I snagged a copy of the NY Times front section at a Starbucks’ yesterday. Turning to the Op-Ed page, I read an editorial by Nicholas Kristoff on the glorified food fight being waged by the Democratic candidates. Most of the editorial has the usual mind-numbing banality that passes for informed opinion today, but I did find one nugget that shows us yet again there is not a dime’s worth of difference between the two political parties.
“Meanwhile, the big winner of the Democratic fist-fighting is Senator McCain. A Gallup poll released Wednesday found that 19 percent of Mr. Obama’s supporters said they would vote for Mr. McCain in the general election if Mrs. Clinton were the nominee. More startling, 28 percent of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters said they would defect to Mr. McCain if Mr. Obama were the nominee.”
Next I suppose comes the stamping of feet and holding of breath. Sheesh. What a bunch.
Then there is this.
I can assure you all, gentle readers, this is reality in America.
A 10 minute interview with Mike Wallace and a composed defense of her positions on personal liberty and freedom.
I was always lead to believe, through my government schooling, that Ayn Rand was nuts and dangerous. Like many I did not check my government approved opinion with reality, you know like, actually reading any of her work.
The New York Times thinks very little of it’s reader’s intelligence. A lede story most of the day was “Inflation Held Steady In February.”
The inflation model and numbers used by the Fed are hugely misleading. Their ‘core inflation’ rate excludes food and energy prices. A general inflationary statistic arrived at without those staples factored in defines useless. Unless of course one was also using it to figure the annual cost of living increases for our seniors. Hmmmm.
The impunity with which these people both issue and print misinformation is a thing to behold.
I was in my daughter’s second grade schoolroom today. Her class had put together an “Author’s Tea Party”. Each child, having written a short book, got the chance to read a chapter out loud to parents and classmates. The school keeps class groups together for grades one and two, so we have gotten to know the families fairly well.
One of the families is Iranian, just mother and daughter. The father was a promising academic of some sort, tragically killed in a car accident. The young girl read a chapter on ‘Nowruz’ the Iranian New Year holiday. It is celebrated on the vernal equinox, the first day of Spring. Nice. As I watched her read I thought of children everywhere, like, the one’s living in Iran now. The children who have a bazillion dollars worth of ordnance parked on their doorstep aimed right at them.
I thought of the resignation / firing of CentCom Admiral William Fallon today, an open critic of a widening conflict. How the madmen have slipped the leash again. I hope I’m wrong, but it seems they will have their Iran war now.
Senseless.
And a frightened soulless America, prepares to look away again.
We in Ron Paul Nation know the Dr. is concerned about the protection of the dollar, and the dollar’s value in relation to our money supply. I thought a brief review of some extreme historical examples of ‘Hyperinflation’ might be worth a look.
These are admittedly extreme examples and I do not want to appear too alarmist. However, the Fed’s actions and our disastrous foreign policy have without a doubt put us on this road. How far along we have traveled I am unsure, but I think we’re in uncharted territory.
A “U” turn is needed folks, and we need Dr. Paul at the wheel.
Our electoral process has become just another form of entertainment for the navel gazing American public. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a “Best Candidate” category at the Oscar’s next year.
In November 2006, I donated a fair amount of time to MoveOn, the pseudo progressive political organization. I believed at the time that electing a Congress controlled by Democrat’s would at least slow down the madness coming out of Washington.
We all know how well that has worked out.
Working a phone bank event, I was given a list of prospective voters to call in Ohio. Just as I was about to interrupt yet another family’s dinner hour, the fellow working next to me covered his mouthpiece, looked me in the eye and said,
“If voting mattered, do you really think they would let us do it.”
Many people still refuse to believe that the FDA would allow the second most toxic element, plutonium being first, to be used as a preservative in vaccines. To them I ask: if it is not being used, then how could George Bush veto a bill that would have banned it’s use!
Yesterday the CDC unbelievably called for mandatory flu shots for all children aged 6 months to eighteen years.
Watching the approved presidential candidates battle it out with their madcap proposals of endless war and spending often leaves me shaking my head. While Ron Paul Nation knows that the Dr. has the answers, some among us are concerned that his message is too complicated (though it isn’t) for our fellow Americans.
I recollect that during the 1972 Nixon-McGovern contest, the comedy troupe Firesign Theatre created a fictional candidate named George Papoon. His entire campaign platform consisted of two words. We might think of adopting it in our efforts to spread the word, as it sums up Dr. Paul’s positions rather nicely.
Stopped in a local bakery yesterday. The owner was beside himself. His cost per bag of flour has jumped from 9 to 23 dollars in less then a year!
