The Platform From Hell
Ron Paul delegates challenge interventionists
In response to the well nigh universal jeers that greeted his endorsement of Mitt Romney, Sen. Rand Paul (son of Ron Paul) tried to reassure us: Oh, don’t worry, because the Paulians will have a major influence on the party platform.
How so?
Well, it seems the Republicans want to audit the Federal Reserve — a longtime Paulian hobbyhorse. Yet so do many Democrats — 89 of them voted for it in the House. This hardly means the Fed will be reined in — never mind abolished. Okay, okay, but stop being so narrow-minded! Isn’t half a loaf better than none — and doesn’t this represent progress?
No — not when it is considered in the context of the total platform document, and especially the foreign policy section.
The big conflict this year was over the section on Israel, the title of which — “Our Unequivocal Support for Israel” — says it all when it comes to the GOP’s foreign policy agenda. Yes, but that support is apparently not unequivocal enough, as far as some people are concerned, because Israel’s more fervent supporters tried to change the GOP’s support for a two-state solution by deleting that section from the platform. We can’t call for the creation of “a terror state” like Obama and the Democrats, one delegate rose to declare. Try telling these people that the two-state solution was first endorsed by a Republican President: George W. Bush. Besides, Frank Gaffney has an answer to that….
The effort to dump the two-state doctrine ultimately failed when Romney enforcer Jim Talent, a former Senator, argued that Bibi Netanyahu and his government support two states, and if it’s good enough for Bibi …
Efforts by the Paul delegates to call for real cuts in military spending were quashed, along with a valiant attempt by Paul delegate Richard Ford to insert the following in the document: “The Obama administration has made the mistake of following the failed and dangerous policy of nation-building.” Ford went on to argue:
“Nation-building is a failed policy of the Democrats and we Republicans need to go back to the humble foreign policy of George Bush before 9/11. We need to go back to not creating democracies overseas that create Islamic regimes, and go back to the goal of getting our enemies and bringing our troops home as soon as possible.”
Once again Talent intervened on behalf of Romney and the party Establishment:
“I’m very concerned it would be read, and may be intended to be read, as getting out a whole range of tools that we regularly use in foreign policy in order to protect American security at as inexpensive a cost as possible — tools by which we assist other countries in developing grassroots democratic and economic institutions. [We] ought to be trying to assist Libya as it emerges as a democracy. That doesn’t mean we have to go in and build a nation.”
It’s fascinating to see how a proposal to get rid of a horrifically expensive program — our nation-building efforts in Afghanistan, for example, have so far cost us $18.8 billion — is opposed in the name of cost effectiveness. In Bizarro Republican Land, cuts are too costly — the way to save money is by spending more. Oddly, they don’t apply this principle to domestic programs, such as Medicare and Social Security: they’re only opposed to “nation-building” at home. So while 17-year-old Johnny may be reading at a third grade level, our effort to improve the literacy of Afghan women is what’s really important to the GOP.
The heroic Ford also tried to ditch the GOP’s foreign aid plank, which endorses sending billions overseas — again, in the name of “cost effectiveness.” The plank reads:
“Foreign aid should serve our national interest, an essential part of which is the peaceful development of less advanced and vulnerable societies in critical parts of the world. Assistance should be seen as an alternative means of keeping the peace, far less costly in both dollars and human lives than military engagement. The economic success and political progress of former aid recipients, from Latin America to East Asia, has justified our investment in their future. U.S. aid should be based on the model of the Millennium Challenge Corp., for which foreign governments must, in effect, compete for the dollars by showing respect for the rule of law, free enterprise, and measurable results.”
While the motion to strike this laughable nonsense was shot down by Talent and the Romneyites, bravo to delegate Ford for challenging the bipartisan interventionist consensus. Within the narrow parameters of permissible debate, the only question is how best to police the world — not whether Washington ought to be playing Globo-cop to begin with.
One has to ask: what possible political advantage do Republicans get for supporting sending our tax dollars overseas? If we had a national referendum on foreign aid, the vote in favor wouldn’t make double digits. So how do we explain the GOP’s support for a vastly unpopular boondoggle?
The answer is: exporters with political connections and government contracts benefit, and these guys donate to political campaigns. Interesting enough, another proposal to make sure our aid money goes to buy American products “where possible” was also blocked. It was surely redundant: because our foreign sock-puppets get paid in dollars, they are more likely to spend them in the US. An entire industry has grown up around collecting these vast government expenditures, and the party is owned lock, stock, and barrel by these folks. So why advertise it?
