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December 21, 2011 | 5:09 pm
Ron Paul, The Media is Waking Up—Better Late Than Never
Posted by David A. Lehrer
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We are nearly a year out from the next presidential election and there have been about a dozen Republican debates——more than enough time for the 24/7 news cycle and voracious cable news channels to inspect, examine and scour each candidate for every present and former wart. The fascination with the sensational and the media’s compulsion to “inform” the public seems endless.
Four years ago, Tom Brokaw, one of the elder statesmen of the news business, in a post New Hampshire moment of insight admonished his colleagues that “we have too many hours to fill and too little imagination to fill them creatively.” One might have hoped, after the Brokaw quip, for a little introspection this time around and, perhaps, an interest by the cable mavens to probe beyond the sensational and actually offer insight as to what the candidates are all about. No chance.
The news channels and others in the media have demonstrated a continued interest in the trivial and the sensational, while ignoring the vital. Recent discussions of Gingrich’s marriages, Romney’s stiffness, or Gov. Perry’s gaffes—- might make for great TV and amusing YouTube clips, but they aren’t all that media should be focusing their attention on.
There is no better example of the media’s glossing over the fundamentals to focus on the superficial than the candidacy of Congressman Ron Paul.
Less sensational, and probably videotape-less, is the troubling evidence of racism and insensitivity by Ron Paul that has gone virtually unremarked on and, until this week, largely ignored. When Paul was just a cranky figure decorating the debate stages, one might excuse the lapse. When he appears to be the leader in the Iowa caucuses, the oversight has been inexcusable.
Congressman Ron Paul, the Republican/libertarian candidate, is treated in the press, and in the countless debates of the Republican candidates, as if he were simply an eccentric uncle. His musings about returning to the gold standard and the evils of the IRS are interludes where the other candidates seem to catch their collective breath and figure out a witty riposte to the questions that he doesn’t respond to. The moderators don’t accord him much attention, though he fully exploits the platform he is onto reach millions of viewers with his bizarre views.
In fact, his quirkiness is seen as endearing by young voters on the right and the left who seem to have bought the media’s portrayal of him as a sage truth teller who doesn’t bend to the vagaries of what’s “in” or “out”.
He is neither a harmless eccentric nor just a bit offbeat; Cong. Paul has a long, well documented track record of racial and religious insensitivity and bigotry that has gone largely unexamined.
As The New Republic observed in 2008, Paul’s newsletters reveal,
“decades’ worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing—-but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics.”
The instances of outrageous comments in his newsletters over thirty years are virtually endless. For example, the Ron Paul Political Report opined that the 1992 Los Angeles riots, “ended when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began;” the media was denounced for believing that “America’s number one need is an unlimited white checking account for underclass blacks;” an article about a racial disturbance in Washington, D.C. was titled “Animals Take Over the D.C. Zoo”; Martin Luther King is accused of having “seduced underage girls and boys”; regarding gays, the newsletter suggested, “homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities;” and vis a vis Israel, “it is an aggressive, national socialist state;” a newsletter questioned (whether) the 1993 World Trade Center bombing may have been “a setup by the Israeli Mossad, as a Jewish friend of mine suspects, or was truly retaliation by the Islamic fundamentalists, (it) matters little.”
The quotes from Paul’s newsletters are truly incendiary—-not manufactured slights that one needs to “decode”. The libertarian magazine Reason, in its on-line website, concluded that through his newsletters, Ron Paul, “became complicit in a strategy of pandering to racists.” With limited exceptions most noteworthy The New Republic,—- and this week, The Weekly Standard, The Atlantic and The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times—-the media have simply not adequately scrutinized Paul and his sordid record.
Paul has excused the newsletter outrages as having been done “under my name that I did not edit.” However, The Weekly Standard revealed that the company that published the newsletters, Ron Paul & Associates, had millions of dollars in income—-and Paul and his wife were officers of the company. If the newsletters’ comments troubled him, he could have, and should have, objected to what was going out over his name. Failure to do so indicates, at a minimum, terrible judgment, if not acquiescence.
That the media has failed to scrutinize Paul can’t be rationalized away simply because Paul won’t be the next president of the United States. He is a serious player—-he has raised millions of dollars, he is a potential winner in the Iowa caucuses, and young voters seem to be attracted to his avuncular quirkiness. Paul’s seeming “frankness” ought not allow him to be cleansed of the taint of having tolerated and promoted bigotry.
