The Political Whore

By Al Coryell
PoHo correspondent

RECESSIONOMICS

Question: The government economists are telling us that the economic crisis is over and things should slowly get better now. Should I believe them?

When I first heard the doom and gloom talking heads being trotted out onto the daily money shows like CNN, FOX financial, Bloomberg or CNBCs Squawk Box, I took them with a huge grain of salt like everyone else. Their arguments simply didn’t seem plausible to me. At the time (2005-06), the economy seemed fine. In fact, we were gloriously bouncing back from the 2000-03 recession caused by the “dot-com” bubble. However, the reason they didn’t seem plausible, I have reluctantly come to admit, is because I was ignorant.

Not only was I ignorant, but I simply didn’t want to believe that things could get as ugly economically as they predicted. I have finally come to accept the harsh reality that confronts us. But so many of the people around me, certainly many of you, still haven’t accepted it and understandably so. For the vast majority, what is happening to us, even as we live through and witness it first hand, just doesn’t seem real. It is so surreal, in fact, it often seems like we are living inside a Salvador Dali or a Picasso painting.

In the past two years, I have read and studied more about banking, money and financing, and particularly economics, than I could ever have guessed I would in my wildest dreams. I have become obsessed with it because the more I learn the more I realize how preventable was the magnitude of the current crisis (though not the crisis itself), and unfortunately, how inevitable is the bleakness of our future.

There are three men today whose voices I trust when I hear them speak.

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It’s not the one you would think, since his fried brain and general scary-stooopid demeanor would make you think the pro-legalization advocate would be the Baldwin brother. But you’d be wrong …

Ron Paul (bless his soul and I take back every single thing I have written about him. OK, not everything) makes a clear, cogent case for ending the expensive and futile War on Drugs in this debate with the reality show “star” turned God-boy anti-drug warrior former star of Half Baked.

If you thought that the legion of techno-Constitutionalistas who created a cult surrounding Libertarian/Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul were going away at any time soon, rest assured, there’s no way that is going to happen. Here’s the latest rally cry, in a song by popular Paul songwriter Steve Dore.

It’s not so much that Bush says Wall Street got drunk and now has a hangover that stings. It’s that he brought the alcohol to the party in the first place.

• Obama gets a little face-time with both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• McCain makes stuff up about The Surge, CBS just edits it out without comment.
• At least he’s honest about it: Robert Novak gets duped by the McCain campaign.
• Wall Street expected WaMu to report a serious loss, but no one had that number a $3.3 billion.
• Oh, come on, the Taser’s a harmless, humane way to subdue a criminal. Unless you shock the poor bastard until his heart explodes. Then, not so gentle.
• A flight carrying Ron Paul makes an emergency landing after losing cabin pressure, thereby negating the wealth of conspiracy theories that would have followed a crash.
• The new owners of the Lightning bought more than just a hockey team.
• Kevin Smith reviews The Dark Knight.

Ron Paul has one-upped Barack Obama. The Democratic nominee is merely giving his acceptance speech in Denver’s Mile High Stadium. But Paul informed the rEVOLution faithful today that he has booked the Target Center PLUS has a lineup of supporters set to perform and entertain that simply defies description. In Ron’s own words:

Later this week I will announce two internationally renowned musicians as headliners for the Rally for the Republic. We’ll also be joined by rock star Aimee Allen, NBC’s Tucker Carlson, Barry Goldwater Jr., Gov. Gary Johnson, conservative stalwart Grover Norquist, former Reagan deputy Attorney General Bruce Fein, presidential historian Doug Wead, MTV’s Adam Curry, musician Mark Scibilia, and Frank Sinatra impersonator Rick Ellis. Other special guests will be announced soon.

Yes, the ONLY way to top former MTV VeeJay Adam Curry is with a Sinatra impersonator. What a lineup!! I just pray to God I don’t get stuck in the beer line and miss the set by Bruce Fein.

Oh, for those of you who might have let the entire Aimee Allen rock star phenomenon slip by them, here’s her ode to Ron Paul:

Impressive video of the Ron Paul Revolution March in Washington D.C. on July 12. I’m wondering about that chant, though. “Ron Paul! Freedom! Ron Paul! Freedom!” Is this supposed to mean something?

• Choice quotes from the presidential candidates yesterday (I’ll let you figure out who’s who):

“This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century. By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe.”

“With the right strategy and the right forces, we can succeed in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I know how to win wars. And if I’m elected President, I will turn around the war in Afghanistan, just as we have turned around the war in Iraq, with a comprehensive strategy for victory.”

