Iowa Poll: It's Romney, Paul, Santorum, Gingrich, Perry and Bachmann

GOP - Angry, racist, and authoritarian

Update: Romney, Santorum and Paul Top the Pack: What the Iowa Caucuses Reveal About the GOP Base

Murderers’ Row this line-up of Republican liars, shills and whacks is not.

The 2012 Republican field is the weakest slate of candidates offered up for president by a major party in modern American, political history.

Des Moines Register’s latest Iowa Poll Results

Mitt Romney - 24 percent
Ron Paul - 22 percent
Rick Santorum - 15 percent
Newt Gingrich - 12 percent
Rick Perry -11 percent
Michele Bachmann - 7 percent

From the Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register’s latest Iowa Poll shows a surprise three-way match-up in contention to win the Iowa Republican caucuses: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.

Ron Paul in Shot with KKK Grand Wizard, NAZI, Stormfront Goes Viral

Ron Paul with former American Nazi, Current KKK Grand Wizard
and Stormfront.org webmaster - Shot at the at the Values Voter Presidential debate
in Fort Lauderdale on September 17, 2007.

As "Ron Paul tries to scare the crap out of Iowans about the UN takeover and riots in the streets over the emerging dictatorship in America" (TPM), comes this charming shot (to the right) from the Values Voter Presidential debate in Fort Lauderdale on September 17, 2007.

The keynote speaker to the 50th anniversary of the Appleton-based John Birch Society? (Steven Walters in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) Nice.

Publisher of the racist, and pathetically bigoted newsletters in which Ron Paul made $millions and tried to defend, and later attested he never read or approved, first reported by James Kirchick almost four years ago. Really nice.

Now, comes a shot (above) of Ron Paul pictured with former American Nazi Party member and the current KKK Grand Wizard and Stormfront.org webmaster, Don Black that is going viral.

Just maybe our neighbors to the Southwest have the wrong idea about Ron Paul. So Iowa, wise up.

And hey Paul, to win the GOP nomination or even the Iowa caucuses, you need to be subtly racist, not overtly racist.

Ron Paul's Racist Newsletters Costing Him—Again, with Assist from Wisconsin

Ron Paul - White and proud of it

In 2008 James Kirchick at The New Republic broke a disturbing expose about the anti-war, self-proclaimed libertarian candidate for president, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Lake Jackson, Texas; 14th District), now for the first time leading polls for the GOP nomination for president in Iowa, and who has a plausible path to the 2012 GOP nomination, to the utter panic of many Republicans.

Kirchick, whom many regard as a neocon writer, took a lot of grief from the many, loyal pro-Ron Paul fans. [So did I for merely applauding Kirchick in a piece that drew a lot of hits at the site, Uppity Wisconsin.]

By Michael Leon

Some of the political commentariat point out that Paul received a lot of support from veterans in 2008, though Ron Paul 2012 does not list Veterans Benefits as an issue in his webpage, and his anti-government benefits ideology makes this writer dismiss him as a veterans' advocates.

What's ironic is that a fairly rightwing writer, James Kirchick, may be dooming Ron Paul again and some believe throwing away the GOP's last, best hope to defeat President Obama in a GOP field dominated by lightweights and to be candid: Whacks.

Paul, who has a distinguished record as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force, also has a political past where he was the publisher of several racist, anti-Semitic newsletters uncovered by Kirchick who concludes, "Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing -- but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics."

Ron Paul is a radical, a politician who in the words of Gary Weiss "is a true friend of the 1 percent" engaging in a campaign of phony populism. In fact, just months after Kirchick's 2008 blockbuster, Paul traveled to Wisconsin (Steven Walters in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) where it was reported the "(f)ormer Republican presidential candidate ... will keynote Saturday's session of the 50th anniversary of the Appleton-based John Birch Society." The John Birch Society, dating back to the 1950s, is infamous for its conspiracy-minded, anti-Semitic, and Joe McCarthy-supporting radicals.

From Jonathan Chait:

"As early as December 1989, a section of his Investment Letter, titled 'What To Expect for the 1990s,' predicted that 'Racial Violence Will Fill Our Cities' because 'mostly black welfare recipients will feel justified in stealing from mostly white ‘haves.’' Two months later, a newsletter warned of 'The Coming Race War,' and, in November 1990, an item advised readers, 'If you live in a major city, and can leave, do so. If not, but you can have a rural retreat, for investment and refuge, buy it.' In June 1991, an entry on racial disturbances in Washington, DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood was titled, 'Animals Take Over the D.C. Zoo.' 'This is only the first skirmish in the race war of the 1990s,' the newsletter predicted."

Below is a video from C-SPAN in which Paul discusses his newsletters [starting at the 1:40 mark] in which Paul, speaking in the first-person, ["I"], describes his racist nonsense as a business-investment, political-type of investment-monetary newsletter.

How panicked is the GOP? Here's some recent pieces indicating why even a nomination of Newt might bring Karl Rove and the Koch brothers better news than a potential Ron Paul nomination:

• Why Don’t Libertarians Care About Ron Paul’s Bigoted Newsletters? (Kirchick, The New Republic, 2011)
• How Ron Paul could give the GOP a heart attack (Kornacki, Salon)
• Grappling With Ron Paul's Racist Newsletters (Friedersdorf, The Atlantic)
• Ron Paul Gets Testy With Gloria Borger Over Questions on Racist Newsletters (Heather, Crooks and Liars)
• The Company Ron Paul Keeps (Kirchick, The Weekly Standard)
• News Bulletin: Ron Paul Is a Huge Racist (Chait, New York Magazine)
• Tim Carney's Preemptive Defense of Ron Paul (Goldberg, National Review)
• The Ron Paul Double Standard (Klein, Washington Examiner)

What did Kirchick expose in 2008 and for how long did this ugliness have Paul's assent?

Kirchick writes (Jan. 8, 2008):

Paul’s newsletters have carried different titles over the years--Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report--but they generally seem to have been published on a monthly basis since at least 1978. ... What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. ...

[In a] special issue of the Ron Paul Political Report, Kirchick cites:

According to the newsletter, the looting (1992 LA riot) was a natural byproduct of government indulging the black community with 'civil rights,’ quotas, mandated hiring preferences, set-asides for government contracts, gerrymandered voting districts, black bureaucracies, black mayors, black curricula in schools, black tv shows, black tv anchors, hate crime laws, and public humiliation for anyone who dares question the black agenda.' It also denounced 'the media' for believing that 'America’s number one need is an unlimited white checking account for underclass blacks.'

And these beauties, noted by Kirchick:

• [L]iberals who “want to keep white America from taking action against black crime and welfare,” adding, “Jury verdicts, basketball games, and even music are enough to set off black rage, it seems.”
• One newsletter ridiculed black activists who wanted to rename New York City after King, suggesting that “Welfaria,” “Zooville,” “Rapetown,” “Dirtburg,” and “Lazyopolis” were better alternatives.
• While bashing King, the newsletters had kind words for the former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke. In a passage titled “The Duke’s Victory,” a newsletter celebrated Duke’s 44 percent showing in the 1990 Louisiana Senate primary. “Duke lost the election,” it said, “but he scared the blazes out of the Establishment.”
• In an item titled, “The Pink House?” the author of a newsletter--again, presumably Paul--complained about President George H.W. Bush’s decision to sign a hate crimes bill and invite “the heads of homosexual lobbying groups to the White House for the ceremony,” adding, “I miss the closet.”
• “The ACT-UP slogan, on stickers plastered all over Manhattan, is ‘Silence = Death.’ But shouldn’t it be ‘Sodomy = Death’?”
• His adversaries are often described in harsh terms: Barbara Jordan is called “Barbara Morondon,” Eleanor Holmes Norton is a “black pinko,” Donna Shalala is a “short lesbian,” Ron Brown is a “racial victimologist,” and Roberta Achtenberg, the first openly gay public official confirmed by the United States Senate, is a “far-left, normal-hating lesbian activist.” Maybe such outbursts mean Ron Paul really is a straight-talker. Or maybe they just mean he is a man filled with hate.

Kirchick must have had to research long hours to dig up these Ron Paul newsletters housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's State Historical Society [a state agency in itself), which maintains a very broad and deep collection of political material dedicated to preserving American history for the benefit of people of all states.

The Wisconsin State Historical Society has been collecting political newsletters and other material since 1849, the year after Wisconsin became a state.

At the very top of Rep. Paul's Congressional site, Paul quotes Frederic Bastiat, "Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all."

Right about now, Ron Paul likely wishes that preserving his racist tripe were not done at all.

Ron Paul explicit race-baiting

NH GOP backs out of Fox debate

Fox News' decision to exclude GOP candidates from its pre-Hew Hampshire weekend debate has backfired, as the New Hampshire GOP has pulled out of the debate.

The decision to exclude anti-war libertarian Rep. Ron Paul has also angered Paul supporters across the nation. And in New Hampshire, Paul will likely see the benefit of what independent support there is for the GOP, cutting into John McCain's support and hurting McCain's desperate need for a victory there.

From the Times:

Ron Paul raised nearly $20 million in the last quarter, likely more than any of his rivals. He garnered 10 percent of the Republican vote in the Iowa Caucuses, surpassing Rudolph W. Giuliani. And he’s in New Hampshire this weekend on the airwaves and the campaign trail before the Jan. 8 primary.

From ThinkProgress:

The New Hampshire Republican Party expressed its disapproval with Fox News’ decision to exclude Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter from an upcoming debate by severing its partnership with the network. “We believe that it is inconsistent with the first in the nation primary tradition to be excluding candidates in a pre-primary setting,” said New Hampshire GOP state chair Fergus Cullen.

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GOP Running on Empty and Away from Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee

Two things scare the bejesus out of GOP operatives more than a united Democratic party in 2008:

Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee.

Fox News, the Republican media organ, is excluding the libertarian, anti-war Paul from a debate the weekend before the New Hampshire primary because, as James Pindell quotes Paul:

"They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out, but it will (get out). ... They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative."

