Thread: Ron Paul on the Issues

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Best of 2011: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised... or Printed... or Mentioned on the Radio
Published Sunday, January 1, 2012 12:04 am
by Dennis Maley
Even for someone as skeptical as myself, the past two weeks have been an exercise in the absurd. I watched as three major media events were so completely manipulated (or ignored) to produce a distorted image that was by and large swallowed whole, and I asked myself whether democracy was even possible amongst such utter corporate domination of the mainstream media.

The first event was every single major media outlet seeming to uniformly decide at once that Ron Paul was no longer among the candidates in contention for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Of course, this was news to Congressman Paul, his millions of supporters and Republican voters who have consistently voiced their support for him poll after poll.

In the 2008 election, the mainstream media simply ignored the Ron Paul phenomenon – pretended it wasn't there like some crazy uncle in the corner of the room at a family reunion. As a result, many intrigued Americans bought the nonsensical statement that supporting Paul was somehow “throwing their vote away.”

Ron Paul's legions only grew. This time, he was allowed to be acknowledged, at least among the dozen or so candidates in the early running. But after the Aimes Iowa Straw Poll (in which Dr. Paul finished 2nd!), the mainstream media declared a top tier of candidates that inexplicably did not include... Ron Paul! Watch the amazing montage assembled by comedian John Stewart on Comedy Central's, The Daily Show (some readers may find language objectionable).




As you see in the above video, we're not talking about one news channel. This is an across-the-board consensus that was developed absent of any coinciding reality. For constitutionalists and reform-minded Republicans, it's been decided for them – they will be represented by Michele Bachmann, a corporate-friendly shill who's been taught to parrot Ron Paul like bullet points – and not even very well. They've decided: Michele "I want to drill for oil in the Everglades" Bachmann is top tier, Ron Paul is a black hole that does not officially exist.

That same week, Stewart assembled an equally unthinkable montage of mainstream-media footage that showed a frighteningly uniform response to Warren Buffet's op-ed suggesting that the richest of the rich surrender their extended and unaffordable tax cuts to help the nation recover much-needed revenues during a time of economic crisis. The class warfare/Buffet is a socialist cries were bellowed from CNN to Fox News and everywhere between. Am I the only one aside from Stewart who can see the ridiculousness in that suggestion???

Say what you'd like about Warren Buffet. Say he's cozying up to the White House (where he already has close ties) and expects to get compensated in the form of a mortgage fraud-settlement policy that will pay off handsomely through his recent $5 billion Bank of America investment. But don't say that a BILLIONAIRE capitalist is a socialist, just because he wants tax rates for the super rich to simply return to pre-boom levels! And what does it say about our Republic when we have to go to a comedy network, so that a comedian can point this out. But just watch the video and tell me this isn't something you'd expect from a country with state media (some readers may find language objectionable).

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
World of Class Warfare - Warren Buffett vs. Wealthy Conservatives
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook



A grandmother is arrested during the pipeline protest

photo: tarsandsaction.org

The third event was the utter lack of meaningful coverage regarding the massive civil protest of an ecologically dangerous oil pipeline to carry tar sand oil to the U.S. from Canada. Over 700 American citizens have been arrested so far for protesting the pipeline – an incredible show of civil disobedience that has gotten relatively-minuscule media coverage, while the front page of newspapers and the bulk of political talk shows have been dedicated to things like where Gadaffi's wife and kids might be. The protest got a slight bump in coverage yesterday when actress Daryl Hannah was perp-walked off the scene in cuffs.

Over the past half-decade, Americans have lost more in terms of a free and independent media than any other three-decade period combined. In 2003, led by then FCC chair Michael Powell (son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and world class corporate shill), rules protecting independent news dissemination from the dangers of corporate consolidation were thoroughly relaxed. As a result, an increasingly small number of corporations own an unthinkably large portion of the airwaves – or at least access to them.

You don't need a conspiracy to set the agenda when ownership of the message is that consolidated. This nonsense about a liberal or conservative media bias is ridiculous. We have a corporate media with a corporate bias and all of the many conflicts of interests that exist are front and center in such uniform dissemination of disinformation.

When mega-conglomerates own defense contracting interests and news channels, clearly they have an interest in presenting military conflicts in a certain light. When any billion dollar conglomerate that will undoubtedly have financial holdings across a wide spectrum of markets has multiple "news" and “financial news” outlets at their disposal, clearly they have a financial interest in promoting certain points of view or ignoring obvious realities.


Buffett's Class Warfare Part II

The Daily Show - World of Class Warfare - The Poor's Free Ride Is Over
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook


You don't need memos to go out in the morning for this to happen. You simply need to breed a culture of certain philosophies and hire selectively based on people's demonstrated ability to either convey a certain viewpoint or have a very pliable point of view. Look at the news shows above. Do these pundits seem particularly talented or do they seem like well-paid hacks in expensive (yet empty) suits, happy to be in the top tax bracket and understandably disinterested in rocking the boat.

The Internet was supposed to bring an end to such media control, but the infinite platform, while giving a voice to everyone, also creates a giant vacuum that makes the voice with the loudest megaphone all the more influential. When radio, television and print media are all beating the same drum, it only serves to discredit the independent media outlets and make it easier to portray them as paranoid conspiracy theorists if they go off-script.

