As I see it, the followers of Ron Paul can be divided into two categories - fair weather friends and those that are willing to DO something in our fight for our liberties. The first category is now doing a lot of whining on various blogs that our leader has given up, bla, bla. To these, I say, stop watching the MSM. Ron Paul has said he will continue the run for the presidency as long as there is evidence of support from us. I know him and have been following and supporting him for 30 years. He's good to his word. After his latest, guarded announcement that the nomination probably can't be had in the conventional way, two things are going to happen:
1. The fair weather "friends" will go back to watching TV and hopefully not clog up the useful blogs with their drivel, and
2. The MSM and the McInsane supporters will relax, figuring the issue is already decided.
This gives us tremendous opportunities. The issue of the nomination is far from decided, no matter what the MSM say. There are caucuses and delegate elections to be held almost everywhere, which the second category of RP supporters - the ones willing to DO things - can do to make sure that the convention in September is packed with RP-leaning delegates, pledged or not. A really good example comes to us from Texas that can be followed in most states. It looks as if we can do this by merely showing up at most of these activities. We only need five states to go past the first vote at the convention. A brief tutorial on the process of delegate elections can be found here and here.
Remember, 80% of success is SHOWING UP.
Denmark based Saxo Bank has predicted that Ron Paul will be the next US President because the US is about to slide into depression. They pride themselves as having a perfect track record in this regard.
The first I heard of this was last April, and then last December. The slide into depression is, at this point, inevitable, and will be world-wide. The only question, at this point, is, will we crash hard, or stretch it out over a decade, like the last time. As this is being written, central banks all over are desperately trying to reinflate some of the huge bubbles that are collapsing. The only admitted one by the MSM so far, is the housing mortgage crisis, which is only a drop in the bucket if you look at the total problem. The figures from the Bank of International Settlements show that the current "notional value" of derivatives - Asset Based Securities, Credit Default "Swaps", and other Over The Counter (unregulated) junk paper is over $500 Trillion!! This is more than the GDP (or assets)of the entire world.
The OTC junk paperis a bunch of contracts, and when one side of these contracts defaults, the notional value becomes real. Yikes! The only people that are cheering are the lawyers - they'll be working overtime. I believe a lot of high-level functionaries in government and industry will get nailed.
As Bernie and the boys desperately try to patch the holes in a sinking ship (ever try to do that from the inside?), they will drop interest rates to zero, if necessary. (Consideringreal inflation, the rates are less than zero already.) Bernie has indicated that he will go as far as he has to. Recall that Japan did this a decade ago and their economy has not recovered yet. In the meantime we'll be facing a situation similar to but much worse than the 70's, which Volker finally pulled out of by raising interest into the high teens. Bernie and friends have steadily increased the money supply at feverish levels - last I checked, M3 is about 18% higher than a year ago.
By the time of the Republican convention, the government will finally have to stop lying about inflation - the price of wheat has doubled from last year, so have corn and soybeans, precious metals are soaring and by summer, gasoline will be over $4 per gallon. The public should, at this point, be able to understand that this is the "hidden tax" that RP speaks about - they'll see this everytime they buy something. If done right, the people will see that Ron Paul is the only one out there that understands the problems and knows how to fix them - I can imagine the convention nominating him - overwhelmingly, as the only candidate that can take out the socialist one, be it Yomma or Momma.
I'll go out on a limb and say there's a good possibility of the RP plan of bringing back our troops from the 170 or so places we have them, will be insisted uponas part of the solution to our trade balance dollar problem. This presidential race is watched more closely than ever by the international community who are tired of our profligate spending habits. This is what happened to the British empire.
George Washington warned in a letter, "Paper money will ruin commerce, oppress the honest and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice." Ron Paul has been fighting this for decades. His speech to Congress in 1984 should be required reading for everyone and applies today (with minor detail differences).
Liberty cannot exist amid fraud and corruption - it requires honest money and eternal vigilance.
©2008 Ivan from Oregon, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Friday, March 7, 2008
Last modified: Saturday, March 8, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of Ivan from Oregon only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Ivan from Oregon is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: creator
Date: 2008-03-07 18:38:27
Ivan, I love you!
"Yomma or Momma" - I'm still laughing! :)
I'd rather hang out with an optimist like you than with most of the "realists" I know. :) Now, I'm not saying I'm absolutely convinced that you're right - but the hope is there, and either way I'm going to keep working for Liberty. Might as well work with a spring in my step, a twinkle in my eye, and whistling, rather than with a long face and depressed. :)
Thanks, friend! :)
Posted By: Non_Serviam
Date: 2008-03-07 18:50:51
Excellent post - I couldn't agree more. I've spent the better part of the day listening to your 1st category of supporters doing exactly that: whining. In their midst are the real patriots - those who have no intention of waiting another 4 years to take what is rightfully ours: freedom. It ain't over yet, folks. RP08!
