Ron Paul is a Nut-Job

cross-posted from Sum of Change

I have few words for what is about to follow. Ron Paul takes wingnuttery to a new level with this interview:

Getting down to the last two questions here.... Most people consider Abe Lincoln to be one of our greatest presidents, if not the greatest president we've ever had. Would you agree with that sentiment and why or why not?

No, I don't think he was one of our greatest presidents. I mean, he was determined to fight a bloody civil war, which many have argued could have been avoided. For 1/100 the cost of the war, plus 600 thousand lives, enough money would have been available to buy up all the slaves and free them. So, I don't see that is a good part of our history. Besides, the Civil War was to prove that we had a very, very strong centralized federal government and that's what it did. It rejected the notion that states were a sovereign nation.

The people who disagree want to turn around and say, "Oh, yes, those guys just wanted to protect slavery." But that's just a cop-out if you look at this whole idea of what happened in our country because Lincoln really believed in the centralized state. He was a Hamiltonian type and objected to everything Jefferson wanted.

Forget that no slave-owner was about to sell their entire workforce. Forget that they would simply over-charge the government and turn around to buy new slaves at a cheaper price. I cannot believe I have to explain this, but the point was to make slavery illegal, not to deprive southerners of slaves. This is, frankly, one of the dumbest things ever said by anyone.

Indoctrination of Youth: Not Just for Commie-Nazis! (IOKIYAR)

If President Obama is indoctrinating our youth, then the National Right to Life's camp is brainwashing on steroids.

If everyone who reads this article takes the time to invest in just one young person, imagine the political and social landscape in our nation just five or ten years from now.

Here's what you can do.

If you are a state affiliate of National Right to Life: get excited about youth! We have resources and advisors available to help you plan teen conventions, rallies, and even camps. Our National Teens for Life Convention every summer provides tons of educational information for teens.

Send us a few key teens from your state and we will give them back ready to spread the word about life.

(emphasis mine)

Imagine, for a moment, that this group was NARAL, a pro-choice organization. Imagine the outcry from our conservative friends were a liberal organization calling on people to "Send us a few key teens from your state and we will give them back ready to spread the word about [insert issue here]."

Now, this would be no big deal whatsoever, if the NRLC had not put out this message about President Obama "indoctrinating" our youth back in September:

Just checking my e-mail today when I ran across a story from today's Salt Lake Tribune headlined, "Parents upset over 'leftist propaganda' video: Principal Apologies for showing 'I Pledge' to students." (The headline is intended to marginalize the parents, but what else is new?)

Maybe lots of people have seen the 4 minute, 18 second, "I Pledge" video put together by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, but I hadn't. Looking online, I guess it first popped up in January.

And if it were being shown to adults, that's fine. Presumably they would have chosen to watch the video whose theme is "service."

We're told in the story that's why the local PTA chose the video to show at an assembly--in their minds it harmonized with the school's theme for the year--even though the elementary school principal hadn't seen it, according to the school district's spokesman.

Along with stuff no one could possibly object to, like feeding the hungry, the video is larded with the usual PC drivel. But, again, that's fine if we aren't talking about indoctrinating six-year-olds into pledging "to advance stem cell research" and to "be of service to Barack Obama," and (in case we missed it the first time), "I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind."

To sum up, when our President calls on school children to take part in serving your country, that is indoctrination, but when a conservative organization calls on you to send them "a few key teens" from your state, so that they can "give them back ready to spread the word about life," that is just fine and dandy. And if all this confuses you, just keep in mind the golden rule: It's Okay If You're A Republican (IOKIYAR)

Republican's Lie, Lie, Lie

This is why I love Daily Kos. Simply put, they do some research before making accusations. A simple google search could have told any of the critics how dumb the accusation was. But the modus operandi of the conservative, sorry, the neo-conservative wing of the Republican party is to spread whatever message you think is effective, regardless of whether or not it is true.

This is Just Too Good

UPDATE: It appears that this was no joke. The American Thinker Blog has removed the link. Where is says "Dan Bana, is quoted as saying" the word "quoted" used to link to this story. As you can see, this article, dated January 22nd 2009, is clearly about the inauguration. As you can see, they both use the exact same wording for the quote.

I believe they must have gotten the original story from someone else, reposted without checking the facts. After commenters pointed it out they must have realized the mistake. Rather than deleting the story, they just got rid of the quote. Which actually puts them in violation of plagiarism.

Here is how the moderator responded to someone's comment about the link:

Moderator's note: Please see my other note below. Someone copied the wrong quote with the wrong link. We're working to get it fixed as quickly as possible. Thank you for your concern. --Anton

Rather than admit their wrongdoing, they are out searching for evidence to back up their bogus claim. This is called a celebration of ignorance. A complete and utter disregard for reality.

We'll keep up with this one. Back to our original blog on the story...

I have to hand to the people at the American Thinker Blog. They played what is possibly one of the funniest jokes I have seen in a while.

Here's what they did. The wrote up a blog, claiming that the 9/12 teabagger protest was the largest event ever held in DC. In it, they even quoted the National Park Service:

The truth will out. Despite mainstream media attempts to characterize turnout as in the thousands, a spokesman for the National Park Service, Dan Bana, is quoted as saying "It is a record.... We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever."

They linked to the sources of the quotes, like any halfway decent blogger would. All they had to do was sit back and watch, as countless teabaggers ready to believe anything would neglect to check those links. What ensued was hilarity.

Teabaggers loved the notion that they had set a record, even if it flew in the face of all logic ever known to man. I mean, half a moron would immediately guess that the Inauguration was larger than this right? Yes. In fact, the quotes used in the American Thinker Blog were all from the inauguration.

It was truly fun. I mean, check out this conversation between myself and a #tcot'er:

Starts out...

"9/12 demonstration a record DC turnout: National Park Service http://ff.im/-84d9e"
By @freedom4USA

To which, I respond...

"Record? Hahahahaha! RT @Furrystoat: RT @freedom4USA 9/12 demo a record DC turnout..."
By @SumofChange

And she replies with...

"Record? Hahahahaha! RT @freedom4USA 9/12 demo a record DC turnout... (@SumOfChange ◄Apparently you can't read or didn't comprehend?#tcot #p2"
By @freedom4USA

You'll notice the attack on my ability to read!

At this point, I had yet to check the sources, just assuming the claim was garbage based on, what was it I referenced before? Oh right, based on logic. But I decided to take a quick glance, and then responded...

"@freedom4USA Can you read? The quote from the National Park Service is about the Inauguration. Someone is playing a joke on you."
By @SumofChange