UnFairWitness

Ron Paul on Iowa radio

Jan Mickelson of the Iowa radio station WHO1040 found Ron Paul's statement of faith so inspiring that he posted it on his website and spent the last 5 minutes of his show reading parts of it and talking about how impressed he is with Ron Paul. 

via an Iowan on Ron Paul Forums.

Ron Paul YouTube Juggernaut

Use the scroll bar on the bottom of the graph to see the takeoff.

I have no idea how to get this to display so the right side doesn't get trimmed off. Anyone Know?

Ron Paul supporters spam GoogleTrends!

Look what those Ron Paul spammers did!  They even fooled Google.

h/t Inside Google

A reader points out that I left off someone named "Fred Thompson."  Is he running for something?  Anyway, here he is.   Thanks, Chris.

Something is stirring out there

Andrew Sullivan doesn't know the difference between "isolationist" and non-intervention but he sees something happening out there.  Of course, he has to call Ron Paul "fringe" and claim that he can't win, but it's an interesting  read nonetheless.  Also, he says Ron is fourth as far as cash on hand among Republicans, when he's actually third.  Sloppy.

Ron Paul supporters arrested for flying upside down US flag

Minions of the State, tipped off by some local brownshirts,  rush to protect their symbol, while trampling on the rights   of Mark and Deborah Kuhn. 

credit: John Coutlakis, JCOUTLAKIS@CITIZEN-TIMES.com

Mark and Deborah Kuhn display signs they attached to an American flag flying upside down at their home on Brevard Road.

 

Let's let the great Murray Rothbard comment on this:

Keeping our eye on property rights, the entire flag question is resolved easily and instantly. Everyone has the right to buy or weave and therefore own a piece of cloth in the shape and design of an American flag (or in any other design) and to do with it what he will: fly it, burn it, defile it, bury it, put it in the closet, wear it, etc. Flag laws are unjustifiable laws in violation of the rights of private property. (Constitutionally, there are many clauses in the Constitution from which private property rights can be derived.)

On the other hand, no one has the right to come up and burn your flag, or someone else's. That should be illegal, not because a flag is being burned, but because the arsonist is burning your property without your permission. He is violating your property rights.

               

Ron Paul beats all the candidates on GoogleBattle

Check it out!

Google Ron Paul - New Video

See if you can spot Lew Rockwell in this great new Ron Paul video!

Anti-war Ron Paul in NY Times

This is a good mention:

Democrats have picked an unlikely ally in efforts to end the Iraq War. Or maybe it’s the ally who has chosen them.

But either way, it appears maverick conservative Republican ­— and presidential contender — Ron Paul of Texas, will be getting plenty of help from anti-war Democrats on his proposal (HR 2605) to repeal President Bush’s authority to use force in Iraq within six months.

Democrats find it strange that Paul, who sounds like his GOP colleagues on a lot of other issues — like his staunch opposition to tax increases, for instance — would speak against Democrats’ timetable for withdrawal from Iraq (HR 2956). But the truth is, Paul prefers a tougher approach — an immediate withdrawal, which he believes would happen once the president’s authority to wage war has been revoked.

Ron Paul on Technorati Watch

Week 10 of Ron Paul constantly in the Technorati Most Popular searches.

LP's Steve Kubby Endorses Ron Paul

Steve: "Now, if I think that Ron Paul is a reasonably solid libertarian — and despite the fact that we disagree on some big issues, I do — then at some point I have to look at what he’s accomplishing and ask myself whether my priority is being the big fish in the small LP pond, or whether my priority is advancing liberty, and act accordingly.

Secondly, I don’t just bow down to majority opinion, but I do respect the views of my fellow Libertarians — and 70% of them say that Ron Paul’s campaign is their choice for advancing liberty, at least in this part of this election cycle. If I was convinced that those Libertarians were wrong, I’d keep trying to convince them otherwise. But every day, the evidence that they are right gets more overwhelming. This is a no-brainer. If they’re right, I should be working with them. If they’re wrong, then I’m wrong with them … but I’m also the guy who was working with them, not the guy standing off to the side quoting the long odds at them."

The rest of his interview is here and the official announcement is here.

Tom Knapp's head explodes here.  (Sorry, Tom, couldn't resist.)

Ron Paul supporter ambushes Hannity

Pretty funny.  He did a good job of sneaking up on him, then he clobbered him with a Ron Paul fact.

Listen here (MP3)

Ron Paul is the authentic voice of the libertarian movement

Justin Raimondo decimates Randy Barnett.  Don't miss it.

Ron Paul most popular @GoogleTalk ever

Here are all GoogleTalk videos sorted by number of views. The most astounding thing about Ron Paul's GoogleTalk video is that it has only been on the net for TWO DAYS. Ron's video currently has 48,266 views, a number that will certainly be outdated by the time I post it. The next closest video is Hillary with less than 30,000 after having been on the web for 4 months.