The Paul delegates made a frontal assault on the red-state fascist measures adopted by both the Bush and Obama administrations. Uri Friedman, writing in Foreign Policy magazine, reports:
“Pat Kerby, a delegate from Nevada, offered an amendment opposing the indefinite detention of American citizens under the National Defense Authorization Act. ‘It’s not beyond [the Obama administration] to use things like the IRS to go after donors for conservatives,’ he argued. ‘The idea of granting this power to government is in defiance of the constitution.’ Minnesota delegate Kevin Erickson agreed on the broader point, declaring, ‘The fact that we have a president who has … an assassination czar and a kill list is an abomination to our Constitution.’”
The red-state fascist view was given voice by Jim Bopp, whose title of co-chairman of the platform subcommittee on constitutional government belies his complete ignorance of our nation’s founding document: “It doesn’t matter if the enemy combatant is a U.S. citizen or not,” he declared. “If they are fighting for a foreign country or foreign interest, they can be so held.”
That the President, as commander-in-chief, can unilaterally and secretly designate anyone an “enemy combatant” is of no concern to this distinguished scholar of constitutional law. No doubt Professor Bopp considers himself a conservative, but whatever institutions he seeks to preserve against the liberal onslaught, the Constitution is apparently not one of them.
Kerby’s amendment was defeated. Yet the signal achievement of Ford, Kerby, and others is that these vital issues were even debated at all. That hasn’t happened since the days of Sen. Robert A. Taft.
When Sen. Paul babbled to Sean Hannity that the “liberty movement” should get on board the Romney train-wreck because of all the “influence” the Paulians are likely to have on the GOP platform, what he meant was the GOP call to audit the Fed, establish another phony “gold commission,” and a vague statement in favor of “internet freedom.” When it comes to the vital question of war and peace, however, the platform committee — and, indeed, the entire GOP apparatus at the national level — is controlled by the party bosses, and those bosses hew to the neocon party line: intervention everywhere.
Ron Paul’s speech to the 10,000-strong Paulians who came to hear him at the Sun Dome was a stinging rebuke to the war-crazed neocons who think they can ride Romney’s coat-tails all the way to the White House. Hailing Bradley Manning — who “never killed anybody” — Paul had the crowd roaring its approval as he denounced the Swedes for kowtowing to Washington’s demand for Julian Assange’s head. What a kick in the teeth to Tampa’s laptop bombardiers — and to all those top officials in the Paulian organization, who would rather Ron toned down the antiwar rhetoric and have glommed on to Rand Paul as a potentially more marketable political commodity.
The Romneyites and their “conservative” enablers can’t fight the Paulians on the battlefield of contending ideas, and so they have resorted to crude organizational measures. The Maine delegation, which was solidly Paulian, was purged of half its members: Maine’s Republican governor, Paul Lepage, is boycotting the Tampa convention in protest.
A new bylaws provision which allows the Republican National Committee to change the rules between national conventions is aimed at throttling future attempts by the Paulians to duplicate their strategy of acquiring delegates by winning at local party caucuses. The new rules would obligate delegates to go with the winner of the various “beauty contests” masquerading as elections, with results such as we saw in Iowa. This move, by the way, is not just aimed at the Paulians, but at any and all dissident conservatives and Tea Party types who might presume to challenge the wisdom of party bosses. The Huffington Post huffs that the Paulians are “disrupting” the convention: to buck the party leadership, as their headline characterizes it, is to “cause mayhem,” which is odd, considering how this is a political convention, and all — not in North Korea, but in America.
The Los Angeles Times ran a story about how the Maine delegates walked out of the convention in protest over the anti-Paul purge, accompanied by a photo of fanatic-looking Paulites who are actually in the process of caucusing; however, the Times avers they “erupted in fury.” Those crazy anarchists — aren’t those acid-filled eggs they have in their pockets? I’m surprised the Times photographer was brave enough to get that close! Also noted in that same piece:
“As the roll call of states commenced, several states listed votes for both Romney and Paul. When repeating back the count, those at the podium cited only the Romney votes.”
While the “official” vote count will claim Soviet-style near-unanimity in favor of Romney, the reality is that Ron Paul garnered 190 votes from 26 states. Not bad for a guerrilla campaign that was subjected to a media blackout, smeared by the usual neocon suspects — with help from some alleged “libertarians” — and was outspent by the opposition 100-to-1.
The treatment dished out to the Paulians — and dissident conservatives — at Tampa ought to settle once and for all the strategic question that has been roiling the “liberty movement” ever since Rand Paul endorsed Romney. The Randian idea is that it is possible to make a deal with the Establishment, and they’ll let us play in their sandbox as long as the movement plays by the rules. Yet the big internal change the party leadership put forth in Tampa is explicitly designed to let them change the rules at their discretion, if it means stopping insurgent campaigns like Paul’s in the future.