“I don’t know what people are going to do”, he said. “A lot of folks are already up against it.”
While the bad news for ‘bread’ is especially bad for our “Ceasers”, a glance at today’s headlines shows they still have the ‘circus‘ part well in hand.
While reading one of our country’s founding documents, I realized that the framers were well aware of the people’s propensity to live their lives with their heads stuck in places they don’t belong. In the second paragraph of The Declaration Of Independence, they so eloquently state:
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
I caught a bit of a TV show on surfing the other day. The imagery when the wave riders catch a big one is pure unadorned freedom. I was also struck by the effort they go through to put themselves in position. Swimming out there, floating around by themselves, performing a paddling motion very attractive to sharks. Not my idea of a good time, but one could never call them weak or cowardly.
Seemed a perfect metaphor for Dr. Paul. He’s gotten himself out there, despite all attacks, and he’s still upright and above water. He must be experiencing a text book definition of alone.
What he is riding will depend on you and me, gentle reader.
Paul’s decision to take a brief hiatus from the national campaign to defend his Texas congressional seat has caused much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments in certain quarters of Ron Paul Nation. This is misplaced energy. In years past we should remember, the New Hampshire primary wasn’t even held until March!
By front loading the primary process, the Beltwayites have given the electorate the ‘bum’s rush’, evincing an air of inevitability for their chosen candidates. This ‘get it over with quick’ strategy is not fail-safe however. Nine months is an eternity in today’s jacked-up world. None of the annointed will bear scrutiny or wear well with the people.
Dr. Paul’s time is yet down the road.
Supporters need to stay focused and continue to spread the message. We are in the first act of this epic, and I understand the last act has a large audience participation number in it.
Ron Paul Nation has been in a state of suspended animation since the results of the Super Tuesday vote were announced. Watching as our lying media, worked again to rob our man of his vote and the American people of his message.
The message that supporters received from Dr. Paul today, the first since Super Tuesday, was most revealing in it’s matter of fact way. Campaigning continues on to the Republican convention, there will be no third party run. He is also defending his congressional seat. Apparently his crystal ball is no clearer than anyone else’s, but he’s right about the message needing an advocate in Congress.
Scaling back his national staff, he is putting the campaign in the people’s hands. If he is to be elected, his supporters must find a way to do it.
It will not happen any other way.
If the adage “in times of great chaos, comes great change” rings true, Dr. Paul’s timing is good. His instincts have been right so far. A man who would title his upcoming book, ‘The Revolution: A Manifesto’, is forward thinking if nothing else.
The message of personal liberty and freedom are timeless and should not be considered revolutionary. How his supporters go about the good work of getting him elected, and defeating the conventional wisdom, is the revolution.
Election day is nine months away, and I’m already holding on to my hat.
That Barack Obama would be close to winning the nomination if all the votes were fairly counted. The voting booth “problems’ and statistical polling anamolies that occured in all 22 primaries, across the political board, are just not believable.
That ‘election fraud’ is rampant can no longer be denied. Bev Harris of BlackBoxVoting, has called the Reublican recount in New Hampshire a ‘criminal enterprise’, and posted some of her evidence online. Efforts to accurately recount the NH vote are an ongoing disaster weeks after election day. I doubt that it will ever be completed, nor will there be any mention of it anywhere in our corrupt media.
By creating a Super Tuesday the ‘powers that be’ knew that in the confusion of 22 states voting, their manipulation of the outcome, their theft of the votes would get lost in the noise. And they were right. Down the memory hole it went.
The exercise of a citizen’s franchise right to free and fair elections has been taken from the American people. Any honest informed person knows this.
I can not believe that with over 70% of the American public wanting out of Iraq, the electorate went out and voted for more war. A vote for anyone but Paul is wasted and will guarantee that our downward slide continues. This is fact, not opinion.
While Dr. Paul, the advocate of personal liberty and freedom is the answer, his message also helps define the problem. A look at any of his honest responses to the real and pressing issues we face, requires knowledge and information that many Americans are being denied or are still unwilling to openly profess.
Oh, and then there is this. From GB Shaw:
“Liberty means responsibility. This is why most men dread it.”
The election is ten months away. An eternity in politics.
It has been scrubbed from all mainstream media sites.
After this column appeared, Mr Steinback, an award winning writer, with 23 years experience, was abruptly dropped from syndication. At his website he states the departure was his idea, a career move. If so, it wasn’t a very good one as he hasn’t been published since.
Americans still living in the Dream State believe, that if there was anything to the 911 Truth Movement it would be reported by our “free press”.
