Ron Paul Goes Birch — John Birch
EmailABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf reports: There was a hole in the agenda for Ron Paul’s "Rally for the Republic."
Between anti-war author Bill Kauffman and anti-torture lawyer Bruce Fein was a slot on the agenda for "Special Guest."
Would it be Bob Barr, wondered some in the media? Perhaps a mainstream Republican to mend fences between Paul’s supporters and the people across the river in St. Paul at the GOP convention.
Nope. Out strolled John McManus. Who? John Birch Society board member — the group also has a booth here — and a former John Birch Society president, McManus announced that Paul would be speaking at their 50th anniversary celebration in Wisconsin this year.
Another speaker, Howard Phillips, who is chair of The Conservative Caucus, referred at one point during his speech to the "war of northern aggression." (More commonly known as the Civil War).
"I call it that, even though I’m from Massachusetts, because I have studied a little history since then and I know what was going on when Mr. (President Abraham) Lincoln invaded his own country," said Phillips to a very light smattering of applause.
Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist told the rally, in addition to his work fighting taxes everywhere, he sits on the board of the NRA.
"Taxes bad, guns good," he said.
McManus ended his speech, saying, "If you like Ron Paul, you’ll love the John Birch Society."
McManus is the only speaker so far not to be introduced by MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson, who opened the event today, telling the audience that he voted for Paul in 1988 as a Libertarian.
Right now, former Reagan Justice Department official-turned-President Bush critic Bruce Fein is giving an erudite speech about international relations and the rule of law.
There have been no less than four seperate chants of "End the Fed," including one for McManus, when talk of the Federal reserve comes up.
The day is young, but so far, there are far short, perhaps half, of the 10,000 to 12,000 supporters Paul staffers predicted. Paul does not speak until 7 p.m. Central time and the agenda is an hour behind schedule, so there is time to fill the seats.
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Ron Paul is a scammer. People who worship him have serious issues.
Posted by: Vetter | September 2, 2008, 5:30 pm 5:30 pm
Vetter – Actually you are incorrect. Ron Paul is the real deal. Imagine a politician not subservient to special interests, a guy that is a doctor not a crooked lawyer, a politician that has turned down the pension program from congress, a guy that gives a portion of his salary back to the treasury, a guy that doesn’t believe in fighting illegal unnecessary wars funded by China, a guy that stands against the manipulation of money supplies creating malinvestment and most recently rotting houses, a guy that has spent a large part of his career fighting inflation, a guy that realizes the war on drugs is a joke, a guy that has given so many hope. Vetter you are the scammer, a republican apologist/stooge I am sure.
Posted by: Ben Straub | September 2, 2008, 5:38 pm 5:38 pm
I think Republicans are either morons or jackasses myself. But Ron Paul is no saint. Get real and quit getting all messianic like the Obamacons.
Posted by: Vetter | September 2, 2008, 5:49 pm 5:49 pm
NO ONE CARES.
Posted by: Debra | September 2, 2008, 5:54 pm 5:54 pm
Vetter – Actually he is no saint. The Catholic church would agree. What he is is the closest thing to a statesman that we have. I would like you to tell me which of his policy positions you disagree with so that i can enlighten you. People like you and Debra slander without any substance. I have seen you two do the same to Obama, and believe me it will get you nowhere. McCain has no chance, sorry.
Posted by: Ben Straub | September 2, 2008, 6:00 pm 6:00 pm
“NO ONE CARES.”
Bush getting re-elected is proof! Apathy and ignorance abound in a country where people no longer value the freedom given them by their forefathers’ sacrifices.
Posted by: Max | September 2, 2008, 6:03 pm 6:03 pm
Ron is the only one willing to end the Fed, which is a privately owned bank that masquerades as a government agency, and which has a ‘license’ to coin money which it loans back to the government – at interest. Doesn’t it make more sense for the government to coin the money and not pay any interest on it? We’re talking billions in interest going the only private corporation that cannot be audited, and who’s owners (some european) are secret. Let me repeat: the Fed is is Federal as Federal Express. while you’re at it, watch Freedom to Fascism on google video.
Posted by: mark | September 2, 2008, 6:36 pm 6:36 pm
Ron Paul is a bit cooky but he’s right on a lot of economic issues. The current GOP crop are too busy being Democrats to notice.
Posted by: 1percenter | September 2, 2008, 6:37 pm 6:37 pm
Take the Nonpaul comments with a grain of salt.
