Ron Paul Launches Presidential Campaign

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: National Journal

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose outspoken libertarian views and folksy style made him a cult hero during two previous presidential campaigns, will announce on Tuesday that he's going to try a third time.

Sources close to Paul, who is in his 12th term in the House, said he will unveil an exploratory presidential committee, a key step in gearing up for a White House race. He will also unveil the campaign’s leadership team in Iowa, where the first votes of the presidential election will be cast in caucuses next year.

Paul, 75, ran as the Libertarian Party candidate in 1988, finishing with less than one half a percent of the vote. After more than a decade as a Republican congressman, Paul gave it another shot in the 2008 presidential election, gaining attention for being the only Republican candidate calling for the end to the war in Iraq and for his “money bomb” fundraising strategy, which brought in millions of dollars from online donors in single-day pushes.

Read more: http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ron-paul-launches-presidential-campaign-20110425

[Rageneau]

1. A candidate for people who are anti-real war and anti-drug war, too.

There are a lot of problems with Dr. Paul, but he's right on two issues that Obama isn't.

[Carnage251]

2. So people will be able to smoke weed in the his plutocracy?

[abelenkpe]

3. So what he's a bigot

I'd rather have Obama anyday over that lunatic.

[naaman fletcher]

5. of course

I don't think anyone here is saying we would rather have Paul than Obama, but I am perfectly fine saying "here is an honest guy who wants to take the country back from the bankers, although I disagree with him on certain principles."

He

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. He expresses opinions no honest person expresses. -nt

[left coaster]

11. Paul is also anti-choice.. so, yeah, no thanks. nt

[AnneD]

56. Not to mention his stance on the Federal Reserve....

Thanks to that provision he slipped in to a bill...we know who came to the Fed window and got interest free money during the bail out. We were bailing out foreign banks, kadiffi, and some bankers wives.

I bet Timmy cut himself shaving this morning and Ben is washing out his BVD's at this point.

[applegrove]

4. Oh darn. It means Palin and Bachmann will not do so well. They'll all split

the nut vote, which is 50% of the republican vote.

[Tarheel_Dem]

6. >>>>

:boring:

[Carnage251]

7. Anyway, doesn't he actually support term limits?

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[pettypace]

9. If the conservatives & libertarians can rally around Paul

He'll be the only guy that could stand in Obama's path to relection.

That would be one hell of a contest next year. I'd love to witness it.

[Volaris]

10. wouldn't the President's only recourse to Paul's brand of Right Libertarianism

be to become the LEFT Libertarian we kinda all Hope(TM)ed he would be?

I agree, it would be kinda fun to watch=)

[krabigirl]

55. True. But neocons do not like his views on ending the wars overseas and the WOD.

[AnneD]

58. And when they do...

Maybe Obama and staff will regret selling out their liberal base in favor of their WS buddies.

Ron Paul is like a turd in the DC punchbowl and just the thing our stagnated non two party system needs. Every time the media does the hypothetical challenges they have not even mentioned Paul, even though he wins GOP straw polls.

Ron Paul needs to watch his back.

[No Elephants]

12. DU's libertarian contingent.

[Ratty]

26. Some people never give up

What is it about this guy that morons latch onto, even here on DU? Because of course there are NOO Democrats opposed to the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, or war on drugs :sarcasm:

Ron Paul:
1. Would eliminate Dept. of Education, Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Health and Human Services, FEMA, and the IRS.
2. Would eliminate all income tax.
3. Does not believe in separation of church and state.
4. Believes states should be able to outlaw flag burning.
5. Supports DOMA.
6. Criticized Lawrence v Texas.
7. Rabidly pro-life, sponsored Sanctity of Life Act among other legislation aimed at banning abortion.
8. Is a climate change denier.
9. Opposes the voting rights act.
10. Opposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Separate drinking fountains and lunch counters are A-OK with him if that's what individual states want to do.
11. Opposes any limits on campaign contributions.

Ron Paul's vision of the future is one where we all pay tolls to use a highway, we can opt to let our houses burn down rather than pay a fire protection fee. If you can't pay to send your kid to a private school then they can just grow up without learning to read. A society where we should just trust the food and drug industries not to poison us or make us sick and always do what is in our best interests. A society where the old and sick can just starve when the markets tank because they chose not to fund their 401ks intelligently and diversify their portfolios when they had the opportunity.

