Baumblog EST 1968 - A blog for the Baumbachs who originated in Syracuse, NY

Orac dishes the goods on Ron Paul. Definitely worth a read if you have heard about Ron's supposed affliation with white supremacist groups.

Geoff said 28 minutes later

Good lord, The New Republic eh? Been there, done that. Funny how their tremendous research and this giant article was timed precisely to the day of the New Hamsphire primary....hmmm.. Funny thing is, this shit is old and was already rebuked by Paul back in 1999 on the House floor. He didn't write this garbage and the loons that did were fired. Yes he should have proofed every darn article distributed in his name (and there were many), and he has taken responsibility for that, but he never wrote it and anyone who has actually listened to the man speak knows this stuff wouldn't come out of his mouth.

Funny how people need to go back decades to find any substance of garbage on Paul...while may other candidates you can go back, oh I don't know, a week? Why don't we ask Hilary to cough up ALL of those old Clinton administration documents since we are on the topic of sifting through old stuff.

This white supremacist stuff is crap...I love how they singled out 1 donor of over 50,000, and then they have the nerve to tell Paul to give the money back to the Supremacist group? I loved his answer to that one.

Steve said about 4 hours later

Who cares, Ron Paul ain't getting elected. He's sucked at the primaries so far, and I don't expect him to do much better anywhere else. Well, maybe in some of them southern redneck states, but that's not enough to win the nomination.

I'm pissed. First, I go and get an absentee ballot. Then, after I receive it, I hear that the parties are skipping Michigan, so my vote would be worthless. Now I read that the Republican party is actually going to count the votes in Michigan! Argh!!!!! And of course, I don't have access to that absentee vote anymore. Grrrrrrr......
GJ said about 6 hours later

Yes, of course....some of his people wrote it, ghost wrote it for him, without his knowledge or support. Yep, that old, tired excuse. Of course, there are a bunch of articles with this theme, and he was totally unaware of them.

But yes, what Clinton administration documents are we talking about? Whitewater? Vince Foster? Bring it on, baby. You know the GOP will try (and fail) yet again. Muwhahaha.
GJ said about 6 hours later

From Orac's blog...which Geoff apparently didn't think hold any water:
>>>
And Paul's denial that he had anything to do with the newsletter published in his name is truly laughable:

"The quotations in The New Republic article are not mine and do not represent what I believe or have ever believed. I have never uttered such words and denounce such small-minded thoughts."

"In fact, I have always agreed with Martin Luther King, Jr. that we should only be concerned with the content of a person's character, not the color of their skin. As I stated on the floor of the U.S. House on April 20, 1999: 'I rise in great respect for the courage and high ideals of Rosa Parks who stood steadfastly for the rights of individuals against unjust laws and oppressive governmental policies.'"

"This story is old news and has been rehashed for over a decade. It's once again being resurrected for obvious political reasons on the day of the New Hampshire primary."

"When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine full-time, a newsletter was published under my name that I did not edit. Several writers contributed to the product. For over a decade, I have publicly taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name."

So let's see. There's no two ways about it: Either Paul is lying, or he's just admitted that he's the sort of person who should never be elected President. After all, he just admitted in a press release that he's so careless that he didn't bother to read the newsletter printed in his name for two decades. Even if Paul is not a racist homophobe and militia nut, at the very least he is guilty of hiring racist homophobes and militia nuts to write his newsletters and then failing to supervise them, and then not disavowing what was said in them for years until, of course, he decided to run for President. How convenient. These are not qualities I'm looking for in a President. It's also particularly telling that Paul has refused to release these newsletters to the press;
>>>

Why anyone even thinks this guy says anything worthwhile is a mystery to me. Oh wait, it's not. It's called the cult of personality.
GJ said about 6 hours later

Oh, and try this one post on for size: http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2007/11/ron-pauls-record-in-congress.html

Geoff, would you care to say that these bills were among Ron's finer works of political art? As conservative as Steve is, I'm betting he finds the majority of these pretty nasty, too.
Geoff said about 8 hours later

Pretty nasty? He is against Abortion, clearly. So what else is new? Though he does not want to have the Federal Government to decide this, except for perhaps 3rd term pregnancies. You can actually dive in more detail with him on this in an interview with the loonies on The View...who spent their whole conversation on this topic. He is for a gold standard...which makes more sense to me than printing money out of thin air wouldn't you think? I mean we did this up until 1970. Not to mention the Canadian dollar is now worth more than ours, but who cares, print away!

