Here we go again, not ignoring Ron Paul

Don't worry about the Ron Paul people -- they'll find something to complain about in these last glorious days before the reality of the actual primary/caucus voting starts, even though it can't be about being ignored by the big media anymore.

The 72-year-old, 10-term Republican representative from Texas with the libertarian ideas has been on just about every conceivable broadcast outlet in recent times. He's getting so much attention he's now starting to be criticized for some things, including accepting funds from and not returning them to some white supremacists.

That's what raising $18 million in the still unfinished fourth quarter ($6+ million of it in one day) will do to your political obscurity. That and the online and local meet-up group work by thousands of fervent fans who profess to be newcomers to the political process, so inspired are they by the ob-gyn who represents the Galveston area and his strict constitutionalist ideals and the simple clarity of his goal to return government to its strict constitutional boundaries. No more Department of Education, for instance, or many other federal departments.

Paul is on a roll, up in some polls, down significantly in others, which Paul people don't care anything about because they say they don't believe in polls because nobody's going to tell them how to vote, even though polls aren't orders for anybody, they only reveal how a few hundred people say they're going to vote at that moment in time.

Because everybody Ron Paul supporters say they talk to either already are or immediately become Ron Paul supporters, they believe the Ron Paul Revolution will sweep the country sometime shortly into the New Year, starting perhaps in New Hampshire where they have so many yard signs and the license plates say "Live Free or Die." Also, the new Ron Paul blimp is flying around there.

Anyway, today was Ron Paul's turn to be waterboarded by Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press." As one sign of how the Iraq war surge's recent success has made it a non-issue, Russert didn't even ask him about his stand (Paul's the lone GOP candidate who opposes the war, saying it creates much more trouble than it's worth and that maintaining an empire always bankrupts the colonial power).

Paul wants to bring home all American troops abroad to save money and avoid making ....

enemies. Russert asked him how many U.S. troops there are abroad. Paul didn't know. Russert told him 572,000. "And you'd bring them all home?"

"As quickly as possible. We -- they will not serve our interests to be overseas. They get us into trouble. And we can defend ourselves without troops in Germany, troops in Japan. How do they help our national defense? Doesn't make any sense to me. Troops in Korea since I've been in high school?"

Russert asked, "So if Iran invaded Israel, what do we do?"

Paul replied, "They're not going to. That's like saying, 'Iran is going to invade Mars.' "

Russert asked if Paul would cut off aid to Israel. "Absolutely," he said. "But remember the Arabs would get cut off too and the Arabs get three times as much aid altogether as Israel. But why, why make Israel so dependent?"

Russert asked if Paul wanted to abolish the IRS and income tax. "That's a good idea," he said. "I like that idea." He said the U.S. got along fine without an income tax until 1913.

Russert asked if he knew how much lost government revenue that would be. "A lot," said Paul. "Over a trillion dollars," said Russert. "That's good," said Paul. He suggested cutting spending would save a lot of money, reducing federal departments, not being involved overseas as we are.

Russert asked him about the apparent inconsistency of being against federal involvement, yet regularly inserting dozens of earmarks into legislation representing billions of federal dollars going to his district. Paul said there was no inconsistency because he always voted against the earmarks he'd inserted, although they usually passed.

"If you were true to your philosophy," Russert said, "you would say, 'No pork spending for my district.' "

"No, no, that's not it," replied Paul. "They steal our money. That's like saying people shouldn't take Social Security money."

Russert asked about term limits. Paul said he'd voted for them many times. Russert noted he'd been in Congress more than 18 years. Paul said he hadn't agreed to any voluntary term limits, but he supported them.

Russert asked about many other things including whether defeat in the GOP primaries might cause Paul to launch a third-party effort. "I have no intention to do that," Paul responded. But he would not guarantee it, just said he was 99.9% sure but didn't like absolutist statements.

Paul supporters will say anything that sounds critical or dumb about their candidate was taken out of context. So you can read the entire interview transcript here and view the entire video here.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[KIt Maira]

I wonder if Tim Russert is going to ask all the candiates their views on the Civil War.

[Tom Paine]

Andrew Malcolm, suffers memory loss:

“As one sign of how the Iraq war surge's recent success has made it a non-issue.”

How could you say Iraq is a ‘non-issue?’

While good news from Iraq is welcome, it should never be forgotten that the war was started on false premises.

1- Iraq did not have WMD.
2- Iraq did not have ties to al-Qaida
3- Iraq was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks
4- And to think that Iraq was a direct threat to the US in a gross insult to the greatest military the world has known.

