Monday, January 16, 2012

The Lieberman Manuever

In 2006, a leftist rebellion during the Connecticut Senatorial primaries defeated Joe Lieberman and instead nominated Ned Lamont to be the Democratic nominee for US Senate. However, today Joe Lieberman is still the Senator from Connecticut. This is because he immediately ran as an "independent". The Republicans basically abandoned their own candidate, and threw their support behind Lieberman, joining the pro-war, pro-Wall Street Democrats who backed Lieberman.

If Ron Paul wins the Republican nomination for President, expect to see something similar. The pro-war, pro-Wall Street faction of the Republican party will likely throw their support to some prominent Republican who suddenly decides to run as an "Independent". I'd doubt they'd support the pro-war, pro-Wall Street Obama campaign, despite the obvious alignment of interests. But, they wouldn't mind running an 'Independent' campaign that would take Republican votes away from a Republican Paul for President campaign. Even the end result of that was four more years of Obama. The Republicans would still get a Republican president who's following Reagan's economic policies and Dubya's foreign policy, and the tactical advantage of four more years of playing the outsider pretending to oppose Obama's policies.

No matter. The opposition forces in this country would still have a major candidate in a campaign for President. Wall Street's media arm will of course present Mr. Paul as dangerous and will undoubtedly give the Wall Street "Independent" campaign a huge amount of free publicity. But still, a Paul Republican campaign for President would have an opportunity to talk to the people of this country about the assault on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that has been going on in this country especially since 9-11. It would be hard to impossible to ban the Republican nominee from the debates. And while the Paul's campaign exposure to major media would be diminished by a general hostile tone and a relative lack of money (compared to the Wall Street financed campaigns), it would still have a presence that campaigns like Nader for President never reached.

America has an opportunity before it. There's a major candidate running in the primaries who's finished 3rd and 2nd in the early Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. This is an opportunity. And its an opportunity that the left especially needs to seize. Ron Paul may not be the ideal candidate for a leftist to support, but he's honest and he'd work to restore the Constitution. And among other things, that would undoubtedly include stopping FBI and other federal infiltration of leftist groups, the use of Homeland Security and the FBI against domestic US protesters like the Occupy movement, and the end of harassing legal cases like the grand jury attacks on mid-western anti-war protesters.

There is currently a massive propaganda out from Wall Street and their political parties to tell the left that Ron Paul is dangerous and can't be supported. Pay attention to this when you see it. It tells you two things. One is you learn who out there pushes out the Wall Street line. The other is that you learn to go the opposite direction. If there is suddenly a lot of voices in the left-wing echo chamber telling you that Ron Paul is dangerous, then the best thing to do is to ask why.

And, then maybe, you might remember which of those voices also told you that electing the pro-war and pro-Wall Street candidate Obama. How'd that work out? At some point, when do people learn to do the OPPOSITE of what these voices are telling you. Or to at least check it out. Go out on the internet, and find some LONG, unedited videos of Ron Paul speaking. That's the best way to learn about a candidate. Listen to them in length. Not in the easily manipulated sound-bites that you get from Wall Street's media, but let them speak to you ... and then you decide what you think.

And ask yourself this. Can we really afford four more years of war? Can we really afford four more years of assaults on privacy and civil liberties? Can we really afford four more years of turning the economy and the justice system entirely over to Wall Street?

A Ron Paul Presidency might not create a leftist wonderland, but it would be an important victory for all opposition forces in America, left or right. Wouldn't it be easier to be a leftist activist in America if the FBI was under the control of an honest President who believes strongly in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. So, why does everyone want to try so very, very hard to keep you from supporting Mr. Paul?

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