Whatever his views on the gold standard, the Fed or the deficit are irrelevant to his incendiary musings on race, religion, sexual orientation and related topics. Congressman Paul is an extremist who is legitimized every time he shares a stage with national leaders.
His very presence seems to model for young people that intolerant views on race, religion and sexual orientation can be parsed from economic and other positions. America’s message for decades has been that bigotry taints a political figure and ought to lead to ignominy and ostracism.
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http://www.thenation.com/blog/165290/why-do-gop-bosses-fear-ron-paul
read this. pass it on
getting mad? get real. go Ron Paul 2012!
don’t let them run us anymore
The truth is, Ron Paul is the only candidate who is talking about Israeli independence… from US.
nuff said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3EADdr-5AY&feature=player_embedded
Pathetic hit piece on Dr Paul.
If you bothered to review his record you would know he does not support the things you have stated.
Your attempts to slander him will fall on deaf ears.
Nice try but we gotcha.
JEWS FOR RON PAUL…don’t believe the propaganda, the establishment brought up the newsletters every time he ran for reelection and every time almost all minorities supported him!!!
David A. Lehrer = yellow journalist.
Hit Job Alert!!!! Have some journalistic integrity man. Paul didn’t write the letters, even the NAACP thinks its nonsense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGhv3paNz6U
This article is garbage, based on lies.
I am so sorry you are compelled to get in on this smear Ron Paul Campaign that has started.. ANYONE and EVERYONE knows about these tactics. Ron Paul, stands HEADS above the other candidates in what WE NEED to SAVE AMERICA
Dr. Paul a racist, how funny. The man has delivered thousands of babies into this world babies of all races, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds. Have you ever met this man or spoken to him or even read any of his books. Another hit piece from someone who has never truly dug into what Dr. Paul believes in. If you believe in Liberty for all you can’t be a racist.
Yes, nice example of the superficial glossing over of one’s record (that you pointed out yourself). I noticed you didn’t mention that an NAACP chapter president actually speaks highly of Dr. Paul - http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2008/011308_not_racist.htm
You also didn’t mention that compared to everything else that Dr. Paul ever has said (in speeches, books, etc.), the content of those newsletters are a total anomaly. Believe me if Dr. Paul felt a certain way about a group of people, you’d know about it - when has he ever been reluctant to tell the world what he thinks?
Ok, I couldn’t finish reading the trash… well because it’s just that trash. I couldn’t get through the first two paragraphs because it was like, lie, lie, lie more lies. To say that he attracts “young” people because he is quirky… really? NO that is so out of touch.
It is sad.
A baseless charge of antisemitism against someone is an insult to any Jew who was in one of Hitler’s concentration camps.
Probably wasting my time here. Anyone who would write a twisted article like this is likely beyond reach.
Ron Paul has published numerous books and made hundreds of speeches over several decades in Congress and on the campaign trail. If Dr. Paul were truly a racist, wouldn’t it have slipped out somewhere other than in these newsletters?
Pointing out the obvious truth that blacks are less intelligent, more likely to be on welfare, and more likely to be criminal is hardly racist - it is considered a breath of fresh air and freedom from government-enforced coercion-of-thought by most Americans.
Black Americans represent 13% of the U.S. population, but represent 38% of state and federal prisoners. Half of those blacks incarcerated are locked up for drug offenses. Ron Paul has pledged to end the drug war and free non-violent drug prisoners. If Ron Paul was really a racist, why would he work so hard to free black people from prison?
The author has completely failed to mention Dr. Paul’s views on Isreal. I wonder why? O yeah, because he is afraid of losing American influence in Israel, which is what keeps his pockets deep. Stop slandering Dr. Paul and spreading lies.
Real Racists use the poor and minorities as cannon fodder
real racists keep the poor and minorities in Federal Prison
thanks for showing us how not to do reporting. how much did you get paid to write that?
One of the most complete distortions of the fact I have ever read.
Is it racist to have roads that are for the use of only one religious group? Let’s not go there with these bullshit attacks on Ron Paul. Some of the most racist people in the world are the biggest HYPOCRITES! Americans are getting sick of it. Ron Paul 2012
Sir, as a Latino, I would like to just comment on this slandering piece of work. Please allow me to educate you. Just based on glossing over his record, as most journalists do before they comment on something they probably know very little of, I have come to a totally different conclusion: hogwash! If Ron Paul were really racist, why would he support ending the drug war that obviously unfairly keeps more African-Americans incarcerated than any other race? Don’t you think by now, somewhere else, this racist bigotry you accuse him of would reveal itself in the books he’s written, or the speeches he’s made? Well, as a minority, I can comfortably say that Ron Paul would likely increase the rights of minorities than any president since LBJ and his signing of the Civil Rights.
