Ron Paul blames America for Paris attack, not Islam...

I agree with Ron Paul on many issues, but when it comes to foreign policy, he is nuts. 

By Ron Paul:

After the tragic shooting at a provocative magazine in Paris last week, I pointed out that given the foreign policy positions of France we must consider blowback as a factor.  Those who do not understand blowback made the ridiculous claim that I was excusing the attack or even blaming the victims.  Not at all, as I abhor the initiation of force.  The police blaming victims when they search for the motive of a criminal.
The mainstream media immediately decided that the shooting was an attack on free speech.  Many in the US preferred this version of “they hate us because we are free,” which is the claim that President Bush made after 9/11.  They expressed solidarity with the French and vowed to fight for free speech.  But have these people not noticed that the First Amendment is routinely violated by the US government?  President Barack Obama has used the Espionage Act more than all previous administrations combined to silence and imprison whistleblowers.  Where are the protests?  Where are protesters demanding the release of John Kiriakou, who blew the whistle on the CIA use of waterboarding and other torture? The whistleblower went to prison while the torturers will not be prosecuted. No protests. […]
Foreign policy actions have consequences.  The aggressive foreign policies of the United States and its allies in the Middle East have radicalized thousands and have made us less safe.  Blowback is real whether some want to recognize it or not.  There are no guarantees of security, but only a policy of non-intervention can reduce the risk of another attack.
Keep reading…

Ron Paul is worried that the government might kill Edward Snowden with a drone or something...

I would like to say this is batsh*t crazy talk, but we are dealing with the Obama administration...

“I’m worried about somebody in our government might kill him with a cruise missile or a drone missile. I mean we live in a bad time where American citizens don’t even have rights and that they can be killed, but the gentlemen is trying to tell the truth about what’s going on.”

Interestingly, Snowden was a Ron Paul supporter and donated $500 to his 2008 presidential campaign.

Rand Paul throws Ron Paul under the bus...

Has senility set in on Ron Paul? He tweeted this about the death of an American hero.

Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) February 4, 2013

Sen. Rand Paul quickly distances himself...

Via Breitbart:

In the aftermath of Ron Paul’s despicable tweet today slamming US Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, murdered on Saturday while helping a fellow soldier learn to cope with post traumatic stress syndrome, Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has told Breitbart News exclusively, “Chris Kyle was a hero like all Americans who don the uniform to defend our country. Our prayers are with his family during this tragic time.”

Rep. Ron Paul farewell speech (full)

Yes. He mentions the gold standard....

GOP Leaders Cheat Ron Paul Out of Delegates (video)

I am beginning to wonder if it is time to form a third party. Much of the GOP establishment is corrupt.

(WND)- Video of a Georgia county GOP convention this past weekend has presidential candidate Ron Paul supporters incensed, contending they now have proof local Republican leaders have cheated their candidate out of delegates.

The Athens-Clarke County GOP met on Saturday, March 10, to vote – among other things – on delegates to represent the county at district convention, from there to attend the state and national conventions.

But shocking video shows the meeting’s chair pushing through a list of pre-selected delegates over the objections of the convention and promptly declaring the meeting closed, a startling turn of events that took exactly 21 seconds.

Ron Paul locks up the stoner vote

Image by Gregory Jordan via Flickr

Just kidding with the title. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is promoting hemp during North Dakota campaign stops. He isn't talking about the kind you smoke. Rep. Paul is promoting industrial hemp.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul praised hemp as an alternative crop and said a free-market approach would protect the nation's environment Monday during North Dakota campaign stops that drew hundreds of cheering supporters.

North Dakota, which is holding Republican presidential caucuses March 6, is one of 13 states with a caucus or primary from Feb. 28 to March 6. North Dakota has 28 delegates to the Republican National Convention in August, although the caucus results will not dictate how any of them vote.

Paul campaigned in Williston, Dickinson, Jamestown and Bismarck on Sunday and Monday, following rival Rick Santorum's swing through Fargo, on the Minnesota border, and the northwestern oil-country town of Tioga last week.

In Jamestown, about 100 miles east of Bismarck, Paul was critical of the federal government's ban on the cultivation of industrial hemp, a crop that is related to marijuana but does not have its mind-affecting properties.

