Writing Off Ron Paul In Iowa
NOTES Dizzy: “The danger of Ron Paul and the peril of writing him off.”
At last the day arrives, the starting gun of the Iowa Caucus will soon be fired and the long months of pre-presidential campaign will be over. The consensus, at least on the Left, is that after 8 years of ‘neocon’ Bush (note that neocon is a perjorative now) , the US will at ast be able to return to sound Democrat rule. The Republican Party has imploded they say, evidenced by the diversity of its nomintion hopefuls.Such analysis is of course nonsense simple because the nominees across the party’s are actually diverse and always have been. Only a simpleton would make such statements because they would be trying to apply the notion of a nationally held party line of issues x y and z to a nation that does not, has not, and never will work like that. The amazing thing about Iowa in the years that I have observed the electoral marvels of the American Empire is that it almost always throws up surprises. A frontrunner will fall and an outsider will rise.
Occassionally an outsider will rise and then scream and shout in victory so insanely that everyone thinks he is nuts and photoshops pictures of him squeezing the life out of a kitten in his momentary fit of pique. That was the Democrat Howard Dean if you didn’t know. A guy whose campaign was built almost exclusively online. This time round there is no Democrat like him and instead the Internet buzz nominee is Dr Ron Paul. A pure constutionalist libertarian who seems to make lots of people wet with excitement, at least on the blog and YouTube anyway.
Yet if you read much of the mainstream media you will find little out about him. Supporters of Paul, and I mean the serious supporters, will talk about a conspiracy against him. Even if commentators praise his Internet rise and meteoric fundraising if the write him off they are, as James Forsythe at the CoffeeHouse has found, be accused of being part of the Murdoch Empire. To not give Paul the time of day is too be against him for some darker, or more feared reason. Personally I think this is nonsense in almost all cases.
The fact is Paul, for all his resonance online, appears to only poll at a level nationally that means he has no chance of actually winning. Whilst supporters will say this is because of the media conspiracy against him, with the exception of some very specific incidents, many commentators still only have the polls to go in their analysis and have to take much of it at face value, especially foreign correspondants. Then there is the Dean Factor. Last time round the mainstream media got excited about Deam, and then they were left with egg on their face after the screaming incident.
This is not to say they think Paul, who is in his 70s, will do a Dean. But I think they are wary about how badly they are willing to get it wrong. Getting it wrong is one thing, getting it wrong and bigging up a nutter makes them look even sillier. They are simple being cautious ahead of Iowa, and if Paul does the unthinkable it will have to change, but they’re waiting for that moment. Stick with the frontrunners and then reassess when the poll is over appears to be the editorial line for now, and there really is nothing wrong with that.
Writing Ron Paul off is undoubtedly dangerous. No one can be quite sure how his online campaign will translate into votes, and I know someone who is in Iowa today doing whatever is the equivalent of knocking on doors in a British Elections. But, and there is always a but, it’s not only dangerous to write Paul off but it’s dangerous to consider supporting a Paul Presidency (not that I have a vote of course). At least that is my outsider view and my frame of reference has to be how the Presidency relates to the outside world not the domestic arena. Paul, for all his small government domestic appeal, would be a nightmare internationally. This is because of all the candidates, across all the parties, he has the strongest of classic American imperial denial.
There is no doubt in my mind that America is an Empire you see. Not an empire in the colonial sense, but the post-colonial hyperpower that has the responisibilty on its shoulder to bring stability to the global order. The problems is almost all American reject the concept of empire thanks to its perjorative undertones. The Left are very goos at this of course. They have a tendency to think that if the world could just have a big group hug it would all be alright. The truth is though, if America is not the global power then someone else will be and, frankly, those other options are shittier than a shitty stick stuck inside a big pile of shit.
Ron Paul, who is on the Right but firmlyin the imperial denial world too, represents a literalist view of the US Constitution which makes him an isolationist. It might sound appealing when he quips that on matters of foreign policy he would consult the constitution rather than his counsel, but a world without America as the hegemonic power is a world with a different hegemon. That is worth remembering and repeating. An isolationist America would be a very bad thing for the world. Just look at the alternative choices of China and Russia. Real Politik may make you whince, it may make you uneasy, but remember this. The others will do it too, and they ain’t the nicest of folks. In the end it comes down to this. Write off Ron Paul at your peril and desire a Ron Paul presidency equally so.
