I find it quite scary that Ron Paul continues to do relatively well at the polls, despite the numerous revelations about him and his cohorts. Paul is quite clearly a liar, but this continues to be ignored for the most part by the mainstream media - who give Paul a pass and have not really confronted him at any of the debates - and clearly by many of his adherents, who either choose to ignore or not just not hear the allegations against him. This even though the author of the racist and sexist newsletters that went out under the Congressman’s name is evidently one of Paul’s oldest and closest supporters.
Is this the way mass movements have risen up in the past in other countries? While reading this book review on Pajamas this morning, I couldn’t help but shiver.
PJM Home
15 Comments
1. David Thomson:Ron Paul is not another Huey Long. He will soon be forgotten. The dynamics simply do not exist for someone like him to acquire massive support in the United States. If nothing else, Paul has no chance of obtaining the Republican nomination! One should be far more concerned with the subtle take away of American freedoms by the politically correct, leftist elites. Their preferred tactics are similar to the researcher who slowly boils the unaware frog to death. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are disciples of Saul Alinsky. This should scare the hell out of any sensible human being. The leading Democratic Party presidential candidates are far more dangerous than the inane Congressman Paul.
Jan 16, 2008 - 11:50 am 2. Bob:“Paul is quite clearly a liar….”
A politician is a liar?!? Stop the presses!
Jan 16, 2008 - 12:02 pm 3. LarryD:The MSM is giving Ron Paul a pass because they’d like for him to be the Republican nominee. At which point they’d rip him to shreds. He’s a candidate that the Democratic nominee could defeat in the general election.
Jan 16, 2008 - 12:12 pm 4. Anthony (Los Angeles):I think they give Paul a pass because it’s so darned hard to take him seriously.
He’s “America’s Crazy Uncle.”
Jan 16, 2008 - 12:19 pm 5. David Thomson:The sad thing is that Saul Alinsky is someone who generally unknown to the general public. He was a radical left-wing, class warfare specialist who operated in the Chicago area. Alinsky hated capitalism and taught his disciples how best to destroy the system. By all rights, the very fact that both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are highly influenced by Alinsky should be enough to eliminate them from contention for the highest office in the land.
Jan 16, 2008 - 12:22 pm 6. Lem:Give Ron Paul a pass.
I like the sound of that.
For one thing the ronulan fleet immediately decloaks in battle formation just by the mere mention of his name.
Maybe we should avoid the fleet by refering to him as the one who shall not be mentioned
Jan 16, 2008 - 12:54 pm 7. dclydew:The MSM is giving Ron Paul a pass because they’d like for him to be the Republican nominee.
Does that mean they’re doing the same with Dennis? Or, possibly, do they see both Ron and Dennis as No-Chance candidates and ignore them in favor of the more likely froods?
At which point they’d rip him to shreds. He’s a candidate that the Democratic nominee could defeat in the general election.
Err, the Democrats seem likely to cream ANY Republican candidate, with the possible exception of McCain (assuming that the Religious Right will hold their nose and vote for someone that might have a chance of winning).
If Rudy, Fred, Romney or Huck get the nod, there is a vanishingly small chance that the GOP will be anything other that a minority party for at least the next four years… maybe longer.
Jan 16, 2008 - 1:20 pm 8. photoncourier.blogspot.com:I haven’t read Jonah’s book yet, but I did hear him talk about it at a Borders last night. One thing he said was that an American left-fascist movement is likely to be less vicious than the 1930s movements because of our history and culture. Maybe…
I agree with him that there are substantial similarities and common roots in the left and fascism, but there are also some important differences, which Aldous Huxley captures well in the following passage:
“In the field of politics the equivalent of a theorem is a perfectly disciplined army; of a sonnet or picture, a police state under a dictatorship. The Marxist calls himself scientific and to this claim the Fascist adds another: he is the poet–the scientific poet–of a new mythology. Both are justified in their pretensions; for each applies to human situations the procedures which have proved effective in the laboratory and the ivory tower. They simplify, they abstract, they eliminate all that, for their purposes, is irrelevant and ignore whatever they choose to regard an inessential; they impose a style, they compel the facts to verify a favorite hypothesis, they consign to the waste paper basket all that, to their mind, falls short of perfection…the dream of Order begets tyranny, the dream of Beauty, monsters and violence.”