Industrial hemp is grown in neighboring Canada and other countries, where it is used to make paper, lotions, clothing and biofuels.[...]

"There is no reason, in a free society, that farmers shouldn't be allowed to raise hemp," Paul said during a Jamestown appearance that drew about 300 people. "Hemp is a good product." Keep on reading...

Video: Perry Calls Ron Paul a Hypocrite When It Comes To Earmarks And Pork

Most congressmen are...

Via  WZipper: 

Bizarre: Some Obama Democrats to to switch parties and caucus for Ron Paul

Because Rep. Ron Paul is most like Obama with a spine???

(LA Times)-...Rep. Ron Paul, in a tight race for first place in Iowa with Mitt Romney, is perhaps the most likely to benefit from Democratic crossovers. His campaign is distributing information sheets advising Iowans that they can register Republican "for a day" on caucus night, then switch their registration back afterward if they want.

"It's easy. You can register on your way in the door," David Fischer, co-chairman of Paul's Iowa organization, told voters Thursday at a campaign stop in Atlantic.

John Long, a registered Democrat, said that "last time, unfortunately, I believed a lot of the rhetoric" and voted for Obama, after going to a Democratic caucus as a Joe Biden supporter. Long feels that job-crushing regulations have gotten worse under President Obama, who he said had failed to end the "embarrassing" political spectacle in Washington, in part because he was too weak to stand up to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the Democratic leaders in Congress.

The 65-year-old semi-retired accountant plans to vote for Paul at a Republican caucus in West Des Moines. "Ron Paul has a lot going for him, particularly in the economic area," he said. Long doesn't care for the Texas congressman's isolationist foreign policy but says that no candidate is perfect and that Paul "is principled enough not to say stuff just to get elected."... Keep on reading...

Pot, meet kettle: Jon Huntsman calls Ron Paul "unelectable"

Perhaps Jon Huntsman has a wry sense of humor or something.

Via CBS News:

A day after new polling that shows Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul with a clear lead over Jon Huntsman in the critical primary state of New Hampshire, the Huntsman campaign has released an aggressive new web ad attacking Paul for publishing racist and homophobic essays.


In the video, titled "Unelectable," the Huntsman campaign focuses on the newsletters published under Paul's name in the 1980s and 1990s, which included controversial comments about African-Americans. Paul has disavowed the newsletters, insisting that he did not write the controversial comments, nor did they represent his beliefs.

Ron Paul gets the coveted former KKK Grand Wizard and Louisiana Congressman David Duke endorsement

Apparently, former KKK Grand Wizard and Louisiana Congressman David Duke used to be a fan of Ron Paul's controversial newsletters. The only thing worse than this that could happen to Paul is if Nancy Pelosi endorses him next.

Via PolitickerNY:

Ron Paul was a hot topic this week on the talk radio show hosted by prominent white supremacist Don Black and his son Derek. Mr. Black said he received Mr. Paul’s controversial newsletters when they were first published about two decades ago and described how the publications were perceived by members of the white supremacist movement. Former KKK Grand Wizard and Louisiana Congressman David Duke also phoned in to explain why he’s voting for Mr. Paul.

“Everybody, all of us back in the 80s and 90s, felt Ron Paul was, you know, unusual in that he had actually been a Congressman, that he was one of us and now, of course, that he has this broad demographic — broad base of support,” Mr. Black said on his broadcast yesterday.

Ouch: Bachmann’s Iowa Chairman Endorses Ron Paul

Personally, I thing Michelle Bachmann is a good conservative, but her campaign is effectively over. It is unlikely she will receive a top three finish in Iowa and that is her home state.

From Allahpundit:

The fact is, there is a clear top tier in the race for the Republican nomination for President, both here in Iowa and nationally. Ron Paul is easily the most conservative of this group...

He’s also consistently spoken out against government spending, assaults on individual liberties, and unnecessary trillion-dollar military adventurism for over 30 years. Polls show he is the Republican candidate that can take on and defeat President Obama in November 2012.

With the entire Republican establishment intent on smearing Ron Paul and his dedicated supporters, I understand this decision could impact the way people see me and my entire political career. But this is the right decision, and one in which I proudly stand behind.

Read more here…

Personally, I think Kent Sorenson made a mistake. Even though it doesn't look like Bachmann has a chance in Iowa, you dance with the one you come with.