These people are no different than the "Paulities" as i think they call them, or Rondroids. It doesn't matter what Paul says or does, they hate him. They hate him because he is a strict constitutionalist, but when he strays a bit from a totalitarian constitutionalist for things he believes in strongly, oh well holy hell, this man is a fake, a liar, a nut job. So IMO, they are no different than the people who hold Paul on a pedastal.

I tossed my hat in with Paul simply on the belief that we need fundamental change in this country and no other candidate proposes nearly the change Paul does. Abortion is the least of our worries IMO. I never said I agreed with all of his opinions, but this man is no idiot. Before we throw stones in glass houses, take a serious look at what your other fellow politicians have sponsored. I bet we can conjure up a list 2 or 3x this length on any other candidate...and not to mention some great character attributes and baggage some of these other characters come with.

Instead of providing me with a giant list of garbage, how about you pick a particular bill that Ron supported or co-authored, and lets take a serious look at it and see just how "crazy" it really is. That to me, is a better forum for discussion myself.

GJ said about 16 hours later

A giant list of garbage sums up the bills Paul authored or co-sponsored rather nicely. :) But when I get some time later, I'll do exactly that and dissect one of these pieces of garbage for you. However, let's review a quote of yours:

"I tossed my hat in with Paul simply on the belief that we need fundamental change in this country and no other candidate proposes nearly the change Paul does"

In effect, no matter what demons Paul brings along, because he is promising the most change, he's your man. Darcy will love this next line: Hitler was elected by the people, on a change for change's sake platform. Was that a responsible vote by the Germans who voted for him in spite of his demons? Now, I'm not saying Paul is the next coming of Hitler, mind you. However, his platform is nothing more than irresponsible change, and additionally he has some serious fairy tale issues. Gold standard anyone?

Drastic change generally causes more trouble than it solves. Of course, the young still see it as viable--let's just give the country a reboot! There's too much wrong to salvage! Besides, the form of government that saw us rise to prominence in the world is obviously fatally flawed, we should have never moved beyond the cotton and tobacco industries as our primary sources of income!
Geoff said about 20 hours later

Ok I keep hearing the media tell me the gold standard is a fairy tale...beyond saying its a fairy tale, I'd love to hear them give reasons for this, and why it is better to print money out of thin air. And then justify how our current fiscal policies, which are oh so great, have lead to the dramatic decrease in the dollar and the huge increase in our deficit.

What i enjoy most is people complaining of Paul's ideas and solutions to these problem, but not providing solutions of their own that may be better? Ignoring the problem isn't a solution either. I think that is an even better forum, rather than just ripping Paul apart. Let's visit specific problem areas, and see who has the best solution. We obviously know pretty much where Paul stands, what does Hilary or Obama think about the growing deficit and the value of our dollar? I haven't heard boo by either about these topics...except a few dodges from Hilary, thats about it. I'm sure they must have some solution, somewhere, I just can't find it.
GJ said about 20 hours later

So, list the problems you think we should solve.

I'd throw in the following:

1. fair / open trade with all other countries--how do we keep the trade imbalances in check, and ensure the market is fair for all parties?
2. regulation--how do we keep red tape to a minimum, but keep businesses playing honest with their customers, employees, and the localities they exist in?
3. education--how do we educate our population in the best way possible, without the influence of politics or religion?
4. science--how do we keep politics and religion out of this, too, yet keep it the envy of the world? Should we help fund it, or make it survive only as a business function?
5. personal rights--how should these be redefined in today's world? Is your right to privacy intrinsically tied to being free in a free country?

That's just a start...I'm sure I can come up with lots more. :)
Geoff said about 21 hours later

Nice, this is what I like to see. I'll add to this l8r when clients aren't kicking my butt.
Geoff said 1 day later

Just to add to the original posting of this article...it looks like it is gaining some more publicity as it is now the top read political article on CNN.com. This will likely put Ron out of business I imagine, or perhaps have blowbacks like the Fox news exclusion did, though not likely :)
GJ said 1 day later

it's hitting the mainstream press and staying there because there's more than just rumor to it. politicians are never very good at the fess-up game--one need only to look at Larry Craig for a recent example of this.
Geoff said 1 day later

Listen to this interesting tidbit...at least one possible case of voter fraud in NH against Obama and Paul:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=moay6TFSVGg
GJ said 1 day later

from no better source than talk radio. ok. grain of salt taken.
Geoff said 2 days later

We'll see on Wednesday if a recount is held. Both Kucinich and another Republican nobody have put in an initial $2000 deposit to have a recount. While I'm certain it won't make much of a difference, hopefully it will encourage future primaries, aka Florida, to be real careful.
GJ said 3 days later

Need I remind you that Florida has its own FARK tag? :)