• CBS runs a Romney as McCain V.P.?  story and Drudge links it and gives it top placement. Does that mean the fix in for Mitt?
• Obama and the racial divide.
• While NASA preps the Ares rocket to carry astronauts back to the moon, some of the engineers have been busy designing a cheaper, better alternative that the higher-ups won’t consider.
• Hillsborough students lose their phone privileges.
• Tampa’s cops might want to consider moving a bit close to the precinct.
• The all-star game that would not die.
• You might want to hold off on that HDTV purchase: Prices are set to decline by up to $400.
• I’ll take two boxes of the ACME Dehydrated Boulders, please.

In Honor of Fathers Day, I present this short film that I did not make but found on YouTube.

• Obama’s new website takes a page from the Snopes playbook.
• The Supreme Court undercuts Guantanamo’s legal basis for existence. Bush Administration says they will abide by the ruling (which probably means they won’t).
• Shade of Hillary? Ron Paul’s concession speech contained no actual concession.
• Props to Fox News (no, really): The nut-net pulled ED “terrorist fist jab” Hill from the air.
• Olbermann sees a well-deserved backlash.
• And the award for the “worst drink in America” goes to …
• We now know that your cell phone won’t cause corn to pop, but how much radiation is it really pumping into your skull?
• 3-1 Boston.

As we brace for the anticipated disruption of the Republican National Convention by  Dr. Ron Paul’s supporters, he is clearing out the warehouse of some unneeded inventory so that his shock troops will be able to wear as many T-shirts as a Weezer video. From a campaign e-mail today:

End of Primary Season Blowout until June 3rd

Participate in the Ron Paul Store Bomb! Send us your t-shirt size and we’ll send you a collection of Ron Paul campaign merchandise for only $25.00 (including shipping). The collection will consist of a t-shirt and other merchandise such as buttons, stickers, mouse pads, key chains, magnets, hats, wristbands and more!

Place your orders before the last primaries on June 3rd at http://www.ronpaul2008store.com/servlet/StoreFront
Ron Paul 2008 Store

Russert called it, so you know it must be over.

• Split decision …
• … but Hillary’s running out of options.
• Breaking down the “Limbaugh Effect.”
• Ron Paul just keeps on runnin’.
• The Unlucky 13: Florida banks living on the edge.
• Bill Gates predicts the future.
• The Rays new stadium: The windup before the pitch.
• Turns out the White House was fond of recycling their e-mail backup tapes.

Get comfy. We’re going to be here a while.

• A “minor explosion” rocked a military recruiting station in Times Square this morning.
• The Clinton campaign plots their next move and take time out to fight like cats and dogs amongst themselves.
• What’s wrong with this New York Times headline: “Clinton Success Alters Delegate Race’s Dynamic”?
• Obama’s next move? Attack? Chase the super delegates? Cry a bit?
• Will Florida try and call “do over?”
• Ron Paul wins it!
• If you’ve ever wondered what Helen Keller looked like, so did she.
• Don’t let grandpa drive the fire truck.
• Big Cable vs. NFL Network.

(Photo Credit: Westendraider)

He seems concerned that some folks in the media have declared a “so-called winner:”

Let’s see how this reverberates in the Paulosphere: DailyKos brings up a 1992 missive from Ron Paul in which the GOP presidential candidate says 95 percent of black men are criminals. Kos’ post from yesterday is actually a recap of a May 2007 Kos post on the same subject, quoting a Paul newsletter as saying (emphasis by Kos):

Regardless of what the media tell us, most white Americans are not going to believe that they are at fault for what blacks have done to cities across America. The professional blacks may have cowed the elites, but good sense survives at the grass roots. Many more are going to have difficultly avoiding the belief that our country is being destroyed by a group of actual and potential terrorists — and they can be identified by the color of their skin. This conclusion may not be entirely fair, but it is, for many, entirely unavoidable.

Indeed, it is shocking to consider the uniformity of opinion among blacks in this country. Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty, and the end of welfare and affirmative action…. Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the “criminal justice system,” I think we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.

If similar in-depth studies were conducted in other major cities, who doubts that similar results would be produced? We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, but it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings, and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers.

Perhaps the L.A. experience should not be surprising. The riots, burning, looting, and murders are only a continuation of 30 years of racial politics.The looting in L.A. was the welfare state without the voting booth. The elite have sent one message to black America for 30 years: you are entitled to something for nothing. That’s what blacks got on the streets of L.A. for three days in April. Only they didn’t ask their Congressmen to arrange the transfer.

