It's the last weekend of the NFL regular season

I pilfered this from the sportsblog Kiss Me Suzy Kolber. I've got to hand it to the Patriots, they ran the table this season. This picture interested me because if you look closely behind Tom Brady's left shoulder you can also see OJ, Gary Condit, and the dude who gets to bang Jessica Alba .

Dirty Tricks in Politics?

Who knew? Reason.tv has a great video interview with Roger Stone, a veteran of eight presidential campaigns and one of the premiere "dirty tricks" artists out there. From the blurb:

Beginning with his first disinformation campaign in grade school (ironically, aimed at his later idol, Richard Milhous Nixon), Stone learned the ropes as a teenager at Nixon’s Committee to Re-Elect the President (C.R.E.E.P.) and has spent the last 30 years in the political shadows, playing a major role in the “Brooks Brothers Riot” during the 2000 Florida recount and waging a highly public ongoing battle with Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-N.Y.). As a battle-hardened and scandal-heavy veteran of eight national presidential campaigns, Stone understands the skulduggery and strategems of the modern political campaign like no one else...

He really unloads on Elliot Spitzer, calling him "f---ed up" psychologically" and also talks a little bit about the difficulty of running a sucessful 3rd party campaign. Among other things. Oh and he gives Ron Paul zero chance of winning the GOP nomination.

Click here to watch the interview.

I'm glad we're getting our money's worth

This is the story of an artist named Steve Kurtz (the article says he's pretty famous, but I've never heard of him) and government run amok (emphasis mine):

Kurtz’s legal nightmare began when he was arrested in May 2004 after he called 911 due to the unexpected death of his wife, Hope. The police notified the FBI because they saw commonly used biological equipment, such as petri dishes and test tubes, in his house.
...

Suspicious of bioterrorism, the FBI arrested Kurtz and searched his house. It was quickly confirmed that Hope had died of natural causes. Weeks later the New York State Commissioner of Public Health determined that the biological materials posed no public health risks. Eventually, charges of bioterrorism were dropped completely. But instead of dropping the case, the prosecution decided to pursue it. Millions of tax dollars and approaching four years later, the prosecution is now charging Kurtz with mail and wire fraud for a transaction worth less than $300.

For the love of all that is holy and great in this world, please someone, explain to me who comes out the winner here? It's not Kurtz and it sure as hell isn't the tax payer. If I find out that the prosecutor was someone looking to finish out his twenty years and collect his taxpayer funded pension my head is going to explode. This is literally a federal case, over a transaction valued at less than $300. Ridiculous.

The whole article is here

Benazir Bhutto

Wow, I've been sitting in my car the whole day and haven't been able to get to my computer, but I did spend my time trying to call into Tammy Bruce's show when she was talking about Bhutto being assassinated. The Pondering Penguin has a nice piece about her (pilfered from Conservative Belle)

Here's Ron Paul and his reaction on Fox News:

Judge Napolitano should be nominated to the Supreme Court (part deux)

Here is Judge Andrew Napolitano's keynote speech at an event called Reason in DC.
It's 40 minutes of Constitutional history. Brilliant.

Tis the Season

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Every time I've seen an episode of South Park I have always been entertained. But I can't say that the series is a "must watch" every single week. I'm going to have to re-evaluate my position after watching "Woodland Critter Christmas". A Christmas tale that has Good versus Evil, Satan versus Santa Claus, cute animals, and an unexpected twist at the end. This is probably a classic already, but I saw it for the first time today. (content warning for graphic images and themes) I pilfered this from the blog Doubleplusundead:


To watch this episode (and every single other Southpark) click here

Can't get this song out of my head

Kina Grannis is a talented singer who has made it into the top 10 for some contest where she can win a record deal and have her music played at the Superbowl. Why do I have a post on her? Because I can't get this damn song out of my head. Check out her blog here and if you like what you hear vote for her:

Gotta Digg by Kina Grannis (her song hit #1 on Digg.com last night):

Blowback from the Nannystate

Over in England, a new "sport" is gaining popularity: Burning or destroying traffic cameras. There's a website that talks about it (from Wired.com):

"Motorists Against Detection, the vigilante anti-speed camera group have announced a summer of MADness which will see them target for destruction all speed cameras in the UK. It’s now going to be a period of zero tolerance against all speed cameras, said their campaigns director Capt Gatso. (((A remote descendant of General Ludd, I reckon.)))

"The group claims speed cameras are just money-making machines and they have given the authorities long enough to prove their worth. The first camera to fall in the summer campaign is in south east London on the A2 at the Sun in the Sands roundabout on-slip heading northbound towards the Blackwall Tunnel.

Of course, speed limits are a fact of life in United States. I'm of the opinion that speeding tickets are just too great of a revenue stream for many cites and states to get rid of. What is interesting is, there are some experiments in other parts of Europe that are doing away with speed limits, traffic signals and traffic cameras entirely, with good results.

How does THAT idea work. From the Spiegel article:

"The many rules strip us of the most important thing: the ability to be considerate. We're losing our capacity for socially responsible behavior," says Dutch traffic guru Hans Monderman, one of the project's co-founders. "The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles."

With the following conclusion:

Strange as it may seem, the number of accidents has declined dramatically. Experts from Argentina and the United States have visited Drachten. Even London has expressed an interest in this new example of automobile anarchy. And the model is being tested in the British capital's Kensington neighborhood.

I don't know if the "automobile anarchy" model would work in this country, it would be a tough sell to the "safety nazi" crowd as well as probably the "eco-nazi" crowd as well (not mention, again, governments have a vested interest in keeping that revenue stream going). But then again, maybe we still have a relatively lower threshold of acceptance for the nanny state in this country compared to Europe.

Ron Paul on Meet the Press

Dr. Paul spent time this morning on the Tim Russert show, not quite the full hour as advertised but long enough to answer some tough questions. Dave Wiegel over at Reason live-blogged it and has a link to the transcript here.

Some of the questions that Russert asked were a bit esoteric, (the Civil War question comes to mind) but Dr. Paul's take on the Civil War makes sense if you study the history behind that conflict closely.

I did like how Dr. Paul turned into a broken record when asked about eliminating the income tax. "We need to cut spending" he kept on repeating, I couldn't figure out why Russert kept on asking him about the lost revenues. As if the amount of government we have is the right amount.

Here's the link for MSNBC's video or here's youtube

Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four

Aimee Allen and the Ron Paul Theme Song

Here's a behind the scenes video of her new music video. :



Check out her myspace: http://www.myspace.com/aimeeallen

If you check out Aimee's Video and Myspace you will see why Ron Paul is going to win Reason #32123 - Hotter Chicks

Why did I Spend $85,000 to Support Ron Paul

Lawrence Lepard took out a full-page ad in USA Today supporting Ron Paul, it cost him $85,000. To explain why, he is taking a full-page ad in the New York Times to run next week (I have no idea how much that cost him) To see what that ad looks like, click here.

