Rarely has a more ignorant proposal been advanced – and it is made even worse by the fact that this is Ron Paul we’re talking about.
To begin with, it is odd, indeed, for a libertarian to be invoking the concept of collective guilt: is every citizen of these unnamed “terrorist nations” to be declared persona non grata on account of the actions of a minuscule number of their countrymen?
Secondly, just which nations is Rep. Paul talking about? Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia: two were from the United Arab Emirates, one was Egyptian and another one hailed from Lebanon. Is Paul seriously saying that we should deport the thousands from these countries studying in the US? And why stop there? Why allow anyone from these so-called “terrorist nations” entry into the US for any reason whatsoever – just to be on the safe side?
This is pandering to the worst, Tom Tancredo-esque paranoia and outright ignorance (or do I repeat myself?) and is not worthy of Dr. Paul. I have the utmost respect for the candidate, but in using this unfortunate term, “terrorist nations,” the Good Doctor undermines his non-interventionist foreign policy stance.
I have received a lot of criticism for not remaining quiet on the issue, but I’m not going to play to the “sheep” stereotype that some Ron Paul supporters are fomenting.
If Ron Paul wants to run ads that contradict his rhetoric, he better be prepared to be criticized by supporters like myself who have been campaigning for him since he tore Giuliani into shreds on the very topic of terrorism.
I know Ron Paul is trying to capture the attention of Tancredo’s former supporters, but labeling nations as “terrorist” goes against everything Ron Paul has said about foreign policy. Denying student visas for students from “terrorist nations” is intellectually dishonest. This is the same kind of propaganda the GOP uses to justify the war on terror.
David Schuster and his colleagues were extremely disrespectful to Ron Paul. They could have at least listened to what he had to say before they started with the disrespectful comments.
I used to enjoy watching MSNBC, but David Schuster is spoiling the experience. We’re fortunate they still have Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough on their payroll.
Mr. Speaker, my guess is that in the not-too-distant future so-called
proof will be provided that Saddam Hussein was somehow partially
responsible for the attack on the United States, and it will be
irresistible then for the United States to retaliate against him. This
will greatly and dangerously expand the war and provoke even greater
hatred towards the United States, and it is all so unnecessary. It is
so hard for many Americans to understand how we inadvertently provoke
the Arab Muslim people, and I am not talking about the likes of bin
Laden and his gang. I am talking about the Arab Muslim masses.
Thornton says that it ‘is difficult to predict how long bubbles will last,’ but the geoclassical half of the geo-Austrian theory does provide an indication. Historically, the real-estate cycle has had a duration of 18 years, aside from the interruption of World War II. That puts the next real estate bottom around 2008 [link mine]. If past patterns continue, and so far they are right on schedule, we can expect the next recession to take place towards the end of this decade.
Fighting terrorism the way Bush wants to fight it is stupid. IF you want to fight terrorism, the best way to start is to stop creating terrorists, and furthermore, to stop giving them reasons to attack us.
If you don’t think about why they attack us in the first place, regardless of whether it has to do with us or not, YOU WILL NEVER ADDRESS THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM.
The lack of exposure on Ron Paul’s amazing fund-raising yesterday is only compelling his vocal supporters to pick up the slack and do the media’s job for them.
“When this Paul campaign is over I think we should continue the meetup groups and use our influence to bury the main stream media!! Lets demonstrate outside their buildings, boycotts their programs, petitions against their staff and company, mail bomb their comments and feedback, trash and flood their online surveys and hound their reporters everywhere they go!!”
Ron Paul has redefined politics by raising more money in donations than anyone, including himself and his supporters, expected. He is only one million away from breaking Barack Obama’s total for last quarter, and as usual, Ron Paul is expected to take the biggest share of donations from active duty military.
John McCain no longer deserves his free pass from the media. Ron Paul served in the military as well and has received more in military donations.
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – Congressman Ron Paul’s presidential campaign had a record fundraising day yesterday.
In a 24-hour period on December 16, the campaign raised $6.026 million dollars, surpassing the one-day record of $5.7 million held by John Kerry.
During the day, over 58,000 people contributed to Dr. Paul’s campaign, including 24,940 first-time donors. Over 118,000 Americans have donated to the campaign in the fourth quarter.
