Iran, Ron Paul, and What's REALLY the Cause of the 'Crisis'.

By: Thaddeus S. Kaczor, Jr.


Much is being written about what is snarkily referred to in the media as Presidential Candidate Ron Paul's 'dangerous' foreign policy. Most are using the current 'bad actor' on the World stage, Iran, as their favorite sounding board to misrepresent, then knock down the 'Straw Man' creation that they unfairly allege represents Ron Paul's foreign policy. Most times, they fail to interview or even QUOTE Ron Paul or his campaign, then proceed to present a near-total fabrication as if even remotely resembled Ron Paul's ACTUAL Foreign Policy! We are told that 'Iran wants to attack the U.S. (and, of course, Israel), and closing the Strait of Hormuz is an 'Aggressive' and 'antagonizing' act of defiance (and of course, that Ron Paul would 'do nothing'). While the policies and tactics of the Iranian Regime are despicable in so many ways As are many of the regimes in the Middle East- many of them our 'close allies!), when you strip away the domestic American political rhetoric from this story, and examine it purely from a geopolitical, diplomatic and strategic viewpoint, an entirely different story emerges.


In most accounts of this situation in the American Mainstream Media, you consistently seem to only hear the standard political talking points about 'Iranian Aggression', most always calling it 'unprovoked'. But what they intentionally (or incompetently) always forget to mention is the most important geopolitical action that has precipitated this whole 'Strait of Hormuz' incident. This entire 'confrontation' in the Strait of Hormuz has been spurred primarily by one event: The European Union, backed by the United States, has threatened a 'Death Penalty' sanction on the Iranian Central Bank (as part of the Massive National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA) in response to it's Nuclear Program'. Even Conservative Republican sites like www.gopusa.com agree with Ron Paul's view on the nature of this crisis, and how dangerous it is for the US to engage in economic and military brinksmanship like this. By taking this serious economic action, the US and it's allies will effectively shut down Iran's ability to not only sell oil, but will effectively make it impossible for Iran to maintain ANY banking relationships on the world markets- precipitously collapsing the Iranian Economy, and forcing their hand militarily. Threatened with this economically unacceptable possibility, most informed observers find that Iran has responded in a predictable and wholly understandable (and economically balanced) manner to this overt (let's put it bluntly) act of Economic War. In essence, the Iranian Regime said that if The West cuts off their ability to sell oil, they will respond in like kind by shutting off the straits of Hormuz, so NO ONE can sell oil from the Gulf. SO this 'confrontation can actually be seen as a DEFENSIVE measure in response to the overtly aggressive economic threats made by the U.S. and it's European allies.

Strip away the emotionalist sabre-rattling and American Political manipulation of this story, and you can boil it down to cold-hard geopolitical and economic facts, backed by predictable diplomatic and military strategies and outcomes. Unfortunately, most in the press are pliantly following the Propaganda lead of the Establishment War-Monger/Profiteers and are using their fear-tactic talking points to demagogue this story in an unfairly manipulative and emotional way in order to further THEIR interests- which are at odds with the interests and safety of the American People, who oppose unnecessary and dangerous wars of aggression. Many Americans are listening to Ron Paul, who accurately points out that these Unconstitutional, undeclared wars and 'conflicts' benefit not the American People, but instead those like the manipulative Internationalist Banksters and the War-Profiteering Military/Industrial Complex.  These people and entities- and NOT the American People- are the ONLY ones who benefit from War, the Instability and distortion of markets and economies, and the pre-emptive use of force to insure that their interests are pre-eminent, if not moral or even lawful. 




In the coming days and months, Americans are being asked to answer one question: Are you going to believe the demagogues running for the GOP nomination who use emotion-heavy and fact-light arguments like 'they hate us because we're free' and other simplistic bumper-sticker Foreign Policy statements designed to inflame emotions and obscure or stifle rational debate? The ones who viciously and personally attack ONE other candidate by misrepresenting his ACTUAL policies and positions? Or are you going to LISTEN to Ron Paul, who looks at foreign policy as a STATESMAN, refuses to engage in personal attacks, but instead forcefully highlights policy differences and factual differences between himself and his GOP opponents, and (in the specific case of the 'Iranian' situation, as with all foreign policy decisions) would, coolly and rationally taking into account all the underlying facts and motivations of ALL the players, then making an assessment based on NOT not what's best to advance his own political future, but instead what's best for AMERICA'S future? 


