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Ron Paul

GrokTV Event: Ron Paul – Q6 & Q7: Abolishing the Dept. Education and will lowering corporate taxes bring jobs back to US?

by Skip

Still trying to play catch up here: Intro Ceremonies and Question 1, Questions 2 & 3, and Questions 4 & 5.  Now, Questions 6 and 7!

Question 6 (which was asked by a young girl): you are going to abolish 3 Departments including the Department of Education; how are you going to replace them?  I believe the underlying “gotcha” question was “and how will I get a decent education if the Feds are not involved?” (an adult formulated question, I presume):

Question 7: How will lowering corporate taxes bring back jobs to the US where many corporations already don’t pay [income] taxes?

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GrokTV Event: Ron Paul – Q11, Q12 & Q13: Policy on Israel, have to use a charity hospital, dealing with both parties in Congress

by Skip

And the “Press Gaggle” ( aka “press availability” or it can be called “the time when reporters and MSM Press can ask silly questions to show their Editors they are actually doing something to earn their expense accounts / salaries”) – added after the jump!

LAST OF THE QUESTIONS!

Question 11: What is your policy on Israel?

Question 12: Will my sick child have to stand in line at a charity hospital under your administration?

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GrokTV Special Interviews at yesterday’s Ron Paul campaign event

by Skip

Given that it is the day before the NH First in the Nation Primary, that the ‘Grok is NH based, and the number of my recent Ron Paul posts, most of you are probably thinking that I am going to vote for Ron Paul.  No, I am not (much to the dismay of my friends that are Ron Paul supporters).

In fact, I still don’t know who I am vote for – given that I originally was backing Herman Cain, I have not yet decided on a candidate (it still surprises me and a lot of my friends – WHAT? You?).  I will admit that it will be either Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich – but every time I think my thinking has settled down, it shakes again. Regardless of which it is, I am proud of the fact that in addition to the commentary, punditry, and all out bloggish snark we serve up here, we also do straight “citizen journalism” with the use of either recorded or live stream video.  All I can hope for is that the hours and hours of time putting up entire events (vs the 30 second sound bite you get from most MSMers) helped you, our readers, to make your decisions based on what you thought of the candidates’ actual words vs the ‘filter’ inserted into the process by the MSM .

Here are some “after event” interviews right after Ron Paul finished his event.  Sorry for the poor audio quality of my questions, but it was loud!  Most of the interviews went like this: Ron supporter or undecided, domestic policy that attracts you to him, foreign policy item that attracts you.  And yes, two of the folks there were undecided (and one from LA)!

First, Barbara (who lives in my home town, as you will see):

Next up, friends Seth and Jim:

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Libertarian View Of the Republican Party

by Steve MacDonald

I find this both accurate and amusing.

GrokTV Event: Ron Paul – Q4 & Q5: Job numbers just came out; are we out of the woods? What will you do about Alzheimers?

by Skip

Continuing more with questions – but now from the audience:

Unemployment numbers just came out – are we now coming out of the woods?

Alzheimers steals billions of productivity from this nation – what will you do about it?

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GrokTV Event: Ron Paul – Q2 & Q3: Why is cutting Federal spending so important? Military spending and how the Pres. Paul’s Military look?

by Skip

Jim Forsythe’s next two questions at the Ron Paul Presidential Primary event in Meredith, NH this afternoon:

Question 2: You have proposed cutting $1 Trillion from the Federal budget right off – why is it so important to cut Federal spending?

Question 3:Military vs defense spending – and how will the military look like under President Ron Paul?

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GrokTV Event – 2012 Presidential Primary – Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX); intro ceremonies & Question 1

by Skip

This afternoon, the 2012 Presidential Primary campaign came to Church Landing in Meredith, NH where a 500-600 strong contigent of Ron Paul supporters from all over (4 gentlemen standing next to me had come from Holland).  TMEW and I arrived about 40 minutes before the start of the event and even at that, we were relegated to the back of the room, so good thing I had brought the “tall” tripod.  It is a good thing that the Fire Marshall didn’t come strolling by -he would have shut down the event for overcapacity and when I realized that folks were still trying to come in, I was glad that the “back of the room” also meant “in the corner next to the double exit doors”.