Note: Should any Ron Paul supporters read this post and get annoyed. I can confirm that News Corp have paid me money in the past. In fact paid two cheques into my bank yesterday. Feel free to dismiss the post on those grounds alone.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 am
Obviously you’re being irrational and silly about everything that you say about Dr. Paul. I can see clearly that you do not really understand the man at all. America can not afford this defunct empire that (at this point) really only serves Kleptocratic and Facist interests. Countries can worry about themselves, America can lead by example, and there does not to be a superpower fooling around in everyones’ affairs. That fooling around in others’ affairs does no good for either party in any case. America can do a much better and effective job by actually talking with people and letting events play out to a much larger extent than has been done in the past.
IF you’d like to know more about Dr. Paul I recommend that you both read about him, and read American history. He is the only man on the GOP ticket that really represents the true American identity, and since this is the case, once people know of him they will vote for him and he will win both the nomination and election.
I suggest that foreign governments prepare for this.
This is my opinion; I am an American and will support Paul come Hell or highwater, if need be, I’ll write him in as a candidate in the general election.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:17 am
you are right to say fear a ron paul presidency but not internationl reasons. The truth is that it has been a painful slide into socialism for America but a literal return to our constitution is going to take the resolve of a Churchill to stay the course and climb out of this cesspool and return her to her founding principles. It will take a revolution at the polls or a bloody one. I choose Ron Paul over the latter. May God give us the wisdom to see this opportunity. tim pearcy
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:30 am
you are one of those people whose head is so far up his own ass that you couldn’t tell daisies from diapers. usually i just shrug people like you off, but it bothers me that such an ignorant person would have a public forum. please, kill yourself.
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Eloquently put.
January 3rd, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Ron Paul is just what the U.S. needs.
In the last 40 years, the U.S. dollar has lost 90% of its purchasing power.
Why has the US $ lost 90% of its value? Because in the last 40 years the Federal Reserve has printed increasing amounts of paper money to fund excessive government spending for wars, welfare programs, and maintaining that empire – and this paper money has no gold backing. The result has been constant inflation.
The US is on the brink of a financial catastrophe. The dollar is in freefall on foreign exchange markets and there are increasing signs that governments and investors around the world are looking for alternative currencies to use for investment vehicles. The US government is in debt to Foreign Governments a total of over 2.3 Trillion dollars and that borrowed money has been spent on wars and welfare (yes – that’s 2.3 TRILLION dollars). And these foreign governments are not all friends – almost $700 billion is owed to China and the Oil Exporting Countries in the Middle East.
Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate that is discussing this coming financial collapse and understands the incredible economic dangers we face.
If you want an Empire to police the world, then you pay for it. America can’t afford it anymore.
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Thank you for your article. I sense your interest in Dr. Paul and rightly so… Every time I look at British politics, it seems you are starving for liberty as well.
Cameras patrol your streets, no one speaks a lick of English, the price of your petrol keeps ours reasonable, your prime minister says one thing and then joins the european union and NHS. NHS is marvelous. Without it, your country would have a surplus like China.
Instead of going to the dentist, taking advantage of your NHS and getting your teeth fix, you continue to give your opinion about Dr. Paul. Fascinating…
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Excellent column! The ownership of the mainstream media and those owner’s preferences for presidential candidates could be debated ad nauseam, so instead, I would like to attack your paragraph on the American Empire. What you have left out of your paragraph is the amount of debt that government of America has mortgaged in order to “bring stability to the global order.” Simply put, at some point in the future, America will no longer be able to afford to be this global power, and the age of the American hyper-power will end anyway. Ron Paul’s platform is not an isolationist one; rather, instead of subsidizing all of these troublespots with both money and soldiers, we wants a return to diplomacy and trade, while keeping a strong military at home as a deterrent to the “alternate hegemonies” that you pointed out. For a follow-up column, I would love to see a report on who owns the American debt and how the power over that money will affect future American policy.
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Interesting points. Too bad we are not discussing these issues in the mainstream public debate here in the US. I support Ron Paul because I oppose this idea of global hegemony whether based in Washington or Brussels. I’m also displeased with our current trending towards a welfare/warfare/nanny state, all to the benefit of multinational corporations. I would like to see more personal freedom/responsibility both at home and in our foreign policy. A lot of people are getting sick of the pandering charade that is mainstream American politics and are ready for someone who will really shake up the establishment. Ron Paul seems like the only one who fits that description.
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Whoever wrote this article should take some English lessons. Your spelling and grammar is awful. I hope this web blog doesn’t pay you for your writing skills, as they are thoroughly getting screwed. Next time you want to write about a serious issue, and be taken seriously, try using spell check. Either that, or perhaps you should consider a career in washing dishes. I officially declare this article of zero value.