Amazing.

So-called "none of the above" poll excludes Ron Paul

This AP/Ipsos poll is getting a lot of attention today.  The hook: "A new poll reveals a clear leader in the Republican presidential race: nobody."

To see how dishonest this poll was, go to page 9 (pdf.)

Anyone who said they were Democrats or leaned Democrat was offered only Democrats to choose from. Anyone who said they were Republican or leaned Republican got to choose from Rudy McRomney, 2 candidates who haven't declared (Gingrich and Thompson), Huckabee and Brownback. No wonder the results are so dismal. The interesting numbers:

Other   2
None    8
(DK/NS) 15

That's 25%.  What would it have been if Ron Paul hadn't been excluded?

Ron Paul moves up in Gallup Poll

Texas Congressman Ron Paul at 3%

Heading Right says: "I would be remiss if I did not point out that Ron Paul has had a good week. Rasmussen isn’t tracking the second-tier candidates, but Gallup shows Paul with 3% support — probably his best showing in the entire primary season. He overtook Mike Huckabee this week by a single percentage point, which does not bode well for the Governor of Arkansas."

Clearly the polls are still not measuring his real support, but it's nice to see some upward movement anyway.

A Raw Look at the "Surge"

Maybe this is why they’re supporting a candidate that promises to bring them home?

American soldiers describe the constant stress of living in a war zone, voice their frustrations over the politics with the war strategy in Washington, and are seen as they watch an armored vehicle burn with six of their fellow troops trapped inside, in a rare and raw look at what American troops are experiencing on the front lines in Baghdad.

[…]

“I challenge anybody in Congress to do my rotation,” said Spc. Michael Vassell of Apache Company. “They don’t have to do anything, they just come hang out with me and go home at the times I go home, and come stay here 15 months with me.”

Apache Company was sent to Iraq in June 2006 for a 12-month rotation which has since been extended to a 15-month tour.

“It’s a joke. We will have spent 14 months in contact, basically fighting all 14 months,” said Cpl. Joshua Lake. “Our battalion got right to Baghdad … first week we were in Baghdad we lost two guys in our battalion … it hasn’t stopped since.”

[…]

“Because we have people up there in Congress with the brain of a 2-year-old who don’t know what they are doing — they don’t experience it. I challenge the president or anyone who has us for 15 months to ride alongside me,” Vassell said. “I [would] do another 15 months if he comes out here and rides along with me every day for 15 months. I’ll do 15 more months. They don’t even have to pay me extra.”

In this photo, six American soldiers and an Iraqi translator are burning to death inside the armored vehicle. Cpl. Joshua Lake from Apache Company told Sean Smith, “It’s a joke. We will have spent 14 months in contact, basically fighting all 14 months…first week in Baghdad we lost two guys in our battalion, and it hasn’t stopped since.”

(Sean Smith/Guardian)

This is an unusually hard-hitting article.  Also, see the video on the upper right of the link and the  rest of the photos here.

cross-posted here

50% of military political donations went to Ron Paul

IraqSlogger looks at the Q2 numbers: "But a closer look at the reports reveals a less obvious but more remarkable development--the antiwar Republican received nearly 50% of the money donated by employees of the US military."

Ron Paul Technorati watch

As I wrote here, Ron Paul is setting new standards for popularity on Technorati.  Here's where he is today:

Reason on the Ron Paul Movement

Jesse Walker argues that the grassroots activity around Ron Paul's campaign is interesting and valuable in itself. Particularly interesting: "The Paul movement is different. Unlike the Jackson and Perot campaigns, it is open, decentralized, and largely driven by activists operating without any direction from the candidate or his staff. Unlike the netroots, it has no particular attachment to the party whose nomination its candidate is seeking."

UPDATE:  DailyKos, home of the netroots, bans antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan for announcing an independent run against Democratic Speaker of the Hawks Nancy Pelosi. How's that for an illustration of the netroots' commitment to party over principle?

Silicon Valley Ron Paul Rally Photos

There was a large, vocal, high energy crowd assembled to see Ron Paul today.  I've put together an album of rally photos here.  I haven't got the luncheon ones uploaded yet, but here's a great line from Ron Paul's speech there:

"Some people would bet their life savings that we can't win.  We'd like to make that a risky bet."

Live blogging the Silicon Valley Ron Paul Rally

I'[m liveblogging the Ron Paul Rally in Mountain View, CA, just off the great Google campus.  I'll mostly post on the Lew Rockwell.com blog, but I'll try to catch this blog up later today.  I'm getting some great pictures.

