“The voice of the Internet community has been heard,” Rep. Darrell Issa said.

The bill is not gone, however, and it can be expected that a new version will be contrived to try and draw better approval. For the time, however, the Internet remains free.

“If somebody else likes a Texan maybe [they’ll] come to me,” said Ron Paul, but did not seem very optimistic.

According to one survey, only 10 percent of Perry voters have said they will turn to Paul, with about a quarter undecided. Though former Perry fans might be more keen on Santorum or Gingrich, neither of these candidates have the funding Paul has been able to count on. Especially for someone like Santorum, funding can be expected to trump poll numbers as an indication for longevity.

Its true that American forces did little to stop the looting that strangled Baghdad only days after the iconic statue of Sadam Husein fell. American policy in Baghdad disbanded the entire Iraqi army, leaving thousands of bitter, gun-savvy soldiers wandering the street without a means to support their families.  Firefights broke out around the city, kidnappings and other gang-business became prevalent, and the people’s desperation allowed fundamentalist clerics to rise to power. Public offices were sacked, and museums were burned and items looted. In fact, the only infrastructure that was defended by American troops when they hit the ground was — you guessed it — the oil lines. The question must be asked, what would US forces be doing for the Iraqi people, if they stayed? Not much.

About 75% of America supported Obama’s call for withdraw. Indeed, it seems obtuse to assume the American people were ever really interested in “spreading democracy” in the first place. And now with unemployment on the rise, the failing purchasing power of the dollar, and the increasing national debt, Iraq has been all but forgotten in American discourse — and good riddance to it.

Iraq was Bush’s war, not ours. Thank God it’s over, and welcome home, boys.

Questions of Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul’s opinion of minorities, especially blacks and homosexuals, has come into question. Chiefly, these questions have arisen out of newsletters that were published under the congressman’s letterhead, some twenty years ago.

The newsletter was one of many, and part of a publishing company Ron Paul helped form in 1984 called the Ron Paul & Associates corporation. All of the published newsletters used “Ron Paul” in their title: including Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, the Ron Paul Survival Report, the Ron Paul Political Report and the Ron Paul Investment Letter.

Ron Paul has stated he did not write the newsletters, and did not know who was responsible for the statements. Lew Rockwell, a contributing editor to the newsletters, was also uncertain who was to blame. Rockwell told The New Republic that the publishing outfit employed 7 or 8 freelance writers during his tenure.

“Everybody in my district knows I didn’t write them, and I don’t speak like that.” said Paul to CNN in January of 2008, “Nobody has ever heard me say anything like that.”

Paul left the company largely to its own devices in order to focus on his medical practice. He takes responsibility for the error of oversight, and regrets what amounts to be about eight sentences within the entire body of literature published.

Ron Paul has cited Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks as his personal heroes. Moreover, Paul credits his stance to abolish drug laws, which have been statistically shown to target blacks and other minorities before whites, as being the most important anti-racism measure that can be taken today.

Nearly thirty years after the infamous newsletters, freelance writers with marginalized opinions are still drawn to Ron Paul, like moths to a flame. During Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign, Paul caught flack for support among the “911 truthers” movement – a group convinced 911 was an “inside job” and that president Bush knew about the impending attacks. Paul denounced such conclusions, calling them “complete nonsense” and “off-the-wall,” in an interview with ABC News.

Ron Paul symbolizes, for many, a strikingly different way of doing politics. His talk of ending the Federal Reserve, abolishing the income tax, and withdrawing troops from military bases around the world energizes many formerly apathetic voters — but unfortunately, also brings the crazies out of the woodwork.

Casper Tribune

The poll, published Saturday, showed Romney down from 40% to 35%, and Ron Paul gaining from 17% to 20%.  Undecided voters account for around 15%.

Forbes Article