Ron Paul: Defending Liberty - San Antonio style

Latest Meetup Number

Groups: 620
Members: 28,294 and growing!

View Map

Greetings from Iowa

The Iowa Capital Building is incredibly beautiful

Well I touched down on Saturday in Omaha, hooked up with Jeff Jared (this campaign seems to have a lot of people with two first names) and made my way to Des Moines. I have been really pleasantly surprised by Des Moines, what a beautiful, fun, vibrant town! I could live here very happily if it weren't for the winters.

As far as the campaign goes, the Iowa Straw Poll is less then 2 weeks away and activities are in full swing. I am crashing at a house that a local supporter provided with Jeff (paid staffer from Seattle) and Tom (volunteer who is spending his summer break from University of San Diego helping the campaign in Iowa).

As for me, I managed a fairly relaxed evening on Saturday before cranking back into full court press on Sunday. I had two meetings, a strategy session, and hours of phone calls before finally crashing after a 15 hour day. Today should be just as involved. I have a sit down with the local brain trust at 10, followed by a meeting with the head of Iowa GOP at noon. From there, it's out to Ames to scope out the Straw Poll venue and then back to Des Moines for an evening Meetup. Somewhere in there I also have to arrange for a car, and work on the Fairfield event Dr. Paul will be doing next Sunday night that I have been tasked with taking from scratch to completion. And that doesn't even touch on the fact we just rented an office which has no furniture, computers, phones or literature or the planning for the actual straw poll or the fact that we are going to have hundreds of out of state volunteers to deal with! There is definitely never a dull moment on the campaign trail.

If you Google Ron Paul...

Capital Hill Blue Endorses Ron Paul

Capital Hill Blue, which bills itself as the "oldest political news site on the web" has formally endorsed Ron Paul for president. This is an amazing turn of events considering that CHB had been one of Dr. Paul's harshest critics. They were even forced to retract two scurrilous hit pieces that were so over the top that they could only be describes as disgusting. I don't know if the endorsement really means much after CHB lost so much credibility over the attack pieces, but the 180 degree turn is certainly worth the read.

Are the Neo-Cons Running from Ron Paul?

From Libertyman

By not attending the CNN/YouTube Republican Presidential Debate the so called front runners in the GOP race are refusing Ron Paul a battle he would likely win, and they are hoping to cling to a win of the nomination based on those votes from the willfully ignorant of the new direction inspired by Ron Paul’s leadership in getting us out of Iraq, restoring our lost civil liberties, repairing our friendships throughout the world, and all of the other tough leadership skills it will take to cut the government down to size from this unsustainable leviathan form that it now is in. The kind of Presidency that Ron Paul would give will be nothing like this embarrassment and humiliation that has been brought on to the GOP by these “Neo-Conned” war party pirates.

Their new tactic seems to be to deny him battle in order to coast through and sustain their lead by staying away from a direct side by side comparison to the most principled and most sincere intellect that Congressman Ron Paul displays in these debates. Then recently the so called front runners in the GOP are said to be rejecting attendance at the Texas GOP Straw poll where some 50,000 past and current delegates will attend and vote, and we see once again these Neo-Cons duck a direct line up next to Ron Paul and in his home state no less.

When will the running away from Ron Paul end. I hope it ends when Ron Paul is picked for the GOP Nomination for President in 2008.

Running with the big dogs

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Four Republican presidential candidates are being invited to a political forum August 20th at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan public policy think tank based in Washington, is cosponsoring the events with the university and ABC News.

School spokeswoman Jan Tors says the institute is in the process of sending out invitations to the four Republicans -- former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Arizona Senator John McCain and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

Ron Paul ‘Spammers’ Spam Local Charity With Wall of Food

While Ron Paul visited Spartanburg South Carolina to deliver a speech, his supporters were taking a little action of their own. Over and over it has been said that all of Ron Paul’s supporters are not real people but simply a few spammers because no news station can quite understand that the man generally draws interest in his stances on non-interventionism, limited government, and a return to liberties that have been lost over the last administration.

Instead of heralding this man of principle and picking up on the overwhelming thirst Americans seem to have for Ron Paul’s message, the mainstream media instead pretends it is not real. When Ron Paul takes a commanding lead in a debate poll, the media giants claim that he must have only a few supporters who are “spamming” the polls. When he comes out ahead on Internet polls, pollsters take his name off the list of choices because they accuse his supporters of “skewing” their numbers (by somehow refusing to cooperate and let the shows reflect the pollsters opinions rather than the people’s.)

Read more

The Big Show

With just over 2 weeks left before the straw poll, I have been dispatched to Iowa. The next couple of days will be pretty hectic, so I can't promise any new posts until I am on the ground. If you haven't done so already, e-mail calliowa@ronpaul2008.com and sign up to call Iowa voters on Dr. Paul's behalf. This is the final push and we can take all the help we can get!

On an unrelated note, I picked up the phone today while covering the switchboard for our receptionist. I always write down the name of the caller as I get it so I can let whoever they are calling for know. I ask who it was and a warm voice on the other end said, "This is Ron." I carefully wrote "Ron" on my scratch pad. I ask for the last name and he very patiently replied, "Paul." I stared at the name and ask, "Who are you calling for, Mr...." About that time I realized who I was talking to. He started laughing warmly as I fumbled to apologize." I guess we DO need to work on his name recognition.

I'll write to y'all from Iowa in a couple of days.

Ron Paul Introduces New Legislation To Curb FBI Abuses of Privacy

Today Ron Paul and three other legislators introduced the National Security Letters Reform Act of 2007 to curb recently disclosed privacy abuses by the FBI in the issuance of National Security Letters. This is desperately needed reform.

The legislation provides NSL recipients (public libraries and other public institutions) expanded rights to challenge the Letters, and gives "targets" (individuals being spied on) rights to legal counsel and notification that information collected on them will be used in future proceedings. It's a shame these rights have been ignored until now.

Hopefully this will start a movement towards the eventual elimination of the dreaded Patriot Act.

'Nuff Said

It's amazing how much fairer the public media (NPR) is than the major private media

Ron Paul's Libertarian Message Attracts Supporters

All Things Considered, July 25, 2007 · Republican congressman and presidential hopeful Ron Paul has distinguished himself from the pack with his libertarian message, and his campaign's momentum has been accelerating with impressive speed.

Paul is a doctor — an obstetrician and gynecologist who was an Air Force flight surgeon in the 1960s.

In Congress, he is a steadfast opponent of big government, voting against many tax increases, against the USA Patriot Act, and against two wars with Iraq.

Read entire article

Ron Paul Making Waves

Timeless Wisdom from the United States Founders

Dr. Paul speaks about abortion

Finally....Positive coverage from the Main Stream Media!

MSNBC sent a reporter to the D.C. area Meetup last Friday and the result was a remarkably fair and positive article. I am particularly heartened and excited by the torrent of comments that the article generated and the overwhelmingly positive tenor of almost all of them. I recommend that you read the article and some of the comments as well.

Two things really come through for me. First, Ron Paul supporters are really pumped up. Second, they REALLY get it! The depth and intelligence of most of the respondents shows a remarkable amount of work to understand the issues and find ways of communicating them that people can understand and relate to. When you do find the odd negative comment, rather than the attacking the poster, the following comments seek to clarify and educate him/her about the stakes, the issues, and the philosophy behind it.

After working a hellishly tough 13 hour day at the campaign headquarters, reading this stiffened my spine and raised my spirits remarkably! The Revolution is in full swing and Americans across the country, and around the world, are waking up and demanding change.

Note: I wrote this on Tuesday, but Blogger has convinced itself that I am a spambot despite the fact that this site was started in 1994. I don't know if this has to do with the assumption that all of Ron Paul's support comes from 7 guys with mad computer skills living in their parents' basement or if it was just a weird random coincidence. Either way, I'm sorry you are just now reading this...and what ever I've posted in the last couple of days. - Free2Smooze
*************************************************************

Posted: Monday, July 23, 2007 3:50 PM by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC's Andrew Merten

As First Read noted last week, GOP dark horse candidate Ron Paul now has more cash on hand than once-supposed frontrunner John McCain. While the Texas congressman hasn’t held nearly as financially demanding nationwide schedule as McCain, he has developed a grassroots following that aids in spreading name recognition and raising money. We, at the NBC Political Unit, were interested in Paul’s grassroot support -- which has been dubbed “The Ron Paul Revolution” -- and decided to attend an organizational meeting/pizza party here in Washington to see how the group operates.

Meeting on a rooftop deck of a downtown Washington apartment building, about 50 Paul supporters -- relying heavily on the internet for their organizational and social networking -- got together Friday evening to discuss campaign volunteering activities, make a YouTube video, and of course, raise some money for their candidate (bringing in $2,500 that night). Jeff Frazee, the 24-year-old organizer of the event, who will soon be starting as a youth coordinator for the official campaign, said that spreading name recognition is a primary goal of the group, and that this meeting served mainly as a meet-and-greet for members and to plan future activities, such as handing out Paul pamphlets at subway stops and baseball games. “The more people learn about Ron Paul, the higher his polling numbers go,” said Frazee, adding that the inverse is true Republican front-runner Giuliani.

Read the entire article and comment thread here

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

Greenville Rally

More Photos

From AutoDogmatic.com

America Supports Ron Paul: A Report On Today's Rally In Greenville, SC

Today was transformative for me.

Not because I met Ron Paul in the flesh for the first time -- though that did happen, at the campaign rally in Greenville, South Carolina. I even shook his hand, and suggested he quiz Fed Chairman Bernanke on how exactly the shadowy and mysterious "inflation expectations" he always cites could be the source of actual inflation.

No, the day was a watershed for me not because of Ron Paul -- whom I understand pretty well and am already in support of -- but because of everyone except Ron Paul at that rally. The surprise to me was the people.

You see, I went in expecting an audience which was somehow "not normal", indescribably; maybe quirky or geeky; paranoid; socially-awkward; heavily biased towards "fringe" types. You know, internet people.

Well, if these were "internet people," we apparently need to rethink our notion of what the internet consists of. Because this audience was America.

Read the complete article

Watch Event Videos Here

Ron Paul Rocks South Carolina

Paul faithful flock to Spartanburg appearance

JASON SPENCER
Published July 21, 2007

A little-known Texas congressman seeking the Republican nomination for president visited Spartanburg on Saturday and seemed to arrive with all the makings of rock-star candidate for his party — despite polling low, little name recognition and a relatively small campaign staff.

Supporters call it the “Ron Paul Revolution.” You might’ve seen it on signs or T-shirts. Or MySpace.

Paul received no less than 16 standing ovations during his hour-plus speech and question-and-answer session at the Summit Pointe Event Center.

Read the Complete Article Here.

Watch Event Videos Here

Ron Paul Endorsements

From: AFRP Blog

• Michael Badnarik - 2004 Libertarian Party Presidential candidate
• Chuck Baldwin - 2004 Constitution Party Vice-Presidential candidate
• Jim Clymer - Constitution Party National Chair
• Jim Guest - Missouri State Representative, District 5
• Barbara Hagan - Long time right-to-life activist and former two-term New Hampshire state representative
• Steve Kubby - 2008 Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate
• Karen Kwiatkowski - Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel
• Michael Peroutka - 2004 Constitution Party Presidential Candidate
• Justin Raimondo - 1996 Republican Congressional candidate in California and editorial director of Antiwar.com
• Michael Charles Smith - 2008 Republican Party Presidential candidate
• United Republicans of California
• Walter Block, Ph.D. - Professor of Economics at Loyola University and Fellow at the Mises Institute
• Gary Galles, Ph.D. - Professor of Economics at Pepperdine University
• Thomas Woods, Ph.D. - Author and resident historian at the Mises Institute
• Vox Day - Political columnist
• Bill Dumas - Hollywood producer
• John Derbyshire - Political columnist
• Alex Jones - radio host
• Devvy Kidd - Political columnist
• Aaron Russo - Hollywood film producer
• Gary B. Smith - Fox News economics commentator
• Joseph Sobran - Political columnist
• Andrew Napolitano - Fox Senior Judicial Analyst and Superior Court Judge for New Jersey

The New Digs and the Showdown in South Carolina

I am happy to report that the Ron Paul 2008 campaign team has finished moving into our new, spacious offices in Arlington Virginia. The facility is a huge step up from the 300 square feet we had before. It includes a recording studio, top notch communications systems, volunteer work stations, private offices, conference room, and even a kitchen. We are frantically hiring new staff and organizing volunteers in order to take advantage of all of the new possibilities. It was a lot of work, but as I look around and contemplate my own spacious and well stocked space (I have two computers!), I know that we have what we need to be even more effective and better serve the campaign and Dr. Paul. After all, look what we accomplished with 1/10th of the space!

On an unrelated note, we got a text from Communications Director Jesse Benton down in South Carolina during the candidate luncheon with Dr. Paul. Organizer and critic Rick Beltram, the GOP boss in Spartanburg, first said that Dr. Paul wasn't welcome in his county. When the Pauliacs paralyzed his phones and e-mail with complaints, he reneged and invited Dr. Paul for a luncheon. He then repeatedly raised the price of the luncheon in order to keep attendance low so he could claim Dr. Paul was not popular. He then gave a newspaper interview claiming that Dr. Paul only had 225 RSVP's for the event and he was obviously a non-factor in the race. Well today was the big day and Jesse reports that the hall was standing room only and Dr. Paul received 16 standing ovations from the South Carolina GOP faithful. Once more the establishment Republicans try to marginalize him and once more it blows up in their face!

The Sunday New York Times

The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul

By CHRISTOPHER CALDWELL

Whipping westward across Manhattan in a limousine sent by Comedy Central's "Daily Show," Ron Paul, the 10-term Texas congressman and long-shot Republican presidential candidate, is being briefed. Paul has only the most tenuous familiarity with Comedy Central. He has never heard of "The Daily Show." His press secretary, Jesse Benton, is trying to explain who its host, Jon Stewart, is. "He's an affable gentleman," Benton says, "and he's very smart. What I'm getting from the pre-interview is, he's sympathetic."