Net Neutrality is a Big Scam

Why Government should stay out of regulating the internet:

The hype surrounding broadband socialism has grown over the past year. New political alliances have begun to promote regulations that will allow the federal government to use its seemingly idle hands to touch private pies.

Not only do presidential candidates such as Barack Obama seek to subsidize technological rollouts at the expense of coerced taxpayers, but, along with Representative Ed Markey, they want to regulate what network property owners do with their own infrastructure. All of this is done under the guise of the new populistic policy called network neutrality.[1][2]

And while the political rhetoric will almost certainly pick up pace throughout the election year in 2008, the joke is once again on statolatrists: it has already been tried numerous times.

Read the rest of the article here. There are a bunch of articles over there at the Mises Institute that will give you an education on free-market economics from the Austrian School as well.

Tucker Carlson on RP in the New Republic: Pimp My Ride

No quotes, just read the whole thing.

Yoga with Tara Stiles Ford Model

This week: Bends

Check out Tara's myspace: www.myspace.com/tarastiles

BWE: Ten Best Things to Happen to the Internet because of the Writers Strike

Number 3: Not the Daily Show



Go see the rest of the list here.

Alan Keyes is Running for President

I've been a fan of his for a long time. He's someone who really knows the Constitution and I would even consider him as someone who would make a great addition to the Supreme Court. I can't support him for President though. But I'm glad he's running. He was on Hannity and Colmes tonight (pilfered from Ian Schwartz):



And this is my favorite article from him, evah, that I still reread every once in awhile. It is called : On the establishment of religion: What the Constitution Really Says. From Worldnetdaily:

The First Amendment to the Constitution plainly states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ..." Since there can be no federal law on the subject, there appears to be no lawful basis for any element of the federal government – including the courts – to act in this area.

Moreover, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution plainly states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." This means that the power to make laws respecting an establishment of religion, having been explicitly withheld from the United States, is reserved to the states or to the people.

Taken together, therefore, the First and 10th Amendments reserve the power to address issues of religious establishment to the different states and their people.

The article is long, but is an eloquent, powerful, piece that explains why the federal government has no authority to make a law, or listen to a court case in which religion is the subject matter and why states rights are so important to the foundation of this republic. I would just recommend reading the whole thing.

Is Iran really the new Nazi Germany?

If W and War Party are to be believed, yes. On the other hand, there are these pics by one of those peaceniks over at Lew Rockwell:





regarding the picture above:

For example, we can tell from the abundance of Christmas cards and trees and wrappings and ornaments and Santa Claus suits that Iran has a capitalist, consumer-oriented economy, with a large enough Christian community to support a whole host of retailers, wholesalers, distributors, suppliers, importers, and tree farms. And if we glance back at that incredible first shot of Tehran at the foot of the snow-covered Alborz Mountains, we can even say with certitude that the area around Tehran has just the right terrain, soil, and climate for the new-cut Christmas trees you see.

The rest of the column talks about Iran being rather cosmopolitan, with a big middle class and maybe not as oppressive a society as the government or the MSM would have you believe. What's the truth?

Tancredo to withdraw, where will his supporters go?

Tom Tancredo according to Fox News, will be making an announcement tomorrow formally withdrawing from the GOP presidential nomination.

Where will his supporters go? If you ask Craig Halverson, director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corp, he says this:

"I'm shocked," Halverson said. "All the work and all the time we put in. We're shocked. We thought he was going to go all the way."

Halverson said he would wait for the official word, "then I'm going to jump on the bandwagon of Ron Paul."

Tancredo has always been pegged as a single issue candidate, that issue, illegal immigration has been big enough for him to hang around for awhile. He has been polling around 6% in Iowa, not an insignificant amount, and enough to change the complexion of the race there.

Why Ron Paul Should Keep Money Donated from Neo-Nazis

Ron Paul: Sure, I'll Take Money from Nazis - Headline from Hotair
Ron Paul Campaign Keeps White Supremacist Money - Headline Worldnetdaily
Ron Paul No Problem with Donations from Neo-Nazis - Headline Little Green Footballs

The latest attack on presidential candidate Ron Paul after his record setting fundraising day on Sunday is not really new. It's the same guilt by association attack that comes whenever Dr. Paul's grassroots campaign makes news.

Don Black is a "White Nationalist" who runs a website called Stormfront. If you click over there, you'll see David Duke featured prominently at the top and then a forum towards the bottom. The language (from my admittedly brief perusal) in the topics section, if to be taken at face value, isn't that much different than you would find on any forum that talks about politics and current events. The slant is different, of course, but if you compared it to the language of any other forum where ethnicity is the primary focus you would find more similarities than differences. The Nation of Islam comes to mind.

Don Black says this about Ron Paul:

Black said he supports Paul's stance on ending the war in Iraq, securing U.S. borders and his opposition to amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"We know that he's not a white nationalist. He says he isn't and we believe him, but on the issues, there's only one choice," Black said Wednesday.

"We like his stand on tight borders and opposition to a police state," Black told The Palm Beach Post earlier.

That last statement is hardly a call to arms and hooded robes and cross burnings. While there may be unsavory characteristics of Don Black's world view, so what? It's a free country last I checked and in a free country, as long as you don't violate me and my property and my rights what you do on your own time, what you talk about, or who you call your friends is no concern of mine...Where is it? Oh yeah (emphasis mine):

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The great irony of the websites listed at the top is that all of them have faced the same charges of being "hate sites" or "racist" because their particular slant isn't in tune with "the mainstream". Little Greenfootballs in particular has had to deal with "racist!" charges. Should we call for all the websites that link or associate with LGF (like all of Pajamas Media) to give back all of the ad revenue they have generated because someone disagrees with their worldview? How rich is it that they have resorted to the same sort of attack on a point of view and people they disagree with that they themselves have been subject to?

UPDATE: This is what the "conservative argument" against Ron Paul amounts to:

One can see for themselves in the debates how nuts Ron Paul is but his supporters confirm it. I've noticed that those who are angry and/or pessimistic towards the government or just in general seems to gravitate towards Paul. He also attracts conspiracy theorists by the dozen. If I was Paul and these were my supporters I would be concerned, but he seems happy to have them. Nothing more needs be said.

The more I think about it, if you are a Christian and you are against abortion, wouldn't that automatically mean that you advocate shooting doctors who perform abortions and firebombing the clinics they perform them at?

Oh Come On!

Conservative Belle has been compiling all of the candidates video Christmas cards (which you can view here)

Hillary's card has to be the greatest advertisement on why polls are worthless. How can she be leading in the polls if her message is essentially "I am the Santa of all nanny-staters". Really, handing out "gifts" like free healthcare, free preschool. Promising everything to everyone? Well what about me Hillary? I'm looking for the card that says "stay the hell out of my wallet" or "leave me the hell alone". Alas, those are the gifts that none of the candidates from either party are willing to give. Unless you are the candidate with two first names.