In this context, Rand Paul’s Wednesday speech to the convention — not to mention the Ron Paul tribute video — promises to be as grotesque a spectacle as has ever been conjured before television cameras. I can’t watch it, I won’t watch it — and besides which, a new episode of Property Brothers is on HGTV, and if you think I’m going to miss that in order to see how low somehow can bow and scrape before his father’s persecutors, you’ve got another think coming!
NOTES IN THE MARGIN
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Read more by Justin Raimondo
- Foreign Policy Night in Tampa – August 30th, 2012
- Imperialism as Spectacle – August 26th, 2012
- The Iron Fist in Tampa – August 23rd, 2012
- Bibi’s War – August 21st, 2012
- Bibi’s Game: Nuclear Blackmail? – August 19th, 2012
Johnny in Wi.
August 28th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Not just libertarian leaning Republicans are upset with how the convetion is going but even people like Palin and the Free Republic crowd are. Romney is not making many friends so far at the convention. It is hard to see how he can win if he doesn't get the libertarians snd others his forces are alientating. The economy is bad and Obama has been such a terrible President Romney should win in a cakewalk. But he seems to be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Moss
August 28th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
The Obama Democrats told the exact same lie to rebels in their party in 2008. The lie then was that if Obama was elected, then left-wing Democrats like the anti-war movement would have greater access to an Obama White House. Of course, that's turned out to be a fiction.
Now I see the Romney campaign saying the same thing to the Paul people. They promise to have access to things like discussion on the party platform. And it immediately turns out to be a lie. And the further promises about access to a Romney White House that are sure to come will be just as big a lie.
Same game, different party, same result. Don't trust them.
Steve H.
August 28th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
These conventions are repulsive displays. How anyone can watch them and not want to vomit is truly mystifying. I'd rather be water boarded. In fact, if we want to torture those poor slobs at Gitmo, we should make them watch these absurd examples of political kabuki theater. They would sing like canaries to make the pain go away.
Not to belabor the point, but It should be obvious to one and all that trying to work within the thoroughly corrupt political system is a fool's errand. The game is rigged, folks. Whether we get Mr. Hopey Changey or Mitt the Plastic Man doesn't matter a lick.
Here's a rather safe prediction, no matter which gang of criminals wins in November: the wars will continue, as will the reckless spending and money printing. The government has become despotic, while the people are too lazy and stupid to realize they're becoming slaves in their own country.
Steve H.
August 28th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
These conventions are repulsive displays. How anyone can watch them and not want to vomit is truly mystifying. I'd rather be water boarded. In fact, if we want to torture those poor slobs at Gitmo, we should make them watch these absurd examples of political kabuki theater. They would sing like canaries to make the pain go away.
Not to belabor the point, but It should be obvious to one and all that trying to work within the thoroughly corrupt political system is a fool's errand. The game is rigged, folks. Whether we get Mr. Hopey Changey or Mitt the Plastic Man doesn't matter a lick.
Here's a rather safe prediction, no matter which gang of criminals wins in November: the wars will continue, as will the reckless spending and money printing. The government has become despotic, while the people are too lazy and stupid to realize they're becoming slaves in their own country.
evolved one
August 28th, 2012 at 11:05 pm
While you talk about Isreal, Puerto Rico and the Virgian Isles get a vote!!
Curious
August 28th, 2012 at 11:08 pm
I agree with everything you said. There isn't anything we can do (except immigrate) since the vehicles to power are corrupt and will exclude everyone who the establishment doesn't like. Now we know the true character of the Republican Party. It doesn't honor it's own rules and changes them whenever they become even slightly inconvenient. Romney was going to win anyway and they couldn't even handle dissent. I commend Ron Paul and the Ron Paul delegates for the hard fight that they fought in a corrupt, rigged system. We now know ourselves and our enemy.
Rand needs to figure out which side of the Rubicon he wants to be on. He is going to get hypothermia if he stays out in the middle of it. I hope what he is doing now is for show and that his nickname is "Trojan Horse."
MoT
August 28th, 2012 at 11:10 pm
It's a disgusting spectacle through and through. From the jack-booted thugs parading outside in the name of "security" to the corrupt bosses on the inside it's all a sad sick charade.
fubitch
August 28th, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Vote for Romney, for no other reason than voting Johnson is a time wasting wormhole.
Strider55
August 28th, 2012 at 11:26 pm
Party platforms, like the conventions that spew them out, are utterly irrelevant. Ronald Reagan's 1980 platform called for abolishing the Education and Energy Departments. Not only are those twin abominations still alive, they're far larger than they were 32 years ago. Every GOP platform condemns abortion; so why didn't Bush Jr. back Ron Paul's bill to nullify Roe by stripping the federal courts of jurisdiction on abortion (thereby returning the matter to the states IAW the 10th Amendment) when his party controlled the Congress? Didn't Bob Dole carry a copy of the 10th Amendment in his coat pocket, FCOL? And I'm certain there was nothing in the Democrats' 2008 platform about troop surges in Afghanistan, bailing out GM, persecuting whistle-blowers or creating murder lists.