Paul nods.

"GQ wants to profile you on Thursday," Benton continues. "I think it's worth doing."

"GTU?" the candidate replies.

"GQ. It's a men's magazine."

"Don't know much about that," Paul says.

Thin to the point of gauntness, polite to the point of daintiness, Ron Paul is a 71-year-old great-grandfather, a small-town doctor, a self-educated policy intellectual and a formidable stander on constitutional principle. In normal times, Paul might be — indeed, has been — the kind of person who is summoned onto cable television around April 15 to ventilate about whether the federal income tax violates the Constitution. But Paul has in recent weeks become a sensation in magazines he doesn't read, on Web sites he has never visited and on television shows he has never watched.

Alone among Republican candidates for the presidency, Paul has always opposed the Iraq war. He blames "a dozen or two neocons who got control of our foreign policy," chief among them Vice President Dick Cheney and the former Bush advisers Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, for the debacle. On the assumption that a bad situation could get worse if the war spreads into Iran, he has a simple plan. It is: "Just leave." During a May debate in South Carolina, he suggested the 9/11 attacks could be attributed to United States policy. "Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us?" he asked, referring to one of Osama bin Laden's communiqués. "They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years." Rudolph Giuliani reacted by demanding a retraction, drawing gales of applause from the audience. But the incident helped Paul too. Overnight, he became the country's most conspicuous antiwar Republican.

Paul's opposition to the war in Iraq did not come out of nowhere. He was against the first gulf war, the war in Kosovo and the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, which he called a "declaration of virtual war." Although he voted after Sept. 11 to approve the use of force in Afghanistan and spend $40 billion in emergency appropriations, he has sounded less thrilled with those votes as time has passed. "I voted for the authority and the money," he now says. "I thought it was misused."

Read the Full Article Here

Ron Paul and Faith

Statement of Faith
By Rep. Ron Paul, MD.

---

The Covenant News ~ July 21, 2007

---

We live in times of great uncertainty when men of faith must stand up for our values and our traditions lest they be washed away in a sea of fear and relativism. As you likely know, I am running for President of the United States, and I am asking for your support.

I have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the political arena. In fact, the pandering that typically occurs in the election season I find to be distasteful. But for those who have asked, I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do. I know, as you do, that our freedoms come not from man, but from God. My record of public service reflects my reverence for the Natural Rights with which we have been endowed by a loving Creator.

Read Full Text Here

Don't Follow the Money

Wash Times talks to former Howard Dean campaign hero Joe Trippi and others about early dollars and polls:

"Historically, the amount of money raised in the preprimary cycle has not been a good indicator of who wins the nomination," said Mr. Trippi, an adviser to former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

"Why so much attention by the press?" he said. "They can only report on two things at this early juncture in the race - polls and who's winning the fundraising race, neither of which, by the way, is a good indication of who wins."

In the 2004 Democratic race, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut "led in all the early polls in 2003 and Dean led in the money race by a wide margin, but neither of them came in first or second in the number of delegates at the convention in 2004," Mr. Trippi said.

"In 1984, former Vice President Walter Mondale had all the money in the world and a guy by the name of Gary Hart, who had message and not much money at all, beat him in the primaries and actually won more convention delegates. It took the party's superdelegates to put Mondale over the top," he said.

But:

This is not to say that strategists and analysts think money is an irrelevant factor in who wins next year's caucuses and primaries. Rather, they argue that the amount of money raised this early in the two-year marathon process is not a reliable basis on which to forecast who will be the strongest candidates in the state-by-state contests to come.

Wednesday Night Conference Call with Supporters

Wednesday night I joined in on a conference call to independent organizers around the country. It was a lot of fun and we have received really positive feedback about the event. We are going to try to do this on a fairly regular basis. Click here to watch the archived version.

Ron Paul on Tucker Carlson Today

Ron Paul is U.S. Military's #1 Choice

FOX News does it's best to try to explain this away. Fair & Balanced?

From: Students for Ron Paul

Yes you heard me right. Now that all Q2 financial reports from both sides are publicized we can see who is getting money from where.