It’s not working media guys! The people are no longer buying the drivel that you spew on the pages anymore. What will you do? LOL! You’re gonna have to go back to your masters and tell them it isn’t working, and to please save you when it all crashes.
RON PAUL 2012!
Drivel. Mindless drivel. I pray to God that people don’t read a hit piece like this and take it as truth. Whoever reads this, I implore you to please open your mind and heart and do some research.
Typical hit piece barely worthy of response. Another supporter of the rationale that it is the U.S. taxpayers’ duty to pay for the dependency of Israel. It is amazing how people react when their yearly multi-billion dollar welfare check is threatened…to coin a phrase.
Since when did the words enthusiastic supporters, strong base, youthful voters, and grass roots funding, become anathema to the GOP? Exactly why does the GOP elite disrespect Dr. Ron Paul as a nominee? Is it because they fear he can’t be bought? If the Republicans would rally around Paul he couldn’t be stopped. This country still wants the hope and change that Obama promised but never delivered. He is the GOP candidate with the best chance of taking the election all the way. In fact, with the mood this country is currently in, I think he is the only one that can take the GOP all the way to the White House.
I am Democrats for Ron Paul and I approve this message.
Tweet this post if you are too.
Pure GARBAGE… I couldn’t get past “less sensational” paragraph. As far as I’m concerned, your written garbage is what’s Less Sensational! GO RON PAUL !!!
Why nothing from our Jewish Journal friends on how the Bush family made its fortune from the Nazis? Not conspiracy theory - but a verified, substantive exhaustive white paper authored by U.S. Department of Justice Nazi War Crimes prosecutor John Loftus, who is also the President of the Florida Holocaust Museum. George Bush courted the votes of neo-confederates to beat John McCain in the South Carolina primary in 2000. No problem, he got a pass. Obama sat in the church of Jeremiah Wright and listened to his racist sermons for 20 years. The New Black Panther Party intimidates white voters to vote for Obama. No problem. Obama gets a pass.
SUPPORTERS OF ISRAEL: When Ron Paul cuts spending and taxes, individual citizens will have more money in their pockets at the end of the year. That means that citizens who want to support Israel, or whatever their favorite cause, may do so with their increased funds. There is no need to be scared! Congress is still owned so if Israel starts a war with Iran, lobby congress to formally declare war. It will be OK. You must understand, though, that some of us don’t want to fund Israel, have moral or political opposition to their discriminatory policies, and would much rather spend our money how we like. Electing Ron Paul might be good for Israel, as perhaps we would stop funding the very people you feel threatened by. Give Paul a chance, and please lay off the false, defamatory, and misleading tainted news. Thanks!
What happens if Ron Paul wins 2012….no more wars, no more deaths, no more political scandals. What does this mean, no more news which means HEADLINE HEADLINE HEADLINE Kim Kardashian went on a date.
If Ron Paul came out in favor of bombing all arabs and/or muslims, I bet you this article would never have been written. Also, this piece fails to mention how our government to date has been more than happy to exploit the racial divide in America with its policies which is far more damaging to our nation than the mentioned newsletters. I personally see no circumstances in which any of the other candidates would have any moral high ground for the reason I just mentioned.
Ron Paul 2012!! True Freedom For ALL!!!! Individual liberty, not Groups, corrupt politicians put us in!! to steal money. And make us hate the other groups. My Eyes are now Open,TY Ron;-)) Peace
As a black American, I hate that Ron Paul didn’t monitor these newsletters. It’s inexcusable. However, I’m voting for Ron Paul. It’s clear from his 40 year public record that he does not have a racist bone in his body. His speeches and books betray none of the racism found in the newsletters. Surely, if he were personally racist, it would have shown up in some speech or interview given by him. The writers in the newsletter clearly weren’t him. In addition, no other candidate or office holder I know of, including Obama, addresses the issues of black Americans around the drug war and the pernicious effects of welfare.
Ron Paul 2012
Not only does Dr Paul respect minorities and women, he is the only Republican that respects Democrats too! Only Dr Paul can unite our fractured country.
I am Democrats for Ron Paul and I approve this message.
I’m Jewish and I fully support Dr. Paul. He speaks the truth. Weather or not you want to believe it.
