Area417

The Ron Paul Online Rally

Oh my God! They're, they're...NORMAL PEOPLE!   The faces of Ron Paul's supporters, growing daily. Come join us and turn this country around!

Giuliani, Romney Taking a Pass on CNN/You Tube Debate

Neither Giuliani, nor Romney cares to spend some unscripted moments with the American people.

Rudy Giuliani is unlikely to be present during the CNN/You Tube Republican debate, due to "unspecified scheduling conflicts."

Translation: Rudy doesn't want to hear from you, the unwashed masses, unless you're being booked into a jail cell. Check out his You Choose '08 Spotlight video; while all the other candidates invite you to respond on You Tube's site, all Giuliani presents is a commercial and then tells you to go to his website. And it appears that the comments section  has been HEAVILY culled. Criticism is apparently not allowed, although one sly person did slip in what would seem to be a reference to Ron Paul.

Romney is likely to follow Giuliani's lead, just like he did when he found out that Giuliani wouldn't be attending the Iowa Straw Polls in August.

Mitt Romney didn't like some of the more frivolous trappings and told the New Hampshire Union Leader that "I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman." (Link: techPresident)

O.K., some of the questions were dumb. But none were as stupid as what Chris Matthews offered up in the first debate.

I guess that being carried along in Giuliani's wake makes Mitt feel like a frontrunner. He is, if money is the only thing that matters in this race. But Romney is polling in the single digits, trailing behind McCain. And McCain is done. Finished. Kaput. 

This could actually be the best debate of all. With Rudy "I-Was-There-on 9/11" and Romney "I'm-Really-Reagan" out of the way, McCain, Ron Paul, Tancredo and the rest can get to the red meat.

Ron Paul and the Economy

The good thing about Ron Paul is that he is a policy wonk. It's also a bad thing, as American voters are  enamored with fluffy sound bites, which explains the Fred Thompson factor.

Listen as presidential hopeful Ron Paul discusses monetary policy with Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. (Hat Tip: Jeremy Hermanns)

Military Shows Ron Paul Some Love

This may come as a surprise to Sean Hannity. According to recent FEC filings, Ron Paul leads all other candidates in campaign donations from military personnel (declared, active and retired).  Link: PHREADOM

Military support for staying in Iraq may be waning, if a recent poll on Military.com is any indicator. Tom Engelhardt has more at The Nation.

Initial Thoughts on the S. C. Democratic Debate

 

It went something like this:

 

You Tuber: My life sucks 'cause minimum wage doesn't pay enough. How am I supposed to raise 5 kids on minimum wage?

Democrat's answer: This is the richest country in the world! Nobody should have to flip burgers for less than $10/hour.

You Tuber: But I still won't be able to afford healthcare for all those kids on $10 bucks an hour!

Democrats: This is the richest country in the world! We'll give everyone healthcare!

You Tuber: Obama, are you really black?

Obama: I'm blacker than Bill Clinton, you twit.

Hillary: I'm not black, but I'm not butch. I'm wearing pink!

You Tuber: Yo man. What about reparations for black folk. You gonna fork it over?

Kucinich: Sure!

Obama: Have you considered educating yourself? Twit.

Rest of Dems: WTF?! Uh, no.

Gravel: In my lucid moments, I have good ideas.

 

Me: America, we're so screwed.

Long-Shot Republican Physician Wins!

No, I'm not talking about presidential candidate Ron Paul, but another Dr. Paul.

...The frontrunner in the primary voting in north Georgia's 10th district, former state Sen. Jim Whitehead, was the consensus choice of the Republican establishment. Whitehead essentially promised to be a rubberstamp for the Bush White House and Republican leaders in Congress.

Hmmm. Sounds a lot like the 2008 GOP presidential "frontrunners."

His opponent, Paul Broun, was a quirky physician who claims to be "the only doctor in Georgia whose practice is almost exclusively house calls." A frequent candidate who was very much on the outs with party insiders, Broun barely squeaked into the run-off and most pundits stopped paying attention to a race it was assumed Whitehead would win with ease.

Whitehead seemed  to have everything going for him; support from assorted Republican pooh-bahs and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along wads of cash.

But Dr. Broun had a message, one that is very familiar to supporters of Ron Paul.

Broun emphasized a Ron Paul-like committed to "work to restore government according to the Constitution as our Founders intended." While the Georgia appears to be a more cautious constitutionalist than the maverick Texas congressman who is making a longshot bid for the party's presidential nomination in 2008, Broun borrowed one of the most popular of Paul's principles, promising that if elected he would assess any new legislation by first asking: "Is it constitutional and a proper function of government?" [sic] 

(Link: The Nation)  Hat Tip: disinter

Napolitano on Ron Paul

Judge Andrew Napolitano gives high praise to Ron Paul while speaking at The Future of Freedom Foundation.

Parents Must Kowtow to Government Schools

No matter your stance on homosexuality, the Maryland State Board of Education's recent ruling should make you cringe.

Apparently, a parent's right to raise his children as he see fit ends where the Board of Indoctrination says it ends. The Board said "that right is not absolute. It must bend to the State's duty to educate its citizens."

Parents had opposed the addition of sexual orientation to Montgomery County's sex-education courses.

Opposition groups argued that the new lessons violate free-speech rights of students by expressing only one viewpoint on homosexuality, wholly favorable, and that they restrict religious expression by suppressing the view that homosexuality is a sin. They said the lessons violate the constitutional right of equal protection by excluding the perspective of former homosexuals and also the fundamental right of a parent to control the upbringing of a child. (Link: Md. State Board Approves County's Sex-Ed Curriculum, Washington Post)

Stony Brook Survey

I was contacted several days ago by a researcher at Stony Brook University in
New York. He asked that I make available to readers this
opportunity to participate in a national study of how people make
sense of the information they encounter on the Internet.

The survey takes roughly 10 minutes or so to complete, and responses
are completely anonymous. Participants will be eligible to enter a
raffle for a $50 Gift Certificate to Amazon.com.

I took it myself and hope that at least some of you will too.

Link to the survey:
http://www.sinc.stonybrook.edu/stu/thartman/survey/survey.htm

Note: This study has been approved by Stony Brook University's
Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects.