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The Machine Turns on Ron Paul
Anthony Wade
http://www.opednews.com
Thursday September 6, 2007
The GOP would-be-presidents took the stage tonight in an attempt
to achieve several objectives. First they wanted to sell the notion
that President Bush’s surge is working. Secondly, they wanted
to insist that leaving Iraq would somehow dishonor the troops.
Lastly, they wanted to turn on Ron Paul and try to torpedo his
candidacy.
Facing daunting tasks of a news channel that is at the heart of
the machine, Faux News, Paul had to deal with being virtually ignored
in comparison to the anointed candidates such as Giuliani, McCain
and Romney. Heck, he got one for every two questions to the other
second tier candidates such as Huckabee and Brownback. Besides the
stacked deck, Dr. Paul also faced the attacks of the Fox News staff,
disguised as questions.
The first question posed to Dr. Paul was a purposeful misquote,
where he was asked about an alleged quote where he said that people
should be allowed to carry firearms on airplanes and that by doing
so, maybe the terrorists on 911 would have thought twice. Of course
this is not what Dr. Paul had said. He had stated that if the
airlines had not been required to submit to the government they
could have protected their own customers. The question was designed
to give a question to Paul that he would have to correct instead
of actually answering.
(Article continues below)
The second question though revealed the unbelievable bias of Fox
News. In response to a question about Iraq and troops, Paul reiterated
that we needed to pull the troops home, period. He has consistently
said that we need to address the entire foreign policy and start
protecting our own borders and our own country. In response to
the false notion that there would be a “bloodbath”
if we just pulled out, Paul quickly reminded everyone that the
same people speculating that there would be a bloodbath are the
same people who said Iraq would be a “cakewalk” and
a “slam dunk.” He then correctly pointed out the faulty
logic that says we need to stay for stability when it is widely
reported that our presence on the Arabian Peninsula is what prompted
the attacks of 911. The response from Chris Wallace was to pose
his own follow up question which was, “So you are saying
you would take your marching orders from al Qaeda?”
Are you kidding me? The inherent bias in the question was disgusting
during a debate forum and Chris Wallace revealed himself as nothing
but a whore for the machine and not a credible newsperson. Thankfully,
Dr. Paul was up to the task by responding that he would take his
marching orders from the Constitution. The other candidates of
course tried to turn on Paul immediately, crying about that we
“broke” Iraq, so we must fix it. What was far more
egregious though was the notion that bringing home the troops
would somehow dishonor their service. Can you imagine if any democrat
had intimated that somehow a soldier’s effort could be dishonored?
Facing the attacks, Paul responded that the American people didn’t
break anything; the neocons did by hijacking our foreign policy
and that if something is not working you do not continue to sacrifice
American lives, you fix the problem.
The last question Paul faced, and that’s right America,
three questions in an hour and a half from my count, was in response
to another silly hypothetical posed by Fox News. This hypothetical
was designed to generate responses about blowing Iran up. It had
Iran on the verge of a nuclear weapon, refusing to cooperate with
the world, and threatening Israel. Fox started the answers with
Paul, conceivably to try and get his opinions ganged up on again.
Paul again showed diplomacy and a respect for the constitution
by saying he would have to go to the congress and would try and
negotiate as opposed to finding scenarios where war is the only
option.
The post-debate coverage started with Rudy on Hannity and Colmes
where Giuliani mocked Ron Paul and suggested that he and Mike
Gravel have their own debates. Dr. Paul’s great offense
to King Rudy? He simply disagreed with the other candidates on
the majority of issues, so therefore, he should be ridiculed.
The phrase, “except for Ron Paul” was uttered countless
times in post-debate coverage as the machine tried to sell you
on the two sides theory. The notion that there are only two sides,
republican and democrat and you must line up on one. People like
Ron Paul keep messing that notion up. Please see my article from
the other day for a more detailed account of this:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_anthony__...
Ron Paul must really be scaring the machine candidates for this
concerted effort to tank his candidacy. Whenever he was asked
a question, it seemed that other microphones were elevated so
the snickering could be heard. Yet after every response, the audience
erupted in applause for the straight-talking Congressman from
Texas. McCain seemed desperate to sell the notion that the surge
is working. Giuliani could not answer a simple question about
his tattered family values record. He went back to his great job
as mayor of New York and ignored his three wives and hypocrisy
during the Clinton debacle; as well as his ties to organized crime.
Romney had a horrific debate and was not a standout.
Once again we had a platform full of people who think that killing
more American kids brings them honor; as long as it was not their
kids. That repulsive notion alone should give all Americans pause
in considering any of these candidates. Only Ron Paul said that
we should respect the constitution and protect this country first.
In return he was ambushed by the network that hosted the debate
and his challengers. He was mocked for suggesting that maybe we
should listen to the American people who want the troops home.
Even the words used by Fox and the candidates framed the debate.
Whenever a withdrawal was spoken of, it was referred to as retreat
or surrender. Whenever keeping troops in it was referred to as
“victory.” The president’s surge was applauded
and the groundwork was laid for continuing the war for untold
years. The only sane voice once again was Ron Paul.
He faced unethical follow up questions from the moderators and
was largely ignored. When he was paid attention, they tried to
mock him. Through it all, he stuck to his principles because that
is what guides him. When you believe in what you run on you do
not need to write it down and read it off of cue cards. Ultimately
Ron Paul might be too libertarian for my liking, but when placed
in front of the other GOP hopefuls who are fighting over who can
blow up the rest of the world most effectively, he is the only
light left in a party that continues to fade into darkness.
Fox even tried to minimize the online outpouring of support for
Paul in the post-debate: “who won the debate” question
by refusing to allow online voting. Instead everything had to
be texted in. The results at first glance were still 35% for Paul
with only 17% for Rudy in second place. When they were being announced
you heard Sean Hannity bemoaning “here we go again.”
Yes Sean, here we go again, no matter how much you and machine
try and turn on Ron Paul, his message is resonating with the people;
you remember them, don’t you?
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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