Ron Paul: The Conscience of Conservatism

If anyone epitomizes the Old Right, in his principled dedication to individual liberty and his essentially conservative devotion to the Constitution, it is Rep. Paul, a 71-year old nine-term Republican congressman who represents a Gulf coast Texas farming district, i.e. red state country.   By Justin Raimondo, editor of AntiWar.com

read more | digg story

RE: A Boost In The Polls For Ron Paul?

This guy makes some interesting points about why Ron Paul's national polls aren't reflecting his obvious popularity.  Ordinarily I'm leery of dismissing polling data.  Remember even Karl Rove claimed his "math" told him the polls were wrong about the 2006 Democratic landslide. 

Rove claimed that the polls "add up to a Republican Senate and a Republican House."

"You may end up with a different math, but you're entitled to your math," Rove said. "I'm entitled to 'the' math."

Still, this makes sense.  Thoughts?

Ron Paul sets a new web record on Technorati

I've been a blogger for years and my Technorati account dates back to March of 2004.  But, I've never seen anything like the sustained presence of Ron Paul in the Technorati top search terms.  The Paris Hiltons and iPhones come and go and YouTube is almost always at the top.  But a politician?  When has that ever happened before?  According to a Technorati spokesman, never.   

As for comparable searches on potential presidential candidates, interestingly enough, there aren't any. Ron Paul has had the longest stint in our top searches out of all candidates.  Mike Gravel had a quick stint, he's another grass-roots Web campaigner.  But aside from that and a few blips when Obama, Clinton, and Edwards uploaded YouTube videos or after the debates, Ron Paul has been the most sustained top search for political candidates.

About the sustained trajectory of Ron Paul's popularity in the blogosphere, here's what  Technorati's  spokesman had to say:

"Ron Paul" was relatively unsearched-for term, until...

-May 4, when he became a popular (but not top) search.

THEN on...May 8, his popularity quadrupled and he became an official top search (thus entering the online zeitgeist, you might say), all building up to May 15-16, when he became really really hot (peaking on the 16th), and has since been enjoying a steady stream of searches.

May 4 was when Ron Paul won the MSNBC debate poll.  On May 8 the Paul campaign put out this press release:

Ron Paul Builds Momentum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 8, 2007

ARLINGTON, VA – Congressman Ron Paul's support has soared since the first Republican presidential debate.  Conservative commentator John McLaughlin, host of “The McLaughlin Group," cited Ron Paul as having given "the best performance of the debate."  In fact, the Paul campaign's apparent strength has many other pundits scrambling to explain it.  Paul campaign officials offer the following examples of the candidate's rising success.

Since the debate on May 3, Ron Paul:

• Handily won two post-debate polls posted by event sponsor MSNBC 
• Placed a close third (18%) in a post-debate poll on the conservative Drudge Report
• Won an ABCNews.com online debate poll with 84% 
• Won a C-SPAN online GOP candidate poll with 69% 
• Became the third most-mentioned person in the blogosphere, beating out Paris Hilton, according to the reputable Technorati.com
• Produced a YouTube.com video that was ranked the 8^th most popular overall video, and the most-viewed political video 
• Was featured, by popular demand, on the front of Digg.com
• Generated so many bulletin posts on MySpace.com that the site owner News Corp. blocked all additional posts about Dr. Paul 
• Became a "most searched" term on Google and Yahoo! 
• Saw a quadrupling of daily visitors to RonPaul2008.com

"These figures speak for themselves," said campaign chairman Kent Snyder.  "Ron Paul has quickly become a strong contender for the GOP nomination because of his powerful message of freedom and limited government."

May 15 was the Fox News debate.    If you don't remember how that one went, here's a hilarious refresher.

h/t ihateronpaul.com

I guess Ron Paul is right when he says "Freedom is popular." 

Amazing blog: RonPaulMeetUpVideos.com

Every day, Ron Paul supporters do the most astonishing things.  Look at these MeetUp videos!!  All over the country, hundreds of them!  They're painting signs on top of buildings, confronting establishment Republicans in their lairs with homemade signs and banners, and rallying in support of Dr. Paul everywhere he goes.  Look at these guys! It's 115 degrees in Tuscon and they're on the street, campaigning for Ron Paul.  You can't buy that kind of campaigning.

Take some time wandering through this site and see if you don't feel...well, hope.

Boston Herald on Ron Paul: "genuine and optimistic"

After bashing Fred Thompson for his anti-abortion pandering/pro-abortion lobbying hypocrisy and Mitt Romney for thinking cruelty to dogs shows mad CEO skillz, the Boston Herald editorial staff has this to say:

Myspace is Paul’s space    

Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is not only the most popular presidential candidate on youth-focused social network Internet sites such as facebook.com and myspace, but he now has raised more funds than presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), according to ABC News.    

Paul now has a remarkable $2.4 million, compared to McCain’s $2 million. His successful campaigning and strong fund raising are a sign of the surge in grassroots support that he has received.    

