September 5, 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__070903_the_ghosts_inside_th.htm

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.