum and Gingrich. My mom (a religious conservative) describes Santorum as “the kid on the playground who is always tattling on everyone else.” I think she nails him with that description. Santorum may be a really nice guy and may try to act tough, but in the end, he’s that sniveling character who is always pointing out everyone else’s faults, and rarely presenting his own solutions. Santorum is a bit scary because of how he seems to pander to the hardcore pro-life crowd and the social conservatives – it seems that if we have a liberal nanny-state government under Obama, that under Santorum, we will have the same nanny-state, only under the guise of legislating morality. I’m sorry, Mr. Santorum, I don’t care what adults do in their own bedrooms, and I certainly don’t believe that the government has any business there, either. The fact that he believes, based upon an answer he gave during one of the last debates, that the Federal government does have jurisdiction over the States when it comes to abortion also leads me to believe that he doesn’t truly believe in States’ Rights (10th Amendment). He may preach a good game about how he’ll fix the economy (although I don’t know about his specifics on how he’ll do it) and about his wonderful moral values, etc. but in the end, I believe he will be as meddlesome in our lives as Obama is currently – that is, if he even had a snowball’s chance of beating Obama, which he doesn’t.
Out of all the candidates, I believe that Newt Gingrich is by far the best debater and the most intelligent. However, the political machine has been attacking him from all sides – the conservatives bashing him for his two affairs and three marriages, his admiration for Woodrow Wilson and FDR, and for sitting on a couch with Nancy Pelosi discussing the implications of global warming; and the liberals soaking that criticism up and dredging up more mud to sling at him. Glenn Beck has painted Gingrich as a Progressive from the get-go and uses much of his air-time to show why he believes this is true about Gingrich. Most pundits agree, Gingrich doesn’t have a chance of beating Obama because the issues surrounding his departure from Congress in the late ’90′s will be rehashed over and over again by the billion dollar machine that Obama will employ and the leftist media parroting that machine during the general election season. (That all being said, I’d absolutely love to see Gingrich eviscerate Obama in a debate. That would be entertainment.) I’m a firm believer that one must study history to understand how to shape the future, so in that respect, I like Newt’s immense knowledge of history. I like the fact that he worked with Reagan and that he was a major player during the welfare reform in the mid-90′s. And I truly do not care that he has had affairs or that he’s been married 3 times. He’s been with his current wife for over ten years – maybe the third time is his charm. But, does all of that eliminate the baggage he carries from the ’90′s ethics scandals or that he might be a “closet progressive”? Not enough for me to stand firmly behind him with my support.
It feels like the GOP elite, the “Good ol’ Boys”, figured out how to minimize the Tea Party’s influence over the election of 2012: present us with 4 candidates that are mediocre at best. Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann each embodied the Tea Party’s values most out of all the candidates, but the liberal media, in tandem with conservative bloggers and the other candidates made sure that they would not be part of the choices presented to us in this election.
So, what’s a girl to do? Go sit through hours of a caucus, listening to people more passionate about their particular candidate than myself spew the same rhetoric we’ve been hearing throughout the debates only to still come out undecided about whom to support? Or stay home and attend my son’s hockey game instead? At least at the hockey game I know for which team I’m cheering and that the team will hear my voice, which is something I can’t say for our current political process.
Michelle Obama: Please Keep Whining
Posted by: | CommentsForbes Magazine‘s has announced that Michelle Obama tops their 100 Most Powerful Women list:
“At the top of our list, First Lady Michelle Obama is a true change-maker since taking lodge in the White House in 2008. The first African-American in the post, she’s changed the face of the office (literally), and with consistently high approval ratings, she’s given a new generation of girls and women around the world a role model. A former private attorney and public servant in Chicago, her interest in working with young people and advocating for healthy eating, among other issues, is evidenced by her Let’s Move! campaign, which aims to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation.”
The role as First Lady of the United States doesn’t seem to be sitting well with Ms. Obama who apparently finds the job so difficult that The National Enquirer (which broke the news of John Edwards’ affair two years before the MSM touched the story) is reporting that the day after the First Family returned from vacation at Martha’s Vineyard, Ms. Obama could be heard screaming at her husband:
“Michelle collapsed in tears and even threatened to divorce Barack if he seeks a second term as president,” a source in the nation’s capital told The ENQUIRER.“At one point, Michelle was heard yelling, ‘I hate you for dragging me through all this…I’ve had enough!’”