Bottom line: Either ignore platforms altogether, or print them on toilet paper (which the parties will inevitably use them for anyway).
fu#
August 28th, 2012 at 11:59 pm
There is no Utopia,at least not what has been told to exist. why do I waste my time.
The Platform From Hell – Antiwar.com | PAULitics.US – Wake Up America
August 29th, 2012 at 12:01 am
[...] The Platform From Hell – Antiwar.com Posted in Ron Paul | Tags: federal, federal-reserve, major-influence, party-, paulian, paulians, platform, ron paul, the-party /* [...]
fu#
August 29th, 2012 at 12:31 am
There is no difference between the pols of the left or the right, if that is true than there is no difference between the people who vote for them either. Statists and warmongers galore.
jrs
August 29th, 2012 at 12:54 am
Voting for more wars and more civil liberties destruction seems like a time waste to me.
fu#
August 29th, 2012 at 1:06 am
Afraid of that comment, well here is another, the Devil is YOU. You are the one who fights against God! You! What is God? Freedom! It is you who fights against it. It is YOU, it has and always will be YOU.
kriptonite
August 29th, 2012 at 1:37 am
Sounds like Ron Paul…Vote Romney.
whatever
August 29th, 2012 at 1:48 am
"left-wing Democrats like the anti-war movement would have greater access to an Obama White House. Of course, that's turned out to be a fiction."
HUH! Who would'a thunk it? Obomba only told you before you elected him that the war to win was in Afghanistan and that Pakistan was the real problem, He only voted for the bank bailouts before he was elected, he only voted for FISA in your face before he was elected too. He also had on his website how he was gonna teach your chill'n. Yet ya'll voted for ole marxist I have no bc cause I screwed the US taxpayer when goin to college.
see
August 29th, 2012 at 2:15 am
What do statists care of civll liberties? What do think tanks who do nothing but influence government care of civil liberties or the rights of people here or in foreign lands to be left alone? What do you care? Left and Right destroy culture,art, religion and basic way of life Stuff your "democracy", your sickening women's lib, your degenerate bs. Stuff your mind incinerating education, I don't want you, I have and continue to see what you do. Nothing but destruction comes from people like you. Now I would like to say to you to "Shut Up"
I will post what I care to as long as I am not banned.
Vote Obama, for no other reason….
Phil Giraldi
August 29th, 2012 at 4:44 am
Bravo Justin! When are Americans going to wake up to the fact that their whole political system is completely corrupt and controlled by interests groups? Many Paulistas have now figured it out. What amazes me is that our State Department has the gall to criticize elections in other countries where the process is probably more open and democratic than it is here!
Johnny in Wi.
August 29th, 2012 at 4:49 am
I want to add that I disagree with Justin about Rand Paul playing footsie with Romney. Ron is playing Mr. Outside, leading with ideas and inspiring opposition. Rand is going to be inside still opposing all foreign aid, calling for slashing the defense budget, and fighting things like the NDAA. Politics is a tricky rackett. The Paul's are good at it. There many new people coming in. Paul LaPage is a good example. They are fed up with the status quo. Romney, a business man- liquidator knows how to read a balance sheet, So does the bean counter Ryan. These wars don't add up. They and a lot more of the Federal Government have to be liquidated.
john
August 29th, 2012 at 4:58 am
In the end if Ron Paul really wanted to fight for his ideas he would have run as a third paty candidate. He is trying to play both sides of the street by supporting Rand's postion in the Republican Party and speaking, but not acting on behalf of the ideas that brought him so much campaign funding from true believers who, once again,must hear the senior Paul talk the talk, but not walk the walk. But, if a politican acts like a politician why should we be surprised?
richard vajs
August 29th, 2012 at 5:01 am
I intend to watch as much of the two Conventions as I can – at some risk – I may die from convulsions of cynicism in the process.
Phil Giraldi
August 29th, 2012 at 5:14 am
Johnny – I would maybe agree with you but you don't have to give away the whole candy store to play within the system. Rand's endorsement of Romney foreign policy was totally unnecessary and the suggestion that his accommodation would buy some face time for his father's views at the convention has proven to be, shall we say, overly optimistic. And what about the en masse expulsion of Ron's delegates and supporters? Playing Mr Inside with an enemy who is out to cut your throat might be politics as usual but it also requires you to sell out and in the end you will lose everything.
heathroi
August 29th, 2012 at 5:27 am
Property Brothers? really?