Pilfered from Hotair

The One Legged Salsa Dancer

This guy dances the salsa 100 times better with one leg than I could ever do with two. My first thought was that it was a special effect. What do you think?



Pilfered from Milk and Cookies

This Cracks Me Up

I pilfered this from Conservative Belle and her post about Mike Huckabee:



The line dancing reminds me of every Filipino wedding reception and party I've ever been to.

I think it's funny that they didn't break out the karaoke machine somewhere in there. If you are a guest at my parents house, they won't let you leave until you sing a song. lol

Glenn Beck and Ron Paul

Ron Paul got the full hour on Glenn Beck's show tonight and I thought it was as fair an interview as you could ask for. The questions were good, I would even say Dr. Paul could have been challenged a little more on some things (like going into more depth about inflation and its causes), but I tip my hat Glenn Beck for treating him respectfully and as a legitimate contender for the GOP nomination. A couple of observations:

- The segment where Beck broaches the topic of the conspiracy theories/911-truthers/tinfoil-hat demographic that he seems to attract was as clear a refutation as Dr. Paul could make. He handled it well, and hopefully the "guilt by association" smear has been put to rest. I think it's a fair question to ask in one sense, since Paul has never had this much time on a national forum to talk about his candidacy. I'm sure there are plenty of viewers who don't spend that much time on the internet and maybe have the perception he's "one of them". Maybe this will be a sufficient rebuke.

- This was probably the first interview I've seen where the question of "are you going to run as a 3rd party candidate if you don't get the nomination?" question wasn't asked.

- The segment where Glenn Beck talks about the income tax and wanting to "french kiss" Dr. Paul was probably the most awkward moment of the interview. Though I have to admit, when I hear Ron Paul talking about if we got rid of the income tax the revenues generated from tariffs, excise fees etc. would still amount to what the government was taking 10 years ago gives me the same reaction...thank god I don't have a nationally broadcast television show.

I'm looking forward to Dr. Paul being on Tim Russert's show this Sunday.

Here's Beck and Ron Paul in its entirety:


Pilfered from Mr. Chubbs over at Liberty Maven

And the rest of it:

2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y4j4m90-XM
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNjnvp5z6kM
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGrlZTlD-Sc
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF_92PpCyUs
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnm1nPHdATQ
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD1qMXMOjfo
8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kze69_lmGmA

Andrew Sullivan: I endorse Ron Paul

Say what you will about Andrew Sullivan, but his endorsement of Ron Paul says everything that I've thought since I found out Dr. Paul was running (emphasis mine):

But the deeper reason to support Ron Paul is a simple one. The great forgotten principles of the current Republican party are freedom and toleration. Paul's federalism, his deep suspicion of Washington power, his resistance to government spending, debt and inflation, his ability to grasp that not all human problems are soluble, least of all by government: these are principles that made me a conservative in the first place. No one in the current field articulates them as clearly and understands them as deeply as Paul. He is a man of faith who nonetheless sees a clear line between religion and politics.More than all this, he has somehow ignited a new movement of those who love freedom and want to rescue it from the do-gooding bromides of the left to the Christianist meddling of the right. The Paulites' enthusiasm for liberty, their unapologetic defense of core conservative principles, their awareness that in the new millennium, these principles of small government, self-reliance, cultural pluralism, and a humble foreign policy are more necessary than ever - no lover of liberty can stand by and not join them.

I've come to understand over the past 8 years that the nanny state comes in different forms. Whether it's from the left or the right. Government's only interest is to preserve and protect itself. Dr. Paul has tapped into something that I thought I would never see. A candidate I could vote for not because he's the lesser of two evils. But the candidate who represents the direction that this country should head in with no compromises. I'll never forget the first time I saw him in a youtube video talking about his positions on government, taxes, the Constitution. I was literally jumping up and down saying to myself "This guy gets it". The great thing about the internet? I know I'm not the only one doing it.

Thank you Dr. Paul for curing my apathy.

Dr. Paul's infomercial

This 30 minute infomercial is going to be airing in Iowa all next weekend. It's a pretty good rundown on Dr. Paul and and his positions. Plus, it's from the campaign itself.

Part 1



Part 2

Chris Dodd, Constitutionalist?

I'll have some final thoughts on the 6.1 million that Dr. Paul raised today in a later post. But I just wanted to throw this up there. Pilfered from Daily Kos, via the Crossed Pond:

The latest word from the Dodd camp regarding what will happen on the FISA bill is that tomorrow, Dodd will take the floor and not yield.

He can take "questions" from other senators during the filibuster, which can be no more than 20 minutes. We understand that Kennedy and Feingold so far have agreed to do this.

Let's hope Feingold and Kennedy have some good twenty-two-part questions of their own. And let's also hope that they won't be the only senators supporting Dodd.

And this is also where we come in. I've been told by the Dodd folks that the Senator wants to know what we think he should read during the filibuster. So please suggest anything you think might be relevant to the issue of retroactive telecom immunity - speeches, articles, even your own comments, diaries or blog posts. Dodd staffers will undoubtedly be checking the comments here for good ideas, and you could wind up having your own thoughts read aloud on the floor of the United State Senate.

This is our chance to stand with Dodd and stand up for the Constitution. Let's do our best to help him - he's going to have a lot of time to fill. And to urge your senators to join in, click here.

The Final Countdown

Update 8:13pm PST: I'm listening to www.ronpaulradio.com and the servers at www.ronpaul2008.com are getting bombed in this last hour. The total over donated on their counter is $17.6 million dollars. It's possible that the ticker will reach $18 million dollars if their servers don't crash! Which will bring the total for the day to $6.5 million!!

Update: 9:04 pm - ronpaulforums= crashed ronpaul2008.com=crashed ronpaulgraphs.com=crashed paulcash.slact.net=crashed. awesome

Update 8:49 PM:$17,920,552 - this is going to be close

Update and Bump:

December 16th could be bigger fundraising wise than November 5th. I'm predicting anywhere between $500k and $8million. I'm going to start watching at 8 pm to see how fast that thermometer goes up. It's addicting.

UPDATE: Daily Paul has a initial total at $11,552,560.73, it's 10:13 PST and thermometer just hit $12 mil. Wow, nearly half a million dollars after first hour. Friggin amazing!

This is Rich

From Yahoo:

"We have an obligation to prevent fraud and abusive lending," the Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, said earlier this year. "At the same time, we must tread carefully so as not to suppress responsible lending or eliminate refinancing opportunities for subprime borrowers."

The chairman's comments indicate a greater hypocrisy because it is the Fed's continuous suppression of interest rates and liquidity injections that allowed the "subprime mortage" market to be created in the first place. Just in the past year, there have been 3 cuts in the federal funds rate, (the latest happening just this week) and with each cut, there is growing anxiety that the country is heading towards recession. If there were ever a case to made about fraud and abusive lending practices, examining our central bank would should be the first stop.