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
How can your writing be taken seriously? It is such low quality. for example, here is one verb tense problem:
“I can confirm that News Corp have paid me money in the past.”
This is just one example of your terrible grammar.
Here is how it should have been written: I can confirm that News Corp has paid me money in the past.
You should get an editor, or learn how to write. I would think that educated people reading your work would dismiss your message because your writing is so poor. I know I did.
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Grammar aside, I support Ron Paul for many of the same reasons that others have expressed here. Freedom should not be such a foreign idea to so many, nor should upholding US Constitution be such a threat.
These ideas, however, are a threat to this socialist nanny state that has been created by both major political parties. I’m ready for someone who believes in national sovereignty and the rights of the individual. Our founding fathers would be proud of Ron Paul and people like David Crockett, a true Tennessee hero, would tar and feather socialist clap traps like Hillary and Obama.
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Writing Teacher: Are you kidding. He misspelled > pejorative (twice), nomination, occasionally, CoffeeHouse (with two capital letters?) correspondents, responsibility, hegemony, politic, and wince.
No wonder he didn’t add his name to this article (at least none that I can find), he doesn’t want people to know who he is. Which make his last sentence (if you can actually call it that) ” I can confirm that News Corp have paid me money in the past.” Mind numbingly stupid!
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
OMG!!!!!! check your spelling and grammar!! I had to stop reading this!!
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Just brilliant…you refuse to support Dr. Paul because you want a hegemon in the world and consider the US to be the most harmless of the possible choices. Well by all means, lets spend ourselves into hopeless debt, see american servicemen killed and continue to foster ill-will towards us worldwide so you can have your “nice” hegemon. We need to get out of the empire business and FAST! You brits are welcome to pick up where you left off a couple centuries ago and can fight it out with Russia and China. And if it weren’t for your bloated welfare state, you just might be able to pull it off.
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:11 pm
luke Says:
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:30 am
you are one of those people whose head is so far up his own ass that you couldn’t tell daisies from diapers. usually i just shrug people like you off, but it bothers me that such an ignorant person would have a public forum. please, kill yourself.
*****
Couldn’t have said it better myself !
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Thanks dave c for echoing my thoughts. So the globe needs a benevolent hegemon and that happens to be the US for now. The benevolence is only dictated by the moral compass of the rulers and Mr. Bush proved you otherwise. Granted he didnt pull the trigger on Iran but that was a close call.
There is no incentive in empireism when it is obvious that the mult-nationals rule the world. We are tired of shelling out the “dollar value” for being the invisible and benevolent hand orchestrating global trade when the outcome is just a falling dollar and rising cost of our living. Dollar being the reserve currency is a boring argument since it is doing you more good than ever to us. So keep you Dinar or Euro or Renminbi or whatever donkey food (read paper) to yourself and leave us alone.
America is living off the hard work of its first 100 years of existence and isolation. The goodwill has been squandered. The worst you can do to a person is to grant all his wishes 100 times more than he ever asked for. It makes him lazy and decadent. Thanks to the Chinese, El Salvadorians, Vietnamese etc. for teaching us this excercise practically. Time to get back to work now and elect Paul for president.
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak? Or think for that matter?
______________________
Mods and Admin
Ask the UK Government, they rambled on and on and on about Education, then changed their collective mind.
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Thank you for your “2 cents’. In the US, the people are very tired of holding the world on our shoulders. We are going broke and we are letting our own people starve while we feed the outside world. We are building bridges in the middle east and ours are falling down. I am a big fan of a huge and impressive Military…but not real excited about over throwing other governments and killing their leaders. We need to do some work around here, bring our troops home and take care of our borders… maybe we can save our money for a few years, then com back and attack a 3rd world country, kill all the people and then rebuildn it.
Today Iowans vote and next week New Hampshire, Ron Paul is the next President. You and your people can hold Earth on your shoulders for a few years. we are going back to the good life here in the US.
January 3rd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Do the math. Ron paul received about $19.75-million in donations in the fourth quarter alone (more than any other Republican). He averages just over $100 per donation… I think the campaign said he received something like 140,000 donations in the last quarter, and close to 100,000 of them were from first-time donors. Well, try to compare that to Hillary Clinton… we can’t because no other candidate makes campaign contributions instantly available… but about two-thirds of all of Clinton’s previous donations were over $2,000 each, and averaging around $1,500 each! If that trend continued (and there is no reason to think otherwise), she only needed about 14,000 people to send her money to raise the slightly over $20-million she claimed in the fourth quarter.