Forgot to add one more: since animals are just property, opposes all animal cruelty laws. You can buy as many dogs and cats as you like and torture them in the most heinous ways possible and nobody can infringe on your personal right to do so.

Yeah, a real plain talking hero that guy.

[ecstatic]

28. +1000 nt

[freshwest]

29. Thank you for the list! Will use it.

[Frank Cannon]

30. Nicely done. Thanks for that.

Yeah, I don't get what the love affair is with this guy, either. Give me an Alan Grayson any day over this nut.

[johnroshan]

14. He's a good libertarian.

He is the one who continuously talks and actually takes action against war and bankers. I believe he even had a book about ending the Fed!! That should be interesting.

[No Elephants]

15. Good libertarian = oxymoron

Libertarians are Republicans who love money even more.

[jmowreader]

61. Or...

A libertarian is a Republican with a bag of weed in the glovebox.

[FSogol]

19. F' Ron Paul. He's a bigoted turd who bloviates about banking. What has he done

to change banking beyond talk? Nothing. He's an empty suit interested only in fund raising.

[freshwest]

38. So has Kucinich and the CPC, but check how he differs from them from the above:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4827304&mesg_id=4827946

If he's 'a good libertarian' he's bad for this country. He still believes in Reaganomics after all it's done to us.

Paul refused to run with Kucinich and ran with his tail between his legs to suck up the GOP when they tried to shove him out of office.

He's still with the GOP, giving them a voting majority to destroy Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the EPA and labor rights, women and other rights, and has no problem with a theocracy.

Paul's version of libertarianism meets the criteria of Ayn Rand, deeming those in need of aid or voiceless to be worthless mouths and is the basis of the Tea Party.

Does this really sound good to you?

[Turborama]

16. And this non-news about a Republican racist pig is on DU's Greatest Page because...?

[No Elephants]

17. Please see Reply # 12.

[Turborama]

23. Yep, sums it up.

Even though they share the 1st five letters, some people still don't get that Liberal is not the same as Libertarian.

[tavalon]

18. Honestly,

Because, they all will, one pathetic runner after the next. It will look like the Boston marathon, by the time this gets going.

[FSogol]

20. A Boston Marathon of Quitters, Grifters, Con Men, Liars, Bigots, Prudes, Fascist, and Zealots.

Today's GOP!

[harun]

21. He's a Republican that isn't a sell out to the Military-Industrial complex, very rare.

[Turborama]

22. He's a Republican and this is an exclusively Democratic/Liberal/Progressive website.

There are websites specially set up for Paulites, and this isn't one of them.

[harun]

24. His views on U.S. Imperialism are to be commended. The rec's are appropriate.

Whether you like it or not.

[Turborama]

25. He's a Republican and this is an OP about his presidential candidacy. The recs are not appropriate.

This is not a matter of opinion.

Whether you like it or not, the fact is that this isn't the correct venue to be espousing the benefits of and/or recommending voting for Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul.

[freshwest]

40. But it is the correct venue to expose what he's really about and that Dems can do it better.

[Turborama]

43. That's a good point. n/t

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Turborama]

42. Democratic Underground is not the correct venue to be recommending voting for Republicans.

And that means ANY Republican.

It's in the well defined rules of Democratic Underground.

Look it up: http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules_detailed.html

You're indignant personal attack tells me that you need to check out another rule in there, too.

[Turborama]

49. Correction: "Your", not "You're".

I had edited something else I'd written which originally began with "You're" but failed to notice the error in time to correct it.

[totodeinhere]

53. I don't think that we should actually promote his candidacy on DU. But

it is news and I don't see what's wrong with discussing it. After all, this is the latest breaking news forum.

[ecstatic]

27. He also wants to shut down Planned Parenthood, medicare, medicaid, the Dept of Education

Listen to him in his own words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5yN3eExXvs

[Ter]

32. And Dept. of Homeland Security too

He's consistent.

[Ratty]

34. "Consistent." OK, I get it now

People admire him because he has an idealistic philosophy which he clings to without compromise, despite evidence to the contrary and with no regard for pragmatism, exceptions, or shades of gray. I call that delusional.

[Ter]

35. Well he's not like the right wingers who only want to abolish certain things

The neo-cons pick and choose. Ron Paul doesn't.