Black Americans represent 13% of the U.S. population, but represent 38% of state and federal prisoners. Half of those blacks incarcerated are locked up for drug offenses. Ron Paul has pledged to end the drug war and free non-violent drug prisoners. If Ron Paul was really a racist, why would he work so hard to free black people from prison? Answer: He is not a racist and will never be one. For you to label him as one, makes me suspect you are one.
Gloria Borger(59) is married to Lance Morgan. Morgan is according to the web site of his employer, Powell Tate,“chief communications strategist at Powell Tate in Washington, D.C. He specializes in developing and executing communications strategies for public policy debates, crisis communications and media training.”
So who might be the clients of Powell Tate, where Borger’s husband is “chief communications strategist and crisis communications” adviser for?
Just about every part of the military industrial-complex that Ron Paul wants to shrink or shutdown. According to the Powell Tate web site, they are strategic communications for among others:
The U.S. Army
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The U.S Agency for International Development
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
and, I’m not joking, The National Pork Board.
Bottom line Gloria Borger’s husband is as inside Washington DC as you can get.
This was a total hit job, bringing up decades old accusations about a newsletter that everyone agrees was written by others, while Dr. Paul was practicing medicine. Further, as Justin Ramindo has clearly shown , most of the charges were made by people who couldn’t have read the newsletters in full context.
Source: http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/12/hot-ron-paul-walks-out-during-cnn.html
He can’t be ignored any more, so the slander begins…
Bizarre that the article starts with a criticism that media reports focus on tirvial issues - then makes out that the only issue of any importance is a candidate’s private opinions on minorities! Call the thought police!!
Whoops. I meant ‘trivial’...
Next thing this author will be saying Dr. Paul wouldn’t deliver Black or Jew babies.
When will this garbage ever end.
I first saw these reports 4 years ago. I did my own investigating and came to the conclusion there isn’t a racist bone in this guys body.
Trash trash trash. This is utter and complete bullsh**.
I think you are all missing the point. Ron Paul HATES putting people in categories: he believes in individualism and individual rights: he considers you different from me, and different from the guy standing next to you. He HATES putting people into groups: when you put people into groups, like saynign “the Jews”, then you can walk 3 year old children into gas chambers, like the nazis did in WWII. When you put people into groups, you emphasize their differences instead of their similarities: if you look at genetics, we are all about 99.99% the same: wake up smell the coffee!
Nelson Linder, NAACP Leader, clearly debunked the theory of Ron Paul being racist; not to mention Dr. Paul’s pro-civil rights actions in congress over his 30 year career which can be clearly found at VoteSmart.org. If you want more proof simply ask the many he treated - free of charge - as an independent physician Regardless of Skin Color.
Ron Paul on blacks/war on drugs
http://youtu.be/8fl0vy44GO0
Blacks for Ron Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PNKT20jSf4&feature=share
this is garbage. what i hate most about it is that these Paul haters would rather see America bankrupt and still sending Israel foreign aid out of poor peoples pockets.
well I guess I won’t be renewing my subscription to this rag again. What a crock of @#$#@!
The pen is mightier then the sword and the dollar buys lots of pens. Donate to Ron Paul so we can counter this spew of garbage journalism. We CAN win.
This is a sad attempt to play the race card. It will backfire. America is waking up, and the corporate media is scared. Vote President Paul in 2012!
As an ex-Israeli (US Citizen) I am rather concerned by the isolationist views expressed by some Jewish writers and organizations (such as the RJC) with respect to Ron Paul. However, I don’t believe these views are shared by most american Jews or Israelis who view Israel as an entity that can take care of itself (consistent with Ron Paul’s message) and has no need or desire to be told what to do by the US. In fact, it is in Israel’s interest to not get the $3B in military aid and in exchange prevent hostile Arab countries from getting $35B of it. You can easily do the math. Now, there’s no denial that Ron Paul’s messages sometimes act as a magnet for fringe members of the populace, but even a normal person could easily get worked up to throw an anti-government feat when faced with the onslaught of anti-liberty legislation and executive branch behavior unleashed on American citizenry. RP2012!
The RJC refused to let him speak, yet now the Jewish Journal adds to the racism slander that was put to rest by Wolf Blitzer in 2007. This appears to be racial bigotry because he won’t bend over for Israel.
A free Market lets the American people decide who we wish to give their money to (think about that) and we Ron Paul supporters are an independent legion of organized voting and purchasing power. You will be selling apples on the corner. After all, this is a free market.