That we don't question, or just accept the necessity of a Fed shows how economically illiterate most of us are. There were 2 previous central banks The First Bank of the United States (1791-1811) and The Second Bank of the United States (1816-1836). After that, this country operated without one until 1913. In that time frame, from 1800 to 1913, consumer prices remained stable with no inflation. From Grandfathers Inflation Report:


Even up until before World War II a dollar was still worth around the same amount as it had been for the previous 140+ years.

Not that there weren't problems with the monetary system back then, there were. Liquidity and inelasticity in currency were the primary criticisms. If there wasn't enough money in the system for lending for example, growth could be stifled. After a series of financial panics around the turn of the century, calls for reform to the monetary system began to gain traction. But, like what happens most of the time, the government "solution" ends up being worse than the problem it is trying to solve.

Like every other government program, the results of any particular legislation or program is always inversely proportional to the grandiose goal or vision that the program is supposed to achieve. For example, the Patriot Act was supposed to give the government the tools necessary to fight terrorism abroad and domestically and make our country safer, that those tools are primarily being used to spy on the very citizens it is supposed to protect without warrants or due process is a good example.

That's the way it is with the Federal Reserve Bank. It's stated mission is to provide stability to the money system and to help foster economic growth. A glance at the above chart shows that instability in the currency is only accelerating (especially after all ties of the dollar to gold were completely severed back in the 70's) and we as a country have come to accept inflation as a part of life. Will there be a time in this country like in pre-WWII Germany where people would get paid in the morning and the rate of inflation was so great that people would lose half of the value of their money before the end of the day? It's very possible. Social Security and Medicaid are huge unfunded liabilities that only loom closer with each passing day.

It fills me with dread that no one, save Ron Paul, is even talking about this as a campaign issue. That our economic well-being is a national security issue greater than ANY terrorist threat (even a nuclear one) must be recognized. Just like a plane in flight, our economy is going to come back to earth one way or another.

Obama Girl meets Ron Paul Girl

I can't hear what these girls are saying. I might have to watch it a few dozen times more. If the campaign came down to the Obama girl and the Ron Paul girl, well I think that makes all of us winners, don't you? Oh did I mention that they are in their underwear?

It's ok, the vid is quite SFW


Obama Girl Nightmare - video powered by Metacafe

The Ron Paul Blimp is in the Air

Check out Ron Paul Blimp Blog for more pics and links to video of the Blimp in flight

Come on Fred Get it Together, Ron Paul Playing for Keeps

From Brad over at The Crossed Pond:

I really don’t know if I can think of a modern analogue to the Fred Thompson campaign. Mind you, almost the week before he announced, he was practically the frontrunner for the nomination, with all the Big Mo’.

And, a week AFTER he announced, he was already underperforming, and from then on, his campaign strength has gone from bad to worse to worse to worse to worse to worse.

The only analogy I can muster is it would be as if Al Gore finally entered the Democratic race in early September and then, his first week on the campaign trail, he slapped a baby. And then, his second week on the campaign trail, he slapped another baby. And for every consecutive week thereafter, he just kept slapping babies.

It's fair to say that Fred has underwhelmed on the campaign trail. But after Ron Paul, he would be my pick for the nomination, so I'm halfway rooting for him. I definitely don't think that he should drop out of the race as Brad suggests. But if he doesn't gain traction soon, as in the next 30 days, it won't matter.

Also at the Crossed Pond is an interesting analysis on Ron Paul busing in legislators from Arkansas to criticize Mike Huckabee's record as governor on immigration and taxes:

...the Paul campaign has decided that they’re in the hunt, and it’s time to start drawing specific distinctions (and/or to make sure that nobody runs away with it). That Huckabee is the target, on the surface, adds a little chutzpah to it. They’re not dicking around with McCain in New Hampshire or Thompson for third in Iowa, for instance, but going right for the top dog. Which is intriguing, to say the least, because campaigns usually don’t do this kind of thing unless they think that in doing it, they can make a difference. It’s intriguing because they’re acting like a real campaign.

Here’s my guess: Huckabee represents perhaps the biggest obstacle to the Paul campaign in New Hampshire. He’s the guy who, if he comes out of Iowa with a huge boost, is going to ratchet up in New Hampshire polls to second or third. Paul’s at the cusp of breaking through there, but Huckabee, who had been dueling with him for fourth, is already starting to fall ahead, and his rise out of Iowa could lock Paul out of the top four altogether if things fall against him. A fourth in Iowa and a fifth in New Hampshire—which is actually pretty likely as far as expectations go—wouldn’t be very good for Paul’s chances of being a breakout story, to say the least.

Ron Paul to be on Glenn Beck's show

Dr. Paul has accepted the open invitation by Glenn Beck and will appear on Tuesday. Among the topics up for discussion: Glenn will probably have to ask him how he was able to raise so much money AGAIN after the teaparty on Sunday.

UPDATE and BUMP: video confirmation from Glenn Beck himself



Pilfered from Lew Rockwell.

Pretty Funny

After yesterday's GOP snoozer of a debate, I didn't even bother to watch the Dem's debate today. But youtube never fails:



Pilfered from Andrew Sullivan

Yoga with Tara Stiles, Ford Model

This week: weight loss

Check out Tara's myspace: www.myspace.com/tarastiles

Pork Be Gone!

Where does all that money that the Fed creates and that gets taken from our pockets that we send to Washington go? USAspending.gov should be able to tell you.

I'm always for transparency in government at all levels and opening up spending to the internet is one idea whose time has come. For every internet user who surfs the web looking for donkey porn, 2 girls 1 cup, celebrity gossip, and Ron Paul stories, there's another who actually uses the internet for something productive. OK, I confess, I don't surf the internet for celebrity gossip!

Pilfered from Ed Morrissey at Captains Quarters

Ron Paul Supporter Spotlight

It's amazing the crowds that Dr. Paul is getting at his rallies:

Hotties4RonPaul

There is a calender that is debuting this weekend along with the teaparty in support of Ron Paul. Hotties4RonPaul is the place you can order it. Liv is in it, as well as this grandmother who appeared on Tucker's show a few months back.



Check out her blog here.

Knight Rider is coming back

NBC will premier the show on February 17th. This show and "Airwolf" were two of my favorites when I was a kid.





Pilfered from Ace

Ron Paul Blimp Pics

Top secret classified pictures of the Ron Paul blimp in its hanger while banners are being hung on its side:





Pilfered from ronpaulforums

Lew Rockwell Explains the Mortgage Meltdown

Lew Rockwell lays it out:

The sea of inflationary credit is the core problem behind the falling dollar, the subprime crisis, the housing meltdown, not to mention the rise in the national debt and a thousand other problems.

