A View From the Fence » Ron Paul

Webs Being Weaved

lambo — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:17:05 +0000

A little setup…

In his book The Family of Secrets, Russ Baker makes a very compelling argument that Dan Rather was set up by the Bush Administration. Rather’s story about Bush’s questionable service in the Texas National Guard was later dismissed since Rather’s source wasn’t reliable.

Baker’s point is that the Rather’s story about Bush’s record is true, but having it reported and then having the chief source discredited. The story will now be tarnish and the reputation of the person running with the story.

Also, reporters will not want to research the story themselves. They will either believe it has no legs, or don’t want to suffer the same fate as Dan Rather.

I attended a couple of Anti-Bush/Anti-War rallies when Bush was still in office. I do lean conservative on many issues, but I feel these wars are wrong. I also had many problems with the Bush Administration. The passing of the “War Commissions Act” spurred me on to start this podcast.

While attending these rallies, I noticed many signs that painted President Bush in a bad light. Pictures of Bush wearing the infamous Hitler moustache. Signs proclaiming Bush as a fascist. As many problems I had with Bush, there were a few signs that were below the belt. (Funny, but below the belt.)

However, members on the right called those who opposed these wars and/or Bush as being “Unpatriotic.” I don’t consider those I met at these events or myself as “Unpatriotic.” I consider them as “Patriots.”

On November 22, 2008, Ragman and I attended the “End the Fed” rally in Houston, Texas. Remember, Obama had just been elected President but has not been sworn in yet.

At this rally, I notice signs were more Anti-Pelosi than Obama. I seem to recall two signs that even mentioned Obama. However, this rally grew from two sources: Ron Paul’s campaign (He spoke at this event) and the “Banker Bailout” bill that just passed.

I have argued against the liberal claim that the Tea Party movement is strictly an “Anti-Obama” movement. There is no doubt that President Obama’s polices have poured a lot of gasoline on the flame. However, I feel history will show that it was the “Banker Bailout Bill” was the original match. (A bill that both Obama and McCain supported)

Since Obama has taken office, Ragman and I have attended various Tea Party events . Yes, we have seen many signs that do not place President Obama in a good light. Not much unlike, the many signs I noticed at the Anti-Bush rallies mentioned earlier.

Some liberals have claimed the Obama as the infamous Joker picture was racist. However, these same liberals had no issue with a picture of President Bush in the Joker makeup on a national magazine cover. Could the better explanation be that these artists are not racists and thought that these Presidents are just clowns?

Again, the same liberals claiming the Obama signs portraying him as either a socialist or fascist are also racist. Yet again, they had no issues with similar signs of Bush at their rallies.

As someone who has attended Tea Party events, I don’t consider these people (or myself) as racist. I consider them Patriots.

Now for the heart of the story…

Recently, the NAACP chastised the Tea Parties for the “racist elements” within their fold. The Tea Party has fired back saying they should get their own house in order. Also, why hasn’t the NAACP condemn the actions of the Black Panthers in Philadelphia back on election day of 2008? Or how the Obama Administration is handling the case?

Whites don’t have a monopoly on racism. If you have a group of any size, you will have racists in their group. I don’t care what race is the majority of the crowd.

The news has been a buzz ever since the edited version of Shirley Sherrod’s speech hit the conservative blogger’s website. What was seen was part of the speech appeared very racist. This coming right after the NAACP’s bashing of the Tea Parties. So of course, conservatives went nuts. (The timing here is very interesting.)

We have learned since that the speech had been edited. What was posted was taken out of context and her whole speech was about her mistake and reconciling her actions. However, the White House and Dept. of Commerce quickly pulled the trigger on Ms. Sherrod without investigating the incident themselves.

Now both conservatives and liberals have egg on their faces.

As FDR once said, “There are no coincidents in politics.” I think we have been “Dan Rathered” by someone. There are some questions here that needs to be asked and I don’t see the national media are asking.

1) How did this conservative blog get this speech? Not like conservative bloggers were hanging out at NAACP’s speeches from twenty years ago?