When Ron Paul is ignored….his supporters work even harder to get his message out…..when he’s slandered….we work 10 x harder…these petty lies will backfire…
Come on! Be honest David. You say he has a long un examined history of racism towards blacks, gays, and Jews. Yet only give a 20 year old example of races, against blacks that Ron Paul did not write. There are no claims for anything about gays or Jews. Maybe you say he’s racist against Jews because he doesn’t want another war in the middle east. If that’s true then that’s the oldest trick in the book and no ones going to buy it. As a Ron Paul supporter, I am not racist nor hold prejudice against any member of the human race or creed.
That’s OK, we’ll keep fighting for your civil liberties and freedom!
And this from a source that is spluttering with hatred, racism and bigotry against anything Arab or Persian… what a joke!
if you support the drug war you are a racist. if you are invading other countries just because their poor to get their natural resources your a racist. if you dont support ron paul.. you guessed it, your a racist. how does that feel?
guilt by association hit piece. Ron Paul is obviously not a racist. Now, when you disagree with someone, they are racist. Shame on the jewish journal for being part of a media that tries to enslave the population to stupidity to allay their paranoia. Ron Paul believes in liberty for all and he is a kind, idealistic man. Your effort to slander him is an embarrassment.
Look at Ron Paul’s decades in public service. He has never said, done or written anything that fits with the racist nature of some of the newsletters, which were written by staffers while he was busy with his medical practice.
Here is a TX NAACP leader who knows Ron Paul, saying he is in no way racist.
in a radio interview:
NAACP Nelson Linder speaks on Ron Paul and racism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGhv3paNz6U&sns=em
in an article about another radio interview:
‘NAACP President: Ron Paul Is Not A Racist’
http://www.nolanchart.com/article1134-naacp-president-ron-paul-is-not-a-racist.html
Or you can listen to Ron Paul’s debate responses on African American and minority issues at The All American Presidential Forums on PBS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3EADdr-5AY
This has been asked and answered every time Ron Paul ran for reelection to Congress over the past 20-some years, as well as during his runs for the presidency. Ron Paul wants to focus on the issues in the campaign, not on things that have long since been asked, answered and dismissed as nonsense.
http://www.voteforronpaul2012.com
U.S. Grassroots site coming up please support and like on facebook.
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Vote for Ron Paul 2012! Please Subscribe, Share, Comment, Like, and share the views of this brilliant man.
Perhaps those who support Israel as never wrong should look at their own hypocrisy first before looking for it in others.
Israel will not officially recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915-1923, because it might make Turkey angry. Armenian’s are Orthodox Christians.
Israel constantly points out how shameful it is that Iran denies the holocaust of Jews in WWII.
This makes Israel the moral equal of Iran.
France will most likely vote to make the denial of the Armenian genocide a crime, punishable by a year in prison. The US congress has yet to declare the genocide as a fact.
Im dissapointed! Herr Gobels would be proud of the lies and propaganda you spit!
Ron Paul said that he is against the Civil Right Act. He stated he was against desegregation. He is a racist.
PAUL IS THE ONLY POLITICIAN THAT IF THE BANKERS ARE SETTING UP THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AGAIN…..THEY ARE THE ENEMY OF THE JEW….THOSE BANKERS AND THEIR CFR MINIONS ARE NO MORE JEWISH THAN THE BUSH FAMILY ARE CHRISTIAN. OR CLINTON OR OBAMA, OR LIEBERMAN….PAUL WOULD HELP ISRAEL IF IN IN THE RIGHT WHILE THE POLITICIANS ARE SEEING WHAT WILL NET THE MOST PROFIT AND POWER. IF ISRAEL HIT THE WAR PROFITEERS WOULD LOVE IT…THEY WOULD BE SO SAD IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA BUT THEY WOULD BUY MORE WAR STOCKS AND BE RICHER WITH MUCHO EXCUSE FOR MORE POLICE STATE ON THE PEOPLE WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. PAUL WOULDN’T LET UNFAIR EVIL WIPE OUT ISRAEL OR ANYONE THAT WAS IN THE RIGHT AND NEGOTIATIONS FAILED HONESTLY. PAUL WOULD DO IT AND DO IT RIGHT. HE’S NOT MOTIVATED BY MONEY BUT BY FREEDOM AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS. THE OTHERS WANT TO GROUP US AND DESTROY SEPARATELY, BOLSHEVIK LIKE, HUH? HMMMM. GO ISRAEL AND GO PAUL!!!
