Ron Paul is Alive and Well

Ron Paul is winning straw polls right and left. Early? Of course. But it shows that a significant portion of the voting public is not satisfied with the heavy-handed partisanship of President Barack Obama, or his liberal views of big government and nanny state theology.

What if Ron Paul Supported Hillary Clinton?

Colin Powell supports Barack Obama, but Ron Paul has more integrity than that.

Ron Paul Prefers Barack Obama (But Thinks He's Evil?)

In rejecting a chance to endorse John McCain, Ron Paul implicitly supports Barack Obama -- but then again, considera Obama evil.

"Earlier, Paul called the presidential elections a charade and said voters are faced with the "lesser of two evils."

Paul says he turned down appeal to endorse McCain

"He appeared at a news conference with three third-party candidates: independent Ralph Nader; former Georgia Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party candidate; and Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate. Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, was invited but said at his own news conference later that he declined because Paul didn't endorse one candidate."

Tony Snow dies (Former Bush spokesman)

Politics aside, this is a loss.

Former Bush spokesman Tony Snow dies

Let Freedom Ring! The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

Our early leaders, though war ached their hearts, stood fast against tyranny in favor of freedom. Do our leaders now have the same sober valor?

originally posted here: Let Freedom Ring! The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/rolling.html

Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

Barack Obama Gets the Nomination

Barack Obama Gets the Nomination

This means Hillary Clinton does not. The numbers do not matter.

John McCain vs Barack Obama.

Let the fight, and mudslinging, begin.

Two Blogs for Obama and McCain's Veeps

Two new blogs to stir up conversation.

Pick Obama's VP
Who should be Barack Obama's Vice President Running Mate?

Pick McCain's VP
Who should be John McCain's Vice President Running Mate?

Plus the often updated and objective Media Analysis of the Hillary campaign.

Lemmings in an Era of Individuality: Limbaugh, Coulter, Colbert, Colmes, Stewart

Is there a Limbaugh factor? I could not say. I avoid all talk radio. The liberals and conservatives alike are filled with gassy self-righteousness. Some try to be funny, others are so serious that only bran cereal will fix their problem.

Rush Limbaugh, maybe the best known of all political radio hosts, is smart, but his agenda is not about focused, objective analysis. He is all about being against whatever the Democrats are scooping. One recent campaign was to cause chaos in the Dems primaries, to skew the numbers by convincing Republicans to vote Dem, then switch back. This isn't playing fair, but it is legal.

Easy toss out arguments against Limbaugh influence, "He's been busted for drugs," "He's arrogant," "He's conservative and stupid." Sorry, that just means you dislike him. Just like when Bill Clinton was playing with Monica Lewinsky's cigar, people ignore personal lifestyle choices.

A few days ago, I asked about which celebrity bamboozled you into voting for their guy. The most notable celebs to announce were not Republicans, but two very wealthy Hollywood Democrats.

Say what you will about extremist right-winger Limbaugh using his celebrity voice to influence to impact an election. Look at the highly publicized Jack Nicholson and Tom Hanks endorsements.

We are lemmings.

The Limbaugh Factor (story paste from the Washington Post). Interesting thoughts.

Our Readers Who Comment have also expressed special interest (or disgust) with a story that asked if conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" -- in which he urged Republicans to vote for Clinton in the Democratic primary -- actually held down Obama's totals. Limbaugh called off the operation yesterday, Alec MacGillis and Peter Slevin report, saying he wants Obama to be the party's pick, because "I now believe he would be the weakest of the Democrat nominees."

Limbaugh is a polarizing figure and has supporters in the comment string today, but most of those who bothered to write are not fans; many remind us that Limbaugh has had drug abuse problems, and several wonder if my colleagues at WaPo have lost their way in even bothering with the story, which I really liked.

Barack Obama Must Have Two Brains (or three?)

With Barack Obama having both found love among the media and the people of North Carolina (not so much love in Midwest Indiana), he's moving on to be the Democratic candidate for presidency.

For Hillary to win, she must have supporters come out of the woodwork, and vote Chicago-style. She cannot spare a remaining state. She has not lost, but she is not winning.

Can she do it? Yes. Will she? No. Her voters are just voters, no more committed to her than an average voter would be.

John McCain naturally prefers Hillary to win, believing fully that he can beat her more easily.

As long as she runs, Obama must continue to fight her. He'll start running again McCain this week, but his attention is divided. He needs two brains, two tongues: ones says to Democrats, "I'm liberal," the other says to Republicans, "But not that liberal," with a third one to independents, "I'm more independent than John McCain." He'll need to be more Bill Clinton than Bill Clinton, but look like Ron Reagan while he does it. He needs all of his charm, but needs now to look sagely, and reduce the criticism that he has not spoke about hard issues with depth.

Appearance is everything.

BBC News
Obama takes big step ahead in Democratic race
Washington Post
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama took a big step toward the Democratic presidential nomination with an easy victory in North Carolina on Tuesday, and Hillary Clinton vowed to keep her struggling campaign ...

Beginning of the End

• 492 delegates remain.
• 218 are decided today via Indiana, North Carolina
• West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana, South Dakota all have their primaries in upcoming weeks, finishing June 3.
• 274 votes from these remaining states after today.

When will it be decided, really? There's the whole super delegate thing later.

When Tom Hanks delivered his announcement, he knows it will impact voters. Some voters are dumb enough to say, "I like him, so I will vote for hi guy." He spent the money to announce because he knows in some of these states, Hillary Clinton has a chance to win. He's afraid her voters will show up at the polls, and that too many Obama voters will play hooky. Tom looked at his money and decided it was not as well spent giving to a homeless shelter.
.
John McCain is quietly building an infrastructure in the meanwhile

see http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/primaries/democraticprimaries/index.html

Which Candidate Does Your Media Hero Support?

Tom Hanks made his call for Barack Obama. Who supports McCain? Hillary?

Support Obama if you like, but remember that if you choose a candidate based on celebrities decisions, you qualify as an idiot. Choose a candidate because what they stand for, you stand for.

Now before I get mail telling me about which candidate I support, know that I am undecided.

Tom Hanks uses MySpace page to announce support for Obama
NEW YORK - Tom Hanks is supporting presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Hanks has taken to his MySpace page to pledge his support for Obama, who is competing to be the first black president. Obama, who faces rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, has also been endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen and Scarlett Johansson.

also see: A Joker Stumps for Hillary Clinton (and Batman is Ticked Off): Jack Nicholson On Hillary

Two Will Lose: Inevitability in the 2008 Presidential Race

A friend described to me what he is thankful for, and, what many American voters are struggling with -- there is one certainty in this election: When the election in November is over, when the 2008 Presidential Race has finished, two candidates will have lost.

While many Barack Obama supporters are calling the Hillary Clinton campaign racist, and while many Hillary Clinton supporters are calling the Barack Obama campaign sexist, we see that neither camp respects the other. This means that when they join forces, after the Democrat super delegates are done being kissed on like some New York whore, lies begin.

Which lies? The ones which begin, "Wow, what a tough campaign (fill in name of winner). I (the name of the loser) respect you, trust you, and fully support you." They, then, will bear the other's love child.

Meanwhile, conservatives will be forced to vote for John McCain. They do not want to, but given their choice, whether Hillary or Barack, they are stuck.

Many Christians have found themselves stuck compromising one way or another. Many are choosing Obama if for no other reason his strong leadership reminds them of George Bush, despite his pro-abortion and pro-gay perspectives (Obama promises to dedicate presidency to homosexual activism, the Catholic News Agency quotes Obama, ""As your President, I will use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws," Obama said.")

Yet, likewise, wanting to remain prolife, who do they vote for? John McCain, a man whose campaign was quoted by the Huffington Post, "In a response to a question about the religious right, an important component of the Republican coalition, he said that it was, indeed "a serious problem...""

So then there is Hillary Clinton, who all but makes love to organizations like Planned Parenthood, who, along with Sen. Barack Obama and Elizabeth Edwards, chased pro-abortion voters.

At least two of the remaining candidates will lose. Well, yes, there's that. So will America. Damned if they vote for (X), and damned if they don't? That depends on what 'damned' means, which no doubt, each candidate would accuse the other of doing.

If USA Is Attacked, John McCain Wins

Would an attack relatively close to the US Presidential Election in November ensure John McCain is elected?

Do Americans really have the confidence that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama are well-equipped with both conviction and skill-set to extract us from Iraq, and protect us here stateside? Both Clinton and Obama miss the professionalism mixed with experience and diplomacy McCain, and Ron Paul share.

While it appears we Americans are disinclined toward being in Iraq, we felt as we felt before 2004 as well, and yet elected George W Bush for a second term with record popular votes.

This is not 2004, and wannabe John Kerry cannot be compared to today's Democratic candidates. He misses the charm of Obama and the experience of Clinton.

And, also important, McCain is not as hated as Bush. McCain misses the personal, evil bitterness that many Democrats feel against Bush, but he also misses the easy-going "Let's get the bad guys," swagger our current president enjoys. McCain is harder to hate, and harder to love.

Where will it land?
As Al Qaeda pretends that they care about Muhammad (there is no peace upon him), or his teachings, and wipe their sacrilegious excrement across the world, they threaten Western Europe. Europe will barely be noticed by the USA, but the smallest burp in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania will be returned with the fastest six guns in the western world.

See what CNN is saying.

Al Qaeda No. 2: Attacks on Western nations in works
CNN
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Al Qaeda still has plans to target Western countries involved in the Iraq war, Osama bin Laden's chief deputy warns in an audiotape released Tuesday to answer questions posed by followers.

Barack Obama Insults Small Town People, Religious People, Clinton and Bush Supporters, Gun Supporters

One more reason Ron Paul should be in the White House?

Obama's "Bitter" Comment Halts His Momentum

One of two things happened: Barack Obama either himself wrote a very stupid speech, or, approved one written by someone who believes as Obama believes.

And no, it is not true, John McCain and Hillary Clinton did not team up to hack into his laptop to alter a speech that originally said, "Those hardworking men who are proud to be American." This is not American Idol, which changed a famous Christian song Shout to the Lord to be as deep as Kumbaya.

What is the Hubbub?
According to the Washington Post, Barack Obama said,
"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

In one tiny paragraph, he insults small town people, religious people, Clinton supporters, Bush supporters, gun supporters. He also insult these small town people directly for having voted for George W Bush because, by suggesting they fell through the cracks under George H W Bush, and Bill Clinton, plus George W Bush (first term), he says that after 16 years of falling through the cracks, they came and voted for George W in record numbers this last time.

What has happened is a grave mistake for Barack Obama, and support for John McCain. It does not make sense that most of the people he insulted would vote Democrat after this, especially for Obama.

Will this fade away? You bet. The Obama supporters need this to go away. They'll play it as no a big deal, and point out apologies.