MvGuy
August 29th, 2012 at 6:11 am
"your sickening women's lib"………………
Yaa, who would want women to have any say in life… They are family friendly and not naturally disposed to solving problems with violence, less inclined to corruption and well disposed toward considering the future when acting.. In short they are generally war and combat adverse… & unfriendly to testosterone driven policies… of spending trillions to make some obscure point.. Where would campaign contributions come from if things were largely honest & peaceful…???
MvGuy
August 29th, 2012 at 6:18 am
They are all too kindlyly disposed to having gov. force used to accomplish their wishes… and at OUR expense.
MvGuy
August 29th, 2012 at 6:41 am
Is that the freedom to kill people in Asia with my tax dollars and take their oil…. Or the freedom to say what I think….?? Marry whom I want… Ingest what I chose…….. ??????????
JoaoAlfaiate
August 29th, 2012 at 6:58 am
If elections could change anything I doubt they would be allowed.
JoaoAlfaiate
August 29th, 2012 at 7:06 am
When Rand Paul endorsed Romney's foreign policy he sold out and became just another GOP pol. Want to end our interventionist foreign policy and curtail our 100% support for israel? Don't even think about either of our political parties because for the Middle East there is only one party here, the zionist party.
Michael
August 29th, 2012 at 7:08 am
I listened to Rand speak with Hannity he sounded like a USRNC (USDA) approved official…the good thing is we know son is not like father.
Johnny in Wi.
August 29th, 2012 at 7:09 am
Phil: Last week I wrote here that Romney would neve be elected unless he proposed a more peaceful foreign policy. He can call for auditing the FED, firing Bernake, pretending the Paul Ryan is a libertarian, letting Rand adress the convention, and have a video tribute to Ron. It won't get him the votes he needs. He has to show something on foreign policy and soon. What could he do? A start would be to do it in his address to the convention. He could say" I will never lead this country to war unless I go to Congress for a declaration of war. I will pull the troops out of Afganistan now. The main goal of my foreign policy will be peace and understanding. " The only way he can get the votes of libertarians, the young, and independents that he needs is to modulate toward peace. Will he do it? Who knows?
MoT
August 29th, 2012 at 7:36 am
He won't do it. I'm sorry, John, but I've had this same sort of "promise" made to me by Repubs since 1980 and each and every time I've seen folks suckered in and then back stabbed by these lying bastards. It took me about twenty years to realize they couldn't give a shit about you or I. Even broke a ten year self-imposed exile on top of those twenty to attend a Republican caucus just to cast a vote for Paul and register simply out of "hope" and even there I saw how disconnected with reality these swine were. It was a disgusting sight. And from there up until the latest they've proven time and again to me that if they'll cut the throats of their own, rewrite rules, and generally play like dictatorial fascist in their own camp. That's proof you can forget about any "change". Oh, they love to extend the olive branch if only, like the Borg, to assimilate and corrupt you, but WATCH OUT!, there's a knife waiting for your back if you fall for it. So, once more, NO… he's not to be trusted with anything and anyone who believes he can be is a fool.
MoT
August 29th, 2012 at 7:39 am
Not any different than the lying retard before him and the cigar smoking liar before that and so on and so on. Hope, and the hopeful fools who believe in "working within the enemies camp" just never seems to run out.
MoT
August 29th, 2012 at 7:40 am
Just another Romney troll.
Mike
August 29th, 2012 at 7:56 am
Like most brainwashed idiots you are mentally ill if you think 'women's lib' has anything to do with "equality".
Mike
August 29th, 2012 at 7:59 am
F*** off. If you think Dr. Paul does not "walk the walk" then you are mentally unstable or just a complete idiot.
Outsider
August 29th, 2012 at 8:13 am
I agree, John. Dr Paul, at 76, is at the end of his political road. He could have gone out heroically by quitting the Repubs in time to get the Libertarian Party nomination, which, I think, was his for the taking. With his broad movement and name recognition, he surely would have polled at least 15% in the polls (unless, of course, they were rigged), thus forcing his entry into the debates. If that had happened, the American people would have finally had a real debate and a real choice. Gary Johnson, who has many differences with Paul, is trying, but he has no chance to get into the rigged debates.
Jed
August 29th, 2012 at 8:44 am
Rand always has been a neocon. Ron always has been a hypocrite. The Pauls are about as honest and upright as the Clintons and Bushes.
Jed
August 29th, 2012 at 8:45 am
LOL @ "marxist"
Read a book.
Jed
August 29th, 2012 at 8:48 am
God is dead, just like freedom.
Jed
August 29th, 2012 at 8:50 am
Yep. Ron Paul always gets in line and acts like the good Republican when it comes down to it.
Can you blame him, though? Who would want to risk losing free healthcare?!