Bush and Cheney must be grateful that the Democrats don’t have the principles to impeach them for their crimes.

[Unstopabble Paul-head]

Mr. Malcolm,

you should really be ashamed of yourself.

Why are you attacking a man who has the courage to denounce our quasi-democratic system run by corporations?

What have you ever done for another human being?

At least Dr. Paul delivered thousands of babies, you just spew out venom, you paid shill for a corporately owned newspaper.

Dirt is of more noble composition than you.

[James H. Wood]

To the reporter who was forced to write this hack job on Ron Paul! I can understand how bad you feel for not being able to write what is in your heart. Don't worry, we will not blame you, in fact we ask you to change your party affiliation and come over and be a part of our campaign. We need you and hope you will consider this thought.

There are many sites that you could write good articles for Dr. Paul on the INTERNET. We as Americans only have each other and as a man who has surly looked at Dr. Paul's views, I am sure you agree with all of them.

You want to get people to read your stuff, then just write about Dr. Paul. God bless you and may you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.

P.S We need good men like yourself to spread the great word of Dr. Paul! Look forward to reading an Article that you are allowed to voice your honest opinion and not that of the higher ups.

[Kevin]

PRESIDENT PAUL

The moment he became President, Ron Paul would blast away at the chains that restrain freedom, peace and prosperity in this country and around the world.

President Paul would endeavor to scale back Government more than any other candidate and he has an ironclad record of doing exactly what he says. In 20 years in Congress he has amassed one of the most conservative and Constitutionally compliant voting records in American history. He has never voted to raise taxes. Never voted for an unbalanced budget. Never voted to trade liberty for security. Never voted for anything...ever; unless it was authorized by our Constitution. The lobbyist call him Dr. No because special interest groups can never get anything (our money) out of him. A man of principle and integrity. He's as incorruptible a politician as there ever was.

A Ron Paul Presidency would usher in a return to the Constitutional principles of limited government, just taxation, fiscal responsibility, sound money, strong national defense and individual rights.

Americans are hungry, thirsty; starving for change. We are tired of what we have been getting. Year after year, administration after administration, Republican or Democrat; nothing seems to be able to stop the unrelenting growth of government and it's corresponding sacrifice of freedom and prosperity. Congress has an approval rating in the teens. Ron Paul is a true Maverick. The establishment can't control him but We The People know exactly where he stands because of his adherence to the Constitution.

Liberty is not the natural order of things. It is extreme. It has existed in a relatively small place for a relatively short period of time. Ron Paul is extreme. He wants elected officials to honor their oath of office. He wants this country and posterity to enjoy the blessings of liberty by going back to the future. Back to our Constitution.

[Willem de Wit]

I'm an individual, not a "Ron Paul people" person.

I do agree somewhat with the argument that supporters of Ron Paul should stop complaining about not getting any attention.

[Scott]

The future of information and news is the internet. Ron Paul's campaign proves how the internet can effect the reality on the ground. In the beginning everything was all just a few guys in some basement spamming polls. Anyone talk about spamming anymore? The power in this nation is it's people and it always will be. Right now we let ourselves be controlled. Some out of apathy, some out of ignorance, some out of fear. I think that everyone mistook voter apathy for lack of passion. The passion was there it just had no where to go. Honesty, and Integrity are the core of his campaign, and his message is one that resonates through the ages. This election is not just a means to get one man elected, but a showing of strength and unity among many people in the idea of personal liberty. This movement will go beyond the election, changing shape and form as the situation demands. All I personally ask is that everyone stop dogmatic ideology and think for themselves. Peace

[Dennis]

Thank you for your article. It helped me make up my mind, finally.

I will be voting for Ron Paul, even if I have to write in his name.

[Anonymous]

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi

We are at the stage where they laugh at Ron Paul, and attempt to smear his name. But their insults only perpetuate the importance of his cause and bring together those who would stand tall and support Liberty over False-Freedom.

[Meg]

Il also took note of the warm fuzzy Boeing commercial at the end of MTP. It completely punctuated Ron Paul's point!

Who cares whether Ron Paul knew the exact number of troops we have stationed around the world. The important point is he's bringing them all home, no matter how many. Neocons are so paranoid and egocentric; if the United States disappeared tomorrow the rest of the world would go on. Other nations probably feel about the US Government they way I do; stop bullying me, leave me alone and get out of my wallet.

I did enjoy watching Ron Paul school Tim Russert on the Constitution, the Civl War, how earmarks work, and watching Russert be reduced to defendiing himself with the Wall Street Journal as if it was the gospel.

