Bless Their Little Ron Paul Hearts
Photo of UNR students writing the U.S. Constitution in front of Lawlor Events Center courtesy of Inside Nevada Politics and Ron Paul campaign volunteer Robert Tehrune
Virtually every far-right entity — neo-Nazis, white supremacists, militias, constitutionalists, Minutemen, nativists, you name it — that I’ve been monitoring for the past decade or more is lining up behind Paul. I’ve checked with other human-rights observers, and they’re seeing the same thing. Ron Paul, rather quietly and under the radar, has managed to unite nearly the entire radical right behind him.
And it’s not likely, even, that this is so much by design as by nature. It’s a natural outgrowth of who Ron Paul is. Yet the scope of this coalescence of the far right is unprecedented. Certainly no other presidential candidate in my memory — except perhaps the early George Wallace — has energized and drawn the ardent support from the far right the way Ron Paui has.
Just stop a moment and take that in–George Wallace people. This doesn’t mean that all Ron Paul supporters are racists or neo-Nazis, Minutemen, etc., but what is does mean is that all of these right wing extremist groups find his candidacy more than compelling. Neiwert continues to trace the similarity of Ron Paul’s positions and those of the right wing extremist groups who support his candidacy:
….Ron Paul’s candidacy isn’t “guilt by association,” which by definition entails an irrelevant association.
Let’s use the new neo-Nazi affinity for the antiwar movement as an illustrative example here. Smearing one by linking them to the other is in fact “guilt by association,” because the association is irrelevant.
The skins’ reasons for opposing the war are, in fact, wholly different from those of the much larger antiwar left, who are opposed largely on humanitarian grounds; the far right, however, opposes the war because it’s perceived to be fought on behalf of Israel and the Jews — which is why, when you hear them talk about “neocons”, you know that they are in fact using it as a code word for “Jew.” So the association, such as it is (it seems largely to occur at Paul events) is purely coincidental, accidental, a nonsequitur, and largely irrelevant (though it hopefully gives antiwar liberals pause about the way they talk about Israeli influence in the matter).
However, the fact that they do so in the name of supporting Ron Paul is neither merely accidental nor irrelevant. After all, Paul himself is inclined to rail against “the Israel lobby” and “the neocons”. But that’s only scratching the surface of his appeal to this sector. Unlike the antiwar left, there’s more than an abundance of common ground between Ron Paul and the far right.
Paul’s associations with the radical right, in fact, are fully relevant, on three levels:
1) He has a fully documented history of actively seeking their support.
2) His ideological framework — fighting “the New World Order,” eliminating the Fed, the IRS, and most federal agencies, getting us out of the U.N., ending all gun controls, reinstating the gold standard — meshes neatly with theirs.
3) The organizations with whom he’s associated are not benign, nor merely even “controversial”, but are truly noxious elements that no responsible politician should be seen endorsing: racists, xenophobes, conspiracists, and frauds. This isn’t the Rose Garden Society we’re talking about here, or even the NRA.
As I recently pointed out:
[I]if you run through the broad array of kooky theories about the federal government promoted on the far right, you can find any number of Ron Paul’s positions — particularly regarding the gold standard, the Federal Reserve, the IRS, and the United Nations — floating about there. Notably, Paul also played a significant role in Congress’ ongoing failure to confront the growing problem of conspiracy-driven tax protests by diverting the blame to the IRS itself.
But that’s who Ron Paul is — a “constitutionalist” who deals in conspiracy theories and extremist anti-government beliefs. It’s who he always has been, and who he is now. It isn’t just an accident that Paul very recently spoke to a group with troubling racial ties, or that he attended a Patriot Network banquet in his honor in 2004, or that he gave an interview to a conspiracist magazine the same year. Hell, he’s been operating within those same circles since 1985.
For an in-depth look at Ron Paul’s congressional voting record, check out the information one of Orcinus’ commenters posted which Neiwert has helpfully collated into a single post. Honestly, its a deeply scary John Birch Society kind of record and anyone thinking about supporting Ron Paul as a presidential candidate, or who buys the Ron Paul as the Howard Dean of 2008, should give it a good once over.
Similar Posts:
- But Does Bunce Actually Have Ron Paul’s Endorsement?