He is now in third place behind candidates Rudy Giuliani ($18 million) and Mitt Romney ($12 million), but he is remaining positive. In a ABC interview, Paul was quoted as saying, “I think some of the candidates are on the downslope, and we’re on the up slope.”     It’s good to know that at least some presidential candidates are genuine and optimistic.

read more | digg story

Full text of Capitol Hill Blue's anti-Ron Paul tirades

For posterity or a time capsule or just to point and laugh later after Ron Paul is president.  See below the fold.  Thank you to several Lew Rockwell.com readers who sent them to me.

Video:True Believers: Tribute To Ron Paul Supporters

Rally for Ron Paul - ABC's "This Week"

Watching these videos shows the enormity of the commitment Dr. Paul took on when he agreed to run for US.  His schedule must be exhausting, but he  shows up everywhere with a smile, signs endless autographs, shakes thousands of hands and continues to spread his  message of liberty and freedom. 

Via Free Century

And yesterday in Las Vegas airport:

USAElectionPolls.com puts Ron Paul back in first tier Republicans

Nice post and very encouraging news from David Terr's analysis of his website stats and his articles on Digg.

Excerpt:

I was checking out the traffic to this website in depth and noticed that Ron Paul supporters dominated in every way. Comments posted on this site are mostly by Ron Paul supporters. The straw polls on my site show 70-80% support of Ron Paul. The highest search keyword people use to enter my site is Ron Paul on Google, AOL, Yahoo, Digg, and Technorati. The Ron Paul pages have the most traffic on my site, the competition is not even close.

It is no wonder the media wants kind of has to exclude Ron Paul from online polls, etc.. because his supporters skew the results. But the problem with that thinking is that his online support is very real. I know for a fact that it is real because I get a lot of traffic on this site. Just look at the number of monthly visitors that come to this site. And for our straw polls to still show 70% Ron Paul supporters, there is something very interesting about that. Part of it is that there is a lot of Ron Paul supporters online but the other part is that the Giuliani, Romney, Thompson, McCain, Huckabee supporters really need to get motivated.

Ron Paul is dominating every other candidate in online polls. If they truly make up just 2% of the Republican support that he is getting but consistently gets 70% in our straw polls, that would suggest that his supporters are 35 times more passionate than the supporters of Giuliani, McCain, Romney, and Thompson combined. Instead of trying to restrict the speech of Ron Paul supporters like other blogs and websites we encourage them. But we also say shame on you to the supporters of the other campaigns. Speak up, make a post, write a blog, send some emails, make some youtube videos, get on myspace, donate a buck. You guys are looking really pathetic compared to Ron Paul's supporters, not only on our website but every other website on the Internet.

As a result of all this, Ron Paul is now back into our list of top candidates in the right menu.

Go Ron!!  And Ron's Online Army!

Read the rest

 

                       

Capitol Hill Blue Editor Apologizes

Rogue substitute editor goes haywire posting anti-Ron Paul articles.  My post on LewRockwell.com.

Ron Paul: Leading the Cause of Freedom

This one about made me cry.  Be sure and watch to the end!

Also, go here and rate this video.  And subscribe to the Ron Paul YouTube channel!

Ron Paul: "We're on the Upslope"

Go Ron!!!

Free Century: Ron Paul has more MySpace Friends that any other Republican

Ron Paul rules all the Republicans on MySpace, too.  Is Ron Paul your MySpace friend?  If not, do it!

Ron Paul tops 19,000 YouTube Subscriptions

Ron Paul is King of YouTube.

Here is Ron Paul's YouTube channel.  If you aren't subscribed, do it! 

Funny article: Ron Paulfs (sic) Digg Manipulation Exposed

Some people just can't deal with the reality of Ron Paul's massive support and internet popularity.  Be sure and read the comments on the poor guy's article for further amusement.

There are rumors of Ron Paul supporters manipulating Digg. Ifve got the names and the evidence.

read more | digg story

He actually made a list!  Anyway, the guy who wrote this article is running a thing called the International Association Of Online Communicators, which may explain how he misinterprets Ron Paul's online supporters.  It reminds me of the way the concept of human action is incomprehensible to most so-called economists.  We must have charts!

Ron Paul Meet Up Group Kicked out of Marlins Game

Their crime was that their Ron Paul signs were visible on Fox TV.

YouTube of the Ron Paul Rally in Iowa

Part 1:  Announcements
Part 2:  Life and Liberty
Part 3:  Property, Draft
Part 4:  Economy
Part 5:  Federal Reserve, Monetary Policy
Part 6:  Inflation Tax
Part 7:  Monetary System, Foreign Policy
Part 8:  Foreign Policy, Iraq War
Part 9:  Constitution, Intervention
Part 10: Just War, UN, Civil Liberties
Part 11: Terror, Blowback, Iran
Part 12:  Civil Liberties
Part 13: Constitutional Revolution