Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Ron Paul picks up highly sought after Vox Day endorsement
Yes it's true. Is anyone really that surprised? Why is it that the most famous people to endorse Ron Paul are Vox Day (of WorldNutDaily) and Tucker Carlson? Oh, I almost forgot about the John Birch Society.
In his latest rant Vox claims that PZ Myers "doesn't even try to make sense" (about Paul):
PZ needs to travel more. Living as he does in rural Minnesota, he has absolutely no idea how migration - not immigration - is completely destroying civilized cultures everywhere from Scandinavia to San Antonio.
Let me be clear. I don't think our current border control policies amount to anything more than lip service, but Vox is suffering from a severe bout of xenophobia. Completely destroying civilized cultures? Yes, illegal immigration should be an issue to be concerned about but let's try to keep the hysteria under control. More ranting about PZ:
Like many reactive atheists, he harbors too much hatred for Christianity to think through the massive differences between one theistic culture and another. If Christianity fades away, you don't get Happy Happy Scientopia, but rather the slavery, child sacrifice and female chattel of unleashed pagan culture. If you're lucky, you might get rule by enlightened jihad.
Oh my non-existent gawd! This is hilarious. Sometimes comedy just writes itself. Somebody get Vox some Xanex to help him calm down and maybe some Thorazine for the delusions and paranoia. "Paranoia is a disturbed thought process characterized by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a perceived threat."-Wiki
Let's consider the source. According to FireDogLake:
Vox Day is the nom de plume of prominent conservative web and local radio gadfly Theodore "Ted" Beale. His father, Robert Beale, was doing his absolute best to avoid ever paying taxes, and because of this is currently in the hoosegow. (No doubt Ron Paul's pledge to abolish the IRS resonates with Young Teddy because of the recent unpleasantness.)
This isn't just a humorous post about Vox Day, there is some good Ron Paul related news as well. Last Sunday on Meet the Press, Paul refused to rule out running as an independent if he fails to get the Republican nomination. Good. I hope he pulls a Nader on the wingnuts.
I think Ron Paul has cornered the market on the Tin Foil hat crowd this election cycle. Recently he added his name to the "I don't believe in evolution" list to join the infamous triumvirate of stupidity known as Huckabee, Tancredo and Brownback. My all time favorite Ron Paulism is when he denounces the Civil War as unnecessary saying that we could just have bought all of the slaves and freed them rather than having a bloody 4 year war resulting in the deaths of 625,000 Americans.
Some of Paul's other kooky positions include: No Planned Parenthood, birth control and making abortion illegal. Limit jurisdiction of federal courts. Outlaw flag burning. Eliminate wall of separation between church and state. Repeal OSHA laws. Eliminate unions. Eliminate federal reserve bank. Make social security optional. End prevailing wage laws like Copeland Act and Davis-Bacon. Repeal most anti-trust laws. Eliminate most racial discrimination laws. Repeal most environmental protection laws.
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I don't know who to vote
I don't know who to vote for. I can't vote for the Democrats because they're pro-war liars, and I can't vote Republican because they're, well, Republicans.
I was going to vote for Ron Paul, but I doubt it now. Where exactly did he say all those things in the last paragraph anyway, just so I can check it out for myself.
AtheistUnderMask
AtheistUnderMask-
You asked:
I've been paying attention to all of the candidates (on both sides) for at least the past year so I can't remember exactly where I read or heard everything I know about them, but I will do my best to answer your question.
One of the many blogs I enjoy reading is called Orcinus. Dave has been keeping an especially close eye on Ron Paul. I didn't even mention Paul's many ties to White Supremacist organizations or the campaign contributions he's received from Stormfront.
I just did a search on Dave's site. Here is the link to a search on all Ron Paul articles. Out of many articles, you should read the one from November 11th called "Ron Paul's Record in Congress". It's a little more than half way down the page. It tells you exactly how Paul voted on various bills that came up in the House of Represenatives. There's a hell of a lot more than I posted. I just gave the highlights.
Some other sources of info about Paul that you might try are looking up are his appearance on Meet the Press last Sunday or his interview on CSPAN's Washington Journal. I also saw him on Tucker Carlson's show (MSNBC) once.
I can't decide for you how to cast your vote, but I certainly hope you reconsider supporting Ron Paul (unless your a Christianist Anarchist White Supremist, that is). I hope this helps.