If Americans continue to swallow such blatantly untrustworthy propaganda, they should have no expectations beyond more of the same. Mainstream media outlets have a vested profit interest in sensationalizing news and marketing to one side of the political spectrum or the other, one that is doubly profitable if they can advance their own related self-interests as well. There was a time when the media was considered a public treasure, far too essential to liberty to be exploited for any group's personal gain. If we fail to restore that attitude, we will wake up in a nation in which democracy is extinct – and that is not an America I relish passing on to future generations.



Dennis Maley is a featured columnist and editor for The Bradenton Times. An archive of his columns is available here. He can be reached at dennis.maley@thebradentontimes.com.




http://www.thebradentontimes.com/new..._on_the_radio/

With the Iowa caucuses just a few days behind us, and with New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada choosing their Republican candidates soon, I wanted to write to you and give you a quick update on the NAGR Presidential Survey program.

As you know, NAGR has mailed every candidate for President an official NAGR Gun Rights Survey.

Ron Paul is the only remaining Republican candidate who has returned his survey 100% in favor of gun rights.


{b] Go to the link below to read about the rest[/b]


http://paracom.paramountcommunicatio...e&ei=WMiEZN8-N

More videos at link below on other subjects that might interest you all..

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Is Ron Paul 2012's Black Swan?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/07/2012 23:08 -0500
Courtesy of Bill Buckler of The Privateer

The Great Non Debate

For five years, the writing on the wall has been crystal clear. As 2007 began, the US Foreclosure Market Report for 2006 showed that foreclosures for the year had reached 1.2 million, an increase of 42 percent over the 2005 figure. In early February 2007, in the midst of a growing rash of bankruptcies among small US sub-prime mortgage issuers, New Century Financial announced that it was “recalculating” its “profits for the previous three quarters. New Century was one of the three biggest mortgage brokers in the US. In two days, its stock price dropped 40 percent. Six months later, President Bush was calling the now obvious collapse in the US real estate market a “blip” on the US economy. Two months after that, the stock market peaked. A year after that, in September/October 2008, the global economy froze solid and was only thawed by the biggest explosion of money creation in history. Now, here we are at the start of 2012. Nothing has changed. No positive steps have been made. The symptoms have been disguised under an avalanche of palliatives but the disease continues to eat away at the substance of the system on which it feeds. The major effort of government and “mainstream” analysts everywhere has been to avoid, deflect and actively silence any nascent discussion of the root of the problem.
The root of the problem is perfectly illustrated in the fact that since August 1971, the funded debt of the US government has risen from $US 400 Billion to $US 15,236 Billion. The severity of the problem is illustrated by the fact that with Mr Obama having yet to complete his third full year as President, he has presided over $US 4,600 Billion (or almost one-third) of that increase. The root of the problem is the abandonment of money - the final legal connection between Gold and the US Dollar was ended in August 1971. The severity of the problem is the grotesque expansion of what has taken its place.

None of this has been or is being discussed because the establishment in the US and everywhere else does not want it discussed. A REAL “black swan event” - an event that deviates by 180 degrees from what is “normally expected” - would be a political debate over root causes and basic principles. The great merit of Ron Paul - and the great service he is giving to his own and every other nation - is the fact that he is doing everything he can to raise the debate to that level. That makes Dr Paul a unique politician, a man who tells people what most of them DON’T want to hear or understand.

Or at least they don’t think they want to understand it. Dr Paul’s great and merited attractiveness to a growing number of admirers has a very simple source. He is that rarest of creatures - a FREE man. He is beholden to nobody. He has developed his ideas and his convictions over a long and fruitful life of independent thinking. He does not compromise. He homes in on the fundamental issue and principle of any political issue and serves it up without salt or other “seasoning”. He says what he means and he means what he says. He is the living embodiment of the “dream” that most Americans have long since given up on as they saw it slip further and further beyond their grasp. He is the only prominent person who is doing everything he can to turn the non-debate which masquerades as the “mainstream” in the US and global political economy into something of substance. That, far more than the presidency, is his goal.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/ron-paul-2012s-black-swan

$6,251,454.33 Contributed TOWARDS FREEDOM!!!!!

https://secure.ronpaul2012.com/?sr=29-1226

Ron Paul Attracts 500 People at Meredith Town Hall

Continues pattern of huge crowds at Granite State town hall meetings

CONCORD, NH – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul continued his final swing through New Hampshire with a jam-packed town hall this afternoon in Meredith.



Following strong back-to-back performances in the last two GOP debates before the primary on Tuesday, Paul spoke to a crowd of 500 supporters, undecided voters, and media. “This is what a surge looks like,” said State. Sen. Jim Forsythe, Ron Paul 2012 New Hampshire campaign chair.

http://www.ronpaul2012.com/2012/01/0...ith-town-hall/

Still Ignoring Ron Paul
Ron Paul is polling a strong second in New Hampshire. Those polling third and fourth are a full ten points behind Paul. In the first half hour of this 90 minute-long NBC televised debate, Congressman Paul has been asked exactly one question.
There’s no excuse for this.

http://www.ronpaul2012.com/2012/01/0...ring-ron-paul/

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