- Andrew Sullivan Endorses Ron Paul
- Ron Paul Rally and Convention Speech
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Just because their skinheads doesn’t make the things they support automatically incorrect. The gold standard is an economic theory that exists a priori, it is the examination of the theoretical effects of varying volumes of money. It existed before the skinheads and will exist afterwards.
This is just more lazyness on the part of the anti-Paul crowd who honestly don’t even know what money is, let alone what’s wrong with the system now (I’ve heard very, very few people actually address the issue materially).
I’m not sure you’re familiar with the principles of the gold standard. “Electronic money” works just as well with gold standard currency as it does with fiat money currency. So long as there’s gold backing it, there’s no reason a bank credit on a debit card is any worse off than a paper bill showing how much gold it’s redeemable for.
CREDIT cards, however, might have some problems when divorced from fractional reserve banking…
And btw, the money created is given to the people and businesses of their choice. And then given back to the banks with interest. It is theft. Go ahead and look at the biggest buildings in the nearest major city. I’ll bet it’s a bank, and thats no coincidence.
Using the terms “kooks”, “crackpots” and name-calling is a lot easier than having to think and provide sound arguments.
This post was hardly about the gold standard so I’d call any comments about that subject red herrings.
TR: Reducing several paragraphs down to “using the terms ‘kooks’, ‘crackpots’ and name-calling is a lot easier than having to think and provide sound arguments.” is a lot easier than providing sound arguments.
Uh oh, the comments on this post could get ugly. I’ll leave them open until I have good reason not to.
Dear Beloved,
Thank you for warning potential Ron Paul supporters that some other Ron Paul supporters are extremists. Extremist or reactionary views tend to proliferate whenever people are stressed. Stressors can come in various ways. Following the 911 attacks, there was a rush to war. Now we are facing economic stressors. These economic stressors are due in large part to our carelessness with money and the transference of wealth from the populace. This though, is the very reason that support for Ron Paul should be seriously considered. The economic policies that he advocates would reverse the current trend toward depression and provide immediate relief to those most at risk. It is not Ron Paul nor support for Ron Paul that endangers our welfare. It is the continued acceptance of the “status quo” on both sides of the ailse and therefore the continued acceptance of economic loss.
We will not be able to spend our way out of this mess through government programs or manipulations of interest rates.
http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1297325815
As one of the political leaders of the 30 million North Americans who consume marijuana, I am totally excited about a Ron Paul Presidency. Ron Paul, by his consistent voting record, has voted against the budgets of the White House Drug Czar (ONDCP), the budget of the DEA, has co-sponsored bills to support state’s rights to medical marijuana, and is chief sponsor of the 2007 Industrial Hemp Act.
On television at the PBS Orlando debate for African-Americans, Ron Paul promised to repeal the entire federal war on drugs that imprisoned and arrested 320,000 African-Americans in 2005 alone over non-violent drug offenses. This modern incarnation of the Jim Crow laws ruins families, takes away voting rights, fills prisons, drains the Treasury and lures yet even larger numbers of minorities into the lucrative prohibition drug trade each passing year.
Ron Paul promised in the Detroit Free Press to end mandatory minimums, to pardon all the non-violent drug offenders, and free them from jail. This would emancipate more African-Americans from bondage in an 8 year Ron Paul Presidency than even Abraham Lincoln was able to do with the Proclamation.
Clearly, millions of African-Americans, Hispanics and stoners will be at large, with their voting rights restored, in a Ron Paul Presidency. With Giuliani, Clinton, Obama, and Romney, et al, this mass incarceration of African-Americans and minorities would continue.
Clearly it would be advantageous for David Duke and/or Stormfront to support any candidate other than Ron Paul if they expected a racist agenda from a Presidential candidate. In fact, Rudolph Giuliani as Mayor had 280,000 people arrested in 8 years for marijuana-related offenses, 78% were Hispanic and African-American. Remember ” Giuliani Time “? Those who want a racist agenda will support these authoritarian strongmen who have a track record of actually hurting minorities.
Marc Emery
Publisher
Cannabis Culture Magazine
POT.TV
It’s the condescending tone of your article that I find off-putting. Do you know who else, besides the individuals you call right-wing extremists, supports Ron Paul? A vast number of highly intelligent, well-educated, and well-informed people. You’ll find many of them, like myself, have doctorates in their respective fields. In fact, most of the people I associate with are Ron Paul supporters.