You are right about one thing the media has treated Paul as a joke. Everything else Oy vae. As a Jew I though he was if not anti Israel indifferent towered her. Then I saw what he is actually saying about it. Israel should be independent of America and America should but out her security decisions. Israel is a friend and the two countries should have robust trade. With every piece of evidence that this country is on the downslide this is a sage piece of advice Israel should heed. That is not to say I don’t have disagreements and reservations about his proposed policies. Getting rid of the Federal reserve is not a cure all and cold turkey be it the Federal reserve or foreign aid would be a disaster. I don’t think isolation is possible in 2011. That all being said when I look at what is the most important issue in the election it is the creeping fascism here in the name of security. The entire US is a battlefield anybody including US citizens can be indefinitely detained at the whim of the military or the President. This went through 97-0 one of the most shameful moments in US history. The LA police and several other have bought Predator drones and there are cameras all over the place. Jewish organizations with our history should have been the first to realize what was happening and jump all over this. I am from New York and I realize things can’t be the way they were pre 9/11 but the pendulum has swung way way to far in the other way. Relax the rules some people, maybe many might be killed by terrorists then if the fascist rules stayed. This is known as the “Price of Freedom”. Nazi Germany was pretty secure I can’t believe I need to explain this to a Jewish Journal. Ron Paul is the only one who has constantly complained about the creeping security state and the Jewish organizations who are supposed to be representing me have been stone silent about this and attacking the guy who is speaking up about this. The election is 11 months away and it is stupid to make a final choice but as of now I am leaning towered Paul
The $3 billion a year “free gift” from the US to Israel should stop. So should the $12 billion a year gift to her “enemies”.
Zionism is founded on the principles of self-reliance and self-determination. Yet Israel has no shame in accepting this charity from the US. And it comes with strings attached - control over Israeli policy. The other $12 billion? Attempted control over the governments of the mid-east.
No shame, no gain is apparently the Israeli policy in accepting these ‘gifts’.
When will Israel grow up and determine it’s own destiny without the influence of the US?
Never, it seems.
New CNN Poll: Ron Paul Most Popular with Non-White Voters! Paul scores 25% of the vote amongst non-whites, whereas Romney polls at 20% and Gingrich gets 15%. CNN should read their own polls. This is a non-issue that they are beating like a dead horse. Vote Ron Paul. Non-White American Voters are!
Hey maybe we should vote for Ron Paul. Then we can get rid of welfare, AFDC, Medicaid and Medicare.. think about it.. if Ron Paul has his way and we get rid of the Civil Rights Act.. we can refuse to serve Arabs and Muslims in our restaurants and hotels. We can fire Muslims who want to interfere with our work place practices…. Hey lets vote for Ron Paul.. then we can be free to serve or not serve whoever we want.
@ Bryan Ron Paul is not getting rid of any aid programs or Medicare right away. He has said that with the savings from his other cuts, we can continue to fund Social Security and Medicare for those who have contributed all their lives and are already on, or are counting on, these programs.
As for serving whom you like, President Paul is opposed to the abuse of Executive Orders because they are unconstitutional so he’ll have to convince Congress to change the laws to accommodate that. But, if he did, it is because he has faith in the progress we have made and believes that most Americans today would boycott a business that openly discriminated and it would fail.
No, Americans are waking up. The media is being put down.
I am not Jewish but I visit this journal online because I appreciate the intelligent commentary I have read here. This article is not worthy of such a fine publication and I am grateful that the readers agree. Ron Paul has volunteered his time to deliver minority babies in poor neighborhoods for free. Does this sound like the actions of a racist? It is obvious that some big money is behind the current smear campaign and that Ron Paul has them scared witless, but really this article is beneath contempt, and approaches lunacy. Methinks thou doest protest too much.
I wonder if Mr. David A. Lehrer has the courage to read the comments in response to his yellow “journalism”.
And then report to his bosses that “The Ron Paul Problem” is MUCH bigger than they think.
You show your ignorance by blaming Ron Paul for clips taken out of entire paragraphs leaving the context absent as well as the true ghostwriter authorship. Take up the charges in an interview with the real newsletter writer Lew Rockwell.
Dr. Paul has the media spinning like the dogs they are chasing their tails, trying to smear 24/7 for there own corporate and Military machine contract interest it’s not just the Zionist regime or CNN, or Fox, or MSNBC, but all of them together losing more hair and sleep over our determination and rebellion against the status quo lies, apathy, and trampling of our Constitution and Bill of rights. You could write a lengthy “Hit Piece” published to the Romans back in the day I am certain regarding the trouble maker Yeshua/Jesus as well I am certain ! But look what that has stirred up over the centuries for your peace. You keep dishing it out and we will be back to defend and support the good Dr.Ron Paul fighting for our liberty from your wars we fought and will fight on the suck up GOP “chicken hawks” and /or Israel’s behalf ! How many Israeli soldiers fought with us in Iraq? Afghanistan? exactly .