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-03-07 20:03:19
The fight goes on forever. It is good to see that others who are up for the challenge. We take every opportunity to promote our conservative principles and to train candidates on the proper, conservative, application of the force of government power. The message is catching on everywhere we speak. Candidates and party officials and local political money sources have been seeking us out and introducing us to others. Freedom is popular.
Only those who participate can hope to be respresented in government. We're finding that those who will stand for something are far and few between and the GOP needs them. Don't quit now folks. Abandoning a goal because you can't have it immediately says it wasn't very important to begin with.
The Neocons have their man but they are also running scared. The GOP events we attend prove that. Our message, Ron Paul's message, receive thunderous applause while everyone looks at the floor and fidgets with their hands when asked to stand up for McCain. Keep the pressure on.
Jahfre Fire Eater
Posted By: nuclearG
Date: 2008-03-08 11:19:10
Thank you Ivan. I see your point regarding the two types of supporters. I am neither an optimist or a pessimist. I am only concerned with the plan. I agree with most everything you say - except the Saxo Bank prediction. I would love to be wrong.
It has become more obvious that the choices we are being presented amount to no real choice at all. Regardless of hope and faith, this system is on one leg now and it can not sustain the weight of illusion our misleaders present to us. The FED can not solve the problem. They are the problem. Free trade isn't free and it isn't fair either. It is not America's place in the world to do the bidding of the corporate masters by intruding in everyone else's affairs. We are killing them - just not with kindness.
Let's face it - we had plenty of time to prepare for this energy crisis. 30 years or more. We had a stable economy before Reagan and Bush charged their way into oblivion so they could increase the EMPIRE. We HAVE a Constitution - if we only had the strength to follow it rather than bend it to whatever suits the elite. Globalsim could be a good thing if it included some ethics and respect. Instead we have oil companies trampling through indigenious neighborhoods in South America and Africa destroying everything in their path while looting the locals out of their fair share.
This country needs change all right. It needs to change it's diapers. Something is starting to stink in America - and the whole world can smell it. As long as we let the current system of cronie corruption and elite oligarchy rule our courts and voting systems, our tax laws and our economy - we are doomed to be the serf class. When a person can be dragged from their car and tazed for driving with an expired license - and it is caught on video - we are in big trouble. Since when do local poice have the right to inflict pain on someone for something so ridiculous. Are we all going to be sent to Guantanamo to be tortured if we can't pay our taxes?
As much as Ron Paul detests "central planning" - how do you get anything accomplished without a central organizing strategy such as code pink (without being as obnoxious) to put a coherent message across to the beasts in power. The message: "pack and leave while you still can, because a revolution is brewing and it won't look kindly on parasitic elite snots who want to rule the world at the expense of everyone else"
I hope you are right, but it looks like McCain, Obama or Clinton - the three headed beast that will keep things just as they are while making them worse. How does Ron Paul move to the front of this pack when he already had the chance to make his case and it fell on mostly deaf ears and dumb minds? What is going to put him in the presidency?
I think if we want to continue the Revolution - there has to be some specific plan of action other than hope. Sure, we should continue through primary season supporting Dr. Paul in every way we can. I still have my bumper stickers on the cars and lawn signs on the corner as an act of defiance. I caucused, voted and donated. But without a specific plan for victory, I see a very real possibility that we will have four more years of the same - unless it all falls apart before September and everyone wakes up from the trance and "get's it".
Posted By: Ivan from Oregon
Date: 2008-03-08 15:46:45
Dear Nuclear,
I believe our leader told us what the strategy is from here to the convention in St. Paul. If you're in a state that has already had its primary, take down your signs (before they get stolen) and show up at the caucuses, committee meetings, etc., and make sure you have a bunch of RP supporters for delegates. If your primary hasn't been held yet, put up more signs, go banging on doors, but also attend the Party Council meetings at every level, get yourself elected. You will probably find the situation is similar to Texas (see link in my article). You'll find you can have influence by merely showing up (don't wear your RP t-shirt). Ron Paul can't do this for us, we have to do it. I'm trying to become a delegate and go to St. Paul. We can do this!
Posted By: Joan
Date: 2008-03-09 01:24:08
I hope the Fat Lady visits McCain, Yomma and Momma. There's a huge chance of that happening.
where Dr. Steve Parent says, in part, "The fact is Dr. Paul is a genius in his strategy and we are further ahead in delegates than you think and we can win the nomination." Check it out. Doesn't it make you wonder why MSM is trying so hard to make his supporters go away and forget about him. We are not supporting some kook out there, he is one in a million, a great statesman, an honest gentleman - can you imagine the CHANGE he represents. RonPaul2008