When the Ron Paul Revolution attacks

Reaction to the Times’ profile of long-shot GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul was swift Monday. And relentless.

It can make for a long day if you’re on the wrong side of the Ron Paul grassroots Internet machine. One e-mailer, in two separate messages, called the author of the story a piece of garbage and a child molester. Their anger is at the way they believe the mainstream media, and the Times in this case, are treating their candidate.

“Ron Paul is not a nutcase,” wrote Mike Toles, of Colorado, responding to the comments of a former aide, Eric Dondero. “(Paul) is the only one speaking truth with a record of integrity to back him up. Maybe you are the nutcase for wanting more of the same from government, and continuing the media's libelous campaign against the good doctor.”

In about 100 e-mails so far and 20 or so phone calls, most called the profile a hit piece (it’s a phrase Paul supporters commonly use for stories they don’t like). They particularly did not like the list of some of the people supporting Paul’s campaign. About half of the calls and e-mails appeared to come from Florida. About half came from places outside of the state.

In the larger context, Paul’s candidacy is tough to pin down. Paul is simultaneously raising money for his congressional campaign while he’s campaigning for president, but his own followers say he has a shot to win. Most national polls have him in the back of the pack, but supporters point to much different results on the Internet, and at state straw polls.

Here’s some more of what folks had to say.

“Gee, don't hold back - tell us how you really feel about Ron Paul. Maybe you can find and report on a convicted pederast who supports him but, like the Fla. white supremacist, has no connection whatsoever to him or to his campaign. Reporting used to be objective gathering and dissemination of news. Find a new job or report to Fox News.” -- Bill Faust, Philadelphia, PA

“Supporters of Ron Paul in Clearwater, St.Pete, Tampa, and half dozen area MeetUp Groups are planning protest rallies right now. WE ARE FURIOUS. WE demand a retraction of hearsay and slander. We demand coverage WORTHY of such a principled man of integrity and outstanding public service to our country and our Constitution.” Stan Carter

“Read you article and it makes me wonder if you feel Dr. Paul is so irrelevant why waste valuable newspaper space and your time writing about him?  I think we both know the answer. You don't care for his policies and fear they could actually come to fruition.  Fair enough.  Problem with your article is that its tone is the type that most voters are now getting very tired and suspicious of.” Mark Caredda

“Your biased hit piece on Ron Paul is not appreciated. It is because of people like you, that our country is in the state of decay that it's in. You and uninformed, apathetic people like you deserve to suffer the ravages of inflation. People in construction trades deserve to be unemployed. People deserve to lose their homes in foreclosure. This state of Florida deserves what it gets, because we choose to do nothing about it. Have a nice day.” Michael Norton

“I haven't read such a shallow superficial and inaccurate hit piece on Ron Paul in months. Isn't amazing that this grumpy old man has a huge youth following that cuts across party lines ? You really seemed to miss who the man really is and what he stands for. Its called Freedom.  Did you do this on purpose?”  Len

“Your story lacked the facts with regards to every aspect covered in your article. It lacked integrity, truth, honesty, and frankly was so misleading to the public, you ought to be sued for such mis representation of one of the finest Americans in this land. But, you are among the un-informed, and it is just shameful that you are in a position to inform. Get the facts or get a job somewhere else.”
Sydney Walsh

Comments

The Scientologists really know how to run a political campaign.

“Your story lacked the facts with regards to every aspect covered in your article. It lacked integrity, truth, honesty, and frankly was so misleading to the public..."

Ummmm, HELLO, it's the Times! Good Lord, will they ever learn.

Anyone that believes that the Fair Tax is ever going to become the law of the land is a nutcase. Regardless of its merits, it's never going to happen.

“Fair Tax” is kind of an oxymoron anyway, isn’t it? There’s nothing fair about something you have no say in, but are forced to pay.

[Alexia]

The Fair Tax doesn't reduce spending. Duh.

Congressman Paul has a plan to fully fund Social Security that doesn't involve raising taxes.

I'm sure that's something the SPT readers would have been interested in.

Too bad this author didn't give Paul the courtesy of actually "reporting." Instead, he just called him names.

Gotta love what passes for reporting by the media in the U.S. Thank God for the internet.

Who is Ron Paul?

