Shorter Ron Paul: Give the world's bullies what they want and they'll go away...
Ron Paul told voters in Iowa on Thursday that western sanctions against Iran are "acts of war" that are likely to lead to an actual war in the Middle East...
...[Paul] said Iran would be justified in responding to the sanctions by blocking the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. He compared the western sanctions to a hypothetical move by China to block the Gulf of Mexico, which Americans would consider an act of war...
"I think we're looking for trouble because we put these horrendous sanctions on Iran," Paul told a midday audience at the Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa. He said the Iranians are "planning to be bombed" and understandably would like to have a nuclear weapon...
...the Texas congressman said that "we always seem to have to have a country to bash," linking the current saber-rattling against Iran to previous hawkish rhetoric that led to conflicts in Iraq, Libya and elsewhere.
"If you want to quiet things down," he said, referring to Iran, "don't put sanctions on them" because it's "just going to cause more trouble."
Ron Paul must think we're all crazy.
Update: a list of Ron Paul's goofs and gaffes at Hack Wilson.
In the debate, Paul went on to warn against a push “to declare war on 1.2 billion Muslims,” as if a country that has resorted to force of arms to save Muslims from starvation (Somalia), from ethnic cleansing (Bosnia, Kosovo), and from brutal dictators (Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya) is bristling with an undifferentiated hostility toward all Muslims. This isn’t an expression of an anti-interventionism so much as a smear. It goes beyond opposition to American foreign policy to a poisonous view of America itself.
I struggle to understand how Ron Paul's incendiary insinuation is supposed to be helpful, but as Paul surges in the polls in Iowa, it's time to begin taking his delirious rants seriously.
Long after he finally leaves the White House, Obama will be remembered for his international "Blame America" tours. Ron Paul seems eager to build on that tradition.
"Just think of what happened after 9/11. Immediately, before there was any assessment, there was glee in the administration because, 'Now we can invade Iraq.'"
This lends credence to those who say that Ron Paul is a neoliberal crank.
Update: (via Freedom's Lighthouse) Conservative radio host Mark Levin blasts Ron Paul for saying there was “glee” in the George W. Bush Administration following the September 11 Attacks on the United States...
Update II:
Ron Paul doubles down (starting at 5:17)...
Kelley: Do you really believe, Congressman, that there was "glee" in the Bush administration after 3,000 American citizens died?
Paul: They might not describe it that way, but there was a lot of pleasure...
I found a cool website that allows the user to tinker around with the states to configure any number of potential election scenarios. The map is shown with 2012's electoral view in a tie, with Obama states in blue and Generic Republican states in red.
You can click on the map flip states to Republican red or Democrat blue depending on what you think might happen with any given match-up. States also can be flipped to neutral so you can account for potential toss-ups.
Perhaps most importantly, the tally for the electoral college changes in real time as you make changes.
For deeper analysis, you can compare with previous years' results (e.g. 2004 and 2000).
When you're done, you can share your map with friends via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. with easy-to-use buttons on the page.
Here's my map for a narrow win for John Q. Generic Republican (with the map's URL below the image):
We will eliminate Republican candidates one by one. Vote for the candidate you would LEAST like to run against Barack Obama. Names are in random order. We'll weed out candidates until the least contemptible candidate is the only one left:
We will eliminate Republican candidates one by one. Vote for the candidate you would LEAST like to run against Barack Obama. Names are in random order. We'll weed out candidates until the least contemptible candidate is the only one left:
Cheaters will be caught! Don't waste your time.
If you want to share this poll at your blog, leave a comment below. We'll run this poll for a few days and then queue up the next one.
"Poll: Which Conservative needs our financial help? http://poll.fm/223ps - Please Vote for Van!"
Links to the TBF poll were also included in this email Van Irion sent to the 32,000 people who have signed up to join his Class Action lawsuit against ObamaCare.