The intensity level: high (is there anything other than that at a Ron Paul event)?  The event was a bit different from the normal stump speech in that there was no stump speech from Dr. Paul – only introductions by NH State Senator Jim Forsythe (my state senator and the Ron Paul State Director) and Ron Paul’s son, US Senator Dr. Rand Paul (R-KY).  Right after that, Jim started off with asking questions of Dr. Paul followed by questions from the crowd.

This clip is the intro ceremonies and the video of Question 1 is after the jump:

Q1: How has medical practice changed since you started, and how has that change affected your view of Government?

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Southern NH 912 Project event: Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) in Windham

by Skip

Contact: Ken Eyring FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ph: 603-434-4836 Email: ken@SouthernNH912.com SENATOR RAND PAUL IN WINDHAM NH Senator Rand Paul, the son of Presidential candidate Ron Paul, is scheduled to appear on behalf of his father at a special Southern NH 9.12 event in Windham, NH. The modified Town Hall event will take place on Saturday, … Read more

Wednesday Morning Coffee – Ron Paul Third in Iowa

by Steve MacDonald

Dr. Paul wins third place in IowaAn “ends justifies the means” approach to a Republican primary is how ‘Republicans’ for Ron Paul justify begging Democrats to register as Republicans or independents so they can screw with the results of the GOP Primary to their candidates advantage.

In Iowa, assuming it worked, this netted Congressman Paul a decent third place showing.  We are left to wonder what the numbers would be without the interlopers, but it seems certain Ron Paul owns third place by a wide margin.  In Iowa that is as reasonable a launching pad for the Oval office as first, second, or fourth.

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, where a near-majority of voters register as independents,  Dr. Paul should expect to do better.  But if he can’t there is no reason to believe he will find improvements in South Carolina or Florida.  Failing to win New Hampshire is by no means fatal, but if he can’t pull out a first or second here, the odds of doing it anywhere else dim considerably despite his otherwise outstanding campaign mechanics.

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Anyone Object To A Vice President Ron Paul?

by Steve MacDonald

Ron Paul for...Vice PresidentI think everything Ron Paul stands for deserves as much oxygen as it can get (for good or bad).  But no matter what the effect of that vetting, no matter how well he does in Iowa and New Hampshire, I still don’t see a path to the nomination.  (This does not make me a neo-con, by the way.)

Gary Johnson has gone third party-ish (Libertarian), taking that avenue from the esteemed Texas Congressman, and we have to wonder if there is a Huntsman independent bid, a Donald Trump Fifth column party, or any number of other players vying for “most arrogant attention seeker in a hopeless endeavor destined to give Obama four lame duck years to finish the country off for good” category.   Ron Paul not getting the nomination is a part of that conundrum.  In fact, he may well turn out to be the Justice Anthony Kennedy of the GOP Primary.

His fans are legion in their support and willing to do anything to see him find a way to the White House. Many are already promising to stand by and risk Obama getting re-elected rather that vote for some McCain retread, risking what amounts to a protest-fast that will probably end in the death of liberty before we get another shot at the oval office.

But does Ron Paul as VP change the game?

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What Is In A Campaign Ad?

by Rick Olson
Total Bummer....I like Ron Paul

“If you’re going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you’re going to be locked up.” —Hunter S. Thompson

I am watching the television. I cannot remember which station or what show. But to be certain, it was the Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, Smithsonian, NatGeo, Military Channel or Fox News. Most other television is, in the words of Frank Lloyd Wright, “Chewing gum for the eyes.”  With the current political season upon us, the channels are replete with rank and file political ads. Political ads that are simply unavoidable.

One that galvanizes in my mind is a recent hard hitting, vitriolic ad put out by the Ron Paul campaign where Newt Gingrich is the target. The ad uses sound bites, sober and serious background music and billowing voice enhancements to create a serious, yet stoic collection of imagery. If one hates Newt Gingrich, this ad is a, “must-appreciate.”

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Email Doodlings – Really? We HAVE to support Ron Paul because if we don’t, he’ll run as a 3rd Party and Obama will win

by Skip

Essentially, this is the political equivalent of “don’t make me mad or I’ll kill myself!”.  Another way of putting it is “I’m Sampson (in my own mind, anyways) – if you make fun of me, I’ll bring down your house!”.  Here’s the assertion:

Here is my claim: Republicans have no choice whom they support. They must support Paul. Here is the reason: Paul can defeat Obama. If Paul runs 3rd, the Republican loses. Therefore, Paul is the best choice. What do you disagree with? You can rail on about how you don’t like these realities, but they seem like realities to me. Show me where I am mistaken.