Dirk
The Civil War, etc.
When Ron Paul mentioned the Civil War and how it was unnecessary, it was in contrast to how every other civilization had managed to rid themselves of it without such an extremely bloody conflict (625-700k is a lot of dead). Granted, the money involved, like with all greed and power, definitely muddied the water when it came to the US and abolishing its slavery. It would have taken longer to peacefully come to terms with the barbarism of such a system and remove it from our country. So, Time + Suffering vs. Loss of Lives + Suffering. I think Paul was simply saying that it could have been done peacefully, which isn't so absurd.
I like some of what he says. Less, or no, military spread throughout the world. No government involvement in marriage. And a few other things that aren't so far out. But, that said, I can't imagine voting for him. The Evolution thing is important to me, but it's not a deal breaker with so many other issues on the line. At this point, I am so disheartened I can't imagine who I would vote for -- possibly no one.
Matt
The lesser of two weevils
To Matt and AtheistUnderMask-
As for the Civil War nonsense, I'm not buying into Paul's revisionist history. First of all the Civil War was not about slavery. It was about the southern states succeeding from the Union. The emancipation proclamation was not even issued until almost 2 years after the war started. Many Northerners thought freeing the slaves was a bad idea or not important enough. Ending slavery was almost an afterthought and was really designed to further weaken the South in the midst of a war we were losing. Remember, the first couple of years, the war did not go well for the North. General Robert E. Lee kicked our ass up and down the countryside. It was only because of superior numbers and a superior industrial base that the North was able to win.
Secondly, I can't believe simply purchasing all of the slaves and freeing them would have stopped the practice. It's naive to think that they wouldn't just import more, or reinvent ways to bring slavery back. The entire southern economy was based on cheap labor. Paul's ideas about slavery sound all warm and fuzzy, but practically speaking are utter foolishness. Just like most of the rest of his platform.
At first, Paul sounded very interesting to me as well. But the more I find out about him, and the more I hear him speak and answer questions, the less I like. He does talk a good game, but when someone sharp corners him, he exposes himself. Like the other day on Meet the Press, Russert got him to admit that he only voted against the earmarks for his district because he knew they would pass anyway. Paul called the earmarks "tax credits for his constituants." And when Paul talks about being a constitutionalist, he really means that he favors his Christian-Libertarian interpretation and talks about all of the changes he would make to the constitution. The guys a bullshitter. Granted, a very good, common sense sounding bullshitter, but a politician thru and thru.
I'm in the same boat. At times I feel so frustrated I wonder why I bother. But I remeber 2004 and 2000 before that, and the election before that, and so on..... What I've come to realize is that there is no such thing as a perfect candidate for me. Maybe 70-80% is the best I can hope for? Remember John Kerry? By no means was he perfect for me, but he would have been much better than the Worst President in History.
I'm pretty sure I will end up holding my nose, and pulling the lever for Hillary as distasteful as that sounds. At least I will probably like the Supreme Court Justices she nominates and I will probably agree with three quarters of her decisions. That's a hell of a lot better than we have now. As usual, this election will be about choosing the lesser of two weevils.
Once upon a time there were two, male, boll weevils. One had acres and acres of cotton all to himself. The other had nothing ... not even one single cotton boll.
The two weevils met the same girl weevil on the same day. They actually started dating her at the same time. As things would go, they both asked her to marry them at the same time.
Can you guess which one she chose?
The one with nothing. Know why?
He was the 'lesser of two weevils'!
Heard
I'd just heard this RP quote recently and it firmed up my support against him. I had my suspicions from some of his talking points regarding religious freedom.
It's a shame I won't be able to vote for him. As crazy as he sounds his policies often reflect views similar to mine, but I have a very strict policy of my own. I will never ever vote for someone who doesn't think evolution is valid.
Thanks for the blog Dirk, I
Thanks for the blog Dirk, I appreciate it. And no, I'm not that. I just keep hearing all this stuff about Ron Paul and I'm torn.
Thanks for the hook up though.
As it stands right now, I think I'm just going to stay home on voting day. Maybe I'll play the violin or watch Aliens vs Predator since whoever wins, we lose.
Uh-oh.
Now you've done it, Dirk. Soon the Paul-bots will descend . . .and once Vox has you in his figurative sights, he might even call you bad names!
Jim Downey
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Surprising?
The only thing that would be surprising about it would be if people are surprised.
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