Restoring Honor in the Realm of Dumbledore
Posted by: | CommentsThe Harry Potter
…I say to you all, once again – in the light of Lord Voldemort’s return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort’s gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
It is my belief – and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken – that we are all facing dark and difficult times…Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort…
Professor Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)
If Glenn Beck were to use this speech at his “8/28 Restoring Honor Rally” on Saturday, it might go something like this:
..I say to you all, once again – in the light of Socialism’s return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. This administration’s gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
It is my belief – and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken – that we are all facing dark and difficult times…Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what can happen to a country – a country that was good, and kind, and brave – when we stray from the Constitution and allow ourselves to become envious of those who have more than we have.
Dumbledore’s words ring true to those of us who love America, who desire to see her back on track with the Constitution. What happens in Hogwarts School in Book 5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)
Our current leaders crave a crisis. They crave dissonance. They want us to be battling over a mosque that doesn’t even have enough funding to begin building next year because it takes the focus off of what they are doing to our country. Our current leaders want us to find reasons to be distrustful of one another because that forces us to trust them or to become oblivious to what they are doing, and the essence of what the leaders are doing is spreading evil.
The evil that is being encouraged and exploited by our leaders is the evil of ENVY. Envy is the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins for a reason: all of the other sins originate with ENVY. Lucifer’s fall hinged upon his desire to be like GOD – he was envious of God’s power and wanted it. He was cast out of heaven for that sin. Our current administration plays upon this deadly sin by trying to limit how much people can earn; by trying to “spread the wealth”; by stealing from hard-working people to give their wealth to those who don’t work as hard. Why? Because they are playing the politics of envy.
When we are envious of what others have, we are coveting their belongings and breaking one of the Ten Commandments; simultaneously, we are also playing directly into the hands of the administration who tell us that we don’t have to work as hard as someone else, that the government will take care of us, if only we let them. We are allowing our envy, our desires, our coveting to override our freedoms. By breaking God’s commandments, we are allowing ourselves to be punished and that punishment comes in the form of the blessing of FREEDOM being removed, bit-by-bit, from our lives. While we are distracted by what we don’t have but what we want to have, we allow our government to continue to play upon the basest nature of mankind. We are so busy hating those who have, that we don’t see what precious things are being taken away from us.
We need to heed Dumbledore’s advice. We need to listen to Glenn Beck. We need to come together as AMERICANS – not as Republicans or Tea Partiers or Democrats – and fight the insidious evil that is spreading across our land. We need to teach our children to be self-sufficient; to do for themselves – that urge that takes over every two-year-old child to say “ME DO IT!” when they refuse to let you dress them – we need to raise our children to see what they want and think “Me do it!” – that they can work for what they want instead of coveting what others have and allowing the government to take care of them.
Listen to Dumbledore
Proof that Students can be Smarter than their Teachers
Posted by: Trent Thevenot | Comments (0)In a YouTube video uploaded last week, you can hear what is claimed to be a Social Studies teacher informing a student in her Rowan-Salisbury school district North Carolina class that failing to be respectful of President Obama is a criminal offense…
In the video you can hear a classroom discussion about the Washington Post hit piece about Mitt Romney bullying a kid some five decades ago. A student responds with, “Didn’t Obama bully someone though?” The teacher says: “Not to my knowledge.” The student then cites the fact that Obama, in Dreams from My Father, admits to shoving a little girl. “Stop, no, because there is no comparison,” screams the teacher. Romney is “running for president. Obama is the president.”
The articulate student interrupts the teacher with something every ‘teacher’ should already know, “If your gonna talk trash about one side you gotta talk trash about the other.” I find it interesting how the student knows better than his teacher that it is not the teachers place to apply their political beliefs or agendas in the classroom. It is the teachers ‘JOB’ to teach the students about politics of the United States without applying their own beliefs or agendas to the students and yet we are hearing time and again how many teachers have been failing their students and their school districts by not following this simple rule.
The teacher continued yelling at the student and told him that Obama is “due the respect that every other president is due … Listen,” she continues, “let me tell you something, you will not disrespect the president of the United States in this classroom.” She yells over the student repeatedly, and yells at him that it’s disrespect for him to even debate about Romney and Obama.
I decided to post this video after reading some facebook discussions, regarding this video, on the issues of teachers using their classrooms to influence support for President Obama and his re-election campaign. Some people made note of how their college students would lose grade points if they didn’t support Obama and discouraging it was to their college students that their teachers would use their positions in such a wrongful manner.
Here is one of many comments left on the video that stood out, “This youn man is to be commended, and HIS PARENTS EVEN MORE SO!! For him to be as intelligent and articulate as he is in *THIS* environment is almost a miracle in itself. …”