Many of them are trolls.
Whenever I speak with anyone in real-life about Paul I always get enthusiastic applause or intelligent debate.
Not this “noone cares–he’s a scammer” crap.
Posted by: Alex | September 2, 2008, 7:26 pm 7:26 pm
“Perhaps a mainstream Republican to mend fences between Paul’s supporters and the people across the river in St. Paul at the GOP convention.” — Note to media: Ron Paul and supporters do not want to mend fences with the con-artists that are pretending to be republicans.
Posted by: Reality | September 2, 2008, 7:39 pm 7:39 pm
Oh God, not the anti-Federal Reserve economically illiterate idiots. The Fed does not coin money. It does not charge the government interest to borrow money from it. In fact quite the opposite, the Fed refunds any money it receives, minus operating expenses, from the treasuries that it holds, back to the US Treasury, to the tune of $30+ billion a year.
Posted by: James B | September 2, 2008, 7:46 pm 7:46 pm
From what I have seen of Ron Paul and his followers, the GOP is a whole lot better without him or his ilk.
Posted by: charles m | September 2, 2008, 8:30 pm 8:30 pm
Love your debt, unemployment, ineffective government programs, bombing and rebuilding third world countries, militarized police, the unadulterated murder of civillians overseas who have done nothing to you, the lost of privacy and personal rights and the forced confiscation of your personal wealth, with the artifical inflation caused by the federal reserve lowering rates to encorage borrowing, then tightening lending to engineer recession if were lucky and depressions if were not… (the constitution says only gold and silver are legal tender, the dollar is a reciept for legal tender… IT HAS NO VALUE!!!) Yeah, I can get behind that, screw Ron Paul and his “kooky” supporters! Give me 100 years of war and poverty McCain, or “emancipation/occupation” and “the great leap forward” that is Jimmy Carter (who never met a dictator he didn’t like) influenced Barack Obama.
Posted by: argh! | September 2, 2008, 8:30 pm 8:30 pm
charles m – What exactly in Paul’s message do you disagree with. I know you are another republican spinmeister so my response is really pointless, but I just want to say you and your ilk suck!
Posted by: Ben Straub | September 2, 2008, 9:05 pm 9:05 pm
Although I am not currently a member of JBS I think that it is the political repository of All that the Republican Party should be today and should have been for the last 50yrs.. Although not a Libertarian, I would describe myself as a America-First Populist Conservative Nationalist; I voted proudly for Dr. Ron Paul and will proudly vote for Bob Barr and others on the Lbertarian ticket in NC this November because they are NATIONAISTS and NOT INTERNATIONALISTS! This is in stark contrast to McCain and Obama both the willing puppetts of the Plutocratic Elites of Bilderberg and the CFR and the Trilats who have been subverting our beloved Republic since they were founded. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a Pres. who put American National interests ahead of foreign or global corporate interests?? So a few months ago after being a registered Republican since 1964 I switched to “unaffiliated”. This year I am proudly voting for candidates who put America First!
Posted by: Robert Hargrave, Jr. | September 2, 2008, 9:46 pm 9:46 pm
The JBS is a wonderful research organization and the GOP should take a lesson.
Ron Paul is just the opposite from ‘kooky’ — he’s about the most normal man you could ever meet, family included.
The GOP is now just like the Democrats – bankrupt… and Ron Paul stands alone…
So you can be corrupt and stupid like the D’s and R’s or you can be smart and normal like Ron Paul.
You can’t even SPELL “kooky” 1percenter let alone know what Ron Paul stands or does not stand for.. geesh.
Posted by: NH | September 2, 2008, 9:54 pm 9:54 pm
Did it ever occur to the liberal statist establisment that the current generation has no idea of how being associated with the JBS is supposed to be a bad thing. See, you can be so successful in dumbing them down that they don’t even know why they should be afraid of something anymore. It’s an inside joke that nobody gets except for the limousine liberals and the washington establishment of yesteryear. You will have to try much harder next time if you want the desired slanderous effect. At times like this I am reminded of the request at certain political rallies, namely: “Hey, legalize FREEDOM!!!” Since when was the Constitution and respect for the rule of law subjective? And freedom a dirty word? Oh right, to the moneyed rich elitist who can buy off anyone or anything to get out of their messes, I guess yeah, respect for the rule of law for the common man is downright heresy. My mistake.