Love to hear a piece on the Constitutionality of the Patriot Act,the NDAA, TSA, and the dismantling of the fourth amendment in your next article of support for fascist Dictatorship agenda’s. “Any Nation that is willing to trade a little liberty for a little safety deserves neither and will lose both.” Ben Franklin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej5_rZof7MA
More baseless attacks against Paul: The most honest and consistent politician the US has ever had the luck of having. The guy answers this bullshit with the patience of a Saint.
As for charges of anti-semitism, he wants to end all foreign aid equally - not just Israel. He supports Israel’s rights to defend itself as it did when it bombed the Iraqie Nuke plant in 1981.
People charge him with being an isolationist, when he’s not - he wants us to pull our forces back and only be deployed out as per the US Constitution: With a congressional declaration of war. Unfortunately, we have too many “Americans” who no longer understand what it means to be American and what the purpose of a Constitutionally limited government is.
From Israel: Vote Ron Paul and Let My People Go!
by Rafi Farber
Lately I’ve been having trouble sleeping. I sit here in my living room in Karnei Shomron, Israel, on the 8th night of Chanukah, wondering what other miracles lay in store on January 3rd and in the months ahead. The name Ron Paul is constantly at my fingertips. I’ve typed it in so many times the past month it’s insane. I’m experiencing an excitement I’ve rarely ever felt, and I don’t even live in America anymore. During the last Republican debate I woke myself up at 3am Israel time to watch an 8pm EST live stream on YouTube, with no fatigue whatsoever. I’m on overdrive, and I can’t calm myself.
I’ve only recently figured out what this excitement actually is.
I first got interested in the whole freedom movement when I heard that Ron Paul wanted to end all foreign aid, including to my country, Israel. This seemed like a spectacular idea to me. I hate the idea of taking American tax payer money I don’t need. The only reason we take it, by the way, is not because we need it. It’s that we don’t want to feel alone, and Jews always feel a deep existential isolation and loneliness. “As I see them from the mountain tops, gaze on them from the heights, this is a people that dwells alone, not counted among the Nations,” says Balaam of the People of Israel in Numbers 23:9. We still feel that loneliness. So we take the money. It’s shameful, it’s theft, it’s destructive, it’s morally wrong, and it makes people hate us for tying them into a conflict they have no business trying to solve. I wanted it to end and didn’t trust any Israeli leader to give it up on his own, so I looked up more about Ron Paul.
What I found was fascinating. On the forums, I learned of people who, back in ’08, literally gave their lives short of death to this man. Some poured money into his campaign they could not afford to give, and some even lost their marriages because of their single-minded insane dedication. This shocked me. I couldn’t yet understand it, but after a few days of listening to him, it began to click.
What is it about Ron Paul that inspires such extremes? Such maddening support on the one hand, and such fear and loathing on the other? I can give the answer in one word: Soul.
The essential soul of a human being is by definition free. The idea that men are free as determined by God is a concept that is foreign to most men. This is because most men want to control others, to take away their freedom. This is usually referred to as the drive for power. The drive for power is antithetical to freedom because power means the ability to control others. There is only one legitimate thing that power can and should be used for, whether it be military, legislative, or executive power. That is, to legalize freedom.
Ron Paul doesn’t want to be President to “give” me freedom. He doesn’t own my freedom and he didn’t give it to me. The only reason Ron Paul wants to be President is to stop punishing people for using their freedom that is rightfully theirs. He wants no power. This is clear to anyone who listens to him speak.
There are two kinds of human beings. Those who want power, and those who want freedom. You can tell which one’s which very easily. Those who want freedom are straight-edged. They are consistent, principled, and you can feel their human soul when they speak to you. There’s a continuum out there of human souls somewhere in spiritual cyberspace, and when you come into contact with one of these souls, you know immediately, because souls are by definition free. You sense sincerity, realness, consistency, a free human being. If you’re a man who seeks freedom and you come into contact with a real human soul, you become instantly addicted and you swallow up anything you can get your hands on. You want to unite immediately, no matter what you disagree on. There are people in the freedom movement that don’t exactly like Israel, especially me being a “settler” and I don’t care. If they want freedom, I sense it and my human drive for individualism suddenly turns into an intense desire to unite into a collective – but a collective of free individuals. It’s a beautiful dialectic, and it doesn’t matter what we agree or disagree on, as long as we agree on freedom.