It has been no surprise that the contributions from the US Navy, US Army, US Air Force, and US Veterans tends to favor the Republican Party but what might be a little surprising is that Congressman Ron Paul leads the pack overall with more contributions than even Senator John McCain. Here are the numbers (in dollars) as compiled by eaglescout over at TheSpinFactor.com:

NAME: TOTAL [ARMY] [NAVY] [AIRFORCE] [VETERAN][USMC]

RON PAUL: 24,965 [6,975] [6,765] [4,650] [5,075] [1,500]
McCain: 17,475 [6925] [6305] [1795] [800] [1600]
Romney: 3,551 [2,051] [0] [1500] [0]
Giuliani: 2,320 [1,450] [370] [250] [250]
Hunter: 1000 [0] [1000] [0]
Huckabee: 750 [250] [0] [500]
Tancredo: 350 [350] [0] [0]
Brownback: 71 [71] [0] [0]
Thompson: 0 [0] [0] [0]

Percentages**:

49.5% Ron Paul
34.6% McCain
7.0% Romney
4.6% Giuliani
2.0% Hunter
2.3% Others

*Note: These statistics include the contributions of employees who recorded or indicated their military branch. Contributions where no employer was specified were naturally not included.

**Edit: McCain and Ron Paul have USMC contributions which were overlooked. Their totals have been corrected. (7/17/07)

Units are contributions in dollars by employees of the respective military organizations (all numbers can be found via the FEC Website ).

I would have jumped to the conclusion that our soldiers are ticked off that they have to be fighting an unnecessary war against an invisible enemy in 120+ degree weather BUT that would certainly not explain why many veterans would be supporting Ron Paul. This sentiment probably stems from Congressman (and US Air Force veteran) Paul's honesty, as well as his ability to both use and communicate solid reasoning. Soldiers must not like how they are being used for the whims of corrupt politicians and I'm sure would like to get back to the days when they were used in the honorable role of protecting freedom... something Dr. No has consistently done from his seat in Congress and would undoubtedly do from his seat in the Oval Office.

The Money Race (Ron Paul v. Rudy McRomney)

Candidate - First Quarter - Second Quarter - Change
Guiliani - 16.6 million - 17.2 million - +4%
Romney - 23.4 million - 13.7 million - -41.5%
McCain - 13.1 million - 11.2 million - -14.5%
Paul - .6 million - 2.4 million - +400%

It looks like McCain isn't the only one in trouble!

Ron Paul on fire in California 7/14/07

If you don't watch any other political speech this year, watch Ron Paul's California address (Awesome!) -

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Ron Paul: Silicon Valley Rally

From LewRockwell.com

"Some people would bet their life savings that we can't win. We'd like to make that a risky bet." - Ron Paul 7/14/07

The Snowball Effect

In just two days since I posted the Ron Paul Meetup numbers, they have grown at an ever increasing rate. As of 3:56 pm est today, there are 21,626 Ron Paul Meetup group members (an increase of 4465 or about 91 people per hour!) in 495 groups (up from 479), in 443 cities (12 new cities). There are 3,665 people waiting for a Ron Paul Meetup group to form! If you haven't already, go to Meetup.com and get involved!

Ron Paul makes his pitch to overflow crowd at Google

Googlers applaud GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul

WEB-PHENOM CANDIDATE AIRS LIBERTARIAN VIEWS

By Mary Anne Ostrom

So you might think the unlikely Web phenom, who got an enthusiastic reception when he spoke Friday to about 250 Google employees, plus 100 sent to an overflow room, would be the technology industry's best friend.

Read entire article here

In the Ron Paul Administration

Posted by Lew Rockwell at 12:59 PM

We will repeal the Patriot Act and the Militay Commissions Act. Restore Habeas Corpus. No more warrantless spying on the people. We need privacy for the people, and not secrecy for the government.

We need a return to the Constitution and the rule of law, by all three branches.

That means no more presidential wars. There is a debate about the war now, rather than before this aggression.

No more undeclared wars like Korea, Vietnam, or Iraq. No more wars for oil and imperialism.

They tell us if we leave there will be chaos. They claimed the same about Vietnam. China would rule the world, and dominoes would tumble.

Instead we have capitalism in China and Vietnam.

All our political actions must be dedicated to one thing: the promotion of individual liberty.

Not make-believe group rights, but individual rights, which come to us from our Creator and by our nature.

And we must be able to keep the fruits of our labor. No personal income tax! Repeal the 16th amendment.

He is asked: what should replace it? Nothing. And without an empire and a welfare state, we don't need these unAmerican exactions.

We own our lives. There should be no Selective Service, let alone a draft. The government does not own 18-year-olds or anyone else.

Day 1 on the job with the Paul Campaign

I flew into Baltimore, arriving a little after 8:30 in the morning on Friday, after a long delay in Seattle. I knew I couldn't get in my house before 5:30 pm so I planned to hang out at the office, meet the staff and try to get on top of what I needed to know for Monday when the boss returns from the weekend trip across California. I was lucky to happen across a fellow traveler needing to get into Arlington so I split the $100 cab fare and soon arrived at the office.