Posted by: argh! | September 2, 2008, 10:10 pm 10:10 pm
I thought everyone delivered great speeches tonight and the crowd was amazing! Its hilarious how people attack Dr.Paul with no substance in their arguments, just name calling and categorizing. I think the people that argue with his ideas with nothing to back it up just love this “we’ll take care of you” type of government. How can you blame them? There a productive of this current fantasy USA we live in. How could they run their own lives without pulling off the governments titties? they’ve led the sheep to the pen and have told the people to categorize and judge anyone that disagrees with the government. Imagine freedom to keep ALL the fruits of your labor? open your eyes to what we see. We can see the devaluation of our dollar, we can see the biased media, we can see the nation building around the world, we can see the never ending debt, we can see the nafta superhighway, we can see the currency hijacked by central bankers, we can see the ineffective policy’s and that’s why we follow Dr.Paul.
Sorry about the incomplete sentences, I went to public school.
-Eric VanVliet
Posted by: Eric VanVliet | September 2, 2008, 10:42 pm 10:42 pm
We really do need to end the fed.
Posted by: Andy White | September 3, 2008, 2:34 am 2:34 am
James B – The mint coins money. The fed sets interest rates which can lead to the destruction of a currency, massive inflation, and malinvestment. Give Paul credit where credit is due.
Posted by: Ben Straub | September 3, 2008, 9:22 am 9:22 am
Ron Paul and Howard Phillips are working to stop the North American Union and secure our borders and restore Constitutional government.
Learn how YOU can help.
Join the crusade to restore Constitutional government.
Go to ConservativeUSA.org
Posted by: TCC | September 3, 2008, 12:02 pm 12:02 pm
There is a conspiracy to create a totalitarian world government. If the American people don’t start to put people like Ron Paul in the House of Representatives, the conspiracy will accomplish its goal. Join the John Birch Society and pray the Rosary to stop it.
Posted by: John Tobak | September 3, 2008, 12:26 pm 12:26 pm
Now that the day is over, please remember that the thousands that heard Ron Paul’s talk, didnt attend many of the earlier, more controversial speakers. In fact when Mr. Mc Manus and others were speaking, the media reported attendance at the Rally was in the hundreds, not thousands. These are not the speakers you should be identifying as representative of the majority of Ron Paul’s audience.
Posted by: Mark | September 6, 2008, 2:26 pm 2:26 pm
Author, your title is provocative, but out of context with the modern age. So, Paul associates with the John Birch Society? Who cares? I know what you are getting at, because I am old enough to remember rants against the Libertarians and the JBS. But you are too timid to say what is on your mind: that the Birchers are afraid of change, they are isolationists, they are anti-state, and so forth. These are old insinuations promoted by the Oligarchy. You see, the Oligarchy doesn’t like people or groups that promote the Constitution or defend their rights to be left alone. So, because the Birchers want to have a country, not an Empire, and because they believe in their religion and their right to control government–which all of us should espouse–you must feel compelled to dislike them, because the Oligarchy dislikes them. There, I’ve said it, so you can keep that duct tape on your mouth.
Now, though I am not a Bircher, here’s some advice: start questioning the Oligarchy and leave these people alone. Be thankful you live in a semi-free society, and try to honor that instead of writing articles that promote discrimination and typecasting. The Oligarchy is failing, and failing miserably, so get on the right side before it’s too late. Just tell your editor that you’ve had enough, that you’re done being a pimp for the globalist cronies. You’ll feel better, believe me, because the Kool-Aid tastes awful. Live. Be free.
Posted by: Scott Harmon | September 7, 2008, 1:00 am 1:00 am
Ben Straub, I could not have said it better myself. Ron Paul is no saint but the only representative I know of that truly upholds the oath of office to “defend the Constitution of the United States”
We have two Presidential candidates running on a platform promising to disregaurd the Constitution and defend not the Constitution, but the status quo, or, worse yet, increase the entitlements, wars, etc.. which .. is certain to bring about “CHANGE” in America in a big way.
Posted by: American First | September 23, 2008, 4:32 pm 4:32 pm
How about the fact that the John Birch Society, which Ron Paul is a part of now, was funded by Nelson Rockefeller who is part of the 13 Bloodlines? It is also run by Jesuit-trained Knights of Malta. So really, how can we FULLY trust Ron Paul when his connections to the Illuminati is pretty substantial? I’m not saying to fully discredit him, but to keep an eye out on him. We need to start questioning everything.
Posted by: BJ | February 10, 2009, 10:51 am 10:51 am