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RON PAUL WANTS IRS DEAD
Candidate tells crowds at Tax Day rally the money we earn should be our own
By Mark Anderson & Pat Shannan
Ron Paul supporters who swarmed the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for the April 15 Freedom Rally came from near and far.
One dynamic duo from Maryland, Mike Hargadon and Collins Bailey, are both running for Congress on Paul’s platform. In fact, four of the eight people seeking House seats representing Maryland are on board with Paul on at least most issues.
Both won their GOP primaries and are cautiously optimistic that they may prevail in the November general election versus the Democratic incumbents. Bailey takes on U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, who has been in the House since 1980; and Hargadon is challenging Rep. Elijah Cummings.
They are optimistic partly because Congress is suffering from a low approval rating of 14%, according to a poll they cited. Any incumbent in
Congress is not altogether popular in the first place, they reason.
Still, Bailey lamented that the American people too often are brainwashed by a corporate media bent on playing favorites and goading the people into voting for the “projected winner.” Bailey recalled that he saw a statewide New Hampshire exit poll showing Paul would have won, provided you count the many people who paradoxically said they voted for McCain but would have preferred Paul, a classic case of the media-generated “projected winner” syndrome.
“We’ve got to get the American people to stand on principle and stop looking at elections like horse races,” Bailey said.
Bailey and Hargadon agreed that since some state’s primaries are mere preference polls, then Paul supporters at county and state GOP conventions can make some serious inroads (as many have in Washington state and Missouri) to challenge the rules so delegates are not necessarily bound to Sen. John McCain. They also said a number of people in other states are running for office in Paul’s spirit—a spirit that was clearly evident among the several hundred at the rally during its peak.
That spirit erupted loudly when the standard bearer, Ron Paul himself, spoke at the rally around 11:30 a.m., earlier than expected. He and his wife, Carol, were swarmed by autograph-seekers as the congressman made his way to the stage, where the patriotic rock band Pokerface later performed.
Paul briefly spoke of the need to eliminate federal income taxes and maximize freedom for the American people, among other issues.
“This is a day of remembrance,” Paul said, referring to the infamous April 15 tax day. He said the government needs to realize that “the money we earn is our own.” However, about 100 years ago, he said the U.S. government decided to start policing the world and telling others how to live. Soon, heavy taxation came along to underwrite this hegemonic approach.
“That concept is wrong . . . and un-American,” he said. He believes America needs “a free market, sound money and to mind our own business. . . .”
He added that there are a lot of Americans are waking up and need to be mindful that the results of the Republican National Convention in September, whatever they may be, are not the be-all and end-all of the national awakening, meaning that everyone must stay the course and do their part over the long haul.
“Great countries and empires come to an end for financial reasons,” he said, as the audience, many of whom were younger adults, repeatedly cheered. “What we don’t need is more management from the government; what we need is government to get out of the way. The system we have today divides us because everybody is clawing over a shrinking pie.”
Wanda Case came from North Carolina, where she has been a Ron Paul Meetup Group member in Asheville since early in Paul’s presidential campaign, which has been stymied by near nonexistent mainstream media coverage. Still, Paul has remained in the race because his supporters, such as Case, want him to do so.
“I first saw him in the Aaron Russo film,” she said, referring to the late filmmaker’s documentary, America: From Freedom to Fascism. The next thing Ms. Case knew, she was supporting Paul vigorously. In fact, she sang the national anthem for the Freedom Rally.
“I sang for the Ron Paul rally in Greenville (N.C.) in July 2007,” she recalled. “That’s where I met the Granny Warriors, and they contacted me and asked me to come and sing the anthem at this rally.”
College student Erica Sapp of West Virginia said she has learned a whole lot in a year’s time, going from a political neophyte to a well-informed person who now bears the burden of knowing lots of scary things about our troubled nation.
“I wasn’t interested in politics until one of my friends turned me on to him (Ron Paul),” she said, adding that, since then, the questions and facts about the 9-11 attacks, about the risks of government-mandated fluoride in the public water supply and other matters are, taken as a whole, unsettling.
Brent Sams, 25, of North Carolina, admitted that Dr. Paul cured him of his support for Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who dropped out of the GOP race. “I started realizing the views I have fall in line with Paul more than any politician I had ever looked at. I mean no NAFTA, get out of NATO and the U.N., and no North American Union.”
Huckabee, he said, revealed himself as a “big-government conservative.”
AFP talked to people from numerous states, and all shared the ubiquitous concern that Ron Paul has been blacklisted from coverage by the national media. Almost as many were cognizant of the computer vote fraud going on behind the scenes but frustrated as to what to do about it.
“We still have the fervor but have lost the momentum,” said Marci Ann of Michigan, speaking of her home state. “It seems that everyone gave up after the primary was over. And of course, the lack of media coverage hasn’t helped either, but we need to keep after those delegates’ seats.”
There are 66 delegates in Pennsylvania that are “unbound,” Andrew from Bucks County said. This means they are free to vote for Ron Paul (or anyone else) and not bound to cast a vote for John McCain at the convention.
“There are several other states that have those same rules,” shouted Kathryn over the din, but she wasn’t sure which ones they were. “But people from all states should check to see because they may be surprised to learn that their own delegates are not bound to McCain, either.”
Michael Moresso pedaled his bicycle 3,500 miles across country from Santa Monica, Calif. in time to campaign for Ron Paul in New Hampshire in January and has been roaming the East Coast attending the various primaries since then.
“Oh, I can tell you that Ron Paul is definitely the people’s choice,” said Moresso. “His signs dominated every state I went through. Matter of fact, I don’t remember seeing a single McCain sign anywhere. There may be a few up by now but not then.”
True to form, no news people from The Washington Post or The (allegedly conservative)Washington Times were visible at the scene and none from the local TV stations in the surrounding areas. Both newspapers
and broadcasters ignored the rally. All would have heavily covered a pro-abortion rally.
Recently, a subscriber wrote that, according to the Book of Revelation: “The anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s . . . who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a massive Christ-like appeal. The prophecy says that people will flock to him, and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy everything. Is it Obama?”
Mark Anderson may be reached at [email protected].
Pat Shannan may be reached at [email protected].
(Issue # 17, April 28, 2008)
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