The Mainstream Media are at it again – with this slyly worded mishmash of innuendo and obfuscation about Ron Paul. My comments are in caps and I also bolded important words in the piece:

“Paul’s Supporters Clash with Media”

Amy Schatz, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 24, 2007, A4

[LR: CLASH? AS IN VIOLENT ALTERCATION? AS IN “RP FANS ATTACK LONE JOURNALIST”? HOW ABOUT THIS– “MEDIA CLASHES WITH RON PAUL’S CAMPAIGN”? SOUNDS A LOT MORE LIKE THE TRUTH]

Early Halloween morning, “Taco John” posted a message-board call to arms: “Baltimore Sun Hit Piece…TAKE ACTION NOW!”

[LR: NOTICE THE REPETITION OF THE MEME OF VIOLENCE IN THE PHRASE “CALL-TO-ARMS” — AS THOUGH PAUL’S STORM TROOPERS ARE OUT ON THE STREETS IN STEEL HELMETS]

RON PAUL 2008

 

Ron Pauls’s official Web site: www.ronpaul2008.com

Forums: www.ronpaulforums.com

News: www.dailypaul.com

The paper’s political blog had an item marveling at how Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul had raised more money than “better-known Mike Huckabee, who is taken more seriously.“

[LR: “BETTER KNOWN”? HUCKABEE WAS UNKNOWN A SHORT WHILE BACK. SO WHAT’S THE NEWS -WORTHINESS OF SUGGESTING THAT HE’S BETTER KNOWN NOW? EXCEPT TO MASSAGE PUBLIC OPINION IN THAT DIRECTION?]

[LR: AND THAT PHRASE, “TAKEN MORE SERIOUSLY” IS MANIPULATIVE TOO. TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY WHOM? BY THE KING-MAKERS IN THE PRESS PRESUMABLY? THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT INTO THE WAR MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE, WEREN’T THEY? WHAT MAKES THEIR OPINION INFALLIBLE?]

Taco John took to an Internet forum frequented by Paul supporters, providing a link to the offending item, as well as phone and email information for the newspaper’s public editor and advertising department. “They’re trying to pigeonhole us,” he wrote. “If we don’t fight back, they’ll keep doing it.”

Taco John, the online moniker of Isaac Lopez, a 32-year-old technology marketer in Vancouver, Wash., is one of many cyber-soldiers for Dr. Paul, the Texas congressman, gynecologist and vociferous opponent of the Iraq war.

[LR: NOTICE THAT PHRASE “CYBER SOLDIER” — CONTINUING THE IMAGERY OF VIOLENCE]

The Paul brigade [LR: MORE OF THE SAME] has largely drawn attention for its fund-raising prowess, raising a record $4.2 million online in a single day in November and leaving the 72-year-old politician with more cash on hand than several rivals and a $1 million TV ad budget for New Hampshire. But some Paul supporters are displaying an aggressive

[WHY NOT CITE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE AND THEN CITE A FEW FROM OTHER CAMPAIGNS TOO? TASERING THAT 21 YEAR OLD STUDENT AT KERRY’S SPEECH WITH 50,000 VOLTS – NOW THAT SOUNDS LIKE AGGRESSIVE TO ME]

side that seems to spill beyond advocacy into harassment of those [LR: NAME THESE HARASSERS, PLEASE] who disagree or fail to show Dr. Paul sufficient respect.

Taco John, for example, posted contact information for a university professor who called Dr. Paul “unqualified to be president.” [LR:  LET’S SEE. ONE PAUL SUPPORTER POSTS SOMEONE’S CONTACT INFORMATION (ACCORDING TO YOU, OF COURSE) AND YOU’RE SHOCKED, SHOCKED. WHAT ABOUT ALL THE PRO-WAR GROUPS THAT ROUTINELY HARASS, SHUT DOWN, AND SLANDER ANYONE WHO EVEN CRITICIZES US POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST? NO WORRIES THERE?]

He also provided information on how to reach several reporters with whom he quibbled, as well as the Iowa Republican Party after it helped set rules for a debate — later canceled — that could have excluded the low-polling Dr. Paul.