Just make sure you make an INFORMED decision. Ron Paul ALWAYS does.

Media 'Acknowledge' Ron Paul IS a 'Contender'

By: Thaddeus S. Kaczor, Jr.


A story by Peter Wallsten in today's Washington Post comes with the headline: 'Ron Paul becoming serious contender in Republican presidential race' Shouldn't the headline read: 'Media and Party Elites FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGE that Ron Paul Is A Serious Contender'? The Washington Post and the rest of the media are  apparently finally catching up to what is happening outside of the media and political bubbles in NY and DC! The grass roots support has ALWAYS been there for Ron Paul, but the media and the Party Bosses have been suppressing this information, along with any mention of Dr. Paul himself. Through selectively worded and carefully sampled polls (many of which are STILL being foisted on the public as 'scientific'- though their accuracy and methodology is dubious at best), Ron Paul's ACTUAL support among the American electorate has been minimized and disregarded- even to the point where, when he breaks through even the most biased polls, the media either simply omits him, or else ignores it's OWN data- instead perplexingly talking about those finishing just above and even BELOW him! 
 
Since it has now become impossible to ignore Ron Paul and his obviously growing support, and the tactic of dismissing him and his supporters through condescendingly snarky reporting has backfired, the media and GOP knives have been sharpened, and the REAL attacks have begun. Phony racist charges from 20+ years ago that have been thoroughly and publicly disproven and debunked time and time again seem to be the only 'dirt' that the yellow journalist mafia can dig up about the good Doctor. But that isn't stopping them from attacking, as many articles making outrageously unprovable or easily disproven charges are now floating around in the media like scum rising to the top of a fetid pond.  
 
Unfortunately for Ron Paul's detractors, since there isn't any REAL evidence, and since the public's regard of the Media's integrity hovers somewhere between Congress' and Serial Killers', the false charges and accusations are actually ADDING to Ron Paul's strength, as most people who are undecided read or see these scurrilous accusations and say: 'If the media and the Party Establishment hate this guy THAT much, I need to find out more about him!'. That inevitably leads to a sort of revelation of the fact that most of the media is either clueless about, incorrect on, or  shamelessly actively working against Ron Paul. 
 
Ron Paul is doing all Americans a great service, whether they like him or Hate him, as his campaign has exposed (and continues to expose) the hypocrites, liars, sell-outs and the clueless in both the media and in the Political Arena. Among those who are not actually consciously attacking him, it seems that many are truly confused and bewildered by Ron Paul. Maybe they don't know how to respond to a public figure that; tells the truth, even when people don't want to hear it; is consistent on (and actually HAS) his principles, and remains so after 30 years in public life; doesn't seek power for power's sake- even to the point of campaigning to DIMINISH the power of the Presidency and the Federal Government in general; and (most importantly) actually UNDERSTANDS the vital issues of our time, being able to expound at length on ANY subject without benefit of a teleprompter; talking points, 'handlers' or safety net of 'crisis managers'. 
 
Ron Paul is every bureaucrat's nightmare, and every crony capitalist's nemesis, as he threatens to derail the twin Social Welfare/Corporate Warfare-Welfare Machine that has been draining the life out of the American economy for so long.  Alone among all the Presidential contenders, the is proposing ACTUAL budget cuts- not merely the sleight of hand 'cuts' that only reduce the rate of growth, and in many cases don't take place until 5, 10 or more years into the future (in the altered reality of Washington that = NEVER!). Ron Paul, alone among the contenders proposes REAL regulatory reform, and not the phony reform that allows lobbying mega-corporations to 'buy up' regulations (and regulators!) in order to squeeze consumers and the American taxpayers even tighter. Finally, Ron Paul threatens the Military  Industrial Complex, who, through a combination of scare tactics, a rigged contract bidding system and crony capitalist lobbying, maintain a 'perpetual warfare' state against a vague and ever-shifting enemy. This profitable swindle has enriched the coffers of the very few, while actually weakening America's REAL defense by expending Blood and Treasure abroad in never-ending and wasteful adventurist follies.


What the Crony Capitalists, and their proxies in both wings of the Washington MONEY party (along with their surrogates in the media) are most afraid of the American people seeing clearly for the first time how big business, hand in hand with big government, are raping our rights and freedoms, looting our economy, and turning most Americans into virtual wage-slaves, unable to achieve the American Dream when they are shackled to strategy of mere subsistence.


Ron Paul represents REAL change- and that SCARES those who profit from the corrupt status quo!

Michelle Bachmann- Muslim Hater or Political Opportunist?

By Thaddeus S. Kaczor, Jr.

On 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'on Friday night, Presidential Candidate Ron Paul was asked his opinion on each of his GOP opponents. He said Mitt Romney was 'a nice guy', Newt Gingrich 'should  run for Speaker of the House', and that John Huntsman was 'a good diplomat' and 'a thoughtful person'. But many people are talking about his opinion that Michelle Bachmann 'doesn't like Muslims, she hates Muslims'.

Maybe Michelle Bachmann doesn't 'Hate Muslims', or maybe she does. But the real question is: do people like her,  Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum (among many others) in reality LOVE to STIR UP hatred TOWARDS Muslims. These are the same people that decry President Obama for stirring up 'Class Warfare' for political purposes, yet they stir up hatred of Muslims for their OWN political purposes! What did Ron Paul call that? Oh yeah... Serial Hypocrisy. Here in America today we now hear the loud beating of the same tone-deaf tin-drum of war that the Neo-Con and Liberal Progressives LOVE to bang on, as it  deflects blame and attention from the lousy job they are BOTH doing, as well as helping them to consolidate power by taking away our Liberties (and our MONEY!) allowing Big Government to ' keep us safe' from those evil ______ (Insert Target Group Here).

This is an old (but effective!) Propaganda tactic that always works well with that group of people in a society who can't or won't use their OWN critical thinking skills, and abrogate that responsibility to the pundits, the party or their favorite spewer of propaganda on Radio or TV. This tactic relies on the emotionalism of those hearing the hateful message, and the resulting suspension of debate, as ANYONE who disagrees with them MUST, of course, hate America, apple pie and Chevrolet! It is truly astonishing (and more than a little bit frightening) to see otherwise rational people automatically go into mental DEFCON 4 whenever anyone merely questions any aspect of their fragile world view. It used to be that we Americans welcomed open debate as a healthy sign of our democratic Republic. Apparently, we aren't so 'democratic' anymore, and that means we are in danger of LOSING our Republic to those who put power, money an demogoguery ahead of our basic Constitutional Rights and Liberties.

Let The Attacks Begin!

                                  Apparently, many 'conservatives' are adopting Progressive tactics!

By Thaddeus S. Kaczor, Jr.


The onslaught of 'Hit Pieces' attacking Ron Paul begins! this anonymous piece of trash in 'Conservative Byte' is just a preview of the type of propagandistic and baseless 'hit pieces' that will now pop up due to Ron Paul's surging popularity. I guess when you can't argue on the merits or the issues, slanderous, unfounded and anonymous attacks are all you have left...


Conservative Byte.... Who is the Cowardly yellow journalist that wrote this piece of tripe filled with unfounded rumours, misleading assertions, faulty conclusions and outright lies? I mean, if you're going to write a slanderous hit piece, at least TRY to get your facts the APPEARANCE of being straight! Unsigned slams like this only tend to debase the work of every writer on this site. Have the courage to stand by your unfounded mudslinging, instead of hiding behind the anonymous banner of the entire site.


I won't waste time refuting any of the scurrilous allegations you asserted, as they have been totally debunked time and time again. Every time Ron Paul starts to get some traction (or is actually WINNING, as he is in Iowa), some hack (or many pseudo-journalists) dredge up this meme in order to try to 'scare' voters into not even considering him. Putting aside the fact that there has NEVER been one video, audio or written piece by Ron Paul to support any allegation of 'racism' (or anti-semitism as well- oops! Spoiler alert on your NEXT unfounded attack piece!), even his opponents will tell you Ron Paul is one of the nicest, most open-minded people you will ever meet. Attacks like this sorry piece of filth only serve to denigrate the writer- except in the minds of those too feeble to think for themselves, or those so blinded by ideology that they react in a hateful, knee-jerk manner to anyone who challenges their limited and divisive world view.