What the GOP operatives at Fox are afraid of is that Paul will chip away blocks from the Republican coalition needed to be assembled for a winning 2008 presidential campaign. And today's authoritarian, war-at-any-costs GOP does not cut it with Paul supporters, many of whom are veterans.

But the decision to exclude Paul from the debate rather than placate and assimilate him into the GOP fold is, from the GOP perspective, foolish and short-sighted. The GOP underestimates the passion and commitment of Paul's growing supporters and the attempt to suppress Paul is playing right into the insurgent Paul's crash-the-gates appeal.

Huckabee, on the other hand, even as he consolidates the religious right's bigotry block suffers from three tactical political weaknesses: He is perceived to be weak on foreign affairs, weak on crime, and unacceptable to the Wall Street faction of the GOP.

Amusing to watch the GOP, which has used the religious right so effectively the past eight years, have their hidden contempt for the religious right begin to pour out into the open.

Huckabee is worse than Paul in his ability to fragment a winning Republican 2008 presidential coalition that has days away from Iowa eluded the GOP.

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Anti-war Republican Ron Paul Raises $6 million in One Day

Ron Paul, a libertarian anti-war candidate for the Republican nomination for president, raised a record $6 million yesterday.

The single-day fundraising total ensures that Paul will remain a serious contender and a thorn in the side of the Republican establishment as Paul continues his anti-war message.

Ron Paul, a favorite of military veterans, issued the following statement:

"There is an unprecedented outpouring of grassroots support for Dr. Paul. The message of freedom is powerful and uniting people across America. And, Dr. Paul is the only candidate offering real solutions to the issues Americans care about, with the record to back it up. ..."

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Is David Broder Capable of Being Substantial? No, That Is Why He Ignores Ron Paul

David Broder has never tried to hide his positive bias toward the Bush, Cheney, and Rove administration.

But Broder's bias extends to the GOP generally, and because it's difficult to manage regular, substantial plaudits for the Party, Broder does what he does best: Banal pandering.

Watching last week's CNN YouTube Debate while attempting to adopt the mindset of a Republican primary voter, the immigrant-bashing, war-mongering, hate-fest nature of the forum was impossible to miss.

John McCain and Mike Huckabee did come out with positions approaching rational and human concern for immigrants and their families, positions similar to the standard Democratic position.

Yet, for David Broder, only GOP candidates draw praise in taking rational positions contra the GOP. [In fairness to Broder, rational GOP positions do not often come.] Writes Broder:

What sets McCain and Huckabee apart is most evident in the way they treat the contentious issue of illegal immigration. ...

But, unlike the others, who seem to take their rhetorical cues from the rabidly anti-immigrant Tancredo, Huckabee and McCain always remember that those who struggle to reach the United States across the deserts or rivers of the Southwest are human beings drawn here by the promise of better lives for their families. ...

If the Republican Party really wanted to hold on to the White House in 2009, it's pretty clear what it would do. It would grit its teeth, swallow its doubts, and nominate a ticket of John McCain for president and Mike Huckabee for vice president -- and president-in-waiting. ...

McCain and Huckabee have been notable for their clarity, character and, yes, simple humanity.

So, does this clarity, character, and humanity apply to the Democratic candidates who have taken essentially the same positions (but less putative) as McCain and Huckabee on immigration? No.

Broder continues:

McCain is ... a principled battler for what he considers essential on Iraq and other national security issues.

McCain's position is that we should sacrifice more American soldiers in Iraq (though even the most dim of observers realize that the war was sold through lies), bankrupt our military's readiness, and begin a massive influx of new troops into the slaughter, a pro-war position that is supposed to appeal to the GOP primary voters.

McCain's pandering to the religious right is well known and merits no further comment, other than to ask Broder whether this is another demonstration of McCain's character.

McCain's principle is that he wants to be president. [Though he chastised Romney on torture at the debate, McCain also has caved in to Bush on torture last year, and besides shouldn't the not-torturing position be axiomatic, and GOP pro-torture positions be the subject of non-stop media and political condemnation?]

Broder says this of Huckabee: "His combination of religious principle, good humor, tolerance and clear passion on education and health care ...," blah blah blah.

Clear passion? Huckabee is against universal health care, and, whatever Broder thinks, Huckabee will not go down in history as the Education Governor.

Huckabee is a religious right zealot who does not believe in evolution, and these beliefs have propelled Huckabee to be the favorite to win the Iowa caucuses.

Broder then writes the following of Ron Paul (and other candidates):

" ... are exercising their lungs but running for exercise, happy to be part of the proceedings but with no hope of being nominated."

Broder, like the national GOP, is afraid of Rep. Ron Paul because of his libertarian, clear anti-war positions, his lack of cant, and criticism of Bush's lies on Iraq that has helped Paul raise millions of dollars in weeks in grassroots' contributions.

And Ron Paul's clarity has earned him the favored candidate status from veterans across the nation.

But for Broder, that will not win Ron Paul (or any Democratic presidential candidate) the praise of having "clarity, character and, yes, simple humanity."
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