- EverVigilant.net - "The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." - John Philpot Curran
First, there's this Republican who says that "Ron Paul is the one 'major' candidate whose (hypothetical) success would cause me to consider voting for a Democrat in the general election. I suspect a bunch of mainstream Republicans are just like me."
Then, there's this progressive who thinks that Ron Paul's ideas "are a ploy to get otherwise liberal Americans to vote for someone with an 'R' after their name, while continuing to throw this country to the dogs."
This presidential race is getting more entertaining by the minute!
Jim Robinson, founder of FreeRepublic.com, a pro-establishment propaganda web site masquerading as a conservative discussion forum, has finally had it with Ron Paul supporters:
Antiwar moonbats are the domestic enemy. Antiwar moonbats willingly give aid and comfort to the enemy during wartime. In my book, that's tantamount to treason. Ron Paul is an antiwar moonbat. You figure it out. If antiwar moonbats are the enemy and Ron Paul is an aid and comfort supplying antiwar moonbat, then Ron Paul IS the enemy!
If you Paulistas are looking for support on FR for an antiwar moonbat who is giving aid and comfort to our enemies, you're nuts! Free Republic will NEVER support antiwar moonbats!
As far as our official policy on Ron Paul is concerned, it's the same policy we have for his antiwar moonbat allies the traitors Harry Reid, Chuckie Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Jack Murtha, Cindy Sheehan, Barbara Streisand, Jane Fonda, CodePink, International Answer, et al and their flaming antiwar spam monkeys. Ron Paul and his flaming antiwar spam monkeys can Kiss my Ass!!
Where the hell did you guys ever get the idea that enemy supporting antiwar moonbats would be welcome on FR?
That plain enough for you or do I need to spell it out?
Take a look at some of the follow-up comments on that thread. Jim Robinson and his army of drones are officially insane.
My name is Gary Franchi, the National Director of Aaron Russo's RestoreTheRepublic.com. Formerly known as the AFTF Network, Restore the Republic is the organization dedicated to educating and activating the people of this great republic with the message of Aaron's film, America: Freedom to Fascism. I am mailing you today to let you know of some developments in this great grassroots organization.
Aaron's film has had rampant success in raising awareness and activating the people to the vital issues affecting America today. Ron Paul even credits much of the success of his presidential campaign to the film. In case you didn't know, the movie is now available for $1. That's right, $1! Available in bulks of 100. Jump directly to the DVD sales page and get your copies to continue helping spread the word (www.AFTFMovie.com).
On another note, I and other key people in the organization have launched a publication called Republic Magazine. It's dedicated to the ongoing campaign to wake the people with the message of America: Freedom to Fascism. Like the movie, it is available for $1 per copy in bulks of 25. This issue is featuring presidential hopeful Ron Paul. Republic Magazine is another excellent tool to spread the truth, You can order your copies at www.RepublicMagazines.com
We have also recently teamed up with www.VoteRonPaul.com, a new website run by filmmakers, artists and activists who are dedicated to promoting Ron Paul and his run for the White House, please check out their site for exclusive content and gear to promote Ron Paul.
There are many exciting developments to come and many battles to win in the historic effort to "Restore The Republic". We may have had some victories fighting the REAL ID, but it is not over yet by any stretch. Please remain vigilant for our Constitution and continue spreading the word about America: Freedom To Fascism, one of the greatest tools since Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense. Your continued dedication to the Truth makes more victories possible.
Thank you, Tom Roeser. You took time out of your busy schedule to attend a Ron Paul rally and then write about it, comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Well, congratulations! You did it! Suddenly, people who never heard of you before are linking to your article and leaving comments on your blog. Kudos! Your little publicity stunt worked.
I say "publicity stunt" because no one with any shred of intelligence, credibility, or decency would have actually taken what he had written seriously. First of all, you said that Ron Paul's "demagogic phraseology appeals not to conservatives -- but, apparently if Saturday's meeting was any indication -- to a sweaty group of boisterous, screaming, jumping up and down in place, obese youth (obviously from hours spent huddled before computers), shaggy, unkempt, hirsute, noisy, obstreperous, rambunctious and raucous. And that's before we consider the male contingent." I realize that having a sense of humor is very important in journalism, but was that really supposed to be funny?
And then there was your main point, which you obviously meant as a lesson in world history:
You can say all you want about Hitler...monomaniac, racist, genocidal tyrant...but he and his people could really run a rally. From the Munich beer hall putsch through to the end of his regime he was unexcelled. Let me say the manipulation of an already excitable, juvenile, impressionable and deliriously passionate youth audience by the Ron Paul people was unexcelled -- at least among those I have observed in this country. Hitler's meetings would involve people packed like sardines in a room that did not allow much area for expansion. That was the case here.
Did you write that with a straight face? Was that another twisted attempt at humor? I mean, suggesting that a 72-year-old congressman from Texas, who is calling for smaller, less-intrusive government and an end to senseless wars, is as threatening as a blood-thirsty tyrant who murdered millions of people in pursuit of a master race? Surely you weren't serious.