I suggest that you disavow this article immediately, and discontinue this cheap and hateful method of demagoguery, since you not only anger ROn Paul supporters, but you also insult the intelligence of even those who disagree with him. Baseless and propagandistic attacks are usually the last bullet left in the gun of a desperate and morally bankrupt person. You are only hurting yourself and your website's reputation by allowing this type of foolish and hateful propaganda to be spread through it.


Stop this nonsense and talk about the REAL issues that affect America and Americans.  The tactic of tearing others down only results in the weakening of America by crowding out valuable and productive discourse. Even if you vehemently oppose Ron Paul, you have to logically agree that he offers an thoughtful alternative to the mindless lockstep ideas of so many others in all areas of American political thought.

TIME Magazine's Squatter of the Year Award

By Thaddeus S. Kaczor, Jr.


TIME Magazine, in their annual propaganda issue- er... 'Person Of The Year' Issue, has named 'The Protester' as their choice as the most influential individual of the last 12 months. While it is hard to disagree with the choice of the brave individuals in the Middle East and elsewhere who have stood up against tyrannical dictators by risking their very lives, TIME Magazine does a brave disservice to these courageous men and women by conflating their bold efforts with the largely unfocused, disorganized and ultimately ineffective 'Occupy Wall Street' protesters here in the United States. The OWS Protesters perhaps risked their lives by creating many unsanitary and potentially hazardous conditions for themselves, but to equate protesting torture, execution and subjugation by your government with complaining about your student loans, whining about others being richer than you are, as well as  'Climate Change', Animal rights and heaven knows what else is insulting to the very nature of the valid human rights protests in other countries. 


While the OWS protests started with some very basic and arguably sound issues, such as the failure to prosecute ANYONE responsible for the Financial Collapse of 2007-08, and the oversize influence of the corrupt Financial industry, it's unfocused nature has simultaneously allowed it to  devolve into the twin-headed monster of both an anti-capitalist protest, and it's capture as a vehicle for both the Democratic National Committee and the Obama Presidential Campaign to advance their Class-Warfare theme for 2012. Moreover, the OWS protests' failure to even QUESTION- let alone focus on- Government's role in the current crisis, let alone the corruption stretching from Capitol Hill and the White house through K-Street directly to Wall Street undermines and bankrupts and Moral or logical high ground the protesters may have tried to claim. As Napoleon the Pig said in Orwell's 'Animal Farm'- "All animals are created equal- some are just more equal than others". TIME seems to have adopted this theme as their template for reporting on the OWS protests! 


Another of Orwell's books '1984' accurately defines the media reportage on this 'protest', as the 'Doublespeak' on the reporting of the unruly, unlawful and generally confused OWS protests seems to be using a wholly different criteria than that used by most outlets for the orderly, law-abiding and focused Tea Party protests in 2007-2010. Many of the 'People's Microphone' tactics seem to eerily echo the 'Two Minutes Hate' tactic that Big Brother used to channel public outrage into 'acceptable' outlets, while the early Tea Party Protests were quite egalitarian in allowing anybody and everybody to have their say, even if their was disagreement with a particular viewpoint.  Of course, the label 'Tea Party' has become somewhat muddled, as Big-Money GOP interests have insinuated many Neo-Con 'Wolf' Organizations in Tea Party 'Sheep' clothing since the 2010 elections, and many supposed 'Tea Party' events now more resemble GOP fundraisers and Party-Line echo chambers than the original open-mic Tea Parties of the early days. 


Giving credit where credit is due, the DNC moved more swiftly and efficiently in it's infiltration (and instigation of) many OWS protests than the GOP Elites did in their attempted co-option of the Tea Party. It is truly contemptible, and unbelievably transparent the way the White House and the DNC have used the OWS protests to further their agenda, taking an amorphous and unfocused protest and seemingly 'channeling' their message of class warfare, Government entitlements and hatred of the Capitalist system as the 'face' of this movement. The pliant Progressive media also seems to be marching to the Progressive drum circle beat in eerily pushing the same 'talking points' propaganda themes about OWS in unison. More troubling, however, is their deliberate ignoring of the darker side of these protests- the disregard of private property rights, the open flaunting of public laws regarding protests, public health and even rape, robbery and illegal substance abuse. 

