The term "conservatism" today implies regimentation, order, hammering down every nail standing up, conformity, intolerance of individual thinking, and the state is your friend.
The term "conservatism" today implies regimentation, order, hammering down every nail standing up, conformity, intolerance of individual thinking, and the state is your friend.
God willing we "Paleos" may soon be able to drop the loathsome prefix and put a true conservative face back on the Republican Party.
I'm convinced they could not take instructions on putting a nickel in the gum machine and turning the knob.
I take it "they" are American voters.
With that attitude we will be losing elections far past my demise.
The American people vote with their hearts and their pocketbooks.
The typical voter is not a political junkie. He/she is wary of anger and quick fixes. Right now he/she is disatisfied and wants change. The typical Ron Paul supporter is angry (and I am one of them) and demanding change.
The majority of Americans are resistant to and fearful of radical change (i.e. quick fixes) otherwise we would have gone even further left during the Great Depression.
I'm not suggesting that we should not have pushed for a "revolution", just that we should go hunting with a rifle and not a blunderbuss.
The campaign so far has had as its focus converting America to libertarianism, not winning a national election. The result, if we fail to regroup, will be losing on both counts.
The campaign so far has had as its focus converting America to libertarianism, not winning a national election.
Good morning I.
I've been thinking about this comment all night. Do you really think that's what it was?
I was glad RP took the time to educate or re-educate people with the Constitution, and what freedom and liberty actually mean. The government OUT of your beeswax. So, I didn't feel I was being Libertarianized. It wasn't political, it was a freeing message. Drawing in people stuck in the left/right camp that had no place to go.
#417. To: Peppa, iconoclast, TwentyTwelve, christine, FormerLurker, All (#397)
The campaign so far has had as its focus converting America to libertarianism, not winning a national election.
Good morning I.
I've been thinking about this comment all night. Do you really think that's what it was?
I was glad RP took the time to educate or re-educate people with the Constitution, and what freedom and liberty actually mean. The government OUT of your beeswax. So, I didn't feel I was being Libertarianized. It wasn't political, it was a freeing message. Drawing in people stuck in the left/right camp that had no place to go.
And it is a good thought, and one with which I agree. The point is not any particular dogma whether it is labeled "libertarian" or otherwise. The message is the same one Thomas Jefferson offered - Liberty and a government bound from mischief with firm constraints.
Anyone not interested in that message is not interested in being free. Whether someone is an Iowa Farmer or a City Slicker the point remains unchanged. Taking money from one person forcibly to give to another is still theft - whether one uses the government to do it or the old fashioned way at gun point.
Either Americans are interested in holding their heads up and walking the walk of the free man or they are willing to trade their liberty for chains and the illusion that they are "being taken care of".
"Life is tough; it's even tougher if you're stupid." ~ John Wayne
Either Americans are interested in holding their heads up and walking the walk of the free man or they are willing to trade their liberty for chains and the illusion that they are "being taken care of".
I think the observation that someone made (I forget who and too lazy to look) that a lot of Iowans still get most of their "Nooze and Infotainment" from the Lamestream Lying Dishonest Sons of Bitches in the controlled media is likely true.
Given that - a lot of what they know to be true ain't.
Thus we get the result we got - and with a little help from the "wonders" of technology.
With attendance of 33,000 and votes cast by more than 14,000, Republican party officials called the 2007 Iowa Straw Poll a resounding success. No one was more pleased than Governor Mitt Romney who received 4,516 votes to win the Straw Poll.
In second place Governor Mike Huckabee earned 2,587 votes and was followed by Senator Sam Brownback who received 2,192 ballots cast in his favor. In a close fourth, U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo received 1,961 votes. In fifth place was U.S. Representative Ron Paul with 1,305. Governor Tommy Thompson finished in sixth place with 1,029 votes and was followed by seventh place finisher, and undeclared candidate, Fred Thompson who had 203 votes cast for him. Mayor Rudy Giuliani received 183 votes for eighth place followed by U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter in ninth place with 174 votes. Senator John McCain, in 10th position, got 101 votes. And finishing last with 41 votes was John Cox.
"Reports of the demise of the Iowa Straw Poll were premature and proven false today," stated Ray Hoffmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. "Activists turned out in great numbers to support their candidates despite a heat index exceeding 100 degrees. The atmosphere here rivaled that of the State Fair."
New voting procedures were in place at the Iowa Straw Poll which required presentation and validation of a photo ID along with a ticket. "Iowans proudly stepped up to meet our voting requirements," Chuck Laudner, executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa, remarked. "To see more than 14,000 purple thumbs on this campus was thrilling."