Mind you, at this point I had been up for about 36 hours (minus a couple hours of uncomfortable, baby-screaming, preteen-kicking-my-chair, stewardess-pestering-me, fat-lady-next-to-me-reading, half-sleep) and I was dressed like, well, like people do when they travel...comfortably.

I got to the office, which hasn't yet caught up to the exploding size of the campaign (we move into a new, larger office next week), to find the staff of young, eager pols and volunteers diligently working on Dr. Paul's behalf. Just as I was settling in, the word came up from our Communications Director that CBS was on their way. Panicked, I sprang for my suitcase in an effort to grab a shirt more appropriate than the coffee-stained ESPN tee I wore on the plane. I had no sooner gotten a dress shirt out of my bags, onto my back and my be-jeaned lower half under a desk when a CBS camera was in my face as I boldly pretended to have something to do. Joie Chen flitted around the room asking questions and doing other cute little reporter things for a while before her and her crew departed with video tape of me with bed hair in hand.

I relaxed and settled into doing some actual work when the word came down that Dr. Paul had made a comment on the Alex Jones radio show that could have been misconstrued, by those that choose to misconstrue such things, as an endorsement of Cindy Sheehan's prediction that the US government might stage an attack to justify war with Iran. We gave the Communications Director some anti-seizure medication and returned to work.

After work, my new roommate picked me up and took me to my new digs. Nice...hardwood floors good! I ordered a pizza, drank some tea and passed out for the next 13 hours.

I can tell this is going to be an interesting ride.

The Meetup Race (Grass Roots Support)

As of 12:05 pst today

Ron Paul 2008
17,161 Members in 479 Meetup Groups in 431 Cities, 3,605 waiting for a Meetup Group

All other declared Republican Candidates
0 Members in 0 Meetup Groups in 0 Cities, 26 waiting for a Meetup Group

Bush denial deepens as Iraq reconciliation remains stalled

Bush committed to staying in Iraq despite report findings and increasing party dissent

WASHINGTON -- Despite the largely negative assessment of the situation in Iraq in a report released Thursday, President Bush continues to believe that seeing the mission through is imperative.
The report, mandated by Congress, found that the Iraqi government had partially reached eight of 18 benchmarks and that security on the ground remains “complex and extremely challenging.”

Read more

Ron Paul - Leading the Internet Revolution

From Associated Content
July 12, 2007

Recent studies by the Pew Research Center confirm that an increasing number of Americans are using the internet to gain information about their favorite political candidates, including internet favorite Ron Paul.

However, Michael Cornfield and Pew researchers find that while more voters are using the internet as a political tool, the internet has not yet transformed the political process as some critics may have thought it would. Their analysis finds that experts thought that the internet would provide better (and cheaper) communication between candidates and the electorate. Instead, Pew states that many feel "the internet only hardens our views, polarizes our politics and contributes to the nation's red and blue divides." Will Ron Paul become the candidate who brings the electorate together through a grassroots internet campaign?

Click here to read the entire story

Daily Wisdom

"Rascism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans strickly as members of groups rathen than individuals." - Dr. Ron Paul

The North American Union

Click image or here to watch video

So called free trade deals and world governmental organizations like the International Criminal Court (ICC), NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA are a threat to our independence as a nation. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites."

Ron Paul, RonPaul2008.com, May 2007

Perspective is everything

At this point in the cycle, national polls are entirely a reflection of name identification, not voters’ views of the candidates. (From Lew Rockwell)

- In early 1975, Carter was polling at 1% (he went on to win the Presidency).
- In early 1987, Dukakis was polling at 1% (he went on to win the Democratic nomination).
- In early 1991, Clinton was at 2% (he went on to win the Presidency).
- In the spring of 1999, John McCain was polling at 3% (he went on to win the NH primary).

- In early 2003, Joe Lieberman was leading the field for the Democratic presidential nomination (he failed to win any primary)."

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!” - George W. Bush

Click on image or here and here to learn more about Bush Administration's Constitutional violations and click here to read more about the quote in the post title

Free2Smooze goes to Washington

I have accepted a position with the Ron Paul 2008 campaign.

After spending a couple weeks in negotiations with the campaign, I will be brought on as an assistant to national campaign coordinator Kent Snyder. This means that I have about 5 days to completely wrap up my life in Seattle and hightail it to D.C. by Friday.

This should be a fun and exciting experience and a chance to work for one of my all time heroes, Dr. Ron Paul, as we remind America what this country was founded on and wake the sleeping giant to liberties lost and opportunities squandered by a bloated and out of control government.

I will continue to blog during this time so that you, my 7 loyal readers, will have an inside window on the campaign and my role as we put the kabosh on Rudy, lay some smack down on Mitt and send Johnny Bomb Iran back to Arizona with his tail between his amnesty lovin' legs.