And how do they deal with it? More credit and more calls for controls. No one in Washington seems to understand the reason for the crisis, much less how to fix it. The markets go for this stuff for a while until it looks like Washington is in panic mode. Even Wall Street is starting to sense that something is very wrong.

A good indication is President Bush’s freeze on subprime mortgage rates. It is a classic case that provides serious lessons for all of us. It shows the political penchant for intervening in the market, the market response, and the further interventions that are called forth when the first round doesn’t bring the utopia they imagine.

Here is the great mortal threat that intervention poses to the economy: not the first round, not even the second round, but the relentless dynamic of political rescues that drive us further into the pit of state planning. Under Bush's solution, rate freezes kick in next year and subsidize only part of those affected. His plan is under fire, not for being an intervention but for not bailing out every living soul.

If you aren't worried, you should be.

Read the whole thing here.

Ronald Reagan Crackin' the Jokes

Pilfered from ronpaulforums.com

Hitchens: Dump the Central Intelligence Agency

Update and Bump: Ed Morrissey proposes a solution:

It's time to reconceive intelligence in a post-Cold War world. Given that it serves to defend our nation, it should fall under military command. That may not be the most elegant solution, but clearly the supposed benefits of civilian management have not made themselves apparent in either accuracy or efficiency. The laws that govern military intelligence and covert operations would therefore extend to all of our efforts, and failures to abide by those laws would have secure methods of correction.

I don't know if that would be the best solution, I'm still stuck on trying to tear down the CIA with a wrecking ball. On one hand, there is already an intelligence gathering arm in the military already. On the other hand, who's to say that the same inefficiencies and politics that have sprung up with the CIA wouldn't happen if the military's role were expanded?

Christopher Hitchens unloads over at Slate:

And now we have further confirmation of the astonishing culture of lawlessness and insubordination that continues to prevail at the highest levels in Langley. At a time when Congress and the courts are conducting important hearings on the critical question of extreme interrogation, and at a time when accusations of outright torture are helping to besmirch and discredit the United States all around the world, a senior official of the CIA takes the unilateral decision to destroy the crucial evidence. This deserves to be described as what it is: mutiny and treason.

Someone's head should roll for this:

Despite a string of exposures going back all the way to the Church Commission, the CIA cannot rid itself of the impression that it has the right to subvert the democratic process both abroad and at home. Its criminality and arrogance could perhaps have been partially excused if it had ever got anything right, but, from predicting the indefinite survival of the Soviet Union to denying that Saddam Hussein was going to invade Kuwait, our spymasters have a Clouseau-like record, one that they have earned yet again with their exculpation of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

That's what really gets me. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on our intelligence apparatus and it seems like they are always wrong. This is bad.

This whole Great War on Terror reeks. Not because terrorists who want to harm us shouldn't be dispatched as quickly as possible, but because the Faustian bargain that has been made means we have given up our soul.

Kate Beckinsdale is sexy

Let's see:

1. Sexy English accent: check
2. Knows how to dress when leaving the house: check
3. Isn't a spendthrift and likes to save some money by shopping at Target: check
4. TRO keeping my distance to 500 feet away from her expired: check

Doesn't everyone have that fantasy of shopping at Target and being locked in the store with Kate Beckinsdale after closing time and not being able to leave. Then you're forced to work together for your own survival because no one's coming to the rescue. Then she sees how resourceful and smart you are at assembling tents and gathering canned food and she begins to fall in love with you like you knew she would.

What about cellphones you say? Yeah, thanks for ruining my dreams. Bastards.

For more pics of Kate go to What Would Tyler Durden Do?

Baby Jesus

Update and BUMP: In keeping with CMStrapz comment, RightwingSparkle has this post:

According to the women security guard who shot the shooter of the Church in Colorado Springs yesterday, Jesus was in her gun.

Given that Mike Huckabee is a man of the church, his response to this high schooler's question is interesting:



Wasn't Jesus a man when he performed that particular miracle? Maybe Huckabee just likes Baby Jesus, like this guy:



Pilfered the Huck clip from lewrockwell.com

Private Firefighters in Southern California

It's a billion dollar industry:

After the Great Fire of London in 1666, insurance companies started issuing plaques to show private fire brigades which homes to save--and which to let burn. Insurers organized their own firefighting companies. Not having a plaque didn’t mean your home went totally ignored, but it certainly didn’t help.

Today, a decline in public funding for firefighting services has sparked explosive growth in the private sector. The world’s largest insurance company – American Insurance Group – now has “Wildfire Protection Units” in 150 US zip codes. During the 2007 California wildfires, AIG’s firefighters saved homes in wealthy areas, while less fortunate neighbors were left with rubble. A trade group for private firefighters founded in 2000 now represents 10,000 private firemen.

A Way to Stop Abortion

It's not a Constitutional Amendment, and it's not waiting for another opening on the Supreme Court so that a strict-constructionist can get appointed to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Phyllis Schlafly wrote about it in her book "The Supremacists" and there is actually a bill in Congress that was introduced that utilizes her strategy.

What is it? Have Congress pass a law that takes away the ability of the federal courts to rule on state laws that protect life. HR300 is also called the "We the People Act":

We the People Act - Prohibits the Supreme Court and each federal court from adjudicating any claim or relying on judicial decisions involving: (1) state or local laws, regulations, or policies concerning the free exercise or establishment of religion; (2) the right of privacy, including issues of sexual practices, orientation, or reproduction; or (3) the right to marry without regard to sex or sexual orientation where based upon equal protection of the laws.

Allows the Supreme Court and the federal courts to determine the constitutionality of federal statutes, administrative rules, or procedures in considering cases arising under the Constitution. Prohibits the Supreme Court and the federal courts from issuing any ruling that appropriates or expends money, imposes taxes, or otherwise interferes with the legislative functions or administrative discretion of the states.

Wow, take away subject matter jurisdiction and leave it to the states to decide. How come this has gotten no press at all? Probably because it would never pass in Congress. The reason why Congress would never pass legislation like this is because it would take away power at the federal level and return it to the states. Government has a hard time letting go once it gets a grip, whether it's our dollars or our civil liberties. Yuck.

Tara Stiles says Merry Christmas

No yoga, just her wishing everyone a happy holiday.



One of my favorite yoga chicks. Evah.

The Weekly Buchanan: Video Edition

Pat's book "Day of Reckoning" is out and he's on Lou Dobbs talking about it:



I agree with nearly everything Pat talks about here, except for the issue of trade.

The 9 Most Unnecessary Greatest Hits Album: Nelson makes Number 8!!!

Cracked magazine has it. My favorite entry:

The second sentence of Nelson's Wikipedia entry perfectly sums up the total lack of need for this "best of" collection to even exist: "They had a No. 1 hit in the United States with "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" during the week of September 29, 1990." Yep, for one fucking week, these dudes were kings!