Everything the Progressive media (unfairly) accused the Tea Party protesters of has unfortunately been the hallmark of many of the OWS protests. Many of the incidents of racism, violence against women, incitement to violence and other heinous things at the OWS protests that the Media were NEVER able to find evidence of at the Tea Party gatherings (though not for lack of trying or even fabricating!) were on open display at many OWS gatherings,(But curiously were ignored or downplayed in reporting!). In many cases, if you look in-depth at the reportage of the OWS protests, the terminology, optics and tone used by the sympathetic media types were similar to the coverage of a 'garden party' or an ice cream social. Coincidentally, while there were some incidents of Police over-reaction to protesters, many of the 'incidents' of 'police brutality' were a direct result of the tactics of provoking such incidents by protesters who took 'classes and instruction from groups like the Marxist 'Working  Families Party' who actually recruited, trained and paid many of the protesters.

When TIME Magazine refused to even ACKNOWLEDGE the Tea Party protester as one of their 'top stories of the year' in 2009 it was flabbergasting, as the Tea Party Movement turned out to be one of the largest populist political movements in the last 50 years! Of course, when they even covered it at all during that year, it was through the filter of a progressive East-Coast Media elite viewpoint, where massive anti-government protests in 'flyover country' are viewed as mere distractions, while smaller protests for the 'correct reasons' are magnified and shouted from the rooftops of their penthouse coktail parties on Manhattan's upper east side. So it is no surprise that TIME now overemphasizes what is actually a smaller, less focused and more 'astroturfed' (as Nancy Pelosi would say) protest movement as it's 'Person Of The Year'. One thing you can say about TIME Magazine and much of the insular Establishment Progressive Media: they certainly ARE consistent- in their biases.

It is no surprise to anyone except the true believers in the Progressive cause that the readership and confidence (if any) in 'Old' Mdia such as TIME Magazine continues to plummet, as their increasingly insular and warped world view is rejected by those with even a minimum of critical thinking ability. With every article published, and every misguided analysis, it would seem that TIME has adopted as their motto "Who are you going to believe, US, or your own lyin' eyes?"

The NEW Media Tactic to Marginalize Ron Paul

By Thaddeus S. Kaczor, Jr.


In this piece by Gerald F. Seib in the Wall Street Journal, the media unveils it's newest tactic to combat the continuing growth in popularity of Ron Paul's Presidential Campaign. Since the policy of ignoring him completely failed, then the tactic of dismissing him and his supporters as a 'fringe movement' has been eclipsed by his mainstream successes, the MONEY Party elites and their toadies in the corporate media are now attempting to marginalize Ron Paul and his supporters by backhandedly 'accepting' his successes, while relegating him to a 'spoiler' role.


In his article, Mr. Seib still manages to hit all the major GOP Establishment 'talking points' to minimize and demean Ron Paul and his supporters. However,  in what now appears to the new strategy of 'damning with faint praise' has been passed around for mass consumption (since the previous strategy of totally ignoring him has proven unworkable, and his supposed 'ceiling' of support has moved higher- first it was 5%, then 10%, then 15%). Now, it seems, Ron Paul doesn't have 'supporters' like other candidates, he has 'followers'- so you can isolate and mock them as if they are not expressing their Right to support a candidate like every other American. He is a 'spoiler' and not a 'contender'- since he 'spoils' the establishment's strategy of putting in yet another corporate, big-government shill like Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc.. When other candidates (insincerely) advocate 'small government', it is praised- with Ron Paul, it's a 'Gospel of small government and hard money'- as if this is some 'cult' idea, not actually what mainstream America identifies with- as Mr. Seib hypocritically  points out later in the very same article! If Ron Paul wins Iowa, it's not a 'win', but an 'inconclusive outcome', 'muddying the waters' and a 'boon to Romney'. Kind of strange how a loss by a candidate who has spent a lot of money is a 'boon', and a win by a media and establishment underdog is not actually a 'win'!