With theses new voting procedures in place, party officials were confident all votes were cast by Iowans only. "Tickets were punched then scanned along with photo IDs," Laudner explained. "Our process guaranteed the one person, one vote ideal was upheld. We believe photo identification should be required before any vote is cast in Iowa elections and today we proved the process was not only possible, it was effective and efficient."
The Iowa Straw Poll continues a decades' long tradition of testing candidates' organizational strength, bringing likely caucus-goers together, and winnowing the field. In the 1999 caucus, 89,000 participated. Today's Straw Poll vote tally represents more than 15 percent of that total, the most representative sample of likely voters' opinions, Laudner concluded.
"Tickets were punched then scanned along with photo IDs,"
This bugs me. Checking the ID, fine. Scanning it in WITH your vote, not so much.
Isn't technology wonderful?
You don't suspect that they could "flip" votes using software in a "Black Box"? Why that would be dishonest coming from the "mostest moral party in Amurka".
You don't suspect that they could "flip" votes using software in a "Black Box"? Why that would be dishonest coming from the "mostest moral party in Amurka".
Absolutely. I believe ItisAlmostTooLate posted a video once of testimony taken in the Ohio debacle, where the programmer testified to the fact of such. It's an incredible video, and the judges were so shocked. (Ahem.)
What I'm really getting at here, is future political persecution.
What I'm really getting at here, is future political persecution.
That happens only if we allow it. We still have the power to turn back the darkness trying to envelop us. That is why they are working so hard to marginalize Ron Paul because if large numbers of people wake up to that FACT they cannot stop the ensuing Tidal Swell.
That happens only if we allow it. We still have the power to turn back the darkness trying to envelop us. That is why they are working so hard to marginalize Ron Paul because if large numbers of people wake up to that FACT they cannot stop the ensuing Tidal Swell.
In my heart, I'm with you here.
I believe in and have seen some small miracles with respect to RP's campaign and the people supporting it.
Then there is my mind. My nagging mind. Always incredulous why people still go to movies where the young girl goes in to check out a weird sound in an old abandoned house, after finding something dead on the porch. Or something like that.
A part of this brain of mine says, the PTB are pushing the public into a corner to goad them into revolt. Then plans laid to deal with such can be put into action.
If people simply wake up, channelling it towards peaceful revolution would seem to be the best response.
#462. To: Peppa, palo verde, Cynicom, christine (#458)
We certainly need to think about Plan B.
I want to make sure that when people promise that they're in this for the long haul, that they realize that it may take 9 more years to elect a freedom candidate if RP isn't elected. RP supporters need to make ties with each other that are LASTING. Get names and phone numbers. Exchange Christmas cards. Meet for ball games and barbecues. Get your families together. Start businesses together.
Remember how to do what we're doing now always, and keep talking. Don't let any setbacks slow down the momentum.
I want to make sure that when people promise that they're in this for the long haul, that they realize that it may take 9 more years to elect a freedom candidate if RP isn't elected. RP supporters need to make ties with each other that are LASTING. Get names and phone numbers. Exchange Christmas cards. Meet for ball games and barbecues. Get your families together. Start businesses together.
Remember how to do what we're doing now always, and keep talking. Don't let any setbacks slow down the momentum.
Sage advice. We have developed some momentum and we need to remain cohesive as a group even in the face of temporary set backs.
(OI to buckeye) Sage advice. We have developed some momentum and we need to remain cohesive as a group even in the face of temporary set backs.
What setback have we had? 20-20 hindsight we could have done better in Iowa if Ron Paul ads had been plastered all over TV 24/7 week before Primary Did we know Iowans vote for the message, not the candidate with the money and the organization Now we know it Iowans are perfect emblem of citizens of USA they too will vote for the message, not the moeny or organization SO WE ARE ALL SET ALL SYSTEMS ARE ON GO!! We just have to make sure all hear Ron Paul's message now Love, Palo
Dear Palo - OI and I are talking about learning from our process, which is working. We're optimistic about LONG TERM change even beyond Ron Paul's career because we see that what we're doing is WORKING. That's optimistic. And it's more important than just one man's election.
I do not think that ads would have worked. The public believes that the news media are on their side, on the side of freedom. If they do not hear about Ron Paul on every channel, in each news broadcast, being interviewed and cross-examined by trusted thinkers, they will assume that he is a crank. That wouldn't be changed by expensive ads.
Ron Paul needs to start making his own news, gathering his own intellectuals together, and having them interview him with questions that make sense. This 10% support in the Iowa caucus means that he has a few days to do this.