To honor that devoid-of-talent week in 1990, someone decided to do the years of research required to come up with 10 other Nelson songs possibly worth hearing and gather them together on The Best of Nelson: The Millennium Collection. To think, while Y2K paranoia had us celebrating the millennium hunkered down in a bomb shelter scared that a rogue ATM was going to burst through the door at the stroke of Midnight, we could've spent it with this collection of non-hits, celebrating both the coming of the 21st century and Matthew and Gunnar Nelson's glory days. All seven of them.

Vietnam Veteran lauds female Guard who shot Gunman

The Colorado church shootings from the perspective of someone who was there:

Larry Bourbonnais, a combat-tested Vietnam veteran, said it was the bravest thing he's ever seen.

Bourbonnais, who was among those shot by a gunman Sunday at New Life Church, watched as a security guard, a woman later identified as Jeanne Assam, calmly returned fire and killed the shooter.

"She just started walking toward the gunman firing the whole way," said Bourbonnais, who was shot in the arm. "She was just yelling 'Surrender,' walking and shooting the whole time."

The whole piece is here.

Wired Mag: RP Supporters Hack Campaign Finance Laws

Wired Magazine writes:

What makes the effort special (aside from the whole blimp thing) is that it's not being run by the Ron Paul campaign, nor is it funded by a tax-exempt "527" group, nor by a political action committee, or PAC. Instead, it's spearheaded by a newly formed for-profit corporation named Liberty Political Advertising. That for-profit status means that donors are really "customers" and thus can seemingly contribute as much money as they want, irrespective of the $2,300 annual limit on individual contributions to a primary campaign. They can also disregard the $5,000 limit on contributions to a PAC promoting a candidate.

I've never been a fan of the FEC or anything at all regarding campaign finance regulation as long as there's transparency on where the money was coming from and where it was being spent. Since political speech should be the most protected form of free speech. Spending limits should be the first thing to go.

That we have essentially a 2 party system and incumbents have a hard time leaving office should tell you something about how thoroughly inept and corrupt our government is.

I mean really, for taking half of everyone's paycheck, are we getting our money's worth?

This guy came within yards of the Von Maur Gunman

Joe's Crabby Shack: Firsthand account of the Von Maur shooting

NW came within yards of the gunman at the Von Maur shooting last week. He posted his account at Joe's Crabby Shack. The whole story is pretty good. But this struck me as the most honest observation by NW:

...I am not trying to be a hero and say that I would have tried to save lives. I am saying that I was trying to save my life, and if my family was there, their lives as well. There is nothing "hero" about what I am saying, it's about survival.

I feel that I am alive today because of luck. I chose to run, but it was not a choice. I was forced to run. Many will say that is the right choice. I say it is the choice that requires luck. ALOT of luck with the position I was in.

Use of deadly force at times may also require luck. But, it also depends upon skill, awareness, and practice. These are things I can control, and these are things I trust far more than luck...

The GOP Univision Debate

UPDATE: Youtube of Dr. Paul's questions and answers (in Spanish) I've always had a thing for the Latinas and moderator Maria Elena Salinas is hot! For those looking for the full debate transcript (in English) the WSJ has it here.






Rolling Stone has this blurb from tonights debate:

I’ve been watching the Republican Univision debate broadcast from Miami — centro del universo anti-Castro — and he just went there:

“We talked to Stalin, Kruschev, and Mao. We’ve talked to the whole world. Actually I believe we’re at a time where we ought to talk to Cuba, open travel with Cuba, trade with Cuba. We create the Castro’s and the [Hugo] Chavez’s of this world by interfering and creating chaos in their countries, and they respond by throwing out their leaders.”*

Needless to say he was almost booed out of the building.

The look on John McCain’s face during a cut-away was absolutely priceless.
*The quote’s not quite exact as I’m having to re-translate the voiceover translation that is drowning out the original English answers.

-- Tim Dickinson

Which led to this comment from member Goldwater Conservative at ronpaulforums:

For the record, whenever McCain comes down here, he gives us the same anti-Castro verbal reach-around Republicans have been giving us for decades. They know how to keep the Cubans in line, which is why other Hispanics are becoming more important to them.

Dr. Paul doesn't pander that's for sure. It's interesting because follow blogger and occasional poster here CMStrapz and I had a discussion years ago about lifting the trade embargo with Cuba and trying diplomacy with Castro. Needless to say, I argued that trading with Cuba isn't in the United States' best interest. Of course, immediately after that exchange I went and did research on the topic.

Based on what I've found, I've switched my position on trade embargoes in general. While they seem like a measure that would be an effective tool against regimes we don't like. Who do embargoes like the one we have with Cuba really hurt? Mostly the poor and the middle class. Embargoes are an artificial way to create shortages of goods and services. Scarcity raises the price of said goods and services and puts it out of the reach of everyone except the wealthy. Castro isn't hurting for medical care, or food, or anything else. But him and the rest of the elites are the only ones.

Don't Vote for Ron Paul

Should You Vote For Ron Paul? (satire) - video powered by Metacafe

I pilfered this from Brits4RonPaul

What do you mean my money's no good?

Iran drops the dollar:

Iran has completely stopped selling any of its oil for U.S. dollars, an Iranian news agency reported on Saturday, citing the oil minister of the world's fourth-largest crude producer.

The ISNA news agency did not give a direct quote from Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari. A senior oil official last month said "nearly all" of Iran's crude oil sales were now being paid for in non-U.S. currencies.

For nearly two years, OPEC's second biggest producer has been reducing its exposure to the dollar, saying the weak U.S. currency is eroding its purchasing power.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West, has called the U.S. currency a "worthless piece of paper."

Is there any greater indication on how far the dollar has fallen that even our "enemies" don't want it? The dollar has lost nearly 40 percent of its value in the past 7 years and the smoke and mirrors that the government has been using (not publishing m3, central bank bailouts, etc.) to mask that fact are not going to work. Our fundamentals are unsound.

The questions remain who are the people going to blame? What direction are we going to go to solve the problem?

Newsweek: Ron Paul on abolishing the IRS

Pilfered from Redstateeclectic:

Howard Fineman of Newsweek continuing his interview with Ron Paul

Bin Laden found!

That's the buzz about the latest film by Morgan Spurlock, the guy who did "SuperSize Me". From MSNBC:

Rumors are flying that filmmaker Morgan Spurlock of "Super Size Me" fame may have done what the United States government has failed to do for the last six years — find Osama bin Laden.

The speculation first began at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where Spurlock showed a select group of potential buyers 15 minutes of footage from his new documentary, "Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?" The film follows Spurlock through the Middle East in his search for the elusive leader of al-Qaida. According to Slashfilm.com, The Weinstein Co. quickly snapped up the picture after seeing the clips.