Later in the article, Mr. Seib states:  "If Mr. Paul really exceeds expectations in Iowa, that also might set the stage for him to break away from the GOP down the road and mount an independent presidential run. After all, he ran once before as a Libertarian Party candidate, in 1988." Really? Whose expectations? The Media Pundits? The Party Establishment? Surely not the 'expectations' of the electorate, since we have yet to cast the first ballot, and the process is designed to vet candidates, not handicap it like a horse race. Because many reputable and respected news outlets, some nationally but many INSIDE Iowa are now saying that Ron Paul has the most support in both breadth and depth, the best organization and the best chance of winning, most GOP Party apparatchiks and their surrogates in the Media will now continue to bring up the despicably crass propaganda theme of a Ron Paul 'possible third-party run'- in the hopes of dissuading undecided primary voters and caucus-goers, and soft supporters of other candidates from voting for Paul by unfairly smearing his consistently Conservative Republican reputation. This tactic, which includes calling him a (Big 'L') 'Libertarian' instead of a REPUBLICAN as much as possible, is clearly a media-driven theme, as it totally discounts the fact that Ron Paul is a long-time elected REPUBLICAN who is in the Top Tier of candidates in most reputable polls, and actually has a shot at winning the nomination (highlighting another tactic of constantly calling him a 'long-shot' and always saying 'but of course he has NO CHANCE of winning').


Constantly citing Polls that show his 'support is primarily among young people' is another propaganda tactic of trying to marginalize him. Disregarding the fact that Polls can be easily manipulated in numerous ways (and usually ARE), even by these flawed means of measuring support Ron Paul surely DOES attract a large number of young people. But the propagandistic pundits and selectively deceptive polls conveniently fail to mention he also attracts a lot of middle-aged, retiree and young adult supporters as well as Students and new, young voters. More over, Ron Paul- more than ANY other GOP contender- attracts overwhelmingly more independents and even DEMOCRAT supporters than any of his competitors! That fact alone- if it applied to any of the other GOP candidates-  would have ANY of his rivals being declared by the media and the party as the odds-on favorite to win the nomination and beat Obama. But of course, it's 'Ron Paul', who isn't in the pockets of the K-Street Lobbyists and the Goldman Sachs Mafiosos who suck up Government money and power like mother's milk! So instead, it's called an 'abberation', and thus makes him 'less Republican'.


No, Ron Paul is NOT the 'Wild Card' in the race as Mr. Seib painfully tries to assert... He is actually the Republican Party's 'Ace-In-The-Hole'- if they truly wish to defeat Barack Obama. Compared to Ron Paul, his broad and deep support base, and his record of consistently Conservative positions, the other candidates are merely flawed contenders with a strong but limited appeal. Most importantly, the GOP Leadership seems to want to ignore the fact that the DNC and the Obama Campaign will have a field day tearing Gingrich, Romney and the others to shreds in the General Election- simply by using their own words and record to do so. 


It's time for the GOP Leadership and the Media to stop treating Ron Paul and his supporters as the pariahs of the GOP. Remember in 1976 and 1980? The Republican establishment and the media all treated Ronald Reagan and his supporters EXACTLY the way Ron Paul and HIS supporters are being treated now. Remember how THAT turned out? The 'washed-up actor' and his 'band of fringe conservatives' won the election by the biggest landslide in modern American political history. Whether The GOP Elites and the media like it or not, Ron Paul and his supporters represent the future of the Republican Party. He alone brings new and youthful (and middle age and retiree) blood back into the party. He does that by returning to the basic policies and ideals of small-government and individual liberties that USED to define Republicanism. The American people are also realizing that Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who will truly turn this country away from the corporatist corruption that has insinuated itself into the core of BOTH parties.


Republicans now have a choice: reinvigorate the party with a return to it's Core Principles that Ron Paul espouses, or go the way of the Whig Party, which (after dominating politics for decades) decided it would ignore it's grass roots supporters, discard it's core principles and attempt to impose it's 'preferred' candidates upon the electorate in 1856 in a desperate attempt to maintain it's power in Washington. By 1860, the once-dominant Whig Party was gone... Replaced by the upstart and grass-roots responsive- REPUBLICAN PARTY! Ron Paul is pointing the way to a new era, not only for the Republican Party, but for ALL Americans! It is time to cast off the jaundiced eyepiece of the corporate media, ignore the sour siren's song of the corrupt and morally bankrupt politics of the past, and to embrace a return to the basic principles and policies that made America the Greatest Country on Earth. It is time to elect President Ron Paul.