[LR: LOW POLLING IN POLLS RUN BY WHOM? RELATIVE TO THE LEVEL OF MONEY HE HAS, PAUL BEATS THE MAJOR CANDIDATES HANDS DOWN IN SUPPORT]

Taco John — the handle comes from Mr. Lopez’s appreciation of former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and tacos — is a neophyte activist, who says he was inspired by Dr. Paul’s libertarian platform.

Some blogs have booted Paul supporters for leaving incendiary comments.

[IF YOU WANT INCENDIARY COMMENTS, TRY ANY OF THE PRO-WAR STATIST BLOGS…WHERE YOU’LL FIND FOUL LANGUAGE, PERSONAL ATTACKS, AND REAL RACISTS. IF YOU CAN’T MENTION THEM, THEN DON’T PICK ON PAUL].

They have also been frozen out of Internet surveys and accused of electronic ballot stuffing;

[LR: “ACCUSED” IS NOT CONVICTED…NOT EVEN IN PUBLIC OPINION. IT’S EASIER TO THROW AROUND INNUENDO THAN POINT OUT FACTS. FACTS LIKE CLINTON’S USE OF FBI FILES ON HER OPPONENTS, OR TAKING MONEY FROM NORMAN HSU, OR OTHER UNSAVORY LITTLE FACTOIDS IN HER RESUME. OR WHAT ABOUT GUILIANI’S CONNECTION WITH BERNARD FIDDLING-WHILE-NEW YORK-BURNS- KERIK? HOW ABOUT WORRYING ABOUT THAT?]

Dr. Paul rarely loses online straw polls even though he barely registers in national telephone polls. His supporters argue that they win online polls because there are more Paul supporters and they’re better organized.

Many of Dr. Paul’s supporters say they’re simply fighting a media and political establishment that won’t give him a fair shake.

[LR: THAT’S NOT WHAT HIS SUPPORTERS “SAY.” UNTIL RECENTLY, THAT WAS THE CLEAR FACT]

The big Nov. 5 “moneybomb” fund raiser was timed to coincide with Guy Fawkes Day and inspired by the 1980s comic-book series “V for Vendetta,” in which a vigilante in a Guy Fawkes mask wages war against a totalitarian British state.

The Paul campaign has also drawn support from antigovernment fringe groups and 9/11 conspiracy theorists.

[LR: ANTI-GOVERNMENT IS FRINGE? THIS FROM A WRITER AT THE WSJ? SINCE WHEN IS A PURE CONSTITUTIONALIST “FRINGE” ? I GUESS SINCE  BIG GOVERNMENT WAR-MONGERS STARTED RUNNING THE PLACE.

AS FOR THOSE “CONSPIRACY THEORIES” ABOUT 9-11, WHY BOTHER WITH THEM? WHAT DO YOU CALL THE CLEAR-AS-DAYLIGHT “CONSPIRACY FACT” CALLED THE PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY, SIGNED BY BONA FIDE, OUT-OF-THE-CLOSET CONSPIRACISTS, ALL WORKING IN MAJOR MEDIA OR IN GOVERNMENT. THAT’S THE CONSPIRACY THAT CALLS FOR AMERICAN DOMINATION OF THE WORLD (OH YES, AND OUTER SPACE TOO) AND ENDLESS, RANDOM, PREEMPTIVE WARS.

IT’S WHY THE REST OF THE WORLD IS GLOATING AS THE DOLLAR COLLAPSES.

LOOKS LIKE THE TIN-FOIL HATS ARE IN POWER — NOT ON THE FRINGE]

Since mid-September, a large “Ron Paul for President” banner has flashed at the bottom of white-supremacist Internet forum Stormfront.org.

[LR: OH YAWN! BACK TO SMEAR 101. MENTION PAUL NEXT TO STORMFRONT…HEY, WHY NOT HITLER, JACK THE RIPPER, GENGHIS KHAN AND BELA LUGOSI, TOO? MEANWHILE, WHAT ABOUT FEMINAZIS FOR HILLARY…..OR ZIONISTS FOR RUDY.

NOT AS CATCHY?

OR ARE SOME BIGOTRIES MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS?