The CIA Destroyed Interrogation Tapes

I haven't been following the story of the CIA destroying videotapes of interrogations involving waterboarding. But, on its face, it reads like one of those stories where the cover up will be worse than the waterboarding. From Ed Morrissey:

Those who are inclined to shrug this off should rethink their positions. The action of the CIA not only shows disrespect to Congress, the only real check on potential abuse, it may have provided the basis for overturning an important conviction in the war on terror. In a nation based on the rule of law, we cannot allow government officials in positions of power to make up their own rules as they go along. We certainly cannot abide them disseminating false information as Hayden apparently has.

This has my attention now, though we probably won't get the full story before a new administration is in office. We should be fully aware of what is being done in our name. The Bush administration has always said that they don't torture. But with video evidence being destroyed the credibility of those claims certainly should be called into question.

Ron Paul Blimp Charts New Territory

UPDATE: From Reason's blurb in the comments section (addressing the FEC concerns):

I half-ignored the blimp talk, because I thought the blimp was a waste of money relative to buying radio or TV time independently, and I thought it gave Wonkette too many opportunities to make fun of Ron Paul.

But adding the "Fuck you FEC! Come and get us, motherfuckers!" element to the blimp makes this damn near a revolutionary act.

It would have been TRULY revolutionary to simply ignore the FEC altogether. But inventing a form of organization designed to make them irrelevant, and bury their bureaucracy in paper while doing it, is a nice second best.

UPDATE: The blimp will fly this weekend. ABCnews has a good write up about it.

From Politico.com:

If a whimsical publicity stunt goes as planned, a blimp hyping the long-shot Republican presidential campaign of the Texas congressman will launch next week.

The Ron Paul blimp is set to fly from North Carolina, over Washington, New York and Boston, before heading to New Hampshire, where the Jan. 8 primary offers the iconic libertarian perhaps his best chance of translating his zealous Internet support into votes.

Like the unprecedented online fundraising behind Paul’s bid, the blimp effort, which appears on pace financially, isn’t affiliated with the official campaign and pushes traditional political conventions.

I like this part because I think campaign finance laws are a big sham:

...the outside lawyer retained by blimp backers is former Federal Election Commission chairman Brad Smith, who is advising former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s rival bid for the GOP nomination.

Smith is among the leading opponents of campaign finance laws, and the blimp plan offers common cause on that front with Paul’s anti-regulation supporters, as well as an opportunity to set potentially far-reaching FEC precedent.

Further down:

As for the money floating the blimp, Collette and Smith have developed a detailed business plan carefully structured to avoid Byzantine campaign finance laws.

They shunned traditional mechanisms such as creating an independent non-profit group under section 527 of the IRS code — like Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the other groups that spent millions on ads in 2004 — or a political action committee — like EMILY’s List. Instead, they went an almost unheard of route, establishing a for-profit company: Liberty Political Advertising.

Check out www.ronpaulblimp.com for their revamped site and you can view in realtime how much money they have raised.

Romney and "The Speech"

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered the speech yesterday, allegedly to address concerns about his Mormon faith. Whether to make it or not has been subject to internal debate for awhile. I haven't watched it, because it's not an issue to me. But apparently it's enough of a concern to enough GOP voters that the campaign went with it. You can view the speech here.

The reaction to it by the punditocracy was what caught my attention. Hugh Hewitt gushed:

Mitt Romney's "Faith in America" speech was simply magnificent, and anyone who denies it is not to be trusted as an analyst. On every level it was a masterpiece. The staging and Romney's delivery, the eclipse of all other candidates it caused, the domination of the news cycle just prior to the start of absentee voting in New Hampshire on Monday --for all these reasons and more it will be long discussed as a masterpiece of political maneuver.

Which led to Bryan at hotair.com commenting:

I liked Romney’s speech quite a bit, but Hugh is making out like it was the St. Crispin’s Day speech as delivered by Winston Churchill in the Sistine Chapel on the first Christmas with Nazi bombers overhead.

Either that or the declaration of independence speech by President Whitmore on July 4th before he hopped into his airplane to attack the giant flying saucers.

With apologies to Shakespeare a bit of this masterpiece of snark from one of the readers at hotair:

Journalist nor pundit, shall over free men
Be by flowing words a common will deny.
This civic will the good man teach his son;
And Election Day shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be triumphant,–
We Free, We Happy Free, We Americans.
For we that day that cast our votes in free
Rule we together; be we ne’er so vile,
This day shall our wisdom show forth:
And “Great Men” in our land now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurst they were not there;
And hold their statecraft cheap whiles any speaks
That voted with us upon Election Day.

Yoga with Tara Stiles Ford Model

This week: This is the routine I try to do 2-3 times a week. It's constant movement and you can add variations that make it really challenging.

Check out Tara's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tarastiles

Trump tips pretty well

From WWTDD (the post is NSFW for language, the rest of the site is NSFW for language, adult subject matter, and adult images, in other words it's a website I visit everyday and it cracks me up)

My friend works at the Buffalo Club in Santa Monica. A couple days ago Donald Trump came in and left him a $10,000 tip! My friends think he's just trying to promote his celebrity Apprentice but whatever. He told me Donald hardly even talked to him until the end when he asked, "What's the biggest tip you ever got?" I guess Jerry Bruckheimer comes in a lot and once tipped him $500 on a $1000 tab. Trump just wanted to show he's got the biggest dick!

Click on the link to see what Donald Trump eats for lunch.

The Gathering Storm

An academic predicts that 2008 is going to be a rough year:

Why a devalued US dollar is bad for exports:

First, the bulk of crude oil purchases takes place in dollars; a falling dollar translates into still higher crude oil prices. Second, the U. S. dollar is the major reserve currency of the international monetary system and dollar-paying investments (such as U.S. Treasury bills and bonds) are held in massive amounts by foreign banks and governments. Dollar devaluation makes these investments less attractive and any disinvestment in these areas would sharply drive bond prices down and increase interest rates.

The third reason why dollar devaluation makes recession more likely is that it effectively prevents the Federal Reserve from pushing U.S. interest rates much lower. Any additional Fed easing (inflation) would be seen as a signal of even further future dollar devaluation and even higher dollar prices for oil. Unfortunately, we will not be able to "inflate" our way out of this recession this time. We will simply have to take our lumps and let market forces liquidate the bulk of the malinvestments caused by the unprecedented Greenspan money bubble. This liquidation process will not be pretty but it is necessary to restore a sustainable economic recovery in the years ahead.

Needless to say Professor Armentano is not really optimistic about the economy in 2008. The rest of his column is here.

The Cause of Big Government

Ron Simpson over at Cluttered Eclectic Mind writes:

To justify more people, you need to offer more product, or in government's case, more services. It leads to the system to find other needs it can fill. This is known in corporate world as "growing the business." It is also the cause of the "Nanny State" mentality.