Ron Paul is correct regarding South Korea's desire to unify the country and have the United States declare an official end to the war. President Roh even taunted Bush publicly about declaring an end to the Korean war when they met in Australia this year.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070907-3.html

Overall Russert acted more like the Grand Inquisitor at a witch trial than a journalist interviewing a Candidate for President. I'm sure Russert served his ego, but the public wasn't served as once again they were prevented from hearing this great man's ideas and positions on the issues.

Ron Paul 2008

[Ian]

Mr. Malcolm,

What is it about Freedom that frightens you?

The comment above about the LA Times irrelevancy is accurate.

[RAY]

At the time I investigated this, the US national debt stood a few billion or short of nine trillion dollars and the interest expense so far this year (cumulative until June 2007) is over 359 billion dollars. In Fiscal year 2006, interest payments totaled nearly 406 billion dollars. (THAT'S JUST INTEREST!) IRS statistics indicate that in 2005 the total income tax liabilities for taxpayers totaled 971 billion dollars and the interest on the national debt was 352 billion. So Russert is most likely correct. Over a third of the federal income tax revenues collected were used to pay nothing more than the interest on the national debt. The 2007 numbers will be much higher based on the current numbers available. As you can see just by the few stats I have listed, the debt and associated interest is growing by leaps and bounds and servicing that debt will soon be unattainable. Considering the economy, numbers of homes going into foreclosure, soaring fuel, energy and consequential food prices, the future doesn't seem to look that great, especially for the middle class.
"100% of what is collected is absorbed soley by interest on the Federal Debt ... all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services taxpayers expect from government."
- Grace Commission Report, submitted to President Ronald Reagan on January 15, 1984

[Wiliam Baker]

What will be your new undercurrent of disdain for the Paul campaign IF he surprises in IOWA or NH with 15% or more of the vote? Will you dismiss it as a a kooky undercurrent, attribute to the money, attempt to stem the tide by putting his beliefs out of context (again), or something else. I'm really interested. I'm sure you have discussed the possibility with some of your smug friends.

[John from Warren, MI]

Andrew, I have a story lead for you.

How about covering the fact that the democratic primary is fixed in Michigan? All of the leading candidates except Hillary have pulled their names from the ballot and, as far as I know, the national party is still planning to disallow any votes from Michigan at their national convention.

The bottom line for Democrats in Michigan is that their votes are wasted if they get locked out of the convention, and even if not, Hillary is locked in as a winner!

That means that a vote on the Democratic ballot in Michigan is wasted! Whether that will translate into a lot of Democrats grabbing Republican ballots and voting for Ron Paul, you decide.

It's a big story that the local media is silent on. But a lot of us rabid supporters are going to be standing outside the polls with signs to that effect.

What do you think?

[david1776]

I love this! You corporate stooges LOL! (you are hardly news reporters) are great. By making such an address to the real power behind the Ron Paul campaign you show us how really scared you are of THE PEOPLE...Ha Ha...I guess the power at be are truly running scared of the Revolution.

The smear campaign did not work, the intimidation campaign did not work, the lies and trying to buy him is honor did not work, and even the corporate dummy "scientific" polls that attempt to show the lie of no support for Dr. Paul did not work. He is holding over 33% on average with the straw polls in 50 states what a joke. While people all over American are joining the Republican party to vote for him in the primary you media people are so so stupid to think there will be no blow back when all the polls, all of the political news articles, and all of the Neocon Conservatives pundits are wrong and Dr. Paul wins. The People will find out the lie did not work and they will stop believing anything that is presented by corporate media.

That is when the Jig will be Up as they say, the curtain will drop and reveal the liars, crooks, and elite big wigs with there corrupt and vial ways fully exposed to the American people and the world in broad daylight. Their desire to bring communism to destroy our country and to inslave our people will fail. The murder our People with another Bolsheviks type revolution also will fail the wars will stop and the truth will be known.

We do not take are fight for freedom lightly, and it will not end with the Ron Paul Presidency. Win our lose the Revolution is on and this time for the right reasons of PRO-FREEDOM and PRO-PROSPERITY FOR EVERYONE not just a few, required in the sham of democratic rule of the many but not all that seeks to hurt the weak, those without a voice, the poor, through mob rule and socialistic/communistic values and attitudes .