2) Who edited the speech? The bloggers or the “person” who gave them the video?

3) Why was the White House and Dept. of Commerce so quickly to fire Ms. Sherrod without doing a full investigation or asking her about the speech?

The true nature of the speech now has been reveal and justly, the liberals are upset.

So you have this one “racial” event so closely after the NAACP’s attack on the Tea Party. The conservatives go bananas followed up by the liberals. The racial tension in the country raises… Operation Successful!

I saw today on my Facebook; a widget with a picture of Sherrod asking me to “like” something: President Obama needs to say “NO” to Fox News. I think this illustrates my point.

While we as individuals and the media are bickering amongst ourselves, Congress is pushing a very awful banking reform bill that will only benefit the major bankers. It does nothing about the economic problems that started in 2008: Fannie and Freddie, derivatives, and the Federal Reserve. It actually gives the Federal Reserve more power. The Texas Bankers Association blasted the bill stating it only consolidates power among the largest banks while hurting state and local banks.

Also, this even pushes the BP story back. How well is the cap really working? Funny how Lindsey Lohan’s jailing manages to seep up to the top of the media stories.

If the national media isn’t going to be asking the necessary questions, then it comes to us. The bloggers/podcasters need to make sure the proper questions are asked and things are brought into context. We can’t make the mistake as that conservative blogger website did regardless of who is at fault in this Sherrod story.

This whole event again is dividing us instead of bringing us together. Recently, Ron Paul and Barney Frank appeared on CNN together pushing a bill they agree on. This is what the establish fears: the left and right finding issues we agree on and doing something about it.

Again, we need to avoid these traps that will only divide us.

We can’t let Lady Liberty down…

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A View From the Fence Show 21: HR 1207-Audit the Fed

lambo — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:01:24 +0000

Lambo and Ragman discuss HR 1207-Audit the Federal Reserve Bill. Our other co-host (Whose name we don’t recall) is off doing whatever post married people do.

Should the Federal Reserve be audited? Why is the bill getting resistance from the Democratic leadership? Do members of Congress even know what the Federal Reserve is?

Bill has 179 co-sponsors at time of this writing.

Lambo is still learning how to work a mixing board, so please be kind about the less than stellar audio. Send hate mail to lambo.vff_at_gmail.com.

Promos:

Speaking of Beer

Babylon Podcast

Enjoy,

Lambo

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Imagine

Ragman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:18:25 +0000

Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting democracy” or “protecting their strategic interests.”

Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the Constitution did not apply to them. Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. Imagine that they set up check points on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought America would be better off without their presence.

Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers’ attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every American killed, ten more would take up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home. Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror.

Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office.

The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed in Texas. We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe straddling empire and a very intrusive foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment towards us.

According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead of re-evaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans feel as if we have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn’t stand for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, mind you, these are military installations. The new administration is not materially changing anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply want our men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in Iraq is not conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United States.

Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats and violence is not isolationism. It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade and diplomacy is the foreign policy of peace and prosperity. It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current actions most definitely will. I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming from the administration. The sad thing is, our foreign policy WILL change eventually, as Rome’s did, when all budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted.

Imagine

by Ron Paul

(www.ronpaul.com)

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A View From the Fence Show 8: Party Conventions, upcoming election and voice messages

sketkar — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:25:06 +0000

Here is show 8.

Show notes

Intro by SKetkar
Convention talk, DNC, RNC, our impression on the speeches, McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin
Voice Messages and special piece from Real Time with Bill Maher, corespondent Matt Taibbi.
Finish convention talk
end of show crap

Enjoy!

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A View From the Fence Show 7: 2008 Presidential Conventions, Campaigns and Election

sketkar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:16:19 +0000

Hello all,

Here is show 7 all about the Presidential Election for 2008.

Show Notes

Intro by sketkar
Entire show is open forum discussion on 2008 presidential election, democratic and republican conventions
Include discussion on roll of media, internet, responsibilities and new exposure
Campaign issues and candidate stands: Economy, Foreign Policy and Energy Policy

Enjoy!

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