The other part that Ron didn't mention that I would add is the incentives of losses in the private sector that aren't a factor in government. In business, if a product is offered that nobody wants losses indicate that that business should stop offering that product. Otherwise, the company may face loss in profits, or even bankruptcy. There is no such incentive in government. In fact, once a government program gets started, it is, to paraphrase Reagan the nearest thing to eternal life on earth.

Ron Paul on the Religious Litmus Test

Pilfered from RedStateEclectic:

Howard Fineman of Newsweek interviews Ron Paul on Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee



More to come, I'll post as I find them.

Ron Paul Micro Blimp

I don't know if the site is a goof on the real one but the video is hilarious. It's the Ron Paul Miniblimp Donate Today!!!:

Scandal!!! at GOP Strawpoll in San Francisco

UPDATE: Thanks to anonymous for posting the youtube!



This is actually a pretty funny story because it shows you how much of a sham the whole political process is. The fact is, these Ron Paul supporters did exactly what the organizer of the dinner asked so that they could have a vote in the straw poll. That the vote was canceled because the results weren't going to be to the liking of the organizer reflects poorly on the organization itself. Why take a vote at all? In this case they didn't. This story is going to get more press than if the vote were carried out and Ron Paul was declared the winner.



Not really, but an interesting story that I found a blurb about on LewRockwell.com:

Scores of Ron Paul supporters showed up to the San Francisco Republican Alliance dinner, where they were treated to an hour and a half of speeches for Fred Thompson. When Ron Paul supporters asked to speak, they were told that time had run out and they held a raffle. After the raffle, the organizers announced that the rest of the program had been cancelled.

I found this detailed eyewitness account of the dinner at this thread at ronpaulforums:

The San Francisco Republican Alliance’s Common Sense Supper Club announced that local Republicans were invited to attend a holiday buffet party and Presidential straw poll vote on the evening of Tues. Dec. 4. On the morning of the event, a Ron Paul supporter spoke by phone with the chairperson and hostess. The supporter was told that if he and any other Ron Paul supporters wanted to attend, they could either participate in both the buffet starting at 6:45pm and the later straw poll for $33, or come later at 8:15pm solely to vote in the straw poll for a discounted entrance fee of $5, provided they did not eat any food. The Ron Paul supporter then posted the event on Meetup, and we ended up with a huge crowd of Ron Paul supporters arriving at the event. At least 15 or more of the 80 guests seated at the buffet were Ron Paul supporters, while those who came at 8:15pm solely to vote for Ron Paul numbered an additional 40. These 40 people were forced to wait outside of the event standing in the lobby for at least an hour until 9:30pm or later. Finally, the 40 people were allowed into the event room after paying the previously-quoted entrance fee of $5. The total of approximately 55 or more Ron Paul supporters, who wore Ron Paul buttons and carried Ron Paul signs, made it clear to all in the room that the Ron Paul supporters outnumbered supporters of all other candidates. As a side note, the Fred Thompson supporters had during the entire event posted a huge Fred Thompson sign on the wall inside the event, and had distributed Fred Thompson campaign literature at every place-setting at every table.

There are pics, and allegedly video. Quick search on youtube didn't yield anything.

I think this story is friggin hilarious, who knew there were 55 Republicans in San Francisco?

This Means War

UPDATE and BUMP: Copied this from the comments from RightwingSnarkle -

...Founders were concerned about (this) - that a single person (or small group) could commit the country to foreign entanglements. That's why congress alone has the authority to declare (and fund) war. It's not something to be taken lightly, or done without thorough deliberation.

Which reminds me that Congress abdicates that responsibility every time it issues an AUMF.

Over at RedStateEclectic, Laura comes up with the best analogy for the importance of declaring war as defined by the Constitution:

Say what you will about the assorted "authorizations to use force"--the difference between those and a formal declaration of war is somewhat akin to the difference between a teenager telling a girl that he really, really loves her on the one hand, and marrying her on the other (to use what is, I guess, sort of an outdated analogy in many circles). It's the difference between taking an action and hoping for good results, absent commitment--and commitment no matter what the results, to the bitter end.

Similar to the way Roe vs. Wade made abortion legal, I've always thought that AUMF's were in the same vein. A workaround, a way to get a desired result without meeting the high threshold that following the Constitution would require.

Would George Bush have been able to get a formal declaration from Congress back in 2003 to conduct a preemptive war against Iraq? Based on what evidence we had, there being a GOP controlled Congress, and it being 2 years after 9/11. Probably. Why he didn't he?

Ron Paul Linkorama

The Ron Paul Blimp is scheduled to launch next week. There was a tiny blurb about it in the Advance Press:

One of the largest blimps in the world will be launched in Weeksville on Monday promoting Republican Ron Paul’s presidential bid.

The blimp tour supporting the Texas congressman’s presidential campaign is slated to formally kick off next week out of Airship Management Services’ office in Weeksville.

A revamp of the site ronpaulblimp.com will include a way to track where the blimp is via GPS in real time as well as a way to purchase advertising while the blimp is flying over events.

----------

Vijay Boyapati left a job with Google to head up Operation Live Free or Die. He wants to get a thousand volunteers to move to New Hampshire and campaign on behalf of Dr. Paul. It looks like he'll be getting around that many in next couple of weeks.

----------------

Finally, Wolf Blitzer had a nice segment on Ron Paul and did an interview with Pat Buchanan immediately afterward




Finally (really) Dr. Paul made an appearance on "The View", Conservative Belle has the video

Shep Smith

I had Fox in the background earlier and this made me look up and laugh when Shep unloaded. I'm glad someone youtubed it (pilfered from HotAir):

Der Spiegel: Why America's Currency is the World's Problem

This is an in depth and excellent piece from the German mag that explains the fall of the dollar and how it's losing its place as the world's reserve currency. It's a good history of how the United States went from being the largest creditor nation to the largest debtor nation. Finally, it explores the role of China and what it means when people say they are our banker:

A key role now falls to China. Ironically, this (officially) communist state now has the power to determine whether the bastion of capitalism will implode. If China were to unload even just a portion of the dollar reserves it has accumulated over the years onto the market, the dollar's exchange rate would crash.

But in doing so China would inflict great harm on itself. Its remaining reserves would be almost worthless, and who would be able to pay for the vast quantities of consumer goods its factories pump out every day? Both sides, the Americans and the Chinese, benefit from the current system, which provides the former with cheap consumer goods and the latter with dollars in abundance.

Nevertheless, this mechanism appears to be reaching its limits. Recognizing this, Western politicians have been urging the Chinese leadership for years to abandon the artificial undervaluation of its currency, but with little success. Aside from a few minor revaluations, nothing has happened so far.

Question: At some point, China may decide it's in its best interest to dump the dollar, take the hit on what it can't sell off and go to some other currency as its reserve. Whom among the current presidential candidates is even talking about this? Duncan Hunter? Ron Paul? Those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Read the whole article here.