At the very heart of the Ron Paul Revolution is a deep seated passion for the United States Constitution and the importance of upholding the Oath of Office to defend it against enemies both foreign and domestic yet with the election results we've seen we must ask ourselves a simple question, are we wrong? by Gary Wood
(conservative)
Monday, March 24, 2008
Many of us were attracted to the message of the Ron Paul campaign. In Representative Ron Paul many saw a candidate who understood their oath and stood by it to such an extreme he was known as Dr. No in the House of Representatives. Following 20 years of voting it was easy to see even when the vote was hard for many to understand it was a vote cast based on the measurement of what the role of Congress was suppose to be. Consider the Rosa Park's Medal vote. He voted no only because he knew it was not our Representatives right to spend the people's money in such a way. After the vote he personally reached into his wallet and offered $100.00 and asked all members to do the same yet none were willing to spend their own money, only the money of the people.
This primary campaign has been one with a resounding message of change, especially coming from the two remaining Democratic candidates, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The change proposed in their platforms consists of increased government intervention, more government programs, additional government interference, higher taxes to pay for their programs of change, and less required personal responsibility. Like the New Deal brought to us by Franklin Roosevelt the change will develop an ever stronger national government while weakening further the State, local and personal level of control established by the Constitution.
There is also a call, from both major parties, to finally end any remnant of the carefully developed election scheme found within the Constitution. The founders developed a Federalist Republic with elections that were designed to protect the minority from the majority in an effort to avoid the pitfalls of pure democracy. Already crippled with the 17th Amendment, now direct democratic elections of the Presidency is also once again being promoted. Combined the changes will finally morph the United States from the Federalist Republic experiment into a Democratic Socialized government. The majority will rule while the minority voice will be silenced and the mob rule Jefferson spoke of will reach fruition. This is in direct violation of the oath of office.
While this is at the core of change the numbers of voters for the Democratic proposals is reaching record levels in every primary contest. Those few voices supporting the Constitution were either quickly forced from the race or, in the case of Dr. Paul, received no support from their party and a small percentage of actual voter support. It would appear the majority in the United States is ready to abandon the experiment and forever alter our Constitution. No outside force is attacking us and forcing this change upon us, it is coming from the cheering crowds shouting in unison such slogans as "Yes We Can!" So I ask again, Dr. Paul and those that support his message, with so many of our fellow citizens supporting these changes are we wrong?
There have been numerous studies regarding the psychological effect of group pressure leading to conformity. Social psychologist Solomon Asch conducted one such study in 1951. When an entire group selected the obviously wrong answer the one person outside the group would go along with their answer even though it was wrong. Asch was surprised and concerned by the large percentage of subjects willing to go along with the wrong answer, willing to conform to the group. "The tendency to conformity in our society is so strong that reasonably intelligent and well-meaning young people are willing to call white black. This is a matter of concern. It raises questions about our ways of education and about the values that guide our conduct."
Are we seeing the long-term effects of conformity in play during this election? Are those supporting the Constitution, those supporting candidates like Dr. Paul simply the percentage of the population not willing to conform? For nearly a century there has been strong movements away from the founders intentions developed through the Constitution, of this there can be no doubt. Between the media and our political structure we can trace steady assaults on the way our country was to operate. These changes have led to an acceleration of the effects from the rise of the two-party majority control of our nation and the very strength and size of the federal government.
When times are tough, whether through natural disaster, economic cycles, or other burdens, it has become a common cry that the "government" needs to do something. Those controlling the government are always willing to do more as their personal power and authority gain and the strength of the States and people weakened. The majority of the people seem to have conformed to the idea more federal government holds the answers to our daily strife. Forgotten is the idea the people are the government, it appears only as empty rhetoric in the campaign stump speeches of politicians. Gone too is the knowledge of our historical requirements for an active and involved citizenry in order to control tyranny of the few over the many.
The time seems to be at hand when those few showing their staunch support for the Constitution and the oath of office must decide if their time has come to finally conform with the majority of their fellow citizen. Can so many be wrong and so few be right after all? We know from the experiments on conformity the answer is yes, many can be wrong while claiming to be right. We can't blame the masses for falling into line with those who push the wrong agenda as right. It is easy to fall into line, to conform when the wrong answer is presented as right with enough conviction by enough people. The only thing we must decide is are we wrong to still be a part of the minority of non-conformers? If we aren't wrong then we must begin in earnest to develop a unified voice declaring the right answers and winning the conformity efforts. If we are wrong we simply need only conform.
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Do you really think Ron Paul supporters, the true fiscal conservative Republicans of our party should conform to a non-existent Constitution type of government that the neocons such as McCain, Obama, and Hillary want to bring to our country?