As for his libertarian supporters, they'll keep telling themselves that they're doing the right thing when they vote for the Republican – just like back when they voted for Bush.
Jaime
August 29th, 2012 at 10:33 am
Yeah, some Americans are very ignorant. They haven't even read Das Kapital (I wonder if it could be found somewhere in the US, and I wonder whether it is considered a subversive book in the enlightended North American land), and they feel entitled to throw epithets they deem oh so terrible. How can somebody understand something he doesn't know?
Jaime
August 29th, 2012 at 10:42 am
I thought you were criticizing the American way of life. Repub or Dem is the same shit. For the world at large, one way or another, the US government is a band of psychopaths. A president who has a kill list and chooses the poeple to be murdered over breakfast and is even proud of that, do you think is a sane person?
Jaime
August 29th, 2012 at 10:42 am
I thought you were criticizing the American way of life. Repub or Dem is the same shit. For the world at large, one way or another, the US government is a band of psychopaths. A president who has a kill list and chooses the poeple to be murdered over breakfast and is even proud of that, do you think is a sane person?
liberranter
August 29th, 2012 at 11:54 am
Well said! It's infuriating to see that sheeple NEVER learn from history – but if they did, they wouldn't be sheeple, would they?
It simply turns my stomach to think that ANYONE would even consider participating in the farcical charade in November after what has taken place in Tampa. I can only chalk it up, in the end, to the fact that the vast majority of registered Repugnican voters are truly enamored with an interventionist, fascist, confiscatory, and murderous police state – as long as they aren't on the receiving end of its depredations. I take comfort in the fact that they are going to be in for a very rude awakening (for those of them that know how to read, let them read this to prepare themselves), no matter who "wins" the coronation contest.
It's over, folks – really over. The best use of the Ron Paul camp's time and energy now would be to not only sever all ties with the Repugnican Party, but end all association with the criminal enterprise called organized politics. Let them focus instead on preaching the gospel of free markets, non-aggression, and voluntaryism, to the point that whatever the Establishment doesn't do to undermine itself in the next few years, the work of the Paulians will. That's what Ron is planning on doing as soon as he leaves Washington. Let his followers follow his example.
liberranter
August 29th, 2012 at 11:56 am
And as examples of Ron's supposed hypocrisy, you offer exactly what evidence?
liberranter
August 29th, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Now we know the true character of the Republican Party.
Many of us have known it for a long time, or known it all along. By now it should be truly obvious even to the comatose and most acerebral.
liberranter
August 29th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Where are the "Virgian Isles?" Are they neighbors of the Virgin Islands?
liberranter
August 29th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
He could have gone out heroically by quitting the Repubs in time to get the Libertarian Party nomination, which, I think, was his for the taking.
You obviously aren't familiar with what the "Libertarian" Party has morphed –or should I say "degenerated"– into in the last decade. This organization is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the faux libertarian Koch Brothers, a party that watered down its libertarian platform beginning in 2004 and that trashed it altogether in 2008 (nominating the ueber-drug warrior fraud Bob Barr as its presidential candidate that year, an act that represented the final nail in the coffin of the party that Dave Nolan had founded, based on Rothbardian and Misesian principles, nearly forty years earlier).
No, Ron Paul, the only authentic and principled libertarian of substance in national politics today, is the last person that this phony shell of an organization wants as its candidate.
I won't even touch your contention that any third party candidate has ANY chance of making his presence felt in rigged debates, much less getting on the ballot in all 50 states.
liberranter
August 29th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Either back this up with some substantive examples, or go home, troll.
liberranter
August 29th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
In this context, Rand Paul’s Wednesday speech to the convention — not to mention the Ron Paul tribute video — promises to be as grotesque a spectacle as has ever been conjured before television cameras.
I would love to think that such a sickening act of self-abasing pandering would represent the fatal blow to Rand's political career, but knowing what I know about the state he represents, he'll probably enjoy lifetime tenure in the Senate if that's what he wants. The good news is that he can forget about having any national influence in the future.
jeff_davis
August 29th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
"There isn't anything we can do…"
I understand your feeling of helplessness. And yet I wonder. "Not ***ANYTHING***?" I don't necessarily have the answer, but I think there may be an answer, or even many answers, and we need to take a deep breath and think hard about what they may be. Hey, if we're screwed were screwed, so what do we have to lose?
So here's what I suggest as a broad general starting point. Establish, one, or many websites to convene folks for a group effort to find a path forward, to craft a first attempt, of however many it takes, to reform/reinvent government.
Now, let me offer a very specific outside-the-box plan for just that.
I'd like to see an organization formed — you can call it a political party if you want, perhaps The Ballot Access Party. This party seeks nothing less than a "radical" reallocation of political power from the economic and political elite back into the hands of the citizenry.
Here's how it's done: free up ballot axis so that anyone can get on any ballot anytime. Which results in moving substantially closer to direct democracy, which may or may not be a good thing, but hey, the status quo, how's that working out for you?
So how does one nullify all the ballot access obstacles that fortify the political monopoly of the Republicans and Democrats?
"Qualifying" for ballot access is ***entirely*** about collecting signatures of registered voters, and of course, about having the money/funding to pay for that. So immediately you have two obstacles: signatures and money. The Ballot Access Party would in a single stroke, obliterate those obstacles, freeing up ballot access for anyone and everyone, for any office from dogcatcher to President.
Ballot Access party members would have a single duty, a single commitment: to place their signature on ballot access petitions, thus instantly fullfilling the voter signature requirement for ballot access. A person who wanted to run for office would simply submit his/her name, and elective office sought, to the Ballot Access Party, which would then print up the appropriate petition form for placing one's name on the ballot, then distribute those forms to Party members of the state or district, who would then sign them and return them to party headquarters for return to the petitioner for submission to Elections Commission officials. Bingo! You're on the ballot.
The Ballot Access party would be an equal opportunity organization which would be agnostic regarding the politics of any particular office seeker. Everyone who wants to run, gets the necessary signatures. The voters alone get to choose.
This is but one of who knows how many possible work-arounds which could reapportion political power in US politics to the people.
jeff_davis
August 29th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Yo, Phil, you're one of the big dogs around here, would you take a look at my posting to curious above, re a Ballot Access Party, and tell me what you think?
Outsider
August 29th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
To liberranter:
Agreed, it was a HUGE mistake for the Libertarian Party to have nominated Bob Barr as its candidate in '08. I watched some of the Party's convention on C-Span (thank god for them) and I believe that mistake was acknowledged. However, Gary Johnson seems to be pretty libertarian to me. He wants to drastically cut defense and start bringing the troops home, which, to me, is the most important issue. Johnson also wants to legalize drugs and elimnate the IRS by switching to the FAIR tax, which is a sales tax on consumption. From all I've heard, he was a successful 2 term governor of New Mexico and actually reduced spending there.
However, there must be some reason why Ron Paul has not endorsed him. If he fails to do so after the Repub sham of a convention, I hope some enterprising reporter asks him why. He has said he will not endorse Romney.
Mike
August 29th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
What a miserable choice:
Drone-Prize Obama and his covert Bushian wars ("wars of terror" renamed "wars of humanitarian intervention" – different name, same sh*t).
Draft-dodger Mitt the Twit wants to play War Prez and bomb Iran for warmongering psychopath Bibi to get Sheldon Adelson casino-$$$ campaign contributions
American exceptionalism = addiction to unnecessary wars of aggression that we can never win and are bankrupting us.
Stop the planet, I want to get off!
Mike
August 29th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
What a miserable choice:
Drone-Prize Obama and his covert Bushian wars ("wars of terror" renamed "wars of humanitarian intervention" – different name, same sh*t).
Draft-dodger Mitt the Twit wants to play War Prez and bomb Iran for warmongering psychopath Bibi to get Sheldon Adelson casino-$$$ campaign contributions
American exceptionalism = addiction to unnecessary wars of aggression that we can never win and are bankrupting us.
Stop the planet, I want to get off!
Mike
August 29th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
It took you 20 years? Damn. It took me about 2-3. What is truly pathetic is that many of these old farts STILL don't get it! How many f******g decades have to go by and how many times do they have to be lied to before they start doing something called THINKING?!
Thick headed idiots.
Mike
August 29th, 2012 at 4:48 pm
"Ron always has been a hypocrite."
Dude, you are the biggest moron in history. Why are some people even born? They're just a waste of oxygen.
Mike
August 29th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
Let's see. Five morons down voted this. Congratulations on your stupidity you idiots. Try reading instead of believing everything the moron box and the politically-correct school system taught you. THINKING actually does work. try it sometime.
Curious
August 29th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
That is true, but now we have a lot of data to completely back it up with authority.
Curious
August 29th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
That is true, but now we have a lot of data to completely back it up with authority.
Curious
August 29th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
That is a good idea. There is one problem. They can make the results of electoral votes be what they want. They already did that to Ron Paul.
