Ron Paul on The Tonight Show

Read Lew Rockwell's write-up of Paul's Tonight Show visit here.

Caesar and His Entourage

Last year, Lew Rockwell wrote the following:

Two hundred years ago, when the United States was a modest commercial republic, the president could take a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue -- by himself -- and talk to anyone who approached him. If he wasn't on a walk outdoors, he was most likely at home, and you could speak to him by knocking on the door of the White House and presenting yourself.

The Hamiltonians and their agenda of mercantilism, paper money, and presidential exaltation had been humiliated in the election of 1800. Jeffersonianism had prevailed against them. And though Jefferson made some missteps during his presidency -- not even Jefferson could be fully trusted with power -- the policy bias was clear: frugality, free trade, peace, hard money, and decentralized government.

Today? The president moves about like Caesar Augustus, with a vast, graded court of civil and military aides, doctors, secretaries, valets, hairdressers, makeup artists, bodyguards, drivers, baggage handlers, cooks, food tasters, Praetorian guards, snipers, centurions, bulletproof limos, a portable hospital, and an armored rostrum. And that's when he travels in the U.S.

When Bush visited Ottawa, members of Parliament were refused entry into their own legislature by the massed power of the Secret Service, in violation of Canadian law. When Bush visited London, 5,000 additional police were assigned to protect him. Parks and streets and neighborhoods were closed. Riflemen thronged the roofs. The queen was horrified by the trashed condition of the grounds and great rooms of Buckingham Palace, but that meant nothing relative to the security of the emperor.

He counts far more than any other human being on earth. So, of course, every event is staged to the extreme. The president is spoken to by no regular person. There are as many walls that separate us from him as between the supposed government of Iraq and its people or the old Soviet Politburo and the Russian people. These people live and breathe fear.

The paranoia of the Bush circle has infected the whole regime. The entire government -- elected officials, appointed staff, permanent bureaucracy -- has shifted in the last decade from pretending to be the people's servants to admitting that they regard the people as a threat. Thus do we see the stream of legislation permitting ever more powers to spy, confiscate, and jail without trial.

Here is how your tax dollars are spent when the president travels:

Oh, but the president must be protected at all costs. After all, he has made so many enemies.

(HT: LRC Blog)

FEMA's Fake Press Conference

You may have seen the "press conference" FEMA held regarding the California wildfires this past Tuesday:

But how did FEMA get all those reporters to show up when they had announced the press conference only minutes before it began? Easy. They just had some of their own employees ask the questions.

Then, when people found out about the deception and started asking real questions, the White House send out the comely Dana Perino to spin the story and make it appear as if the executive branch of the federal government has no knowledge of the actions of its own executive agencies:

All in a day's work for the Washington propaganda machine.

The 2008 Dream Ticket?

LewRockwell.com columnist Murray Sabrin thinks he has the perfect choice for Ron Paul's running mate:

A Ron Paul/Andrew Napolitano ticket would have geographic balance, ethnic and religious diversity as well as having the greatest spokesmen for liberty campaigning for president and vice president in our nation’s history.

A Paul/Napolitano ticket would energize the Italian-American community as never before in American politics

A Ron Paul/Andrew Napolitano ticket would galvanize traditional conservatives, libertarians, fiscal conservatives, civil libertarians, pro-lifers, gun owners, entrepreneurs, hard money advocates, noninterventionists, and any one else who wants to end the Imperial Presidency and create a free America.

A Paul/Napolitano ticket would crush Hillary or Obama or Edwards or Richardson.

In short, the presidential dream ticket of Ron Paul and Andrew Napolitano would be…(fill in the blank). I am at a loss for words.

Seems like a good choice to me. And the fact that the neocon National Review attacked him for criticizing the Patriot Act certainly doesn't hurt.

Rudy Giuliani: Defender of the World

I may have to reconsider my choice for president. After all, Rudy is the only one talking about being prepared for a possible attack from outer space:

Ron Paul FAQ

Bob Murphy has written a primer on Ron Paul. You can read it here.

Stop Dreaming and Do Something

You can make a difference.

Democrats Need to Wake Up

You Democrats out there need to think twice about your choice of candidates in the upcoming election. From The New York Times:

Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency.

Bush administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened wiretapping authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess, and some Democratic officials admit that they may not come up with the votes to rein in the administration.

As the debate over the N.S.A.'s wiretapping powers begins anew this week, the emerging legislation reflects the political reality confronting the Democrats. While they are willing to oppose the White House on the conduct of the war in Iraq, they remain nervous that they will be labeled as soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on intelligence gathering.

A Democratic bill to be proposed Tuesday in the House would maintain for several years the type of broad, blanket authority for N.S.A. wiretapping that the administration secured in August for just six months. But in an acknowledgment of civil liberties concerns, the measure would also require a more active role by the special foreign intelligence court that oversees the N.S.A.’s interception of foreign-based communications.

A competing proposal in the Senate, still being drafted, may be even closer in line with the administration's demands, with the possibility of including retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that took part in the N.S.A.'s once-secret program to wiretap without court warrants.

The Dems in Congress are every bit as morally corrupt as the Bush administration. They joined their Republican counterparts in voting for the Patriot Act and for giving Bush the go-ahead to invade Iraq. And now they're taking the next step toward a police state.

It's time you Democratic voters wake up to the fact that there is no functional difference between your leaders in Washington and the warmongering neocons. Whether you realize it or not, you're just as blinded by party politics as the Bush cultists.

Big Brother Really Is Watching

They couldn't be any more conspicuous than this:

Hoping to deter crime by expanding the use of surveillance cameras, Aberdeen passed a measure that empowers the city government and police to require cameras in new developments.

The Police Department, the Department of Planning and Community Development, and the Department of Public Works will decide whether a new residential, commercial or industrial development must install cameras at "strategic locations" before a development permit is issued.

The City Council passed the measure, which becomes effective next week, by a 4-1 vote.

Cameras installed at new developments will be connected to a watch room at the police station, Mayor S. Fred Simmons said.

My guess is that the city is gearing up for a smoking ban along the lines of what we're seeing in California.

Don't Tread on Ron Paul

Ron Paul: The Soldiers' Choice

ABC News featured a rather impressive report on Ron Paul. You can see the video and read the accompanying article here. One important point stands out:

Another Paul constituency, interestingly enough, comes from the military. A study by the Center for Responsive Politics found Paul received more campaign cash from members of the military than any other Republican presidential candidate.

The study of contributions of $200 and more during the first two quarters shows that Paul has raised three times as much from members of the military as what's been raised by GOP fundraising front-runner Romney, and four times what Giuliani garnered.

So, in an ironic twist, the very troops pro-war conservatives say we should support are supporting the candidate conservatives hate the most.

That's great news. But this story also shows that the mainstream media is no longer able to ignore Ron Paul -- and that can only mean trouble for warmongering frontrunners.