Let me restate it (again):

  1. Paul can beat Obama
  2. If you do not vote to have him be the nominee, Paul will run for President via a 3rd Party.
  3. Whoever you vote for then, will lose to Obama
  4. Therefore, you HAVE to vote for Paul NOW.

My response was this:

I will vote for him if he is the nominee – that is clear and cast in concrete.  But I reject the premise that only Ron Paul can defeat Obama.

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Email Doodlings – Assertion: “a threshold that I believe none of our recent wars has crossed”. Me: Really?

by Skip

The Assertion that was made was in response what I posted here:

You asked the question as to whether we need to wait until American lives are lost to respond….To me, this means that there must be imminent danger—and that is a threshold that I believe none of our recent wars has crossed—and all other options should have been exhausted. Instead, our recent wars have been pre-emptive with no clear moral certainty that an attack was imminent.

Answer: Really??  Crossed a threshold?

  • Oil is in our self-interest, like it or not.  Gulf 1: Should Bush 1 NOT have rallied the world to throw Saddam out of Kuwait, especially when it looked like Saddam might be able to roll up the Saudis et al?  Just or not?
  • Gulf 2 – lots of UN resolutions were broken by Saddam.  More importantly, if you read the Congressional resolution (of more importance than the UN resolutions to be sure), there was a whole litany of things that they found against Saddam and gave Bush 2 approval for.  And yes, LOTS of countries still thought Saddam had WMDs and that they would be used against the West as he had done so against Iran and his own people.  And Saddam had almost a year and a half of warning to comply.  Just or not?
  • We gave the Taliban plenty of advance warning – give up those that you are sheltering that trained and attacked us.  Were there just reasons to go and eradicate the Taliban from Afghanistan?

My problem is that I believe that Ron Paul IS an isolationist on defense and not just a non-interventionist; and many believe likewise.  I also believe that…

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Email Doodlings – 2012 Presidential Primary – Yes, it gonna be a long month…

by Skip

More meanderings from on this:

Despite the (still) prevailing hawkishness within the GOP, I feel that the tides are turning. Republicans are starting to understand that we are FLAT BROKE and we can’t financially sustain these wars. We are being bled dry just like the mujahedeen (al Queda) did to the Russians in Afghanistan.

I am going to hate my self for doing it, but I couldn’t help myself at the time….(heh!) (edited slightly)

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Would Someone Please Ask Ron Paul…

by Steve MacDonald

Are we convinced a Nuclear Iran does not assist in the development of a Nuclear Syria, or Turkey, or some other Middle-East nation? We are to believe that a Nuclear Iran, which has been moving conventional weapons to Hezbollah and others would never think of doing the same with other weapons?

Ron Paul Supporter – “Please pollute the GOP Primary”

by Steve MacDonald

I have been alarmed in the past when people have told me, back in 2008, that they liked either Obama or Ron Paul.  I couldn’t figure out how they made that leap.  A few years on and I’m not all that surprised anymore.  They both evoke a cult like following that scares the crap out of me.  (Reagan fanatics scare me a bit too.) Screw policy differences, and to hell with being right on even 80% of the issues–it is a cult of personality and I do not care what party you claim to be in, that is dangerous.

Here’s a recent example from facebook.  A proud Ron Paul Supporter, whom I shall not name, is begging Democrats to register as Republicans (today is the last day) so they can vote for Ron Paul.

What the?!

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While Everyone is Pissed Off at Rick Perry

by Steve MacDonald

Romney is not the presumptive winner, not because of Rick Perry, but because most Republicans really are still looking for a candidate they can get behind and Perry is the best high-profile “not Romney” candidate to come forward.

The Threat From Iran

by Steve MacDonald

The need to stop policing the world, a desire to avoid wars like that in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a consensus similar to Rep Paul’s, that Iran is not the threat the war-mongring neo-con’s make it out to be, all rise to the surface of the debate. But while it is reasonable to argue these points, does it make sense to use them as an excuse to keep our head in the sand about Iran for another four years while the suicidal mad man build nuclear weapons?

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