[sean truitt]

while i normally like people with two first names, you sir are disappointing me. your previous blogs reporting fairly on our guy encouraged me during what had been a media blackout about ron paul. now you seem to be massaging poor net traffic by attacking paul's enthusiastic supporters. russert's straw man attacks were mild and i think ron paul represented himself well. he seemed a bit tired, and also a bit surprised at the energy behind russert's attacks. i wish he had more time to counter what russert was staging. anyway, good job andrew, bumping your net traffic.

[mkm]

Actually, although I do not agree with him on all the issues Ron Paul has some amazingly refreshing takes on our system which really has been corrupted over the years. Looking to the Constitution for checks and balances as to who declares wars, leaving local concerns like education to the States, eliminating invasion of civil liberties by the feds' espionage agencies, keeping tax dollars in the pockets of the people, eliminating the huge welfare we call foreign aid and putting it back home, all these ideas make a lot of sense, especially compared to the consummate politicians we face as alternatives. Giuliani is a corrupt Catholic - shielding child molesters and the like while treating his own family like dirt - if that's the way he regards children and the ones he loves I hesitate to trust him with the rest of us. John McCain - give me a break - he could have gotten the nomination when he ran before but all he does is pander to the right and loses the middle as a result. Mitt Romney - I am not voting for religion, I am voting for President for God's sake. Leave your religion out of it. Same with Huckabee. And on the other side we have Ms Clinton who is way more conservative than she pretends, but then you never know where the hell she really stands which makes her absolutely untrustable. If Ron Paul is for real, he is the one who stands out as true to himself and his ideals and as really being for the people - and by that I don't mean the CEO's and stockholders of international corporations that ARE really running the show. That is no conspiracy theory, that is the damned truth of our political system. Money talks and bull*** walks according to most politicians. This guy is a breath of fresh air!!!!!

[Chris]

You wrote:

"he was completely unable to explain his way out of a hypocritical paper bag in which he's all for less government but inserts earmarks in legislation to spend millions in govt money in his district and then votes against his own proposals, knowing they'll pass anyway, so he can fraudulently claim to be against spending."

Do you understand how earmarks work?

Ron Paul wants to stop this. He also wants to stop the IRS. However, it's not hypocritical to pay taxes and collect tax credits UNTIL you can change the system.

Ron Paul is for CHANGING the system - LEGALLY.

As for earmarks, the money has to be spent. Why not put it towards your district?

That's the reason Bush is mad when there are tons of earmarks in a bill. HE DOESN'T GET TO SPEND THE MONEY.

If the government is going to distribute money why not direct it towards your district UNTIL you get get legislation passed to STOP the government from it's corrupt ways?

The whole entire earmark thing is disingenuous on the part of the press. YOU INCLUDED. Either you don't understand how the earmark system works (which means you are spreading WRONG information to the public) or you have an axe to grind or you are just following the train of thought expected of you. All of those scenarios are pitiful.

[Charles]

I just wanted to make a quick comment regarding the amount of troops overseas. To be perfectly frank, Russert has no idea how many are overseas. Except for the top brass at the pentagon, the number is classified. The number of troops at each location may be given in a general estimate by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but just pulling the number 572,000 means that Russert is going in with a +/-999 estimate. Considering we're at war, we also have constant troop displacement.

Unless the DoD released their report on troops stationed overseas yesterday, chances are quite high that the number has changed from whatever statistic Russert may be reporting from.

It was a really stupid question that drove away from the real point, which was the withdrawal of troops from abroad. It's not like if there were 600,000 or 500,000 Ron Paul would change his point of view.

[HR Paine]

I take back calling you a chump, Andrew. I appreciate that you not only discuss Paul (even if you aren't aware of America's problems enough to appreciate his positions) but you also interact with us in the comment thread.

Why not do something on corrupt money creation and the general slide of our dollar, economy, rights, education, character, industry, etc., etc., over the last few generations--on the federal government's watch ...?

It's easy to talk about polls, and to treat politics as a sport, but to most of us, this is extremely serious. The system Paul's proposing to change is basically indenfensible, and it's threatening ours and our children's futures. Paul and the rest of us may have our flaws, but I wish so-called journalists had the guts to take on the real issues.

[Ward Ciac]

So what about the Huckster's Fair Tax proposal. Isn't this the most crackpot thing you've ever heard of?

[Elle]

Wow, I've found reading the comments after this article to be an exciting exchange. Thanks, Andrew, for staying in the conversation and making your points. At first, I was a little annoyed by the article, but I can see that it's good for us to "hear" what points will be extracted from Ron Paul interviews and how they will be "held to the light."