STORMFRONT – NASTY AS ITS LANGUAGE IS – DOESN’T YET HAVE A KILL RECORD OF MILLION PLUS. THE PROWAR LOBBY DOES]

“Really, we haven’t seen a candidate like Ron Paul in some time. The closest would have been Pat Buchanan” in 2000, says Don Black of West Palm Beach, Fla., the group’s founder and a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, who donated $500 to Mr. Paul’s campaign.

[EVEN ANDREW SULLIVAN THOUGHT THIS PIECE OF TRIPE WAS CHARACTER ASSASSINATION. BUT HERE’S WHAT. PAUL SHOULD RETURN THIS MONEY. BUT SO SHOULD GUILIANI, OBAMA, MCCAIN, CLINTON AND THE REST RETURN MONEY THEY’VE TAKEN FROM ZIO-CON RACISTS AS WELL AS FROM ANTI-SEMITIC EVANGELICAL RACISTS].

The Paul campaign has a hands-off approach when it comes to supporters’ activities and political backgrounds. While grateful for the money, aides insist they aren’t responsible for what supporters do online. “We don’t know who a lot of these people are,” says Jesse Benton, a campaign spokesman.

Mr. Benton declined to make Dr. Paul available to comment. “Sometimes, Ron Paul supporters get a little over passionate and maybe a little more shrill than what some might like,” Mr. Benton says. “For the most part, our supporters are polite and mannerly.” He has his own conspiracy theory: Some other candidates’ supporters may be masquerading as Ron Paul supporters to hurt his campaign.

[LR: YES, HOW ABOUT THAT? THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN NOW, WOULD IT?]

The impassioned campaigning threatens Dr. Paul’s efforts to convince undecided Republicans that he appeals to more than antiwar libertarians and fringes of the Republican Party.

[LR: ANTIWAR LIBERTARIANS ARE FRINGE REPUBLICANS? OH, PLEASE! ABOUT 40% OF THE COUNTRY (THE PART WHICH IS WIDE AWAKE) IS ANTIWAR AND ABOUT A THIRD THINKS SOMETHING WAS AMISS ON 9-11].

“Basically, it got to the point where someone could put up a post saying they were going to the bathroom, and a dozen Paultards would comment, ‘Vote for Ron Paul while you’re there,’ along with another dozen warnings of the Zionist conspiracy in the toilet,” says Erick Erickson, founder of popular conservative blog Redstate. A month ago, the site banned posts from some Paul supporters, branding them “MoRons.”

[LR; MORONS, PAULTARDS – WHY AREN’T THOSE IN QUOTES? THOSE ARE SOMEONE’S NASTY OPINIONS, NOT FACTS. MEANWHILE, YOU’RE ACCUSING PAUL SUPPORTERS OF BEING AGGRESSIVE.

DOUBLE STANDARDS, DON’T YOU THINK? AND NOTICE THAT YOU CALL REDSTATE BLOG “POPULAR,” WHILE YOUR WHOLE PIECE IS SLANTED TOWARD TELLING US THAT RON PAUL IS NOT.

YOUR BIAS IS SHOWING, DEAR. DO TRY TO COVER UP]

Afterward, the site was “deluged” with comments and “swarms and swarms” of hate mail, Mr. Erickson says. He changed the site’s phone number, and says other blog owners have contacted him seeking advice on discouraging Paul supporters from posting.

[LR: HATE MAIL? WHY DOESN’T ERIC ERICKSON COME OUT WITH THIS HATE MAIL AND SEE IF IT’S ANYTHING UNUSUAL OR JUST A FIGMENT OF HIS IMAGINATION. LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT THE MAIL WRITTEN BY CLINTON’S PEOPLE OR ROMNEY’S]

Cris Vanricma of Ludington, Mich., removed Dr. Paul from his bipartisan presidential poll, StrawPoll08.com, after receiving nasty emails from some Paul supporters, contending some polls that Dr. Paul wasn’t winning were rigged.

[LR: “NASTY EMAILS”…POOR DEAR. THE NASTIEST WEB POSTS ARE USUALLY FROM FOAMING-AT-THE-MOUTH FANS OF CARPET BOMBING AND THEIR STATIST BUDDIES. LIBERTARIANS (LEFT AND RIGHT) TEND TO BE LONERS AND NOT GIVEN TO PACK ANIMAL BEHAVIOR]

The 31-year-old Web designer made a blanket offer: If the messages stop, the congressman goes back on. So far, Dr. Paul remains off the poll.