To those reading this: if you decide to visit Tom's blog, note the important message in the sidebar:
**WARNING** Defamatory comments will not be tolerated and the individuals who post such comments will be turned over to authorities. Our "reader comments" system allows us to track IP addresses and we intend to collect as much information on posters as we possibly can. Thanks!
Please be civil. Egos are fragile things. And no personal insults. Leave that to the professional journalists. Name-calling will not be tolerated -- unless, of course, you are comparing libertarian Texas congressmen to genocidal dictators and calling their female supporters obese, shaggy, unkempt, hirsute, noisy, obstreperous, rambunctious, and raucous.
Tennessee's cigarette surveillance program is officially underway:
NASHVILLE — Starting today, state Department of Revenue agents will begin stopping Tennessee motorists spotted buying large quantities of cigarettes in border states, then charging them with a crime and, in some cases, seizing their cars.
Critics say the new "cigarette surveillance program" amounts to the use of "police state" tactics and wrongfully interferes with interstate commerce. But state Revenue Commissioner Reagan Farr says his department is simply doing its job, enforcing a valid state law while protecting Tennessee retailers who properly pay state taxes.
Agents have already been watching out-of-state stores that sell cigarettes near the Tennessee border to "get a feel where problem areas are," Farr said.
While declining to be specific, the commissioner said "problem areas" are generally along interstate highways with exits near the Tennessee border.
The idea is for the monitoring agent to spot a person buying cigarettes in volume at an out-of-state market, then departing in a vehicle with Tennessee license tags. Starting today, monitoring agents spotting such a suspect will call an arresting agent who will stop the car when it enters Tennessee, he said.
Seriously? The thugs in government don't have anything better to do with their time or the citizens' tax dollars?
Smoke 'em if you got 'em, boys. The end is nearer than you think.
I think it's safe to say that all members and readers of this blog hold law enforcement officers in the highest esteem. We know that they never flout the laws they have sworn to uphold without good reason.
With that in mind, there's a web site dedicated to singling out officers who fail to extend proper courtesy to other officers. It's called CopsWritingCops.com. From the main page:
If you are a police officer, trooper, court officer, correction officer, telecommunicator, highway patrol, federal agent, or any other type of police (peace) officer either full-time, part-time or retired that has been disrespected or insulted by another police agency (officer) by not receiving some sort of professional courtesy, please email staff (at) copswritingcops.com with the information.
It's chock full of woeful tales of hard-working cops being harassed by other cops. These heart-wrenching accounts are enough to bring tears to your eyes.
Here's an excerpt of one such story from Illinois:
Once she got to my window, she took my license and told me that I was clocked by airspeed doing 84.9 miles per hour. That seemed a little high, but we know not to argue. She asked why the hurry. I told her I wasn't in a hurry and that I was en route to give a LAW ENFORCEMENT defensive tactics training seminar in Springfield. I actually gave her the business card of my contact at the Police Academy. The same academy that trains the state police! I then mentioned that I have been law enforcement for almost 15 years and would appreciate a break. She then told me that she couldn't do that because she was the "catch car". I then rattled off a couple names of who might be flying the plane that was above (Butler, Galvan). I worked with a couple during a DEA detail once and I KNOW they would give me the nod. That didn't even phase her. I then realized that I was getting a ticket. After stopping hundreds of cops on Lake Shore Drive, some state, I was getting a ticket. I have friends in state police districts 2, 5 and of course Chicago. This troop, Trpr Schroder #3512, from district 6 is the only officer to ever give me a ticket while I have been a police officer. Congrats to you.
Look. No one is advocating that we ignore the law. But can't we cut these men and women in uniform some slack?
When you see a squad car parked next to a fire hydrant, don't get irritated. That only means the cop is in a hurry and will be moving it shortly. If a cop leaves his car running while he runs into the drug store, don't dwell on the fact that you would get a ticket for doing the same thing. The cop in that case is probably responding to a call and just had to pick up a few necessities because the store closes before his shift ends.
As for you by-the-book rookie cops who like to hassle off-duty officers: leave those brave veterans alone. If anyone has earned the right to break the law, they have. How can you expect them to protect and serve effectively if they are held to the same standards as everyone else?
The following video is of a bizarre confrontation in St. George, Missouri, between motorist Brett Darrow and a uniformed agent of the state (WARNING: contains graphic language):
Of course, this kind of thing isn't surprising when you consider that cops have essentially become armed tax collectors for the government. Do you really think they would be hassling guys like Darrow if cities didn't rely on traffic citations for a large portion of their budgets?
Well, maybe they would. Some officers have a fragile male ego to defend.
A few months ago, a member of an online discussion forum for St. Louis cops made a threatening remark about Darrow, saying, "I hope this little POS punk bastard tries his little video stunt with me when I pull him over alone -- and I WILL pull him over -- because I will see 'his gun' and place a hunk of hot lead right where it belongs." What a way to "protect and serve."