Ron Paul accused of flirting with "9-11 Truther" beliefs

After polls showing Ron Paul could win the Iowa GOP Caucus, the attacks are coming hot and heavy.

Via Daily Caller:

In a statement released on Monday, a 16-year former aide to Texas Rep. Ron Paul writes that the presidential candidate “was opposed to the war in Afghanistan, and to any military reaction to the attacks of 9/11,” but ultimately voted “Yay” [sic] in the face of a threatened staff rebellion and near-certain political suicide. [...]

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Paul “engaged in conspiracy theories including, perhaps, [that] the attacks were coordinated with the CIA, and that the Bush administration might have known about the attacks ahead of time,” Dondero wrote. “He expressed no sympathies whatsoever for those who died on 9/11, and pretty much forbade us staffers from engaging in any sort of memorial expressions, or openly asserting pro-military statements in support of the Bush administration.”

“On the eve of the vote,” the former Paul staffer continued, “Ron Paul was still telling us staffers that he was planning to vote ‘No’ on the resolution, and to be prepared for a seriously negative reaction in [his Texas] district. [Current District Case Director] Jackie Gloor and I, along with quiet nods of agreement from the other staffers in the district, declared our intentions to Tom Lizardo, our chief of staff, and to each other, that if Ron voted ‘No,’ we would immediately resign.”

Lizardo became Paul’s chief of staff in 1997 and resigned in 2008.

Read more here…

Your Wait is Over. The New Ron Paul Family Cookbook is Here

The Ron Paul Family Cookbook is available here. The cost counts as a campaign donation to the Paul campaign. I would be shocked if there were any foreign dishes included in this cookbook.

Via Business Insider:

The eagerly anticipated new Ron Paul Family Cookbook is finally here!

Featuring 28 pages of tasty recipes from the Paul family and friends, this much-in-demand and collectible cookbook will “warm your kitchen and your heart.” Packed full of photos of the entire Paul family, the book also includes Carol Paul’s “The American Dream” which briefly recounts the history of Ron Paul and the Paul Family.

Rep. Ron Paul Channels Osama Bin Laden (video)

 When Rep. Ron Paul is asked a foreign policy question in future debates, he should answer "no comment." Paul had virtually no chance to win the GOP 2012 nomination before tonight. Now he has none. The crowd roundly booed him.

“This whole idea that the whole Muslim world is responsible for this and they are attacking us because we are free and prosperous, that is just not true. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda have been explicit … they have been explicit and they wrote and said that “we attacked America because you had bases on our holy land in Saudi Arabia, you do not give Palestinians fair treatment and you have been bombing (audience boos) … I didn’t say that. I’m trying to get you to understand what the motive was behind the bombing. At the same time we had been bombing and killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis for ten years. Would you be annoyed? If you’re not annoyed then there’s some problem.”

Ron Paul: We shouldn't build a border fence because it would keep Americans in or something (video)

There are issues Ron Paul makes a lot of sense on, but border control isn't one of them. When the topic drifts towards anything related to foreign policy, Ron Paul sounds like that crazy uncle in the family nobody likes to talk about.

Via tpmtv:

In Wednesday's GOP presidential debate Ron Paul (R-TX) suggested a fence along the U.S. Mexico border could be used to keep Americans in.

Ron Paul Says The Border Fence Built To Keep Us In

(Video) Ron Paul gets booed at Iowa Debate for his crazy foreign policy views

Ron Paul gets booed at Iowa Debate for his crazy foreign policy views. Before Paul gets booed, Rick Santorum schools him on foreign policy. 

Ron Paul to Head Federal Reserve Oversight Panel

Expect fireworks in 2011 and 2012. Lots of fireworks.

(The Street) — Ron Paul, the controversial Republican House representative from Texas, will take control of the subcommittee that oversees the Federal Reserve.

House Financial Services chairman-elect Spencer Bachus’ (R.-AL) announced Paul’s appointment on Thursday, along with the rest his choices for leadership team. Bachus was appointed chairman of the panel on Wednesday.

Paul, who has introduced legislation to abolish the Fed, will specifically head up the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy.

Ron Paul on TSA: “The American People Are Being Treated Like Cattle” (Video)

Rep. Ron Paul is introducing a bill to remove immunity from TSA gropers and porno scanner operators.

