Who were they talking about?
The GOP candidate who's raised 1.7 million and counting in online donations since yesterday, Ron Paul.
The GOP candidate who came in second, a very close second, in the Ames, Iowa GOP Straw Poll. We think way too much media time is wasted on that Straw Poll (see Ava and C.I.'s "TV: The PBS FluffHour" from last Sunday); however, if you're one of the many outlets obsessing over it, then you report the winners.
That did not happen as Adam Kokesh documented last Monday night on his program. POLITICO's Roger Simon noted on CNN's Reliable Sources:
Roger Simon: He lost to Michele Bachman by 9/10s of 1 percentage point. In a straw poll that doesn't -- isn't supposed to pick winners but is supposed to tell us which way he wind is blowing, that's a good as a win. So we had a tie for first. But where is he on the morning shows this morning? Where are all the stories analyzing what it means that Ron Paul essentially tied for first place at Ames?
Keach Hagey (POLITICO) quoted Ron Paul's campaign manager Jesse Benton stating, "We were turned down by all the Sunday talk shows, including 'Fox News Sunday,' which promised us an interview. And we were turned down by all the shows today." And NBC's Today cancelled the Monday appearance they had booked Paul for though they insisted -- as if this justified the cancellation -- that his actually being on the program was always 'iffy.'
Beginning to understand why so many people on the streets of DC would have no idea who Ron Paul was? They knew reality TV's Snookie, they didn't know the sitting member of Congress running for the GOP presidential nomination.
Why the media blackout on Ron Paul? Justin Rainmondo (Antiwar.com) explored how Paul's refusal to get on board with perpetual warfare hurts him with a blood thirsty media:
I think Ron himself had the right analysis of how and why the media blackout is so brazen: As he told Simon:
"'They [the media] believe this guy is dangerous to the status quo,' Paul said, 'but that is a reason to be more energized… In his interview with me, Paul stressed his 'peace' message -- he wants our troops brought home from foreign soil -- and believes that and his fiscal conservatism will gain him supporters. 'We are trying to reverse 100 years of history, the change from a republic to an empire, the change to tax and spending, who wants to admit that?' Paul said. 'Who wants to admit we don’t have to be policeman of the world?'"
Paul is correct to home in on his foreign policy views to explain why the "analysts" and Washington know-it-alls insist he "has no chance of winning the Republican nomination," as the Wall Street Journal averred. The conventional wisdom is, as Aaron Blake put it so succinctly in the Washington Post:
"Despite his strong showing at Ames, Paul is still given virtually no chance to win the Republican nomination as his libertarian-leaning brand of politics and distance from most Republicans on foreign policy matters make it difficult for him to win over mainstream GOPers."
A few lines down, however, and we read:
"Paul's vote total was also three and a half times as large as his showing four years ago and almost 40 percent of the total vote he got in the 2008 Iowa caucuses -- where turnout is usually more than 10 times as high as the straw poll. Paul also appears to be benefiting as the most full-throated opponent of U.S. involvement abroad from an increase in anti-war sentiment in the GOP."
Either Paul's anti-interventionist views virtually rule him out as a potential GOP presidential nominee, or else his views benefit him -- Blake can't have it both ways. That he’s desperately trying to is evidence of some confusion, as well as an ingrained bias. Confusion because journalists are not omniscient: they're just ordinary people, who often don’t have the foresight to see new trends developing even as they are occurring -- although you'd think that would be the core of a reporter's job, especially one who specializes in politics. The breakdown of the right-left, red-blue, Fox-MSNBC paradigm is an ongoing process, one bound to take unexpected turns -- and take many by surprise, up to and including those, like Paul, in the forefront of this trend.
But again, he came in a close second, a virtual tie, in the poll the media obsessed over. And this weekend, he's raised over 1.7 million dollars online from small donors. Real small donors. Not the faux small donors the media pimped in 2008 for the Empire's Candidate Barack Obama.Ron Paul truly is a grass-roots candidate. And while the media may pass off marketing brands like Barack as 'grass-roots,' they run from the genuine grass-roots, they run from that which cannot and will not support non-stop war.
What the media doesn't want to tell you, you can find out on his campaign website. We'll note his position on defense:
A PRO-AMERICA FOREIGN POLICY
As an Air Force veteran, Ron Paul believes national defense is the single most important responsibility the Constitution entrusts to the federal government.
In Congress, Ron Paul voted to authorize military force to hunt down Osama bin Laden and authored legislation to specifically target terrorist leaders and bring them to justice.
Today, however, hundreds of thousands of our fighting men and women have been stretched thin all across the globe in over 135 countries – often without a clear mission, any sense of what defines victory, or the knowledge of when they’ll be permanently reunited with their families.
Acting as the world’s policeman and nation-building weakens our country, puts our troops in harm’s way, and sends precious resources to other nations in the midst of an historic economic crisis.
Taxpayers are forced to spend billions of dollars each year to protect the borders of other countries, while Washington refuses to deal with our own border security needs.
Congress has been rendered virtually irrelevant in foreign policy decisions and regularly cedes authority to an executive branch that refuses to be held accountable for its actions.
Far from defeating the enemy, our current policies provide incentive for more to take up arms against us.
That’s why, as Commander-in-Chief, Dr. Paul will lead the fight to:
* Make securing our borders the top national security priority.
* Avoid long and expensive land wars that bankrupt our country by using constitutional means to capture or kill terrorist leaders who helped attack the U.S. and continue to plot further attacks.
* Guarantee our intelligence community’s efforts are directed toward legitimate threats and not spying on innocent Americans through unconstitutional power grabs like the Patriot Act.
* End the nation-building that is draining troop morale, increasing our debt, and sacrificing lives with no end in sight.
* Follow the Constitution by asking Congress to declare war before one is waged.
* Only send our military into conflict with a clear mission and all the tools they need to complete the job – and then bring them home.
* Ensure our veterans receive the care, benefits, and honors they have earned when they return.
* Revitalize the military for the 21st century by eliminating waste in a trillion-dollar military budget.
* Prevent the TSA from forcing Americans to either be groped or ogled just to travel on an airplane and ultimately abolish the unconstitutional agency.
* Stop taking money from the middle class and the poor to give to rich dictators through foreign aid.
As President, Ron Paul’s national defense policy will ensure that the greatest nation in human history is strong, secure, and respected.