The $6 million one-day total means the campaign has raised over $18 million this quarter, far exceeding its goal of $12 million.
“We have the right message: freedom, peace and prosperity,” said Ron Paul 2008 campaign chairman Kent Snyder. “We also have the right candidate: Dr. Ron Paul.”
Congressman Paul will be campaigning in Iowa today hold including a press conference at 12:45 pm at the Des Moines Marriott in the Des Moines Room.
As of today, the total for the 4th quarter is over $18 million. A little extremely deserved exposure this week will raise Ron Paul’s national average poll ratings to double digits.
If the Nov 5th trend holds, Ron Paul is on schedule to break 4.3 million in donations in one day, and reach up to 10 Million for the December 16th Tea Party. Get ready to see Ron Paul all over the news tomorrow. It’s possible that we will see Ron Paul surpass some of the “mainstream” Republican contenders in totals for the 4th Quarter. But the 16th will be the new measuring stick for elections to come.
Ron Paul may or may not get the Republican nomination, but his decentralized approach to government, and the message of freedom will live on through thousands if not millions of young supporters who will shape the United States and the world in years to come.
Due to the inaccessibility to English speakers of the Univision debate in Spanish, there are a lot of lies, half-truths, and misreporting about what actually went on there.
I translated the debate to clear up any confusion. As you will see, Ron Paul was cheered loudly for the most part especially regarding his opposition to a mandatory ID card, his opposition to the war, and when he spoke about the importance of the U.S. Constitution. Strangely, he was booed when he advocated normalizing trade and foreign relations with Cuba and Venezuela. As I soon found out, this is because there is a strong hatred among Cuban-Americans for Castro. However, as Ron Paul explained his position further, some began to clap. The rest of the candidates received polite applause after most responses, but none was cheered as loudly as Ron Paul.
Of course, Ron Paul’s advocacy for restoring trade and positive diplomatic relationships with Cuba and Venezuela was not well-received in Miami. In Los Angeles, or a different location, the response to Ron Paul’s argument would have been mostly positive because the logic would not have been clouded by personal anti-Castro resentment.
I can imagine Ron Paul regrets not mentioning that the point of restoring trade and positive relations is not to please Castro, but instead to stop punishing Americans who want to trade, and to stop punishing Cubans who want to trade for the actions of their dictator. Ron Paul did mention that we talked to Khrushchev and others during the Cold War. In an unrelated question Ron Paul even mentioned how we restored relations with Vietnam, to which everyone cheered. This inconsistency in the response of the audience (negative for improved relations with Cuba and positive for improved relations with Vietnam) is very telling; it shows that anti-Cuban sentiment is a rather automatic and deeply-ingrained emotional response, and that while restoring diplomatic relations with Vietnam instead of imposing sanctions is good, doing the same with Cuba (however logical) is unacceptable.
The other Republican candidates demonized Castro, and Giuliani took a shot at Ron Paul by implying he was weak (to which he received a mixed audience response). Although the moderators didn’t grant Ron Paul a rebuttal, Ron Paul comes out on top, and here is why: While Ron Paul is advocating trade and diplomacy, the other Republicans are advertising just how isolationist they are. Quite ironic, since they inaccurately like to call Ron Paul an isolationist.
Ron Paul is willing to talk and trade with all countries. If anyone is an isolationist, it is Giuliani, Romney, and the other Republicans AND Democrats who would not even talk to Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and North Korea. Most of the time they oppose trade with China, Syria, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Congo and Lebanon. Perhaps McCain can think twice before he ever calls Ron Paul an isolationist again - it is especially hypocritical of McCain since he tried to get Iran kicked off the FIFA World Cup in Germany (and failed).
Univision GOP Debate: Ron Paul Highlights with English translation (English Subtitles)
*Note: Subtitles are English translations of what the interpreters said in Spanish (that is, what the audience heard in Spanish, and not necessarily a verbatim transcript).
Here is a full transcript of the entire debate
**Youtube has removed the video due to possible copyright infringement issues. If there is enough demand, we may look for a work-around; however, we recommend visiting univision.com instead.