You get hooked on Ron Paul and you desperately seek more and more, any video you can find from the past, any speeches you missed, anything he said that you haven’t heard yet, even though you’ve heard it a thousand times already in different words. You can’t help yourself. The voracious hunger to be able to use your God-given freedom takes you over entirely. It’s like you suddenly realize you’re human and the Divine Image with which God created you comes alive and catches fire.
But something else happens to you. Once you get hooked on Ron Paul, you can no longer bear to listen to a man who wants power, and you become instantly disgusted when they start saying words. Before, they were just boring. Now they’re revolting. Listening to Romney or Gingrich or Bush or Obama makes you sick and you don’t know how Ron Paul gets through those debates without getting nauseous. You see a political veneer in these politicians that’s so transparent it’s like a ghost flapping its ethereal tongue at you. You can’t bear it.
What’s so maddening about hearing Romney or Gingrich talk is that there’s someone standing there saying things, but there’s no soul in it. These are not free men. These are power men. Not that Romney or Gingrich don’t have souls. They do. They are men just like you and I. But they have practically forfeited their souls to try and attain power, to control others with spin and talking points and contradictory statements like “I want to cut the budget and expand the military!” and they’ll say it with a polished tone and a straight face, just like a soulless recording. Their humanity is so buried under the mountain of lies they have told themselves, that neither they themselves nor you can even sense their souls in the human continuum. The scene of a human body speaking but no soul communicating can drive a free man mad.
The reason that Ron Paul never goes down in the polls is that he’s not “convincing” people in the everyday sense that he’s right on whatever issue. He’s activating human souls, lighting spiritual fires one by one speaking about freedom. Once a soul gets activated, and the man realizes that he IS free no matter what people do to him or tell him, there is no turning back. The other candidates are trying to turn heads with snappy one-liners that sound cool. Slaves follow these one-liners like mobs, and follow each other from candidate to candidate. Slowly but surely, Ron Paul activates a few of the individual souls in the mob as they bob from snappy comeback to snappy comeback and he goes up in the polls.
Yet, we cannot expect every man woman and child to understand or get excited about the message of liberty. In fact, most just can’t handle it. Being truly free is as terrifying as it is electrifying. The Bible tells us this very clearly in the story of the Exodus from Egypt. When Moses finally accepts the role of deliverer from God, he was assigned to say the following to my great-grandparents the Israelites:
“Therefore say to the Israelites: I am God. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with amazing signs. And I will take you to be My people and I will be your God, and you will know that I am the Lord who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians.” (Ex. 6:6-7)
And what was my grandparents’ response?
“And Moses told this to the people, but they didn’t listen due to lack of spirit and cruel bondage.” (6:9)
Not everyone can handle the message of freedom. It’s too frightening for some people, and some are just too enslaved. Those are the people that despise Ron Paul, the same types who rebelled against Moses in the desert and attempted to go back to Egypt. Freedom is too much for them and they can’t handle the Divine gift. They want and need someone to control them. Their souls have been too battered by slavery, taxation, and wars.
But nonetheless, God forced my stiff-necked great grandparents to leave Egypt, and as a result I’m here today, preaching freedom once again, fighting not only for America’s freedom, but for my own from America’s influence in my own region.
Vote Ron Paul and let my people go once again! Stop meddling here and stop trying to buy influence by giving me money. Stop trying to be the all powerful Peace Maker and let us work out the problems here on our own! If we think Iran is a threat, we can handle it and we’ll take the consequences. It’s not America’s problem and you can’t afford another war.
Now I understand why people will give everything to this man. Whenever he’s asked the question, “Would you legalize heroin?” Ron Paul answers, “I want to legalize freedom!” Little do these people understand that freedom is a thousand times more addictive than heroin.
American Jews! Wake up! Set your brothers in Israel free! We were the first nation ever to be set free by God, and we brought the concept of liberty to the world when we left Egypt over 3000 years ago. It’s about time we set the example we were chosen to set.
December 31, 2011
Wow! How about that Ron Paul commentary by Rafi Farber! I’m a Christian man, sitting here in the middle of a cold Minnesota winter, reading this beautifully eloquently spoken piece by a Jew in Israel! Rafi, you are a true lover of liberty, like spiritual kinfolk to this gentile man, even though were are on opposite sides of the planet! I read the same Bible that you do, and I understand it much the same way you do. Freedom is indeed universal, it’s what unites, rather than divides, the tribes of mankind. God bless you my friend.