There is also peaceful civil disobedience. No taxation without representation.
musings
August 29th, 2012 at 5:50 pm
I'm afraid John McCain has nailed it. Not long after Rand Paul's pro-enterprise, modest foreign policy speech in which he said both parties must slay their sacred cows for the good of the nation (Dems the entitlements and Republicans the bloated military spending), while reminding us to look at the founding documents and welcoming freedom-loving immigrants, the ghost of wars past, John McCain muscled his way to the podium. It was about America's imperial role all the way, and more wars to be fought to liberate "peoples" around the world. Did the Founding Fathers ever use that word? Yes, the founding fathers of the Soviet Union. Then, in the closing shot, on the screen behind him, two flags waved side by side, Israel and the US, at equal heights and in equal honor. Gosh, I didn't know I had the vote there too! McCain is the guy selling Romney to nations who want us to go to war and to beltway bandits who want to hold up the Treasury for more wars. McCain is the salesman – but I hope everyone can see through his tired old spiel. Sadly, the Paul message was shown the door. What a lost opportunity for the Republicans.
musings
August 29th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Don't despair about the planet – fortunately the wise and the good agree with you and their numbers are growing.
MoT
August 29th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
I was 18 and full of the usual state-propaganda AKA "Skrooling". Then went into the military (ye godz!… that was an eye opener) and generally kept to myself like a hermit and only ventured out every four to test the waters with my toe. You never realize how programmed you can be when there are precious few alternatives around you. It was Clinton and the oh-so-eager Republicans to use NATO that started to make me snap. It'd been already coming but that was pretty much the last straw. Once GW pulled his 911 stunts I finally tossed it in. Disavowed them all and kept to myself except to vote for Badnarik and this last futile gesture for Paul. Will I vote Republican.?. Hell no! I only wanted to take a principled stand during a caucus this spring and saw the evil idiocy up front and center with all the cheering maniacs who seem to love war and destruction more than peace and quiet prosperity. Like Heston said in Planet of The Apes to all those who rained death down upon us, "Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"
Generalissimo X
August 29th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
there's also lexington and concord. just sayin…you think these guys are going to listen? i'd say they've already given us all a big collective middle finger.
Ron Paul on the Issues - Page 677 - ALIPAC
August 29th, 2012 at 7:18 pm
[...] in the context of the total platform document, and especially the foreign policy section." The Platform From Hell by Justin Raimondo — Antiwar.com Justin Raimondo: The Platform From Hell | Peace . Gold . Liberty | [...]
liberranter
August 29th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
The reason Ron, and many other libertarians, haven't endorsed Gary Johnson is because it's obvious that he isn't really a libertarian. He's a closet war hawk (he has refused to commit to pulling troops out of Iraqghanistan), has expressed an intent to keep Gitmo in operation despite its utter failure as a "terrorist detention center" (not to mention its abominable human rights record), refuses to commit to ending the Drug War (he's made it clear that marijuana legalization is as far as he wants to go in that direction), and has NO substantive plan to reduce federal spending. And these are just a few of his lesser negatives.
Basically, Johnson is moderate, less-god-awful version of Mitt Romney, someone that nobody with standards or principles would endorse.
Strider55
August 30th, 2012 at 4:22 am
In fact, you can get Das Kapital <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Das-Kapital-ebook/dp/B001I91Q9G/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346325239&sr=1-5&keywords=das+kapital+karl+marx">in e-book format at Amazon (note its price vs. the print versions!).
Strider55
August 30th, 2012 at 4:35 am
In fact, Ron was the LP's presidential candidate in 1988. I know my memory isn't what it used to be, but I can still recall voting for him then. (That was back when I still thought voting — at least at the federal level — meant something. No longer.)
Strider55
August 30th, 2012 at 4:45 am
I suggest you put your family physician on speed dial. :-)
The Establishment and Media Propagandists Against Our Freedom (and other news…) » Scott Lazarowitz's Blog
August 30th, 2012 at 4:46 am
[...] Justin Raimondo: The Platform from Hell [...]
Strider55
August 30th, 2012 at 4:51 am
In fact, Das Kapital is available at Amazon. After seeing the prices for the print versions, you'll definitely want the e-book! (For some reason, this site no longer converts the needed HTML tags into usable hyperlinks, so you'll have to go there on your own.)
Jeremiah
August 30th, 2012 at 8:14 am
Or just get it free at:
http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_s…
reality
August 30th, 2012 at 9:45 am
Dogs have masters, God has none…
reality
August 30th, 2012 at 10:29 am
And just in case…
Evil is the opposite of Live. So who is dead, deviL?
Outsider
August 30th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Musings:
You wrote 'McCain is the salesman – but I hope everyone can see through his tired old spiel.' Only wish that that were true. He was followed by 'Mushroom Cloud' Condolezza Rice, who had the crowd cheering for more interventions. She, like other neocons, has apparently learned nothing from our mistaken missions in Iraq, Afghan, etc. The roar of the crowd was positively chilling.
anon
August 30th, 2012 at 5:16 pm
"I thought you were criticizing the American way of life. Repub or Dem is the same ****."
I believe that, but sometimes I just like to mess up the nsa's dossier. :)