Saturday, May 31, 2008

New Ron Paul Interview with Counterpunch

Some highlights:

ALI: What would be your plan to get out if you were elected President?

PAUL: I’d just come home as soon as the military could get them out. Whether it was 2 or 3 months, as long as they could get them out safely. And I’d announce to the world our policy is changing, the Navy would be backed off from the Iranian shores and that we’d be willing to talk to people. I think the dollar would go up and oil would do down and they’d probably start talking to each other. You know, they’re talking to each other right now. If we weren’t over there, Israel would probably be talking to the modern Arabs, the Arab League would be involved, even with the civil strife in Lebanon, they would talk to each other, and I think they would do it more so if we were out of there. So, I think sooner we leave the better.
Hey Ron, I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but you did not fucking answer the question. The guy asked for your exit strategy. Which would imply some to show that you were willing to put a minimal amount of thought into considering the basic challenges associated with the problem, and how you would go about overcoming them in the most efficient way possible. You didn't do that. All you said was, "I intend to do it in the fastest way possible, and I believe sunshine will spill out of my butt afterwards."

Holy shit, it's like talking to a five year old. "I think sooner we leave the better"? That's your answer? I'm surprised that you didn't just respond with "very carefully," or "to get to the other side." Both answers would have been equally as effective. Although I suppose that "very carefully" would imply some degree of caution at the expense of speed, which I guess is not what Ron Paul is about.
The big mistake is blaming capitalism. This is what we did in the Depression. They blamed the capitalism gold standard for the Depression, and it was absolutely wrong.
Sure they are, Ron. Just like the people who support evolution. I would trust a vagina doctor over an economist or a historian any day of the week.

PAUL: I didn’t say racism doesn’t exist, but if you’re a true libertarian, you see people as individuals and you don’t even know what group they bond to. I think the instrument that causes so much of this is sort of a subtle thing by the media, and it annoys me to no end. Because every time they analyze campaigns or elections, before or immediately after elections, they immediately go out and say, well, they never say, “How did the individuals vote?” they say, “What did the Muslims do? What did the Jews do? What did the women do? How did they vote?” And everyone is put in a category endlessly. So, we’re conditioned to think we’re not important because we’re an individual, but only because we belong to a group and that was the point of mine making that statement. If people are truly racist, they see people in groups, because if you’re a true libertarian, you don’t see that. Now, there might be some libertarians that drift off, but I think they lose their libertarian credentials if they’re able to do that.
Way to take the Stephen Colbert defense, Ron. After all, you would never generalize voters based on racial demographics, would you? BTW, what were you saying when Wolf Blitzer asked you about the newsletter accusations several months ago? I completely forgot.

Oh, right. That. Well, there you have it folks. Ron Paul does not fall under his own definition of libertarian.
ALI: What’s the future of your “Revolution?” Where do you think it’s going to go?

PAUL: Well, it seems there’s a lot of momentum and a lot of interest and the book is doing well. And I’m going to continue to try my best to keep the momentum going to help people stay energized, give them information, promote education, give people a chance to get involved in politics, run for Office, and all those things that will change the country. So, we have a lot to do here. And, soon, because the total Primary will be ending pretty soon.
So basically, the revolution will continue in more for-profit book sales and more failed runs for office, which I'm sure will bring up the level of annoying to even greater heights. Great.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://goldfishforthought.blogspot.com/2007/08/liberty-amendment.html

pretty much proves that Ron Paul does not understand the constitution or what the income tax is.

Liberty Amendment and the congressional medal are monuments to Ron Paul's stupidity

Anonymous said...

http://antipaul.blogspot.com/2007/11/about-that-money-bomb.html

oops looks like paultards like to steal other peoples money to finance paul

Anonymous said...

I first wanted want to make it clear that I have Native American Blood in me. I also have a lot of other blood that may or may not be the blood that many Ron Paul supporters would call "pure American blood." I have children with even less pure blood. Tell the truth movement, I said I do not like their brand of truth, if it means that I am on their list of those who are not Americans. It is easy to see how propaganda works. You build a consensus on issues where most everyone agrees but where there is dissonance, you brush that gut feeling aside, while you are caught up in the fervor of some new idea added to the agenda of those espousing "truth." This is how I felt about Ron Paul until it came to the immigration issue. When and if the Ron Paul Movement gains traction, to the point of electing those of his same stripe, will you go along with the less attractive and racist agenda they will endorse?