McCain is a flip-flopping warmongering liberal, Obama is the man of change, but none of us are quite sure what change other than bigger government we cannot afford by giving away more of our tax dollars to extended social programs for lazy non-working Americans, and to Foreign needy countries, and Hillary is just doing what Bill has instructed her to do, so she won't have to reveal her FBI/CIA files of corruption to the American people, not to mention we cannot afford all of Hillary's ideas as she herself has stated. WE THE PEOPLE, AND OUR CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL PREVAIL. Ron Paul, and the Ron Paul Conservative Republicans in our country have my support. Ron Paul will have my vote no matter what this November 2008. We are making the change, and bringing our party back to the roots of the Republican platform. Let's see what happens when McCain has to step down because the Republican delegates platform will be one that supports bringing our troops home, and making the Republican party one of a Constitution abiding, small gov't, low or no taxes, sound monetary system, and non-intervention foreign policy platform.
Watch the Murdochs, Sean Hannitys and Bill O'Reillys of the media turn red with rage because their neocon agendas will not be met. As Ron Paul stated to one of the other candidates at a debate "Keep laughing Buddy." I thought that was the best line ever, as a Ron Paul supporter I laugh at the other Republican candidates that were rude to Ron Paul during debates (especially Giuliani, and Huckleberry) because Ron Paul is still in the race and they are not.
For the life of me I do not understand how any Republican could want to support McCain, and continue Bush's legacy of a continued, and endless war. Would a McCain supporter please let me know what good McCain would bring to our Conservative Republican party, especially since he has no clue on the economy?
Also, I would like to encourage McCain to debate Ron Paul on the nation's economy, and what is truly ailing the American people, and our country. I seriously doubt McCain has the guts, or the integrity to debate Ron Paul one on one, and we all know that McCain would lose. The media, and McCain's supporters know McCain would lose, so I seriously doubt they would encourage him to debate Ron Paul.
Even if a fairdebate between Ron Paul and John McCain aired on every television channel and everyone in the country tuned in to watch, people still wouldn't vote for Ron Paul because the majority of the national audience wouldn't understand his positions.
Ron Paul's "right answers" sound like "wrong answers" to most people; and fewer people can recognize the "right answers" as "right answers" due to their lack of education on the topics being discussed. Ron Paul's answers wouldn't "make sense" to the uneducated because they cannot understand them.
Some people have mastered the art of "making sense to everyone" – discussing unfamiliar issues with familiar terms – also called "B.S." The speaker uses recognizable terms to describe an unfamiliar topic; the audience perceives intelligence because the audience "can understand what he's saying" although they still understand nothing; they simply feel informed. Such technique brings the uninformed to their own conclusions which "feel" accurate because they "make sense."
When people draw conclusions, they "own" those conclusions and will defend those conclusions as correct regardless of their correctness. They "get the feeling" of agreement with the person that helped them draw their conclusion because of the generated sense of "familiarity with self" associated with the B.S.'er.
The majority of the national audience won't understand Ron Paul because he is far more educated than the national audience. The national audience cannot possibly understand issues that require expertise without greatly expanding their individual knowledge to become experts; this cannot be accomplished during a moderated debate on highly complex issues.
Ron Paul would likely have more logical and correct answers than John McCain; however, a debate between the two candidates would only solidify support for John McCain among the uneducated because John McCain is better at winning the uneducated and those unfamiliar with the topics because his answers "make sense" to the majority.
Part of the problem is that people react emotionally. A large segment of the population hates the Republican Party so much that they will not even consider a candidate with "R" after their name. These people find Ron Paul interesting, but because of the dreaded "R" they will never cast a vote for him. Thank you George Bush (both of 'em) and the neocon imperialists who surround you.
I have a friend who loves Obama. She thinks he is fabulous and she firmly believes he will be the savior of the nation. I mentioned that I could never support Obama because of his voting record. My friend said, "Oh, I've never looked at his record." And she never will. To my friend, Obama's voting record doesn't matter.
We are not normal people. We actually follow the presidential primaries and care about the outcomes. We know the policy positions and voting records of the candidates. We are about 1% of the population; most folks won't even pay attention until mid-October or so, and normal people certainly don't analyze voting records and policy positions.
Why is it that Ron Paul won nearly every internet poll, all of Fox New's text message polls and most straw polls, yet he got very little support in the primary elections? Answer; the people who were smart enough and interested enough to listen to the debates or participate in the polls voted for Ron Paul. But those smart people are only a small fraction of the population. When it comes to the primaries the dopes show up and vote for McCain.
It pains me to say this because America is my home and the country I love, but most Americans are dopes when it comes to government. Very few have any understanding of the constitution or of its importance in protecting our rights.
Thank you for your response regarding my debate question. I also agree that the majority of our citizens are uneducated, and this saddens me to the core. We have lowered our educational standards, given them the opportunity to attend college, and now we have a bunch of dummies. Maybe I am too Patriotic, too concerned about the future of our economy, it's people, and this nation.
I served in the military honorably, worked my way through college, and have raised a family in hopes that my children would have a great future with plenty of opportunites. I love my country, and it really hurts to see what it has become. The majority of citizens only care about voting for a candidate because they have heard their name on TV or the Radio, or because the media has touted a certain person on news programs more than others instead of actually voting on the issues, for our Constitution, and on Principles. In a blind survey Ron Paul came out the winner when people were asked about issues, and what was important to them, but at the voting booths these people just chose the name that was most popular is what I am guessing.
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