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.
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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