Kos concludes, in his own words:

Is it any wonder that neo-Nazis are flocking to his campaign? But Paul is against the war in Iraq and he wants FREEDOM! So that must make his racism okay.

Has Paul tapped into the underground racist ‘net movement? Or are his supporters just unaware of some of Paul’s more extreme views? Or willing to forgive them for Paul’s support of anti-interventionism and killing the IRS?

UPDATE: Some commenters take issue with the authenticity of the writings referenced above. Here is some additional info about the piece’s provenance from Adam Holland:

Years later, in an interview printed in the October 2001 issue of Texas Monthly, Paul changed his story about these and other racist comments: “I could never say this in the campaign, but those words weren’t really written by me,” he said. “It wasn’t my language at all.” Unfortunately, this explanation doesn’t really withstand scrutiny. The Ron Paul Political Report was an eight-page newsletter, not a 200-page magazine; whether he employed other writers or not, it beggars belief that Paul would not have had full control and approval over its contents. Moreover, the L.A. riots article does in fact bear some evidence of having been written by Paul, at least in part. (For example, the article relates the observations of one Burt Blumert, who is labeled “expert Burt Blumert” but who is actually just a gold coin and bullion dealer in San Francisco who happens to be a longtime personal friend of… Ron Paul.) Regardless, the fact remains that Paul suffered these words to be published under his name in his newsletter as a representation of his views, and his efforts to distance himself from them are more than a little bit disingenuous.

And this that includes a San Antonio Express-News article with Paul’s non-denial when the 1992 writings first surfaced during his 1996 congressional race:

Paul, a Surfside obstetrician who won the GOP nomination in the 14th District runoff by defeating incumbent Rep. Greg Laughlin, said Wednesday he opposed racism.

He said his written commentaries about blacks came in the context of “current events and statistical reports of the time.”

UPDATE 2: The NYT has corrected a blog post that linked Paul to white supremacist groups.

Two years ago, Samm Simpson was a Dunedin grandmother who was so moved by our nation’s mistake in Iraq that she was fighting an insurmountable battle to unseat powerful Republican Congressman C.W. Bill Young, enough so that I thought it was worth telling CL’s readers more about her. After her lopsided loss, she almost immediately began running again for the Democratic nomination.

In July of this year, she was working to bring Democratic longshot Mike Gravel to Pinellas County. But now, she’s backing Republican candidate Ron Paul. In a post she says she removed from her blog, Simpson wrote (as progressive blogger Kenneth Quinnell details):

This is a man who tells the truth. Yes, I’m a Democrat and I’m supporting Ron Paul. This means I change my registration to an Republican by December 31 so I can vote in the Republican Primary on January 29th. I hope you will join me.

This is a time in our nation’s history to focus only on the big pictures: national sovereignty, a return to the rule of law, our liberties, ending the Iraqi occupation and the Constitution of the United States.

Join the Ron Paul Revolution, and let’s take back the country.

To which Quinnell responded with an exhaustive condemnation of Paul’s right-wing beliefs, in contrast to Paul’s appeal to technophiles and anti-war activists because of his isolationist stance. Quinnell wrote:

From comparing Ron Paul to JFK to saying Paul tells the truth to suggesting that Paul’s extreme viewpoints have any connection to the Constitution. Add to that, Simpson is changing her registration? There is nothing progressive about anything in this post and nothing progressive about Ron Paul. Paul doesn’t want to take the country back, he wants to take it back to the 1850s.

It is progressive to oppose the war. It is progressive to support civil liberties and oppose things like the FISA bill and the PATRIOT Act. It is progressive to oppose corporate takeover of our government and our lives. But these things alone don’t make one progressive, particularly if you oppose these things for all the wrong reasons, like Paul does, then these things are most definitely not progressive. To quote phenry at Daily Kos (linked in several places below): “‘But he’s against the war!’ Yes, he is. So is Pat Buchanan. So is David Duke.” Clearly, Paul is a lot closer to Buchanan and Duke than to JFK.

You can still find Samm in the wiki and in the archives and I wish her well on a personal level, but she is no longer on the blogroll and I can’t support her run for Congress in any way.

Simpson writes that she has tried to respond repeatedly on Quinnell’s blog without success, so she posted her response on her campaign blog and removed her pro-Paul post:

Since that original post, which has been removed, I have been advised by everyone, including my dear 80 year-old mother, that it is not “politically correct” to change parties. Indeed, I am learning the strategies of utilitarian compromise. My votes as a Democratic Congressperson will be more significant than one vote in a Primary. Having said that, it does not negate Dr. Paul’s simple message of liberty, sovereignty and solvency.