I supported ron paul until his supporters totally turned me off to him. They are completely wackos. I get an email a day stuffed with underlined and highlighted words of all different font sizes. The only thing its missing is handwritten scribbbles.

[Curtis]

Folks who would be turned off by who a few non-affiliated people say they support commit a grave logical fallacy. It's a good thing most of my fellow Americans aren't as ignorant as the cowardly anon posters who smear-spam Ron Paul anywhere they can. It's also a good thing not many people read the St. Pete Times website.

[Kyle]

Eric Dondero stated that he was not running against Paul months ago. Your factual innacuracies were just the least of concerns.

[Michael Wagner]

Fair tax? When did Ron Paul ever advocate the Fair Tax?
Every time I've heard him speak he calls for abolishing the Federal income tax and replacing it with nothing!
Lest I be accused of being yet another "nutcase" let's review the math.
The Federal budget now stands at around $3 trillion. The income tax brings in roughly $1 trillion gross, somewhat less if you count only the net after the cost of administering the tax itself. (Corporate taxes, imposts, excises and other taxes make up the rest.)
In FY 2000 the federal budget was about $2 trillion, or just about what federal revenues are today without the income tax. So...if we cut spending to FY 2000 levels (nobody said government was too small then) we could repeal the income tax and replace it with nothing at all.
If you read the Constitution, Article 1 section 8, you will find a very specific list of tasks assigned to Congress. If we limit the activities of the Federal government to those specific tasks listed, (the only activities that are legal) we can easily cut spending by 1/3 and still provide a transition period for those who are presently dependent on government.
Think of the economic power that will be unleashed when hundreds of millions of working American men and women are actually allow to keep 100% of their earnings!
Add to that Paul's plan to stabilize the value of the dollar so your savings won't lose their purchasing power and you have a formula for an economic powerhouse that can compete with the emerging Chinese economy.
Without Ron Paul's plan we are only going to get more of the same. More taxes, more regulation, more war, more loss of our civil liberties and eventually the total collapse of our empire.
Read your history. Empires always collapse, not because of external forces but because they bankrupt themselves. That will be our fate unless we follow Ron Paul's advice.

[mike henderson]

Aaron, Bad day? try Bad Year. You have stepped on the wrong toes. You MAY get a break after the election. Quit now, and save yourself a lot of pain.

[Cindy]

Ron Paul is an anti-semetic, anti-American, "9/11 truther" who would not know the concept of monetary policy or understanding of the US Constitution if it bit him in the kester.
Evidence....his supporters and their ignorance.

[Craig]

Did you read the article in the St. Petersburg Times? It WAS a hit piece. It was the worst so far of the campaign, and there have been a lot of bad ones.

John McCain and Bill Richardson were at similar levels in the fundraising race with Ron Paul, yet they are not subject to these types of journalistic smears.

[Paul Eres]

No big deal. When you publish inappropriate material in a newspaper you get complaints; what did you expect? Just boycott this newspaper from now on if you support RP. They've the right to say what they want, we have the right not to buy their paper and to tell others not to.

[Mike Henderson]

Aaron, I'd like to invite you to drive up to Orlando with us on Sunday, to attend Paulapalooza, where hundreds of Ron Paul supporters will be having a rally, and watching the debate. Ron Paul will probably be stopping by, and you may be able to get an interview with pictures, of our grumpy old man candidate. On the way up, you can read his book, so you can ask fair and balanced questions, and a few hard ball questions as well. No neo-Nazi shananigans will be attempted, I assure you. Now, Isn't that better?

[Pleaase PEOPLE]

Can't we all just get along?
Honesty says Yes it was a biased derogatory article, obviously trying to influence undecided voters against Ron Paul.
Honesty also says Ron Paul supporters include 9/11 truthers, and white supremacists.
Don't let someone else decide your vote, listen to the candidate and see if his views fit yours. Don't hate based on hate.

Hit piece? On Ron Paul? C'mon, really. The Times, just like about everybody else, doesn't take him seriously. By the way, is anything in the article inaccurate?