It should be a fun ride and I look forward to sharing it with all of you.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Click on the graphic to learn about the 4th of July (from History Channel)

Free2Smooze represents Ron Paul to Minutemen at Immigration Conference

Yours Truly had the opportunity to address the Washington State Anti-Illegal Immigration Summit of The Reagan Wing of the Republican Party and the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps yesterday. I read a letter from Dr. Ron Paul and outlined his platform on immigration for a crowd of about a hundred activists and politicians including Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist. The response to Dr. Paul's message of sovereignty and liberty was received with raucous cheers and applause. I was overwhelmed by the inquiries about the campaign and requests to get involved. Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo also delivered their messages about immigration.

My address to the summit:

June 30 Address to the Reagan Wing Conference on Immigration

Esteemed guests, members of the Reagan Wing and the Minutemen American Defense, it is my honor and privilege to be here tonight representing Dr. Ron Paul, his campaign, and the seven spammers who have generated wins for Dr. Paul in every post-debate poll, viewed his videos more than a million times on YouTube, created over 380 MeetUp groups around the country, befriended him over 40,000 times on MySpace, and made him one of the top 5 most searched names on the internet. Those are seven very busy spammers.

We wish to especially thank Doug Parris for inviting us here and we wish to thank Jim Gilcrist for his tireless efforts on behalf of the American people. You’re doing God’s work sir; and we are indebted to you for it.

Tonight, I want to talk about Dr. Paul’s unwavering commitment to protecting our borders and defending the sovereignty of our nation. I will also read a letter from Dr. Paul that he has addressed to tonight’s gathering.

This is a day of celebration. The immigration bill is dead. It is, however, a tactical victory, not the final victory. For even as we celebrate, our borders remain under defended and millions of illegal immigrants remain in our country, abusing our public services and shipping wealth back to the corrupt Mexican state that encourages their unlawful acts.

Dr. Paul celebrates this victory with us, even as he cautions restraint, for the forces that seek to undermine our nation and its people will not rest, and neither can we. Dr. Paul is running on a common sense 6 point plan to secure our borders and bring sanity to our immigration policy.

First - Physically secure our borders and coastlines. We must do whatever it takes to control entry into our country before we undertake complicated immigration reform proposals.

Second - Enforce visa rules. Immigration officials must track visa holders and deport anyone who overstays their visa or otherwise violates U.S. law. This is especially important when we recall that a number of 9/11 terrorists had expired visas.

Third - No amnesty. Estimates suggest that 10 to 20 million people are in our country illegally. That’s a lot of people to reward for breaking our laws.

Fourth - No welfare for illegal aliens. Americans have welcomed immigrants who seek opportunity, work hard, and play by the rules. But taxpayers should not pay for illegal immigrants who use hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and social services.

Fifth - End birthright citizenship. As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be citizens, the incentive to enter the U.S. illegally will remain strong.

And Finally - Pass true immigration reform. The current system is incoherent and unfair. But current reform proposals would allow up to 60 million more immigrants into our country, according to the Heritage Foundation. This is insanity. Legal immigrants from all countries should face the same rules and waiting periods.

Dr. Paul‘s campaign is enjoying an amazing groundswell of support throughout our nation. You see, it’s not seven bored libertarian computer nerds that have put this campaign on the map as the mainstream media would have you believe.

It appears, in fact, that Dr. Paul is right…Freedom IS popular.

• Maybe limited government, states’ rights, personal responsibility and individual liberty are NOT quaint notions of a bygone era.
• Maybe the Constitution is more than just a rhetorical device to be dusted off for expediency’s sake.
• Maybe, the government DOES belong to us, not the other way around.

You see, my friends, it is not just Dr. Paul, the man, that inspires us; rather it is what has always inspired us. Whether it’s standard bearer is Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, or Ron Paul…it is the desire for Freedom that is calling us all to act.

It is the desire for freedom that gives us hope for America.

I wish to conclude tonight with Dr. Paul in his own words.

To members of The Reagan Wing and Minuteman American Defense,

Thank you so much for the invitation to address the 2007 Washington State Illegal Immigration Summit. I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically support efforts such as yours to educate Americans about the fragile nature of our national sovereignty and to take positive action to restore the Republic entrusted to us by the framers.

While I regret being unable to join you in Everett, I can join you from afar in breathing a momentary sigh of relief after Thursday’s Senate vote. These are very exciting times to witness, as Americans awaken from their collective apathy and somnolence to the realization of liberty lost.

As we all know, however, the obstacles ahead of us remain numerous and daunting. It comforts me to know that the work is made lighter by the many hands we bring to the task, but even more importantly, by the inalienable Rights which underpins it.