These individuals are not extremists; these individuals care about the country, care about freedom, and care about bringing this country out of the downward spiral it’s in right now.
The only thing that is kooky is this article’s writer. No one likes the UN. At a recent Luntz focus group NOT ONE REPUBLICAN IN THE MAINSTREAM GOP wanted us to stay in the UN. The realize what a dangerous kooky organization they are, constantly trying to remove sovereignty by treaty or that they are NON governmental, and unelected by the people?
This writer is young a foolish and needs to do more homework before being allowed to post this nonsense.
There is nothing extremist in questioning how the Federal Reserve and the IRS are robbing us — It’s just a different view!
This person is like the thought police whereas anyone different is a radical.
And let me remind you that it’s libelous to call someone a ‘fraud’ unless they have been convicted of some crime. Want to let us in on who you are talking about?
I would also like to remind you that racists, xenophobes, conspiracists can all vote too…and there are plenty voting for your green commie candidates (Hillary and Obama)
This doesn’t make Ron one of them.
His ideas on the IRS, FedRes, UN, and foreign entanglements are SPOT ON.
Get a life and stop writing such radical knee-jerk garbage.
You’ve “checked with other humans rights observers”? Whoa - who elected you the thought nazi?
It’s pretty funny since Ron Paul IS THE DEFINITIVE CHAMPION of human rights.
You are such a phony…I’ll bet you belong to a few hate groups yourself.
Obviously this person is a shill for the ADL, a hate group run by a pedophile and quite frankly they are the scariest people around.
Skinheads (whoever the hell they are) don’t bother me in the least, but these ADL types are terrifying.
They ought to be classified as terrorists!
“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.”
Thomas Paine
Vote for H. Clinton?
Joe Biden has 31 years to Hillary’s 7 in the Senate. Richardson has been an envoy, a diplomat, a Governor, a Cabinet Minister in Clinton’s administration. Thats more experience. Chris Dodd has more experience in the Senate. Ron Paul has more experience (20 years) in Congress.
And Ron Paul stands for change. Ron Paul has integrity. His statements are credible and believable. His positions on every issue are perfectly clear. He has a better understanding of the Constitution. Ron Paul is a latter-day Thomas Jefferson.
Hilary Clinton won’t change anything, she’ll be just a different signature on the same executive orders. I will admit she has the most experience as consort to an unfaithful husband, but as to accomplishments, she actually has none at all other than getting elected to the Senate on her husband’s charisma and connections.
The ignorance in this article is amazing. Claiming that in an age of electronic money, the gold standard is kooky demonstrates a total misunderstanding of the nature of money. “Electronic money” is a bookkeepping method. Government counterfeiting remains immoral and destructive, no matter how the books are kept. In a free market, the gold standard prevails. The counterfeit money now rules only because the government has outlawed honest money.
It is a tranparently dishonest attempt to smear Ron Paul by pointing at some morons who may support him. There are plenty of morons who support every candidate. That they support a candidate does in no way mean that the candidate supports them.
Our author begins with name calling and, when criticised for that, suggests that the comments are getting ugly and hints around that she may have to close them down.
This is the new game among the anti-Paul crowd. Insult and lie and then whine about the reaction and self-rightiously ban any back-talk.
I see a comment above by Marc Emery. Hello to Marc. He’s a very great American even though he’s a Canadian. He’s on my hero list, along with Ron Paul.
Hillary should be president because she has “experience in the white house”?? Was that comment serious?? She’s a socialist. There is no one more unqualified.
“Bless their little Ron Paul Hearts”
This article starts out with snide condescension, then moves on to dishonest smear.
It is dishonest and irrational to claim that a candidate should be judged by the worst of his supporters. It’s a nasty old political trick which can be used against every candidate who has ever run for office.
What’s kooky? An intentionally debased paper currency currently trading at 40 year lows on international markets, or money based on a real tangible asset like gold or silver?
And then there’s the fact that our Consitution explicitly requires that the ONLY legal tender be gold and silver. I guess in some circles it’s our Constitution that’s kooky.
I am a 37 year old mother, I have voted pretty equally for both parties in my life. I am not a racist, skin-head, or ‘kook’.
