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What is the Logical Conclusion?

Doug Mataconis on why Ron Paul cannot be President:

It’s not because there’s anything wrong with him. It’s because there is too much wrong with the system.

Well, if not now, when? If not Ron Paul, who? Is the system really so broken that it can’t be fixed by anyone? If so, what is the next logical step?

Let me put it another way…
What would you do with your refrigerator if it was broken beyond repair? Would you continue to put beer and steaks in it, or would you find it necessary to get a new one?

For the record, I don’t think the system is broken beyond repair. But if the general consensus is that it is irreparable and there aren’t enough people who believe it can be salvaged, then maybe it can’t.

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This Freaks Me Out

I’ve been a little worried about this whole Ron Paul thing for a couple of days, and today it only got worse. It started with the realization that one of my biggest fears has started to come true lately–this is starting to look like a Ron Paul blog. I haven’t been posting much stuff recently about rasslin’, getting held up at gunpoint by the gov’ment, or local porn stars. I remember how annoyed I got earlier this year with the “Run Fred Run” hype that was going on in the Tennessee blogosphere, and I don’t want to be doing the same thing with regards to Ron Paul, even if it is relevant.

Then my world really came crashing down. I had a conversation today with a friend of mine that has made me question everything in life I know to be true. To give those of you who know him a frame of reference, it’s that guy you’d least like to face in the front row. So I’m sure you can actually hear him saying, “I been readin’ yer website. You like that Ron Paul fella don’t cha?”

For those of you who don’t know him, he’s among the most reliable, solid, stand up guys you could ever know. He’s also very set in his ways. I wouldn’t go so far as to call him close-minded, but that is mostly due to the fact that doing so may put me in danger of having him choke me with my own small intestine. Let’s just say that he defends his own views strongly and leave it at that. Imagine what Fred Thompson would be like if he ate nothing but raw meat laced with gunpowder for a few months, and you’ll be close to understanding this guy.

Anyway, I was extremely shocked when he said, “I like that guy the best out of all of ’em. It kinda scares me that you like him too, ’cause you got some fv(ked up politics.” Believe me, it is just as scary to me as it is to him that we actually agree on who we’d like to see as the Republican nominee.

This Ron Paul thing may just work out after all. Hopefully I was wrong!

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Ron Paul is Not Ron Paul Enough

Extreme Mortman has a hilarious list of why Ron Paul is not libertarian enough. It was partly meant as an experiment to see how many Ron Paul supporters would flock to anything said about Ron Paul if his name was in a post, which is pretty dead on–did I mention it was a list about Ron Paul? However, there are some real gems in there, especially if you can take a joke (some of the people who’ve commented on it thusfar obviously can’t). I was actually surprised some of these didn’t make the list. I came up with them, and I’m not all that clever:

* In his years as an OB, Ron Paul never prescribed medicinal marijuana to a patient, despite their frequent complaints of nausea

* Ron Paul’s name has not been released as a customer of the D.C. Madam, therefore he doesn’t support a woman’s right to be a prostitute.

* Ron Paul did not take George Stephanopolous’s action when he said he’d bet every cent that Paul couldn’t win. He may be anti-gaming.

* Ron Paul has yet to utter the phrase “Fv(k the FCC!” in any of the live debates.

* When traveling by air, Ron Paul allows the pilot of the plane to take direction from those commie FAA employees.

to be continued…

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Ron Paul Support in Tennessee

For those of you who are local and support Ron Paul for President, there’s a new website and Meetup group.

Their next planned event will be this Saturday at Market Square, 9:30 am. This is a great chance to get out and get involved while meeting some other supporters of Dr. Paul.

See you there!

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Ron Paul on Morton Downey Jr.

Saw this posted at Reason and had to put it up here too, it’s just too funny.

Ron Paul is so young in this clip (1988). I’d love to see him this energetic and rowdy in the Republican debates. However, legalization of drugs would not go well with that crowd. They are probably happy this has surfaced on the web to use it as what they think will be ammo against him. It may actually garner him more support.

By the way, “d” had a great comment on the Reason post

Quick! Post the marines at that kid’s mouth to keep the cheeseburgers out!

[youtube 88REf0tjZHo]

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Ron Paul’s Appeal to the Technoclass

No one can deny Ron Paul’s support and presence online is pretty amazing. How can a guy be so huge in the online community, yet still considered an outsider in the mainstream conversation? I’ve written before about the issues that mainstream media has dealing with the Paul campaign, but it is frustrating to be on the pro-Paul side of the argument and see him basically shut out of serious debate in the broad media. Probably the most frustrating are the accusations that the online support for Dr. Paul is actually very small and being perpetuated by a few puppet masters who are using their technical expertise to generate hype.

The fact is, Ron Paul’s support in the blogosphere and in other online arenas is very real and very large. While it may seem unlikely or unbelievable to the mainstream, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for the online community’s sudden interest and large support of a single candidate where none has existed before. For the most part, the web is still driven by computer geeks and engineering types–LOGICAL THINKERS, FACT SEEKERS, AND PROBLEM SOLVERS–The Technoclass.

The ideas Ron Paul presents in debates and interview strike a chord with the technoclass for a few simple reasons. While most candiates base their platform on party loyalty, emotion, or poll results, Dr. Paul’s platform is based on logic, facts, structure, and actually addressing the issues. Ron Paul’s ideas follow the same line of thinking that we engage in every day–Identify the problem (issue), determine the factors that contribute to the problem (events that lead to the issue), determine the limitations of possible solutions (the Constitution), implement the best solution.

So why hasn’t the technoclass chosen a candidate for widespread support before this election cycle? Well, there’s a reasonable explanation for that as well. Never before, at least since the web has become widely popular, has a candidate taken the approach of presenting reasonable arguments and solutions to problems. For the technoclass, often the most reasonable course of action when no feasible solution to a problem has been presented is to do nothing.

That’s exactly what the technoclass has chosen to do, until now.

**UPDATE**
Of course, I could be wrong…dopplegangr has an alternate explanation.

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Ron Paul is the Only Candidate Making Sense

Becky C.’s post has me fired up.

I saw USA Today this morning and their poll listing the front runners.  They didn’t even have Ron Paul listed among the “also rans”.

If Hillary, Obama, McCain, Romney really do make more sense to the American public than Dr. Paul, we are in deep, deep trouble.  Honestly, I don’t think this is the case.   Ron Paul needs to stay in the debate, stay on topic, and eventually they’ll have to acknowledge him.

Crackpots don’t even register in polls, much less lead in them.

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Ron Paul up to #4 on Technorati

Ron Paul is currently the 4th most searched term at technorati.com.  He’s the only candidate in the top 10, and is *gasp* ranked higher than Paris Hilton.
I’m sure he’s a big fan of the internet right about now.   That’s the great thing about free speech and free markets–the best ideas and products really do win out.