Yours in Freedom,

Ron Paul

In honor of this organization’s name sake and its mission to re-ignite the Reagan revolution, I want to close tonight with a couple of quotes from Ronald Reagan about Dr. Paul. The Great Communicator was also a great judge of character and integrity. Of Dr. Paul he said, “Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense.” And “We need to keep him fighting for our country.”

Remember my friends; having a revolution without Ron Paul is like having nation without borders.

Thank you, and God Bless!

GOP Establishment’s War on Ron Paul Backfires - Again

From: The Borg Blog

Two weeks ago, I reported here how the presidential campaign of Ron Paul received an apparent set-back when he was inexplicably excluded from an important candidates forum in Iowa, where the first-in-the-nation caucuses will be held early next year. Nevertheless, just as he has in previous cases where the GOP establishment has sought to bar him from the party, Dr. Paul has managed to turn a lemon into lemonade and has found a great gift in a room full of elephant dung.

Upon learning that the Iowans for Tax Relief and Iowa Christian Alliance had banned him from the June 30th forum - despite sending invitations to every single other Republican candidate that has appeared in the three debates previous - and after a futile attempt to convince them to reverse their ill-advised decision - Dr. Paul opted to hold his own forum immediately after and just across the street from the “main event” on Saturday. The result, according to the Des Moines Register and numerous eyewitness accounts, was the “main event” playing second fiddle to the Ron Paul Express.

In separate stories, the Register reports that just over 600 people attended the official forum- with hundred of seats left empty and the response relatively “subdued.” Dr. Paul filled his venue with at least as many “raucous” followers - though the Paul campaign and an actual attendee report well in excess of 1,000 in attendance, including hundreds of supporters happy with their standing-room-only presence.

Even if the low-ball number is correct, Ron Paul attracted as many supporters as the candidacies of Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson, Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback, and Duncan Hunter combined. And he did it with less than a week of preparation, versus several months for the forum that rejected him. Just as book bans generally blow up in the censors’ faces, this continued effort to blacklist Paul from the Republican presidential debate is just lending fuel to his campaign. You can’t buy publicity this good, and his opponents are giving it to him for free.
* * * * *

As a live blogger reported, Paul discussed the inseparable connections between life and liberty, the legal rights of a fetus and the illusion of property ownership, the deficit and our impending economic crisis, the trouble with the federal reserve system and fiat money, how war is the health of the state, the unconstitutional Iraq War, Just War Theory, the march for endless war, the pyrrhic trade of our civil liberties for the promise of security, why he is running (to preserve liberty), and that “the little government that we should have should be local.” Finally, be sure to check out this post-Iowa forum/post-speech interview with Ron Paul (video).

Happy Canada Day!

Click on image to learn about Canada Day

The US media may not mention it, but some of us south of the border know and respect this great day in world history and the important contributions of Canadian culture and politics to America and to all people, free and oppressed, around the world. Happy Birthday Canada! You're a beacon of liberty, hope and compassion to us all.

Ron Paul Iowa Rally Draws hundreds of supporters

IowaPolitics.com: Paul draws nearly 600 after presidential forum
6/30/2007

By Chris Dorsey
IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES -- The lack of an invitation didn't stop Congressman Ron Paul from crashing the party.

Congressman Paul, R-Texas, was not extended an invitation to speak at Saturday's Iowans for Tax Relief/Iowa Christian Alliance forum at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. But, he spoke to more than 600 supporters less than 100 feet away from a forum that saw six of his fellow GOP candidates address more than 800 at the forum.

As the ITR/ICA forum concluded, Paul was greeted by campaign enthusiasts from Iowa, Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Arizona and all points in between.

The out-of-state supporters flocked upon Des Moines after learning Paul was snubbed by the forum organizers. That move resulted in thousands of emails being sent to organizers, and some of of them in a threatening nature for what those in the Ron Paul Revolution called an injustice.

"I know they did him wrong," said Jim Demoret of Florida. "Dr. Paul is right on every issue. We all have the same goal. Let's restore the republic."

Killian Jones of Tennessee was among the 600-plus screaming supporters who waited for the congressman to speak Saturday afternoon. He was thrilled to make the trip.

"It is an exciting time," Jones said. "He has me interested in learning more about him."

Jones also called Paul's exclusion an injustice.

"It just doesn't see, quite right to me," he said.

The congressman spoke about the importance of life, liberty and property. The GOP stressed the need to return more responsibilities to the states, which he deems a positive move.

"Governments are instituted for very limited purposes, to protect life and to protect liberities," the congressman said. "That is what is magnificant about our Constitution. It was very limited in scope. It was not a license for government to do all the things that they do today. It was very narrow and that was the genious of the Constitution."