A kindred spirit relayed a story on conversation with a friend, and that friends reaction to her awakened view of reality.
“By the end, I almost felt physically assaulted,” she said shaking her head, “my Ron Paul sign got him going and it was downhill from there.”
Having spent the time looking into the monkey business of the Dream State and arriving at the logical conclusions, she was shocked at the vehemence of her friend’s attack and the level of his willful ignorance.
Having some experience with wild eyed, spittle-flecked, chest bumping refusals to look at any evidence, I was encouraged by her encounter.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
This story brought me up sharply. From Monday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer‘Wal-Mart Draws Huge Crowd - Of Applicants’ . Apparently, they were looking to fill 300 low end positions.
Thought the sub-headline, ‘Some say 6,000 job hunters a reflection on economy’, showed an outstanding grasp of the obvious.
The article states that it could have been worse. Earlier this year, Chicago had turnouts of 25,000 and 15,000 for their two new outlets.
Your voices, gentle readers, are needed. It is the time.
“Let it not be said that we did nothing“ -Ron Paul June 6, 2007
The foundation upon which conventional wisdom rests, the obstacle to Ron Paul and his message, is subjective truth. The idea that nothing can be truly known therefore, why bother trying. This type of thinking can never be forward looking.
My boy has taken to the guitar. Anyone who has listened to an entry level musician knows the experience can be less painfull if the instrument is in tune.
The message of objective truth, like being in tune might not be perfectly attainable, but the more that lend their voice the sweeter the sound.
Daughter and I arrived early to a cast party last night. Another Nutcracker run complete, the pressure was off both the performers and their families. Made for a room full of relaxed people.
One of the other parents is a long time passing friend. Last year we sat together and talked. He knew of my efforts to awaken my fellow Americans to the great criminality that defines the Dream State, so words such as conspiracy, 911, and coup passed between us. His attitude towards me was pleasantly patronizing. I had heard it before. It has a sort of, there there, it’ll be alright and, had I heard of the great strides being made in the field of anti-depressants, slant to it.
I explained that he would share my concerns if he would expose himself to the evidence. “Send it to me” he said with a wink. I have honored many of these requests but have no way of knowing if the recipients check it out.
Although, the one’s that have are easy to pick out because, like my friend last night, I become invisible to them.
My wife and children are heavily involved in the world of dance. This is ‘Nutcracker Week’, and their annual six performance engagement at the Eastman Theatre has become a special time for us.
My children love being downtown. At night, the streets lit and decorated for the holidays, thousands of ticket holders happily milling about, world class symphonic music, the taste of the stage.
All life and love, truth and beauty.
I watch them mature by the minute now, so proud. Their growth is also taking them away from me, as it must. Soon, too soon, they’ll be making their own way in a world I increasingly do not recognize. I won’t be able to protect them.
There are times I wish I was not aware of the monstous evil we are all facing. Oh, the bliss of ignorance! But I do know. There is no turning back. I must fight now, for them, and those that will follow.
I helped a friend conduct a “Household Sale” recently. Watching, and talking to people as they contemplate the transmutation of someone else’s trash into their treasure, is just plain fun. There’s an unguarded quality that’s quite refreshing. Helps me remember that, at our core, we all seem pretty decent.
Being a grassroots type of guy, I planted a Ron Paul sign in the front yard and placed bumper stickers and bio sheets next to the checkout area inside. I ran into very little resistance. Oh, there were a few smug Hillary supporters, and a couple of dialtones, but most ate it up. There is a hunger gnawing at this country, and it’s getting tired of leftovers.
One fellow, after looking over the material said, “Ron Paul, huh? I just hope he doesen’t play the spoiler.”
I pointed out that in order to spoil, a thing must first be fresh, a quality not found among the stooges that both political parties are fielding.
He left with a sticker, slightly perplexed, but not offended.
One of the favorite tactics of Americans in the maintenance of their dream state is the insistence of “not talking politics”. This show stopper has always struck me as silly. Much of everyday conversation is political in nature; taxes, our rights, jobs, education, health care, etc. Americans have plenty of strongly held opinions and are more than happy to share them.
Uncomfortable moments will arise however, if they are asked to defend their stated positions.
Americans now believe, in large numbers, that truth and facts are negotiable and that their opinions require neither.
At our annual holiday dinner table Donnybrook, I suggested to the in-laws that “one is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts”.
The hooting derision and outright hostility this brought on was aerobic in it’s intensity.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The requirements are so easily met. To gather in our homes with family and friends, sharing the harvest and our time with each other, thankful that the circle is complete once again. No gifts, no religious ritual, just decent commonality.