… There is something happening in the Ron Paul Camp. We would be fools to ignore it, regardless of party, age, race or creed. When he spoke, I saw all ages, all races, all parties joined together. It’s bigger than party. It’s bigger than one person. It’s about “we the people.”

History is replete with wise men and women that are rejected or not fully understood. Whether or not you agree, Dr. Paul has lit a match.

I’m no longer in the political consulting business, but I’m guessing this is not going to help Simpson at the polls in November of next year.

Here’s the latest flap in the world of Ron Paul straw polling: organizers of a GOP straw poll in San Francisco pulled the plug on their voting when they were swamped with camera-weilding Ron Paul supporters.

A pro-Paul report from the pro-Paul LeeRockwell.com LewRockwell.com blog:

An on-scene report from Jerry Cullen: “The San Francisco Republican Alliance headed by Gail Neira held their pre election banquet at the Holiday Inn at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco last evening, December 4th, 2007. The gathering was advertised as a gala affair of loyal Republicans to be followed by a straw poll to select the favorite Presidential Candidate. The featured speaker was Republican State Senator Sam Aanesta (CA 4th SD). The Senator treated the audience to an hour long election pitch for Fred Thompson that cured the insomnia of all in attendance. After endless delays of meaningless trivia the doors were opened to the late comers to the straw poll each of whom had paid $5 for admission. The flood of Ron Paul supporters entered the room to join an already substantial number of Ron Paul supporters that had attended the ‘banquet’.

“A shocked Gail Neira in consultation with the Fred Thompson Northern CA Coordinator cancelled the straw poll vote offering a series of fraudulent, incomprehensible and incoherent reasons. The result was chaos as more than one hundred Ron Paul supporters objected to the outright deception. Neira’s ratings reached a level of unreality beyond description. Security was called to evict the peaceful if upset Ron Paul followers. When I asked that a picture be taken to attest to security attacking the 79-year-old me, security turned and disappeared.

I can’t find any journalistic coverage of the event, so here’s the video, see if you can figure it out:

This morning’s THS comes from the Times, where Ron Paul’s supporters insist that the very fabric of Democracy is at stake in a dispute over voting a the Pinellas GOP straw poll before last week’s presidential debate. The Paulies turned out in more force but Mitt Romney won the vote the old-fashioned way: he paid for it. More accurately, Romney’s few supporters cast multiple votes, which was allowed under the buy-a-$20-ticket-for-each-vote format. (Sort of the way Romney “bought” the Iowa straw poll earlier this year by spending millions of dollars to “win” a pay-per-vote event that nobody even remembers today. Having lots of money goes a long way in politics.)

The Times‘ headline certainly tipped its hand on how it feels about the dispute, calling it “a snit.” But videos of the Romneyites voting again and again hit YouTube quickly and are causing a bit of stir, at least in the Paul camp. A Palm Harbor Paulie sent me his:

So today’s THS question is this: Do straw polls matter at all? Is this a travesty of politics and corruption? Or is it all just another example of politico-media masturbation?

Michael Para, of Orlando, is dressed as a founding father. “I want to revive the spirit of liberty that people forgot about or are apathetic to.” (Photo: Katherine Clement)

Rudy Giuliani supporters try to escape the downpour. (Photo: Katherine Clement)

Prepping today for the GOP CNN-YouTube-Snowman debate tomorrow in St. Pete when I tripped across libertarian/interwebs craze Dr. Ron Paul’s listing of his finishes in recent straw polls. Now, of course, these polls are not scientific and are largely meaningless, but that doesn’t stop him or his supporters from touting them as proof of some kind of glitch or conspiracy in national polls that show Paul running closer to the bottom of the pack.

Here’s a few of the recent straw polls in which Paul did remarkably well:

Straw Poll	Date	Rank	Votes
Republican Abroad Korea Straw Poll (Seoul, Korea)	11/17/2007	1	50.0%
Fresno County GOP Straw Poll, Fresno, CA	11/15/2007	1	35.0%
Evanston (IL) Republican Club Straw Poll	11/11/2007	4	10.9%
New York State Republican Straw Poll, New York City, NY	11/6/2007	1	43.3%
South Sound Ronald Reagan Republican Club, Tacoma, WA	11/01/2007	1	37.7%
Springfield Metropolitan Republican Club, Springfield, MO	11/01/2007	1	77.3%
Laramie County GOP Straw Poll, Cheyenne, WY	10/28/2007	1	48.0%

Gotta put some extra troops on the ground in Evanston, apparently.