There's a thin blue line between law and tyranny. Unfortunately, that line is getting blurrier all the time.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, tobacco growers are demonstrating that farmers can survive without government subsidies:
Three years after the federal government stopped subsidizing it, the leafy crop is gaining new popularity among U.S. farmers. Cheaper U.S. tobacco has become competitive as an export, and China, Russia and Mexico, where cigarette sales continue to grow, are eager to buy. Since 2005, U.S. tobacco acreage has risen 20 percent. Fields are now filled with it in places like southern Illinois, which hasn't grown any substantial amounts since the end of World War I.
For decades, Martin Ray Barbre, who farms the lush rolling hills here, was not eligible for federal price supports to grow tobacco under a program dating back to the Depression, making it economically infeasible for him to do so. The same was true for many farmers in 33 other states. Now the tarry plant is the most profitable crop Barbre grows on his 4,200-acre spread.
"If somebody told me seven or eight years ago that I'd be growing tobacco today, I'd say they were crazy," said the gruff 52-year-old farmer, plucking a yellowing leaf from one of his plants and taking a deep smell of the raw, woody aroma.
As laborers from Mexico and Honduras used axes to chop down 6-foot plants and hang them on wooden planks to dry in the sun, Barbre explained the attraction of the crop. Even factoring in higher labor and other costs, he's netting up to $1,800 an acre from his 150 acres of tobacco, compared with $250 an acre from his corn. He credits tobacco with boosting his annual income about 35 percent since he started planting the crop three years ago.
Although corn is flirting with near-record prices at around $4 a bushel, "there's no way corn can get high enough" to compete with tobacco, says Barbre, shaking his head. "There's just too much money in tobacco."
Barbre's profitable tobacco business adds a wrinkle to the debate over the farm bill Congress is preparing to take up. Many farmers say that without the system of subsidies for commodities like corn, cotton and soybeans, they'd be at risk of going under. But critics say the system fosters inefficiency, distorts international trade and supports mainly the wealthiest farmers. Now these critics can point to tobacco as evidence that subsidies are unnecessary.
With tobacco, "we are finding that farming can be done without subsidies," says David Orden, a Virginia Tech professor and agricultural economist at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
According to blogger James Lewis, Iraq is an "ant trap" for al Qaeda:
You don't shoot poisonous fire-ants with a BB gun; you just set an ant trap. Ant colonies are highly "distributed" biological societies, much like the world-wide web. They can't be killed with a BB or a pressure hose; even pouring flaming gasoline on an ant hill won't work.
Instead, you destroy ant colonies by attracting hungry ants to a chemical bait, and then kill them all in one small place. Ant traps work.
That's the Bush strategy in Iraq. Al Qaeda isn't centralized, with big cities or steel industries like Nazi Germany. So you can't destroy the enemy by hunting them one by one. Rather, you bait a trap -- provoke them to come to you, and make sure they don't get out alive.
Please. Are we really expected to believe the president is that bright? Setting a trap for al Qaeda in Iraq was never the plan. Besides, if we really believe they are so decentralized, then why do we brag about every second-rate al Qaeda "leader" we kill or take into custody?
Lewis goes on:
In Afghanistan, they have been on the run since 2003, although the Pakistan border regions continue to supply new recruits. But in Afghanistan they are being destroyed before ever reaching the cities. Add that to a sizable numbers neutralized in Pakistan, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and more. Add to that the cells pinpointed in Europe and America, the Philippines and Indonesia. We are wiping out the fire ants wherever they can be found.
At that attrition rate, every single year we stay in Iraq, we could get rid of another couple of thousand AQ fighters. Yes, we pay a high price -- but nothing like the price that baddies running loose and attacking us at home would exact.
I see. By staying focused in Iraq, we are able to wipe out terrorism throughout the entire world. Is anyone else having trouble following this guy's "logic"? Oh, it gets better.
The syndicated sycophant reveals to us the real reason we are in Iraq: "We therefore have hundreds of thousands of military surrounding the next biggest problem, Tehran." (Seriously. Who didn't see that coming?)
The fact remains that we lose more Americans every day in Afghanistan and Iraq. And yet the ruling elite in Washington and their willing accomplices on both the Left and the Right want us to set our sights on Iran. When will they begin to realize that we are creating more "terrorists" than we can kill?
Iraq was a trap, all right. And we are the ones who fell into it.
If you missed the latest GOP debate on Faux News, you can see the entire thing here. The video playlist also has some of the post-debate coverage from the "Spin Room" -- including this clip of Sean Hannity expressing his disgust over Ron Paul's approval numbers:
The most telling quote of the evening came from Mitt Romney, when he said that "we're going to do whatever it takes to protect the American people. And I hear from time to time people say, 'Hey, wait a second. We have civil liberties we have to worry about.' But don't forget: the most important civil liberty I expect from my government is my right to be kept alive" (emphasis mine).
Translation: your rights, including your right to live, come from the government. If that doesn't spell it out for you, I don't know what will.
Ron Paul delegates, who had filled out the proper registration forms and paid the applicable fees, were prevented by GOP goons from voting in the latest straw poll in Fort Worth, Texas.