I also like the season best. The air and light seem charged with an immediacy. Trees, suddenly leafless, bring an altered view to the world.
In these times of the ever encroaching police state and loss of personal liberty, a story.
An ex-brother in law lived on the shore of Sebago Lake, in the magnificent state of Maine. His home could only be reached down a very long, winding, road through dense woods. I saw my one and only moose there, and let me tell you that is some of Mother Nature’s more impressive packaging.
Just prior to one of my visits, my host had cut down a large pine tree growing just off the right front corner of his house. Being a transplanted city boy with limited forestry skills, he felled it to the left, along the length of the house, (more…)
On my rounds the other day, I was accompanied by an old friend. Roughly my age, he has recently joined the walking wounded of Dream State America. Laid off, 55, no decent job prospects.
These people are everywhere.
We stopped for coffee. Behind the counter, orders were being taken by two guys around 50. Anyone watching them work could tell that they were once professional men.
They seemed like fathers working a grade school Ice Cream Social.
We are throwing away our soul and with hardly a peep.
How would I describe myself if I had just made my acquaintance for the first time. Persistent, opinionated, didactic, some would say arrogant. I will leave a little space here for those that know me personally to add to this list … …., …., …………, ….., OK. That’s enough. They get the picture.
But let’s not have this all be just about me.
After dinner, about ten Thanksgivings ago, a lengthy, wide ranging political discussion broke out among the guests. An old friend had taken up the opposition to whatever my long since forgotten point was. Exasperated, she stated “This is why I don’t like debating with you. You always make me think about what I say.”
The Atlantic magazine’s cover this month has a pixelated rendering of Barack Obama, to go with Andrew Sullivan’s story on why his candidacy matters. The oversize pixels are portraits of the big stars in the ‘Dream State Theatre’, and yes, all your favorites, both Republican and Democrat, are there.
They are being presented to us as forces in opposition, a false left-right political paradigm that we repeatedly fall for.
These people all play for the same team. Their opponents, in the Big Game are not each other, but the American citizenry. You and I.
They know the secret handshake and the sooner we realize it, the sooner things will get better.
Ron Paul Nation has been in a state of suspended animation since the results of the Super Tuesday vote were announced. Watching as our lying media, worked again to rob our man of his vote and the American people of his message.
Some thoughts on Super Tuesday’s results.
A kindred spirit relayed a story on conversation with a friend, and that friends reaction to her awakened view of reality.
This story brought me up sharply. From Monday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer 
Surfing the net the other night this startling image of several of ‘our betters’ popped up.
The foundation upon which conventional wisdom rests, the obstacle to Ron Paul and his message, is subjective truth. The idea that nothing can be truly known therefore, why bother trying. This type of thinking can never be forward looking.
Daughter and I arrived early to a cast party last night. Another Nutcracker run complete, the pressure was off both the performers and their families. Made for a room full of relaxed people.
My wife and children are heavily involved in the world of dance. This is ‘Nutcracker Week’, and their annual six performance engagement at the Eastman Theatre has become a special time for us.
I helped a friend conduct a “Household Sale” recently. Watching, and talking to people as they contemplate the transmutation of someone else’s trash into their treasure, is just plain fun. There’s an unguarded quality that’s quite refreshing. Helps me remember that, at our core, we all seem pretty decent.
One of the favorite tactics of Americans in the maintenance of their dream state is the insistence of “not talking politics”. This show stopper has always struck me as silly. Much of everyday conversation is political in nature; taxes, our rights, jobs, education, health care, etc. Americans have plenty of strongly held opinions and are more than happy to share them.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The requirements are so easily met. To gather in our homes with family and friends, sharing the harvest and our time with each other, thankful that the circle is complete once again. No gifts, no religious ritual, just decent commonality.
In these times of the ever encroaching police state and loss of personal liberty, a story.
On my rounds the other day, I was accompanied by an old friend. Roughly my age, he has recently joined the walking wounded of Dream State America. Laid off, 55, no decent job prospects.
How would I describe myself if I had just made my acquaintance for the first time. Persistent, opinionated, didactic, some would say arrogant. I will leave a little space here for those that know me personally to add to this list … …., …., …………, ….., OK. That’s enough. They get the picture.
The Atlantic magazine’s cover this month has a pixelated rendering of Barack Obama, to go with Andrew Sullivan’s story on why his candidacy matters. The oversize pixels are portraits of the big stars in the ‘Dream State Theatre’, and yes, all your favorites, both Republican and Democrat, are there.
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