Dr. Paul, to me, is the most perfect candidate for President we could ever hope to have right now. He is not perfect and neither are we. He is bold, courageous, and honest. He's intelligent, educated, and experienced in government. He's not afraid to say the word "fascism" when most people cringe upon hearing it.

He's here to shake things up, awaken the sleeping masses, and get a philosophical discussion going. He knows he endangers his own life, as well as his family members by speaking out of all the corruption and behind-the scenes crimes in this government and the shadow government that really runs it.

I have nothing but the greatest respect for Ron Paul. I get a lump in my throat when I review all the reasons I'm grateful for this messenger of peace.

Thanks, Andrew, for providing this forum to share our opinions, thoughts, feelings, and knowledge. And thanks for keeping the convo going.

(You bet. It wouldn't be a conversation without your contributions. Happy holidays and thanks for reading.)

[Thomas]

Mr. Malcolm,

I've read almost all of the pieces you've written about the good doctor and, as a Ron Paul supporter, I want to disassociate myself (and, I believe, the overwhelming majority of Paul's supporters) from the unseemly and unfortunate types of comments that appear in these threads virtually every time.

Despite the fact that I support Paul, have contributed $200 to the two "money bombs," and will be voting for him, I acknowledge:

1. Paul is not perfect. Like every other human being, he has his faults. I found his explanation for earmarking utterly unconvincing, and disagree with him about it. I think the policy followed by my own junior U.S. senator, Dr. Tom Coburn -- no earmarking at all -- is more intellectually honest and logically consistent.

2. Paul is not going to win. I hope that I'm wrong, but we have little to no reasons to expect the polls are incorrect. I would love to be surprised in Iowa and New Hampshire by large numbers of previously unregistered, independent, or Democrat voters showing up to support Paul, but I know it's highly unlikely.

3. Your articles have been very fair, as even the Tim Russert interview was. In fact, I thought that Russert went a little easier on Paul than he usually does on other candidates -- probably because he realizes that Paul doesn't have much of a hope of actually being elected. And you are right in your replies to some of these comments -- if Paul does win, the gloves will really come off, and he will be scrutinized just as harshly as any of the major contenders.

Forgive me for waiting so long to come to your defense, and to speak out against my fellow Paulites. Not all of us believe that the "MSM" is a vast conspiracy to deny us the ability to elect the good doctor, and most of us realize that -- for all his good points -- he carries baggage just as every other elected official does.

Happy holidays to you and yours.

Thomas

[felix vulgaris]

You revealed yourself as completely inadequate to comment on the political sphere the second you asserted "As one sign of how the Iraq war surge's recent success has made it a non-issue, Russert didn't even ask him about his stand".

What alternate universe do you inhabit, where the Iraq war is actually a non-issue?

[Josh]

Below are 3 polling statistics that are bullet proof and SPAM proof. Ron Paul is winning! The only true republican is in the lead! Ron Paul is a great man that represents great ideals, peace and liberty! Anyone who opposes Ron Paul opposes freedom, justice and peace! All other candidates are products of the military industrial complex and war-mongering neo-cons who are responsible for hijacking the American government. Ron Paul prevailed over all the obvious traps attempted by Tim Russert. Notice how Russert would change the subject immediately when Ron Paul would answer a question with something that made sense. Also notice how Russert fires off multiple questions and never allows for Ron Paul adequate time to answer complicated matters. RON PAUL 2008! LIBERTY! FREEDOM! THE CONSTITUTION!!!!!!!
RON PAUL IS WINNING AND HERE IS THE PROOF:
Source: http://www.usastrawpolls.com/
As you can see the candidate with the most number of Straw poll wins is Ron Paul. Also notice that the current break through front runner in the phone polls Mike Huckabee has won only 2 straw polls.
Candidate# Wins
Ron Paul 25
Fred Thompson 24
Mitt Romney 22
Rudy Giuliani 7
John McCain 5
Mike Huckabee 2
Duncan Hunter 2
Alan Keyes 0
Now here is the really shocking statistic of these real life votes. If you look at the total straw polls and average Ron Paul?s polling percentage the same way phone polls are averaged, the percentages of votes for Ron Paul is 33.02%.
SOURCE: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/straw-poll-results/
33.02% is the media pundits answer to their question of translation to actual votes.
So if you are were hesitant to throw your endorsement towards Ron Paul because of the Medias assessment of viability, your likely in a genuine position to justify Ron Paul as your candidate.
I say, welcome to the Ron Paul Revolution.
SOURCE: http://www.usadaily.com/article.cfm?articleID=208588