(from Ape & Essence, 1948)
Jan 16, 2008 - 2:50 pm 9. Scott:and clearly by many of his adherents, who either choose to ignore or not just not hear the allegations against him.
See also former Senate Majority leader Trent Lott and “Conscience of the Senate” Bob Byrd…
Jan 16, 2008 - 2:57 pm 10. Pat Curley:Rockwell’s a complete nutter, but most hilariously, he was a regular poster over at the HuffPo, until the story broke about him having an affair with Cindy Sheehan. Seems like after his attempt to woo the paleocons with a little racism, he’s tried to woo the kook left with a little more success.
Jan 16, 2008 - 4:36 pm 11. chuck:photoncourier,
For a while I’ve been thinking that “Brave New World” was more prophetic than “1984″, and that Huxley saw the big picture more accurately than Orwell. Or maybe times have changed since the collapse of the traditional totalitarian states and we are now faced with the more insidious variety that sell pleasure instead of strife and striving.
Jan 16, 2008 - 9:37 pm 12. markus:I don’t see the relationship between Ron Paul and fascism. Fascism requires a state, a strong one. The kind of state that Ron Paul wants to demolish. If a few neonazis and other anti-libertarians support him, it is likely because of his isolationist foreign policy. That’s it.
Also, the Paulies are not a mass movement by any stretch of the imagination. Basically, if you belong to the political niche that believes the Republicans should embrace an America First foreign policy, he’s the only brand in town. It’s a small group, and all the money these people have raised for him doesn’t seem to have done much to expand this group, particularly with the situation in Iraq stabilizing.
Jan 16, 2008 - 9:39 pm 13. chuck:Basically, if you belong to the political niche that believes the Republicans should embrace an America First foreign policy
Don’t forget the Democrats. One of the fascinating things about Ron Paul is that he seems to attract a fair number from the left side of the political spectrum. Interesting times.
Jan 16, 2008 - 10:40 pm 14. Jim Rockford:Ron Paul’s appeal to the Ronulans is like the appeal of Slashdot to the geek crowd, or Ain’t It Cool News. To be part of the nihilistic “cool” crowd of mostly young and immature men.
Paul’s appeal is almost entirely to young men. Look at his supporters. The Neo Nazi, anti-Semitic, conspiracy minded stuff is eaten up by his young male followers. Check out who posts supporting the Ronulan, or shows up at his rallies.
Now a quick look at the 2000 Census shows that the young male crowd is not very big. About 7% of the population.
Slashdot has tons of posts, and lots of traffic. It’s one of the most heavily trafficked sites. BUT … if you went by what was posted, everyone would be running Linux.
Fascists were dangerous because the center, the broad appeal to middle class people, were ceded by the Weimar Republic’s very poor politicos. Same with the Italian Republic’s very poor service for middle class people. Fortunately the Republican Party mostly crowds out the lunatic fringe.
Jan 17, 2008 - 9:02 pm 15. Jim Rockford:Ron Paul’s appeal to the Ronulans is like the appeal of Slashdot to the geek crowd, or Ain’t It Cool News. To be part of the nihilistic “cool” crowd of mostly young and immature men.
Paul’s appeal is almost entirely to young men. Look at his supporters. The Neo Nazi, anti-Semitic, conspiracy minded stuff is eaten up by his young male followers. Check out who posts supporting the Ronulan, or shows up at his rallies.
Now a quick look at the 2000 Census shows that the young male crowd is not very big. About 7% of the population.
Slashdot has tons of posts, and lots of traffic. It’s one of the most heavily trafficked sites. BUT … if you went by what was posted, everyone would be running Linux.
Fascists were dangerous because the center, the broad appeal to middle class people, were ceded by the Weimar Republic’s very poor politicos. Same with the Italian Republic’s very poor service for middle class people. Fortunately the Republican Party mostly crowds out the lunatic fringe.
Jan 17, 2008 - 9:03 pm