Lower in the listings, you find he also finished first in a straw poll at the Ronald Reagan Club in Washington state. I simply must drop in one those cats next time I am in the Pac Northwest, get my dark blue suit pressed neat for the occasion. As this video shows, 43 votes will win you this much coveted title:

The excitement was palpable, wasn’t it?

Libertarian champion Ron Paul is profiled in this week’s Creative Loafing as part of my Next President series. Find out why this little known Texas congressman, Ob/Gyn and grandfather inspires such rabid support — 99% of it online.

Our own Bar Tab maniac slipped by my cubicle this morning and dropped a Ron Paul for President biz card on my desk. He found it underneath is windshield wiper after a session drinking at the International Plaza (which he found hellish and which he will document in Wednesday’s issue of Creative Loafing). “Ron Paul 2008: Hope for America,” it starts.

It reminded me of just how rabid Paul’s supporters are. Not only are they buying these cards themselves (at 3-7 cents a pop, depending on the order quantity, operators are standing by), they are out and about slipping them under wipers all over the Tampa Bay area. That is when they are not planting Ron Paul yard signs all over Pinellas.

Just who is Paul anyway that he should inspire what appears to be a small but highly motivated netroots movement? My latest “Next President” installment in tomorrow’s paper will explore just that question. Here’s a sample:

If the 2008 presidential primaries were held solely on the Internet, it’s likely that a famously libertarian, 71-year-old ob-gyn and congressman from Texas who most of America has never heard of would win the Republican nomination.

It’s not surprising that so many in the nondigital world have never heard of Dr. Ron Paul, despite the fact that he is a huge hit online. Scientific polls across the nation — when and if they even include his name in the crowded GOP field — usually give him a score somewhere around … nothing.

But in online surveys and in dozens of meet-up groups across Florida, Paul is practically worshipped as the last, best hope to get our nation back on the track envisioned by the United States’ founders. He even has more campaign cash in the bank than the better-known John McCain, whose campaign is collapsing because of his support for the Iraq War.

Paul beat Rudy Giuliani, the G.O.P. frontrunner in most polls, by a 2-1 margin in an MSNBC Internet survey taken after the first Republican presidential debate in May. He had higher positives and lower negatives than any candidate after the debate, while just 9 percent of the voters were positive about him before, according to the unscientific MSNBC poll in which more than 96,000 votes were cast. An ABC online survey afterward was even more impressive for Paul: He received 25,700 winning votes. Second place went to “Doesn’t matter because I’m not voting to put any Republican in the White House.” It received 1,987 votes.

So if Paul is so clearly winning debates and support, why does nobody in the mainstream press give him a chance in hell to win, and why don’t scientific polls reflect his popularity? That’s what his supporters want to know, even if most pollsters and political scientists would scoff at such questions.

Here’s the full story.

Stuck inside these four walls:

• “That really frosts my butt:” Brian Blair unloads on Hillsborough Elections chief Buddy. (Times version here.)
• Castor to state: Fix KidCare or else.
• Former Pasco sheriff is a wanted man.
• How many tall condos in downtown St. Pete is too many? This one.
• Re-testing Lee Harvey’s ammo.
• BellSouth spent more than $1 million in lobbyist fees in first three months of the year.
• Ron Paul’s people wrestle Brody to the ground.
• Supply-siders do have a sense of humor.
• The Rear Admiral is the fave on Roman Catholic Blog re: abortion.
• “Liberal hate radio” speaks ill of the dead.
• Darren at the Hillsborough REC.
• Reporter-photographer-janitor wanted.
• 400 doses of “Doh!”
• Sorry, but it’s the other way around, dinojournos: I feel sorry for you lot.”
• In Funny Cide v. Herald, the newspaper wins. (and I didn’t even add “by a nose”)
• The Terri Schiavo of newspapers nears its end.

Quick hit, running out to do Studio 10 this morning, talking about CL’s Summer Guide issue:

• You can’t say “crap” in the St. Petersburg Times (fourth graf). You can say”shyster.”
•  Trib editorial: Veto anti-growth management bills.
• Stanton in Sarasota.
• Jay Rosen and Neil Lewis go at it over “defining the scope” of a story.
• Just admit you’re liberal, there’s nothing wrong with that.
• The end of a very productive era at Fox 13: Phil Metlin leaving.
• Giuliani goes full-blown pr0-choice … cuz of Florida.
• Ron Paul is more popular than Paris Hilton.