[LR; YEAH., YEAH. I BELIEVE THIS AND I BELIEVE THAT THE ECONOMY IS DOING GREAT, AND I’M BUYING ME SOME BANK STOCKS FROM THE TOOTH FAIRY TOO]

With issues like the Iraq war and civil liberties at stake, some supporters argue that now isn’t the time for half-measures. David Chesley, 33, of Van Nuys, Calif., put his law practice on hold so he could support Dr. Paul. Mr. Chesley says he was attracted by the congressman’s views on protecting the Constitution after what he considers President Bush’s assault on civil liberties since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “I have an obligation to make this my full-time job,” says the former Democrat. “All I do every day is go on the Internet or make phone calls or email the media.”

When he felt the media paid too little attention to the Nov. 5 fund raiser, Mr. Chesley, who posts as “RP2008” on a Ron Paul message board, was furious. On Nov. 9, he urged others to “ceaselessly bombard” media outlets. “You need to organize, call, boycott, protest and sue the media that is lying to us, and if you don’t, it is your own d- fault if Ron Paul loses,” he wrote.

[LR: “BOMBARD “– NICE TOUCH, THERE. AND THAT “DAMN” — NEVER EVER HEARD SUCH FOUL LANGUAGE FROM A HILLARY OR BARACK GROUPIE, HAVE YOU? O TEMPORA, O MORES….]

Some Paul supporters preach restraint. “I cannot stand to read another reporter/blogger complain about how they have received profane/threatening/intimidating responses from Ron Paul supporters,” wrote “Hestia,” a frequent poster on the Daily Paul, a popular pro-Paul site. “Sending hostile and abusive emails will not win supporters or encourage bloggers or reporters to write positive articles,” Hestia adds.

[LR: NOTICE THAT ALL THE ADJECTIVES PILED ON ARE NO MORE THAN QUOTES FROM A PAUL BLOGGER SUGGESTING WHAT NOT TO DO AND WHAT THE MEDIA IS ACCUSING PAUL SUPPORTERS OF DOING. BUT IT’S NOT WHAT PAUL SUPPORTERS ARE DOING.

NOTICE THAT THE REST OF THE ARTICLE IS A QUOTE FROM ANOTHER JOURNALIST OPPOSED TO PAUL TO SUCH AN EXTENT HE CALLS ALL HIS SUPPORTERS MORONS AND RETARDS.

NOTICE THAT THE REST OF THE ARTICLE DOES NOTHING MORE THAN GLOM ON TO STORMFRONT AND A 500 BUCK DONATION.

NOTICE THAT NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT THE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS GIVEN BY THE ZIO-CON WAR MACHINE THAT KILLS MILLIONS IN COLD FACT, NOT JUST WHAT SOME SMALL GROUP OF MARGINAL RACISTS HAPPEN TO SAY.

SO AT THE END OF THE DAY, ALL THAT’S FACTUAL IN THIS PIECE IS THAT SOME JOURNALISTS (WITH AXES TO GRIND) ACCUSE PAUL FANS OF BEING HOSTILE, ABUSIVE, THREATENING, PROFANE …..

MAYBE THEY’VE BEEN LOOKING INTO THE MIRROR TOO LONG. SOUNDS LIKE THEY’RE DESCRIBING THEMSELVES]

 

Write to Amy Schatz at Amy.Schatz@wsj.com.

And here’s a sample of Ms. Schatz’ prior reporting on Ron Paul – “Ron Paul: Capturing the Spammer Vote?.
This piece with its sniffiness (“not ready for prime-time”) not-so subtly suggests that Paul is winning polls only by ballot stuffing, without which Guiliani – surprise! – would be the winner.

The same allegation in repeated in this next piece of hers, only a month later in March 2007, “Ron Paul Finds Enthusiastic Supporters.”

Of course, Ron Paul fans aren’t the only one whom Ms. Schatz would like to put in their place. She’d like to put the blogosphere back in the kitchen next to the help, as evident from this Outside the Beltway reference to “self-appointed bloggers.”