A White Supremacists who held a $2,000 a plate fund raising dinner for Dr. Ron Paul has this to say to me and my children-

“No person shall be a citizen of the United States unless he is a non-Hispanic white of the European race, in whom there is no ascertainable trace of Negro blood, nor more than one-eighth Mongolian, Asian, Asia Minor, Middle Eastern, Semitic, Near Eastern, American Indian, Malay or other non-European or non-white blood, provided that Hispanic whites, defined as anyone with an Hispanic ancestor, may be citizens if, in addition to meeting the aforesaid ascertainable trace and percentage tests, they are in appearance indistinguishable from Americans whose ancestral home is in the British Isles or Northwestern Europe. Only citizens shall have the right and privilege to reside permanently in the United States.” - Bill Johnson

Dr. Ron Paul broke bread with racists and only after loud calls for him to disassociate himself from Bill Johnson did he withdraw his support for Bill Johnson. Ron Paul never gave that money back to those White Supremacists and if you think there is not more money where that came from, think again. Ron Paul built his political career on the backs of White Supremacists. His newsletters from the 90's are filled with bigotry and racism. Do the least little research and you will find where Ron Paul's views about immigration came from. You may agree with him today about immigration, but when Ron Paul and his supporters are in power, watch the concentration camps he rightly recognizes are out there...fill up with people with various shades of brown skin,

As for me, never, and I mean never, will I ever vote for a Republican again. I was fooled by Reagen and I did vote for him during his first term. That ended it for me. The Middle Class took the hit. The mentally ill, now homeless, were put out into the street. Americans no longer had retirements or benefits. The safety net has been eroding ever since Reagan and little by little, the Bill of Rights has eroded until there will only be scraps of America left for the poor Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks to wrestle over. Ron Paul wants there to be a Bill of Rights but for whom? Who will meet the status of U.S. Citizen when Ron Paul and his supporters take over the reigns of government? I will not pass the Bill Johnson test. It may be you that passes the test for the protections given by the Constitution and Bill of Rights but if you believe as I do, that Ron Paul takes money from racists like Bill Johnson, that doesn't mean me or my children will have your Rights.

It may not be popular to speak out against a populist amongst an army of populists but I can do no other. I will support Ron Paul when he opposes war but when he starts talking about immigration brother... my ancestors' blood was spilled in Oklahoma... My brown skinned children are not yours to send anywhere. When you start talking your rubbish about sending my children back to Mexico brother, you better believe I am going to speak out.

If you believe that Libertarianism is the answer, you already have it. Corporate Libertarians are running roughshod over the middle class and taking all of their meager assets. Libertarians and Ron Paul want there to be no environmental laws. They are getting their wish. Ron Paul wishes for there to be no minimum wage. The minimum wage now is at a ridiculously paltry amount. Why does he not support an increase to a living minimum wage? If you don't want illegal immigrants, support wages that can support an American Family. When inflation is at 15% and your wage stays the same, that is called a pay cut. Ron Paul is opposed to unions. The only good paying labor jobs in America today and in the past are there because of unions. What do these things mean for you if you want to live in a place that respects the dignity of human life? Do you want toxic polluters dumping their filth in your backyard? Do you wish for your children to work for less than a minimum wage? Do you want to abolish unions so that the market of China and Nicaragua determines your wages and benefits? Libertarians are opposed to the protections of these things.

I want to make it clear. I believe in the right to bear arms, but I am not a gun lover who is storing up ammunition and weapons to stop the brown people from invading America. I own no guns. If you kill me, White, Black, Brown, or Green, I will go on to the light of love but while I live, I will say my sayings. America was already invaded by Europeans and Europeans took America with a kind of hatred that is being evoked today by the Ron Paul anti-immigration supporters. I will not let you take my brown skinned children without me saying my piece. Think again before you support another anti-immigration populist with broad support from White Supremacists. The people of Germany looked the other way as the Brown Shirts dragged away those that were not of "pure blood" and those who spoke out against them. What will you do?

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew; And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up." -Pastor Martin Niemöller

rudi