That being said, Ron Paul probably received donations from TEN TIMES as many individuals as Hillary Clinton in the fourth quarter. TEN TIMES. TEN FOLD. THAT’S ONE-THOUSAND PERCENT MORE, A FACTOR OF TEN. 1:10. Pick a number (say 14,000), add a zero to it (now it’s 140,000), and that’s how many more individuals Ron Paul received donations from compared to Hillary Clinton.
So the question is, why do the pollsters and pundits and columnists still keep insisting that Ron paul’s folling is “small but loyal” or “loud, but small” or entusiastic but small”????????? It makes no sense. Do the math yourself.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:17 am
Nice article…though possibly some hooked on phonics is in order. Maybe we will send you to Iran or wherever we decide to force ourselves into the picture next. Maybe you will be pleased when your under martial law and the chip implants are rolling faster then ever off the assembly line and into your skin for tracking. It’s already happening, just do some research before you giggle and call me a conspiracy nut.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:20 am
I love to see it when someone writes negatively of Dr.Paul…. and all the response is opposed. Real Americans coming against the few that choose to live in never neverland. RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!
January 4th, 2008 at 3:27 am
Not quite sure what your name is, really don’t give a shit. Just a couple of points. Obviously as an outsider, what country you didn’t specify, if we are going to play big boy for your country, full of men who must get wet easy, then chip in your fair share of money, and last we can become isolationist because we have enough strategic nuclear warheads that will just wipe you and your pussy country along with any other country that wants to fuck with us off the face of the earth. How about that for wet?
January 4th, 2008 at 3:57 am
Post Iowa - The evangelicals can keep their faith in Huckabee. There is no point in being religious and poor. Ask the Afgans or Yemeni population. Lets hope that New Hampshire will a better perspective of what they want their tomorrow to be than the Iowa republicans.
Now on My bumper sticker will say -
Who would Jesus vote for - Ron Paul.
January 4th, 2008 at 4:55 am
Author, ur splling sux and the gramer prooves you too be even more stupeder than your wurds. They did, however, remind me about the significance of word choice and use.
Ron Paul’s the only presidential candidate I’ve heard identify the United States as a “republic.” The Constitution establishes the United States as a representative republic and was written to prevent the mob rule of democracy. Anyone with a brain, particularly those seeking public office should know that. Paul’s awareness of this fact shows him to be a statesman who governs according to the Constitution rather than a politician who responds to the knee jerk emotions of the mob. That statesmanship serves the best interest of all, not just the majority.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:11 am
It always amazes me how people with so little intelligence always manages to have an opinion. It also amazes me how people that think their opinion is worth so much more than facts always must express their idiocy. Do they really believe that by expressing their stupidity they look more intelligent. It must be the Peewee Herman syndrome ~ I meant to do that.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Your comments are well within the expected musings of an Englishman who always look to his country’s ( former minion and now) master America for cues on how to keep the world under western (Anglo Saxon?) rule.
I suppose it would be more bearable for someone like you if the world were in the grip of a war mongering, destructive empire which America has become than any other culture, no matter how good for the world that may be (your prejudice on how other “empires” may act in the future is telling). I grant you that, provincial as it is to me.
But to essentially say that things must continue the way they are betrays a selfishness and a weak grasp of the implications of what you ask. I’ll be charitable and say you’re narrow-minded. I also wonder how you can have such a public forum while evidently unintelligent.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Your premises are flawed.
1)
January 4th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Your premises are flawed.
1) You don’t know who will step in, if anyone, to fill in any power “void” if America decides not to occupy the world to make it safe for Israel, Halliburton, and the New World Order.
2) Even if you do know, what we are doing now isn’t right. Realpolitik is wrong, and other than to take into account that others are following it in order to try to outmaneuver them, it should be given the short shrift it deserves.
3) Therefore, we should a) come home and mind out own business, and b) mind it by following a moral course of political thought and action.
January 4th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Dear O.M.G….. (Odious/Myopic/Garbage)
In your case… Writing “about” Ron Paul, has proven, far more dangerous then “writing him off”. Next time you feel so inspired to do so, try this instead; carefully, dislodge that mega-sized butt-plug from your self infatuated “arss”, and place it permanently into your “MEGA-SIZED MOUTH”… In doing so, you’ll lucidly experience an amenable thought process that is far better capable of realizing: Dr. “Know’s” message is so powerful with quantum truth, that anything negative will only ramify the truth LOUDER.
…GET IT??? (Same goes for you HEATHER WOODS!)
January 4th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
And furthermore…
Try taking on the pugnacity of a true American Constitutionalist…
… You’ll find yourself getting your puckish li’ll Arss beat down quick.