Ron Paul on the TSA: "Enough Is Enough!"


Here are some of Rep. Paul's comments.

It’s very simple, it’s one paragraph long. It removes the immunity from anybody in the federal government that does anything that you or I can’t do. If you can’t grope another person and if you can’t x-ray people and endanger them with possible x-rays, you can’t take nude photographs of individuals, why do we allow the government to do it? We would go to jail. He’d be immediately arrested if an individual citizen went out and did these things, and yet we just sit there calmly and say, “Oh, they’re making us safe”.

Ron Paul: Obama’s Not Technically a Socialist

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has declares Barack Obama isn't technically a Socialist.

President Obama is not a socialist, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) told conservatives gathered at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference today.

“The question has been raised about whether or not our president is a socialist,” Paul said, according to Talking Points Memo. “I am sure there are some people here who believe it,” Paul said. “But in the technical sense, in the economic definition of a what a socialist is, no he’s not a socialist.”

Instead, Paul calls Obama a "corporatist."

"He's a corporatist," Paul continued. "And unfortunately we have corporatists inside the Republican Party and that means you take care of corporations and corporations take over and run the country."

Paul said examples of President Obama's "corporatism" was evident in the heath care reform bill he signed into law last month. Paul said the mandate in the bill put the power over health care in the hands of corporations rather than private citizens. But he said the bill wasn't the only place where corporatism is creeping into Washington.

I am beginning to wonder if senility hasn't set in on Rep. Paul. The reason Obama left insurance in the hands of private companies wasn't because he is a "corporatist," but because he lacked political support to get the "public option" passed. Of course, heath care reform isn't the only segment of the economy where Obama has moved us closer to socialism. The US Government currently owns 60% of General Motors and significant percentages of Chrysler and Citibank, the nations largest bank. President Obama is supporting strong federal control of financial institutions and a takeover of our nations energy supply through Cap and Trade legislation. The roots of Obama's socialism are explored here.

Rep. Ron Paul cast solo vote against Arnold Palmer Congressional Gold Medal

Rep. Ron Paul cast the solo vote against Arnold Palmer's Congressional Gold Medal. According to his spokeswoman, Rachel Mills, Paul has nothing against Arnie. He votes against all Congressional Gold Medal awards to civilians on the principle that it is unconstitutional to use taxpayer dollars in this way. I am not sure if Rep. Paul's stance is correct, but a Congressman with principles is refreshing. According to Yahoo Sports:

Seems that Paul votes against any and all Congressional Gold Medals, no matter who's up for the award. He voted against Rosa Parks, for heaven's sake. And he's actually got a reasonable explanation for doing so. According to his spokeswoman, Rachel Mills:

"It is certainly nothing personal against Mr. Palmer. In fact, Congressman Paul admires him greatly. Dr. Paul opposes using public monies for any and all of these gold medals given to private citizens, just on principle. Not to mention, it is unconstitutional to use taxpayer dollars in this way. He even suggested on the House Floor before he voted against Rosa Parks's medal that if it meant so much to the Members of Congress, why not fund the award out of their own pockets? He pulled $100 out of his own wallet, but had no other takers. At a time like this when all budgets are stretched so thin, it seems especially inappropriate to lavish gifts like this on private citizens, as much as he may admire the individual."

Wow. A congressman standing on principle like that, and not for some underhanded back-door political gain? That's actually fairly impressive -- and fairly depressing that the bar for congressional honesty is set so low that a simple "no" vote is an act of freakin' political courage.

But here's what he was voting against. The Congressional Gold Medal is one of the nation's highest honors, along with the Congressional Medal of Freedom. Originally intended for war heroes, it's been broadened to include a wide range of individuals who have performed a notable public service to the country. Recent recipients include Jackie Robinson, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Dr. Michael DeBakey, who perfected the heart transplant. You could quibble over whether a golfer deserves to be in such august company, but if Charles Schulz and Frank Sinatra could get it -- and they have -- then surely Arnie belongs as well.

So, bravo to both gentlemen -- Arnie for receiving the award, and Paul for not compromising his principles. Still, when Arnie is making his list of congressmen he'll be inviting to join him on the course, I've got a feeling we can go ahead and slot Rep. Paul at No. 423.