Thread: On Ron Paul (from Jim Peterson and MND)

I didn't write this one, but would like people to read it anyway. I'm not ALL about me, you know

Ron Paul Report: Who Supports Him and Why is November 5th Important?

The British version of Halloween is Guy Fawkes Night, November 5th. Guy is a well known anarchist who tried to blow up the British parliament, with everybody in it, on November 5th, 1605. As much as the English love democracy, Brits and Scots and Irishmen often say with dry humor "Guy Fawkes was the only man who ever entered Parliament with honorable intentions." British, Canadian, Australian and South African children sang the following song for centuries right up to at least the last generation before TV:

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder, treason and plot,

I know of no reason

Why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

Anyway, the Republican presidential candidate, Ron Paul, wants to dismantle (figuratively blow up) a number of large government agencies (without people in them of course). His supporters, now numbering at least 3% of registered Republicans and probably numbering at least 3% of the US population, are not anarchists, despite their choice of Monday, November 5th as the day when they try to get 100,000 people to donate $100 each in a "Money Bomb" that would put Ron Paul in the major leagues in terms of being able to compete financially in the 2008 election cycle. Ron Paul has already raised enough money to be considered a first tier candidate (financially), but he wants to break records with the November 5th effort.

Who are these people?

I went under cover in the past week to investigate the "Ron Paul Revolution". On the Internet there is a lot to be found on the phenomenon and a lot of evidence that this man is the most popular candidate among users of the Internet. Whereas a well-made amateur video can expect to get no more than 2000 views on YouTube, there are dozens of Ron Paul videos with an excess of 600,000 views. My favorite videos are the [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrdRtu2nnT0"]Ron Paul Girl[/ame] series which features a bright young American college coed who explains politics with a deadpan humor such as "Howard Dean was doing well until he left his Ritalin prescription at home in Vermont". A good news site to keep track of would be DailyPaul.com. Ron Paul has more Meetup groups and more Meetup members than all the other presidential candidates in both parties combined.

Ron Paul supporters are an eclectic group, mostly under 45, pushing the 72 year old Texas congressman at least in an effort to make sure other Republicans and the media mention the Constitution and individual rights at all during the coming election year 2008.

Before I describe who I see them to be, I will explain who they are not: Paulites are not Moonbat Lefties. A Moonbat is defined as someone who swallows the entire Marxist smorgasbord of which being reflexively anti-war really means wanting the white patriarchy to be defeated. If a Paulite agrees with Ron Paul about not wanting to fight wars all the time, it comes from recognizing that a nation's worst enemy is most often itself, and fighting corruption and defending freedom at home is a full-time job. That being said, Ron Paul has been getting more donation support from pro-war vets and active duty service-people than any other candidate.

Socialists are absent in the crowd of Paul supporters. Gender feminists are absent in the crowd. Men who no longer have a pair are absent as well. One would think this might be a good milieu for the Men's Rights Movement.

My observation of the make-up of Ron Paul supporters so far:

1) True intellectuals who may have actually read the Constitution and want to at least send a message about that
2) Successful businesspeople, between 25-45, who would rather save for retirement than pay for more government
3) Expats, Americans living in other countries whom Congress apparently believes can still be regulated and ruled over
4) Military, especially those who may have been wounded or almost killed defending the Constitution. They often disagree with Ron Paul on the war, but still support him.
5) Males who still have a pair and who at least want to send a message about men's rights
6) Women who respect males who still have a pair
7) Women who really think for themselves and not for the sisterhood

That would be about 3% total of the US population.

In order to get more votes than that, the above people will have to get their parents and relatives on board and convinced, especially those with landlines who are, apparently, the only ones the media pollsters contact.

I forgot to mention that most foreigners, who know about Ron Paul, are for him as well. A poll in Switzerland has him winning the US Presidency if the Swiss were the ones who decided. In Germany, a poll has shown that Ron Paul loses to Dennis Kucinich by a few votes.

Don't laugh: Europe was solidly behind Gore and Kerry in the last elections and the European preference influenced American voters big-time. If European journalists play up Ron Paul over the next year, which would be in accordance with the preference of many of their citizens, it could boost Ron Paul's stature considerably. If Nicolas Sarkozy or Vladimir Putin were to mix with American politics by just discussing Ron Paul's ideas, the ensuing controversy would not hurt the candidate either.

Oscar Wilde once said "The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about".

We will see this coming week whether Ron Paul's November 5th "Money Bomb" event rivals Guy Fawkes in terms of getting people to talk about him.

Jim Peterson

Veterans Abroad

Helsinki, Finland

www.veteransabroad.com

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