[Michael Wagner]

McCain-Feingold violation?
Oh, you mean that unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment co-written by the same McCain (with help from Fred Thompson) who is now running for President and is behind Ron Paul in campaign cash.
And I suppose it's "anti-American" to propose that we follow the advice of people like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I guess those guys were "anti-American" too.
And as for monetary policy, do you really LIKE having the value of your money stolen from you while it sits in your bank account? How many books on monetary policy have you written? I would guess that it's fewer than Ron Paul has written. Have you even READ a book on monetary policy? I doubt it.
Here's a start: "The Theory of Money and Credit" by Ludwig von Mises. Get back to me when you are finished reading it and then we can talk.

[Michael Wagner]

Oh, sorry. The von Mises book will be too advanced for you.
Try "What has government done to our money?" by Murray Rothbard. It's a much more basic intro to monetary theory. You might be able to grasp that one.

Michael, you've convinced me. If I understand you correctly, only those who've written a book on monetary policy or at least read and (presumably) agreed with "The Theory of Money and Credit" are fit to question/analyze/disagree with Paul.

I'm excited about the possible third party juggernaut team of Ron Paul and Lyndon LaRouche in 08!

THE REAL RON PAUL
is a nut
Anti- Education
Anti- Choice
Anti- Medicare
Anti- Social Security
Anti- Military
Anti- American

This is
not Paul's first time at the rodeo

you just have to go back 4 years to see whatnut he is
would you really think he has changed that much

or is it he is just running for president

Paul is dead.

[Michael Wagner]

Well, at least a modest familiarity with monetary policy not based on the propaganda that is found in the mainstream media today would be necessary to have a rational discussion.
I have found a really basic intro to monetary policy that was written by Ron Paul in 1981. It's only about 60 pages, so it shouldn't take long.
It's online and can be downloaded free:

http://www.mises.org/books/goldpeace.pdf

It's a nice concise history of how we got where we are today. Give it a look. You just might learn something.

And BTW - monetary policy is not open to opinion. It is science. You can disagree with the law of gravity if you want, but gravity will work anyway. You can disagree with the current monetary regime, but the natural laws that govern the economic behavior of people will work anyway. Our economy will crash and burn if we don't solve the monetary problem. The only question is when.

[Andrew]

The article wasn't labeled a hit piece because Ron Paul supporters didn't like it. It was labeled a hit piece because it was a negatively biased portrayal of Ron Paul. Work on your journalistic integrity.

[Johnnyb]

I don;t get the Ron Paul haters. Here is our last, and I do mean last, change at freedom and so many people are hating on the guy, and none of them have even taken the time to understand what he stands for. I mean seriously, he's running as a Republican, given the rest of the field why take the chance with anyone else but Paul.

For those of you who do not want to read 60 pages...

Google: Fiat Empire

and watch the video, its extremely informative.

Google: America freedom to fascism

Another good film, albeit a little on the CT side.

Seriously, its either Ron Paul, Soviet Style Socialism, or Ghoulliani style fascism.

Johnnyb
you a a serious NUT job

[UF Alumni]

It appears the people in the tin foil hats are online today.

[NH]

Cindy grow up. Ron Paul does not support any of those things you are lying about... Lying is very low of you.

Ron also does NOT believe in the Fair Tax.
He is the only one who does understand and recognize the monetary and foreign policy problems we face. He's written 10 books about these subjects and has been praised by many financial gurus.

Lucky for some of these trash papers, the Paul campaign is too nice to sue your pants off.

[mike henderson]

Hmmmm...did you notice Aarons' comments about me being a neo-Nazi amateur were removed? How does one accomplish this magic without being a Times employee? It seems a certain minor employee whose name isn't even on the list of writers for the paper yet is a little worried about his future. How appropriate. See you Friday,en masse.

[Richard in Austin]

Who are you going to believe?

There is a lot of nonsense written here. The article in question was a nasty, biased hit piece.

If the 2008 presidential elections matter at all to you, do your own research.

Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate who is a true Republican, and the only one with a consistent track record of upholding and defending the Constitution. All the other so-called "Republicans" are really RINOs. If the Constitution and the Republic matter at all to you, only Ron Paul will do. Accept no substitutes. All the others are sock puppets for the oligarchy.

[Lucia]

Any candidate who's a new face and has good ideas is always tarred as a "wacko" by the establishment. Go, Ron Paul! To all the posters making blanket statements about this candidate, I would say that you must be satisfied with the morass Bush has created to even take a poke at anyone who wants to pull out of Iraq and to reform Social Security.

04:16 PM
Ron Paul has been around for 30 years
New Face? this is not even the first time he has run for president.
get your fact straight, you Ron Paul supporters are the most uninformed out there

[L. Step]

The near-hysterical rage and irrationality directed against Ron Paul has convinced me to vote for him.

Gee, Aaron Sharockman get the facts wrong, misquote someone, or not even call the direct source to confirm facts? Shocking!

[What The]

Let's see...the President and the Congress have %70+ unsatisfactory rating, the same percentage think we should leave Iraq, the dollar is crashing, our leaders are actually considering invading Iran, we've suspended Habeus Corpus and the Constitution is under assault, and you think Ron Paul and/or his suppports are wacky. To quote Inigo Montoya (Character in The Princess Bridge), "I don't think that word means what you think it means". Go throw another election FlA!

[Liberty or Death]

Ron Paul is one of a handful of politicians today that the Founders would even talk to if they were around. No one else running has an understanding of the Constitution like Ron Paul.

That being said, i wholeheartedly disagree with his foreign policy objectives. It would be nice to think that we could isolate ourselves, but the reality is we can't. Geographic barriers don't protect us like they used to. And sometimes the President has to act without the consent of Congress.

However, foreign policy aside, his message of limited government is definitely one i support and i am happy to see someone pushing the Libertarian agenda into the mainstream. We're not all just pot-smoking dopes. Most of us share the vision of Jefferson and Madison and that is what America should be.

[Richard in Austin]

Your so-called article about Ron Paul was pure garbage, BTW, long on spin and bias, short on objective factual reporting.

How long did you haters search to find the most unflattering photo ever taken of Dr. Paul? You were clearly doing your best to make him look bad.

Thanks for showing your true colors. We see how you are.

By their fruits you shall know them.

CNBC learns not to 'mess with' Ron Paul, followers
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/John_Harwood_After_poll_removal_CNBC_1016.html

[John Howard]

Since Ron Paul's positions are rational and attractive, our only chance to defeat him is to tell lies about him and his supporters. Come on, people! If we're going to continue to get free stuff from government (not to mention keep our cozy government jobs), we've got to keep telling those lies. We can do this thing!

06:08 PM
Put down the pipe, Boy!

Ron Paul supporters?

Libertarian Party extremists mostly.

[Tom]

Hey Aaron, can you name the prostitutes your article claims are supporting Dr. Paul? If not, how can you say that without it being false? Where is the Poynter Institute's Jounalism Ethics staff? They need to be weighing in on this matter of journalistic ethical lapse, lack of fact checking, use of unsupported speculation, and lopsidedness.

[Adam]

Guys, Just leave the Neo-con alone. He's probably the one stirring up the comment board as well.The more upset you get, the better he feels. Do like I did and quit buying the paper. I canceled my subscription today after reading this trash. Use the power of the market and don't contribute to it. See how long he lasts once he starts costing the paper revenue. Nobody is worth that much!

[Mike Robinson]

Ron Paul is for personal liberty and individual rights, so that means everyone is a potential suppporter, including people you don't like or agree with. His appeal is universal, because he is selling freedom. Freedom from government, freedom from special interests, freedom to live your life the way you want. So if you are a racist, a liberal, a moderate, a right-winger, a moron or a brain surgeon - you will have something nice to say about Dr. Paul. The Doctor is in the House!

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mohandas Gandhi

It appears the battle may be half over.

Michael, maybe Paul can write a book about how he got to where he is today. Hmmm.

[Ashley]

Cindy 12:07. I must admit I did not know who he was 5 months ago, but after going to the Ron Paul library and reading exactly what he stands for and his reasonings for things, he is by far the most honest, truthful, candidate there is. Please read on these topics you suggest that he is anti.

[Ashley]

Do yourselves a favor and read about what Ron Paul stands for from him.(ronpaullibrary.org) Unfortunately people make opinions based on what they hear or read from others(St. Pete Times article)and receive misinformation and misinterpretations of what he actually stands for and why. I ask you to read on whichever topic you have issues and then come and debate on this message board. Leave the anger and lets have a rational debate on the issues themselves.

[CK]

The sane gave us Iraq, roadside bombs for poor boys
Next Iran, pretext sans context
They gave us fiat cash, paper fractions for our sweat
Trillions of debt for our children's children
Yes, crazy for Ron Paul