Monday, November 05, 2007

because i'm an asshole...



hey look! ron paul raised over $2.5 million in a single day in web donations - and the day still isn't over! yes, we all know he has some nutty ideas, but we also know that red state, the site o' neocons, has banned people from speaking positively about ron paul. the freepers are also livid and sputtering. ron paul is a thorn in the ass of the right, and they keep trying to squelch positive commentary about ron paul, yet they are failing miserably. anyone who makes the right wing machine go bonkers makes me happy. today, a friend and i (who ultimately intend to vote for whoever the democrats nominate in november 2008) decided that we are going to help shake things up. we're going to register as republicans and vote for ron paul in the primaries. in fact, she has already done so, and i'm going to do so eventually.

everyone, register as a republican and vote for ron paul in the primaries! it would be awesome to see the neocons' heads explode if he gets the nomination. plus, i'd rather risk the chance of the dems losing to ron paul than the dems losing to "king giuliani" or "mitt mitt full of shit."

or throw a few bucks to the ron paul campaign. it's also guy fawkes day. pretty awesome!

who said politics can't be fun!

update: $4.2 million!!!!

6 comments:

QP said...

There are open primaries in Virginia, but even for registered Independents like me, you can only go to one, not both.

I may go to the Democratic primary because there are some people in that field I would rather not have to convince myself to vote for.

But I do love me some Dr. Paul as well.

FM said...

i think a few of his ideas are frightening, and i think more than a few of his supporters are frightening. but part of me is rooting for him (not to win but just to get the republican nomination). i don't quite understand it. i think it just stems from the fact that the establishment, both the right wing machine and the mainstream media, have either attempted to squash him like a bug and/or have dismissed him. and every attempt to do so has been in vain. he just smiles and gets more support. and the neocons can't do a damn thing about it.

it's also a sign that americans are mad as hell and not going to be fed the usual pablum anymore.

emily1 said...

i think i'd rather the dems lose to mitt mitt full of shit. ron paul has ties to white supremacists. stormfront isn't stumping for romney. this isn't about attracting scary supporters. he has actively courted that support and moved within that social circle for years.

FM said...

yeah, the alleged white supremacist thing was a concern at first, but i'm not so sure how blown out of proportion it is. i think one article mentioned that a ghostwriter wrote a story that appeared in a newspaper associated with white supremacists that purported to come from ron paul, but ron paul denied any involvement in its authorship and inclusion in the publication. and he said he disagrees with the statements that were made. if he were a real white supremacist, he'd be all up in that like david duke. (similarly, i kind of feel that the obama / ex-gay gospel singer mcclurkin thing was also blown out of proportion. obama is not a homophobe because a guy who claimed he "prayed away the gay" made it onto a gospel show in support of obama; obama simply failed to institute a proper vetting process.)

like i said before, the wacko survivalist types tend to gravitate towards ron paul, but he seems to be attracting a wide range of supporters. i've heard positive comments from avowed lefties, irritated democrats, disgruntled republicans, and libertarians alike. he seems to be the only one attracting interest from people with vastly different viewpoints under a big tent... and seemingly without trying.

i used to think giuliani was the best republican candidate until i realized that a giuliani presidency would simply mean more executive power, more overreaching, and more neocon garbage. and mitt? that dude will say anything to get elected.

anyway, anything to cause neocons pain and embarrassment is fair game for me! if ron paul even finishes in the top 3, it will send a clear message that the neocon/christianist world view is not supported by a sizeable percentage of the republican base, and that will be a victory in and of itself.

emily1 said...

i'll leave to the journalist who has made a career out of following neo-nazi politics in america to illuminate ron paul's ugly little history. he's not stupid enough to shout his beliefs to the rooftops. of course, he's not going to take credit for the newsletter. like many racists, he knows his beliefs aren't welcome in the mainstream. neiwert's co-blogger has more dirt on him.

ron paul does what the anti-abortion nuts do: he hides his racism behind the rhetorical trappings of anti-racism the way anti-choicers hide their misogynist agenda in pro-woman language.

FM said...

well, i still believe he's been marilyn manson-ed.

a disproportionate percentage of school shooters listened to marilyn manson.

this does not make ALL marilyn manson fans or marilyn manson himself criminally inclined. in fact, most marilyn manson fans and marilyn manson himself are harmless.

they may have bad taste, but they aren't dangerous. :)

somehow, marilyn manson has become synonymous with dangerous trenchcoat wearing neonazi school shooters in the eyes of reactionary parents. his unorthodox appearance and ideas have also failed to endear him to these parents, who are - irrationally - afraid of him.

(the same can be said for things like dungeons and dragons. my fiancee's mother, who by all accounts is intelligent (member of mensa, actually), told me that people who play dungeons and dragons are the type who are weird, depraved and dangerous. okay, she doesn't get out much, but you get the picture.)

anyway, i have a tendency to ramble, but my point is that the ron paul campaign shouldn't be entirely dismissed, because a teeny tiny percentage of his supporters happen to be unsavory individuals.

other supporters include college libertarians, moderate republicans, disenfranchised democrats, lefties, and old guard conservatives. just like the vast majority of marilyn manson fans who aren't dangerous school shooters, the aforementioned ron paul supporters aren't crazy kooks and should not be associated with the crazy kooks. and until i see ron paul start going the david duke route, claiming that white people rule and everyone else sucks, my opinion is that he is not a white supremacist.

this is a quote taken from a letter to the editor to the national review from paul's communication director:

"Dr. Paul stands for freedom, peace, prosperity, and the protection of inalienable individual rights. He knows that liberty is the antidote for racism, anti-Semitism, and other small minded ideologies. Dr. Paul has focused all of his energy on winning the presidency so he can cut the size of government and protect the freedom of every American. Neither he nor his staff is going to waste time screening donors. If a handful of individuals with views anathema to Dr. Paul’s send in checks, then they have wasted their money. I cannot profess to understand the motivations of Don Black as neither Dr. Paul nor I know who he is, but a simple Google search shows that his $500 contribution has netted him at least 88 news hits, including Charen's column. Perhaps a better explanation for his 'contribution' is not support for Ron, but the attention he knew he would receive."

sounds reasonable to me.