[Ratty]

37. And what on earth is wrong with picking and choosing?

You pick what works and reject what doesn't. How much more simple could it be? Much better than swallowing every rule some weird ideology demands regardless of how nonsensical it may be. That's more akin to religious fanaticism.

[Ter]

47. So you're defending neo-cons who pick and choose?

Just want to be clear here.

[Ratty]

52. Yes, that's exactly right

I'm defending neocons. Love me them neocons. I'm sure I've said several times in my posts how much I love neocons. I hope the neocons win all their elections because, you know, on account of how much I love neocons.

[Ter]

31. He's a lot less racist than the neo-con country clubbers

He deeply condemned the article that appeared in his newsletter, move on. He hasn't done anything racist in office, so I believe him when he said he didn't proof-read it. He also marched with MLK in the 60's.

[Turborama]

45. Which doesn't say much, really.

He "deeply condemned it" (I have seen no evidence) after it was exposed and you want me to look forward, not backward?

No!

I won't do it with regards to what Bush's junta did and I certainly won't do it for anything Ron Paul has countenanced - whether he's in denial or not.

BTW, if point #10 isn't racist I don't know what is: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4827304&mesg_id=4827946

[Ter]

46. Part 10 is only racist if you're a racist

If you're Barry Goldwater, it's not racist (it's wrong for sure, but not racist). Barry hated racism, but to him he believed it was unconstitutional, and that business and housing owners basically have unlimited freedom and rights. Barry would have never forbid a person of color from entering his store and hated racism. However, States Rights and the Constitution came first to him. It is most certainly the wrong view, but his reasons weren't racism, like George Wallace's and others.

[Turborama]

48. Ron Paul opposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

You can defend his stance as much as you like, but it is still a racist stance.

[freshwest]

57. That is some *serious* baggage he's carrying around. And his followers claimed voter suppression?

They don't know the meaning of the word...

:nopity:

[freshwest]

39. Excess Radio Active (Prison Planet) Exposure.

BTW, thanks for posting that link to your thread on alternative energy. Too bad it got trolled to death. It was a straightforward piece.

[Turborama]

50. Most likely

I've seen a lot of Infowars worthy posts around here lately.

You're most welcome, I'm glad to hear you liked it. I think the replies to the kneejerk negative responses were very informative so I'm happy with the way it went. :hi:

[freshwest]

59. Uh, well...

I had a spell of listening to the thing for half a year during the closing year of the Bush reign of terror. At that point, the worse Bush and the wars were portrayed, the better. So I tuned in along with other disaffected anti-war lefties. :blush:

It's addictive, and amazing how many venues it's in. It can be listened to 'live,' or as most right wing radio shows like Rush, on repeat. It's in podcasts, internet radio, broadcast, Sirius, etc.

The program was 3 hours live more or less, repeated during the other 21 hours of the day, and the weekends. People without other means, can listen to it on the phone. It's ubiquitous, never shuts down. And fear is a potent persuader, because we all have to have a certain amount of that to survive. Anything that flies the real flag of not surviving *must* be attended to. But as this author wrote:

"Anxiety leads to a narrowing of the field of attention, the so-called tunnel vision, and when people are anxious, they are unable to attend to the total situation as is necessary to enable them to act rationally, but impulsively do the first thing that comes into their heads, which is usually determined by what others are doing at the same time." J. A. C. Brown, 'Techniques of Persuasion'

The show is complete with music to evoke a sense of dread, and Prison Planet television is frequently uploaded to youtube. Some of the videos use a classic subliminal technique, imagery going on in the background and a spinning ball on the lower part of the screen. These are mnemonics designed to activate memory in a part of the brain that makes sure what is heard goes straight to the irrational subconscious without any buffering. The first time I saw this used on cable networks was through those crawling messages. The subconscious records everything and triggers the limbic system.

The show was interesting because it talked about current events, and expands from there back into time. I don't have a problem with 'conspiracy' stuff since I'm always eager to learn other people's viewpoints. If nothing else, to identify the next wing nut to walk in the room. I may not agree with them, but we don't learn our shortcomings from our friends, usually. And the truth about ourselves is more important than anything else, because it's why we do what we do.

I realized that among the ideas being put forth, certain assumptions of the right wing were being made, and never questioned. That while screaming about the system and the rich and the powerful, that those voices I know to have been vectors for social change and freedom, were being discounted.