If you cannot see that Dr. Paul has the most honest, common-sense approach to how to govern this country than anyone running, then I don’t know what to tell you. I refuse to live in fear, either of terrorists, skin-heads, or right-wing/left-wing politicians (as you can see, I am very brave! lol), so scare tactics will not work.
What I can tell you is this - he gets support from the mainstream PEOPLE, regardless of what the mainstream media thinks. Have a good day.
This country is on the brink of total economic destruction and you attempt to smear the only candidate that stands a chance at correcting the root problems and setting this nation on a coarse of peace, freedom and prosperity. Do you know who the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) is? It is a global organization that meets in secret under high security. Its main purpose is the destruction of all national sovereignty, including the the USA. The final objective is a one world government. It is a serious crime for any elected U.S.official to meet with foreign entities, in secret, behind closed doors (conspiracy to commit treason). Virtually all of the candidates, with the exception of Dr. Ron Paul is a CFR member. Also, virtually all of the other candidates get the lion share of donations from special interest groups, and the industrialized military complex. In contrast, all of Ron Paul’s support comes from thousands of small donations from the grassroots. He does not and will not accept money from special interests. Ron Paul cannot be bought at any price.
John McCain once said, ” Ron Paul is the most honest man in politics” Your Ron Paul yellow jouralism hit piece says reams about who and what you are.
“Bless their little Ron Paul hearts”… ah, how nasty. Well, tell you what, how about “Bless their old Ron Paul hearts” — because I’m old, I’m a Korean War (er, sorry, “Police Action”) vet. I’ve had enough of these flag-waving nuts in 7-piece suits having our soldiers die in that middle east religious cesspool. As to the young people working for Paul… its the best damned thing I’ve ever seen… they deserve our respect for their intelligence and their intentions. I sent in a bit of money to help with Paul’s campaign.. less than pocket change for the fat-cat pols and the damned neo-cons who are bent upon more death and more wars. Yes, “Bless their little Ron Paul hearts.”
Myrna, here’s a thought for you:
Ignore Ron Paul. While some of his thoughts have merit, and the enthusiasm of his campaign is infectious, the skeletons in his closet are simply too large to be ignored. Not to mention that your post has drawn out the lunatic fringe in all its fanatical glory. But why ignore him, like the GOP has continued to do? Well, there have been some rumors floating about that no less than Ross Perot is helping to fund his campaign. If this is the case, when the GOP freezes Paul out of the convention next summer (which you know they will), Paul will likely stage a third-party candidacy, perhaps under the banner of Perot’s Reform Party. Add to that the possibility of the Dobsonites bolting when Rudito Mussoweenie…….er, Giuliani winning the GOP nomination and launching their own candidate (Huckabee, Brownback, Tancredo, Hunter, and even Dobson himself being possible candidates under that banner), the divisions will only ensure that a Democrat will win the Oval Office.
Oh, the sound of imploding assholes will be truly glorious the day Hillary (or Barack, Christopher, Bill, et al) is sworn in as the President of the Unied States of America. From there, the right will most certainly turn to violence to ‘free’ America from the evils of peace, freedom and democracy. And given the right’s track record for incompetence as of late, we should be enjoying a GOP-free existence no later than say, 2010.
I went and saw Ron Paul today, and it is clear he is packaging his views in a way that appeals to people across the political spectrum: some red meat for the progressives, some red meat for the radical right, some red meat for people falling somewhere in between. We ALL know he is an extremist crank who overdosed on too much Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises Koolaid.
He’s the flip side of Dennis Kucinich, another nutjob who has accomplished even less than Paul in his time in Congress, but he appeals to people’s base instincts.
Ron Paul is incredibly racist, sexist, heterosexist, and Christian supremacist in his political agenda. That can easily be seen by going to his congressional web site. It’s no wonder the rightist fringe is so attracted to him. He supports their objectives, while speaking in softer, faux libertarian language.
Now that’s a point force_ten. However, I have a problem ignoring any kind of insidious element in our already tenuous political process. People must learn to investigate their candidates a bit closer before deciding to support them.
The funniest thing about some of the comments is the automatic leap some Paul supporters make in assuming that I must support Clinton if I don’t support Paul.
