Ron Paul – Page 4 – Antiwar.com Blog

Ron Paul, Surveillance, & the GOP

David Weigel has a good piece in the Washington Independent today on Ron Paul ‘s rising influence in Washington. The articles mentions that Ron Paul has been bringing in some folks to have lunch and discuss ideas with some of his Republican colleagues. The article includes a quote from me: â€œThereâ€™s a growing recognition that the GOP is intellectually bankrupt and morally bankrupt…. I hope the battle of ideas is changing.”

When I was the guest at a luncheon discussion in Paul’s office last Thursday, I spoke primarily about torture and warrantless wiretapping. Apropos the Jane Harman controversy, I asked the members of Congress: “How many of you are confident that your phone calls are NOT being wiretapped?”

I mentioned a comment by congressional leader Hale Boggs in 1971 on the effect of congressional â€œfearâ€ of the FBI – how the FBI’s boundless surveillance undermined congressional oversight of the FBI in the 1960s and early 1970s. I asked whether the same thing could be happening now regarding congressional oversight of the various law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The luncheon was off-the-record, so, unfortunately, I cannot disclose the responses to my questions. (Disclosing one’s own comments or questions is not a breach of confidentiality).

Ron Paul Interviews Ivan Eland

On the subject of his new book Recarving Rushmore.

Ron Paul on the Bush Doctrine

Bush Doctrine? In what respect, Charlie?

Well, here’s some audio of Ron Paul getting it right, on Antiwar Radio, in April, 2007.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_04_03_paul_bush_doctrine.mp3]

Finally – A Good Ron Paul Antiwar TV Ad!

The folks at American Liberty Coalition have crafted a powerful antiwar ad promoting Ron Paul for president. This minute long ad conveys Ron Paul’s passion and his concern about the ruinous costs of the current wars and the peril of Bush attacking Iran.

The Liberty Coalition solicited donations to help pay for airing the ad, and this may have contributed to the Paul campaign’s 16% tally in the Pennsylvania primary. Their efforts – and the elbow grease of many other volunteers in Pennsylvania – made a big difference.

The private ad is in sharp contrast to this “Ron Paul – Conservative Choice” radio ad created by the Paul campaign and run on Pennsylvania stations. The ad seems confusing and diffident. It starts out mentioning amnesty for illegal aliens and campaign finance reform’s restrictions on free speech – but doesn’t specify that these are John McCain positions. The ad mentions that Ron Paul has received more contributions from active duty military than all other candidates combined – but fails to mention that this is largely the result of Paul’s staunch opposition to the Iraq debacle.

It is good that Ron Paul got 128,000 votes in Pennsylvania. But how many more votes might the campaign have harvested across the nation if they had used the $35 million Americans donated to them to send a clear antiwar message from start to finish?

I would be curious to know the impressions of Pennsylvanians (and others) on how the campaign there played out.