There is an element of high school football rivalry in most debates. People defend and attack other groups, just because it's not theirs. This is not useful to us as a whole. The opposite, open minded to a fault, is both a strength and weakness for liberals, progressive and Democrats. They can't really be liberal if they exclude other views, because that would mean they are being unjust to others.

I've found Democrats, despite hissing and spitting on occasion, to have a strong sense of humility in dealing with others conservatives generally do not have. Democrats seem to be the givers and not the takers, they are doing the hard work of society for little pay in many instances and see many things.

Because they are secularists, they don't wear the blinders of fundamentalist religion, although they are many faiths or agnostics or atheists, too. The virtue of true secularism is by its nature, to not dehumanize others because they don't believe the same things about the nature of reality, mankind and the purpose of life, even if not deity is believed. That is a sacred thing to all people in their journey and should not be disrespected.

Democrats are the best keepers of spiritual freedom in that respect. They don't want a theocracy for that very reason, not because they hate life, god, or any of that. They have boundaries. I believe there are energetic states in the parties that attract different people.

I sensed, despite the avalanche of very provocative data presented by Alex Jones, a clear bias. The bias would show and be denied in the same breath. I paid attention to how it made me feel. Then I read some serious analysis of the program on that exact subject, which is not usually brought up by debunkers who argue data.

The analysis was from another 'conspiracy' figure who said the Prison Planet program was an addiction because it was daily fix of fear that people wanted to organize their days around. Which sounded strange until he explained. The writer said the adrenaline high of fear, followed by the feeling of safety (and part of a group) by following whatever solutions the man dished out to be secure, was not only seductive, but chemically pleasurable.

This writer claimed that as the adrenaline is burned off, the need for the fix begins again. Thus the constant reinforcement, like most right wing radio. So that the person starts to feel, as with any drug, that their life is boring, unimportant, empty without it. They are not part of the cause without that daily terror, so to speak.

He said more that helped me understand the contradictions of the show an its host. Oftentimes there are call-in segments, and like Rush and others programs, it has its flock of young men who call in and fawn over Jones, almost in a state of puppy love. If they don't say just the right words, he slaps them in the face. The writer said this is because Jones is a fractured soul, projecting his own lack of self-respect when he abuses people. Like any serial abuser, he excuses it by saying the stress of his mighty work for humankind makes him short and impatient. In other words, he's entitled.

And the warning the writer gave was this: those who continue to indulge themselves in this mental masturbation will literally find themselves living in the Prison Planet. Their energy being sent into those realms of imagination have a real impact on the world. Rather being open, reflective, hopeful, willing to accept the world is changing and can't go back to what it was, they are literally bringing their dreaded New World Order they learned from the program to pass.

I can't think of a better example than the Prison Planet program pushing Ron Paul and the Tea Party as we watch what they are doing to us now. Just because they give themselves a catchy name and talk about liberty and freedom, they are still bringing about that same NWO they screamed about, but not by government.

I tuned in the other day to see 'how high's the water in the swamp' and heard him applauding restricting abortion rights as good thing that the Tea Party is doing. This is from a guy that yells about microchipping the population being an invasion of the human body and the state getting into family lives and kidnapping kids. And screaming about the police state that's going to kill us all.

I guess the women now being forced the state laws passed by the GOP and Tea Party legislature, to endure mandated transvaginal ultrasounds in Texas don't feel their family lives and their bodies are being invaded, huh?

[Blue_Tires]

33. no surprise after how wildly successful his cash grab was in '08

[Doctor_J]

36. The new century's Pat Paulsen

Bully for him

[quakerboy]

44. Go Paul Go...

[sofa king]

51. This is terrible!

With another right-wing spoiler in the race, President Obama is in danger of being reelected by a unanimous vote of the electoral college.

By unwavering tradition, the honor of being elected unanimously in the electoral college is the sole province of George Washington, which means that at least one elector will have to vote for someone else, as happened in the case of James Monroe.

How embarrassing!

[Ter]

60. Oh yeah, Obama's going to win Utah now?

Idaho too? Nah, no one can sweep the entire EC again. No puke can ever win DC, and no Dem can ever win the two states I mentioned. Probably not Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, ND, or SD ether. Texas is possible though, and we might even take Tennessee. :)

[and-justice-for-all]

54. Please spend yourself into oblivion...

I can not stand this goblin or his troll son.