Oh, and accusing me of being a shill for the Anti-Defamation League doesn’t really make me feel like my honor has been impugned in any way. Yikes. Its nice to get a (rather tame) look at who surfaces to defend Paul.
Myrna, thanks for an excellent post. I’ve learned quite a bit from this thread. You make an excellent overall point - you CAN tell a person by the company they keep.
I think, as a journalist it is your responsiblity to research and know the facts when you write and publish an article. I have absolutely no problem with biased journalism, because let’s face it almost all of it is. But I want to know the bias, whatever it may be upfront.
I believe in truth, because truth doesn’t need to hide behind any kind of slander, manipulation, or mudslinging (which while this article was not written by a candidate running against Ron Paul I think it can still loosely be classified as such).
The constitution is an incredibly important document to EVERY American and while I personally think every American should support Ron Paul I think it is the duty and responsibility of every American to now the constitution, to know the law, to understand economics, and to understand liberty. As an American you should seriously consider the constitution whenever you support a political candidate, regardless of what candidate you end up supporting.
I say this because it was my idea to chalk the constitution at UNR. So, myself and 6 other very dedicated people did.
I am a college student.
I am an artist.
I am a magazine editor.
I am an independent publisher.
And I support Ron Paul.
Kelly, I am not a journalist. It was a great idea to write the Constitution on the sidewalk at UNR.
That being said, there is enough source material linked to in this post to qualify it NOT as mudslinging, manipulation, or slander including several recorded congressional votes by Paul. A candidate with integrity would do whatever he could to distance himself from the right wing extremist groups that have him, regardless of his professed love of the Constitution. Read, read, read–from varied sources.
Hmm… it seemed to escape you that his western regional coordinator’s name is GREENSPAN. Don’t think a racist would have someone with that name (of obvious ethnicity) at such a high level on his campaign. It also escaped you that there are ALREADY e-gold payment companies - to your (ignorant) comment about a gold monetary system not being possible in the e-age.
Bottom line: you’re a cruddy blogger. Get a clue, or get a REAL job.
Why should anyone trust a DIGITAL currency to retain its value when a PAPER currency is having difficulty staying valuable???????????????
I typed out a big long post on how the government is supposed to work, and it doesn’t make it? I posted it, said needed moderation and bam, never shows up, but then the other post shows up right away.
What gives? My post was not spam in anyway, yet you allow someone to make false claims and call him a racist?
Do you think people are stupid? Do you think people in general believe your BS? No, they don’t. Ron Paul IS the front runner, no matter if you like it or not. And if you don’t like it, then it’s probably because you have never researched him, but don’t let them stop you from putting out your ignorant and slanderous blog posts.
It is too bad we can’t just break off the earth into 2 timelines. 1 where you get your way, and 1 where I don’t have to live in it. I couldn’t think of a more suitable punishment than giving you exactly what you ask for.
Jeez, looky at all the trolls and goofballs out there! Ron Paul has a lot of money at his disposal, but probably won’t win a single state leading up to the GOP convention. Which will inevitably lead to a third-party candidacy which will split the conservative vote (which may or may not splinter even further if the Evangeilcals either sit the election out or field their own candidate).
We’re painting America blue in 2008! RIP GOP!
I have a real job. That’s why I can’t sit around and moderate comments all day.
I got yo’ back minx. For the record, the Ron Paul kids at the University that I have run into are a little less than naive. Their blind, non-critical position on Dr. Paul is pretty hypocritical when you think about the fact that they like to call themselves “individualists.”
Attacking the supporters again and again is getting a little passe (old and busted). They are so diverse now. The movement is becoming a much wider spectrum of the American population and it is growing exponentially if anyone hasn’t noticed. I know its quoted alot but I have to mention it.
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” -Ghandi
It doesn’t appear to me that Ron Paul associates himself with these groups, but rather that they associate themselves with his campaign. Of course ultra conservatives are going to look for the candidate with the most hands-off federal stance. But that shouldn’t negate that stance in the least bit. What we too often forget is that a hands off federal government empowers local governments and citizens to root out wrong doing and immorality close to home–where they can have some chance of success. Think about it: the federal lawmakers are in Washington DC, and it has a leading murder rate, rape, crime, prostitution, etc. So how effective is the federal government at controlling danger and radically harmful behavior? One look at Marion Berry’s re-election should answer that without hesitation.