Who Are These Kooks?

I'm officially changing my election drinking-game from 'drink whenever you hear/see the word quixotic' to 'drink for all name-calling.' Here's to a cheerful new year along with a merry Christmas!!
JMR

Who Are These Kooks?
By Chuck Baldwin
December 18, 2007


This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071218.html


According to the Associated Press, "Republican presidential hopeful
Ron Paul's supporters raised over $6 million Sunday to boost the
10-term congressman's campaign for the White House."

The AP report also said, "The [Paul] campaign's previous fundraiser
brought in $4.2 million."

According to the Paul campaign website, "In a 24-hour period on
December 16, the campaign raised $6.026 million dollars, surpassing
the one-day record of $5.7 million held by John Kerry.

"During the day, over 58,000 people contributed to Dr. Paul's
campaign, including 24,940 first-time donors. Over 118,000 Americans
have donated to the campaign in the fourth quarter.

"The $6 million one-day total means the campaign has raised over $18
million this quarter, far exceeding its goal of $12 million."

Now, if one listens to most of the political pundits in the major
media, Ron Paul is some kind of "kook," and his supporters are also a
bunch of "kooks." So, the question must be asked, Just who are these
kooks that are supporting him, and why are they giving Ron Paul all this money?

First, let's take a look at this "kook" who is receiving all this
money. Ron Paul was born the third son of Howard and Margaret Paul,
and was brought up with a work ethic in which one worked six days a
week and went to church on Sunday. His first job was at age 5 helping
his uncle wash bottles. He worked all the way through his youth mowing
lawns, delivering newspapers, working in a drug store, delivering
furniture and laundry, etc.

In high school, Ron was a track star, winning state as a junior in the
220-yard dash and running 2nd in the 440. His time in the 100-yard
dash was 9.8. That's pretty good. I was never able to break 10-flat in
the 100. Although, I bet I could have beaten him in the 50-yard dash.
He also wrestled in high school. Coincidentally, so did I. But here
Ron leaves me: he was president of the student council and an honor
student. I never accomplished that. I was just glad to get promoted to
the next grade. Even as a senior statesman, Ron Paul keeps himself in
terrific shape. Have you seen him lately? He still maintains a
rigorous exercise regimen.

Ron's two brothers are both ministers, and he became a medical doctor.
He graduated from Duke University School of Medicine. When the Cuban
Missile Crisis arose, Ron became a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air
Force. He also served in the Air National Guard.

As an OB/GYN physician, Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies,
and he and his wife, Carol, have been married for more than 50 years.
They have 5 children, 18 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. Ron
Paul is currently in his 10th term as a congressman from Texas.

As a congressman, Ron Paul has never taken a government-paid junket.
He is not accepting a government pension. He returns a portion of his
office budget every year to the taxpayers. As a member of Congress, he
has never voted a raise for himself. Do you know any other member of
Congress that can make such a claim? Of course you don't, because Ron
Paul is truly one-of-a-kind.

Former President Ronald Reagan said this about Ron Paul, "Ron Paul is
one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national
defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our
armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him
fighting for our country."

Perhaps this helps explain why many of the "kooks" supporting Ron Paul
are active-duty military personnel. In fact, Ron Paul has received
more campaign contributions from active-duty military personnel than
any other Presidential candidate from either party.

But who are the other "kooks" supporting Ron Paul? What kind of people
give more than $18 million in a quarter-year to a Presidential
candidate that is almost universally ignored by the mainstream press?
What kind of people give record contributions to a Presidential
candidate that is lampooned by his fellow Republican Presidential
contenders?

For example, Mike Huckabee recently said he could support any of the
other Republican Presidential contenders (including Rudy Giuliani),
except Ron Paul. That means, Mike Huckabee would rather support a
pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control liberal such as
Giuliani than support the pro-life, pro-traditional marriage,
pro-Second Amendment candidacy of Ron Paul. Why is that?

Furthermore, why are the entire major media and establishment
Republican machine either ignoring or lampooning a distinguished Air
Force veteran, medical doctor, and ten-term Congressman? What is it
about Ron Paul that the elite are so afraid of?

Here is something else: while Ron Paul's contributions have exploded,
Mike Huckabee is all but broke! How can that be? How can a political
"front-runner" be out of money, while a man who "doesn't have a
chance" is breaking fundraising records?

So, who are these "kooks" who are sending Ron Paul so much money? And
just why are they sending him so much money? I will tell you who they
are, because I am one of them. They are rank-and-file, tax-paying
citizens who are sick and tired of out-of-control federal spending and
deficits. They have had it with an arrogant federal government that
runs roughshod over both the Constitution and the liberties of the
American people. They are people who have had enough of the IRS, the
BATFE, and a thousand other federal agencies that have "erected a
multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass
our people, and eat out their substance." (Declaration of
Independence)

They are people who see through the phony, disingenuous federal
politicians who only want to fleece the American citizenry for the
purpose of building their own personal fortunes. They have had it with
the Military-Industrial complex that desires to build international
empires at the expense of the blood and sacrifice of the American
people. They have had it with David Rockefeller and his Council on
Foreign Relations. They have had it with the arrogance of George W.
Bush and Nancy Pelosi.

They are sick and tired of paying outlandish taxes for a public
education system that produces high school graduates who cannot read
and write. They are sick and tired of working for 30 years to pay off
a mortgage, only then to be forced to pay extortion money (a.k.a.
property taxes) for the rest of their lives to the feudal state. They
are sick and tired of the government telling them what they can and
cannot do with their own property. They are sick and tired of watching
people with food stamps buy T-bone steaks and expensive Nike tennis
shoes while they are forced to buy fatty hamburger and cheap sneakers.

They are sick and tired of watching their manufacturing jobs go to
China and India. They have had it with money-hungry businessmen who
hire illegal Mexicans at slave labor wages. They have had it with
labor unions promoting politicians who support NAFTA, CAFTA, and the
FTAA. They are sick and tired of being bled dry at the gas pump.

They have had it with this phony "war on terrorism" that sends
trillions of dollars to nations throughout the Middle East, but
refuses to close our own borders to illegal immigration. They have had
it with the "war on drugs" and the "war on terror" being used as
excuses to trample people's freedoms. They have it with Vicente Fox
and Felipe Calderon. They have had it with Bush's North American
Union. They have had it with Joel Osteen and Rick Warren. In short,
they have just had it!

They also know that a vote for any other Presidential candidate is a
vote for more of the same. Democrat or Republican: it is more of the
same. Ron Paul, and Ron Paul alone, will bring a revolution of freedom
and independence to America. Believe me, the Ron Paul revolution is
bigger than Ron Paul. This is the beginning of a movement.

No matter what ultimately happens to Ron Paul's candidacy, the fight
to return America to its roots of freedom and independence has
started. The fire is lit. There is no putting it out. There will be
other Ron Pauls, other campaigns, other spokesmen, other fundraising.
The people supporting Ron Paul will not be silenced; they will not be
ignored; they will not be intimidated. In truth, Ron Paul's campaign
may just be the beginning of the end of the elitist, globalist,
stranglehold over America.

As one who is also fed up with the globalist goons that dominate the
two major parties, I join the Ron Paul revolution and vow to fight for
the rest of my life for the freedom and independence of these United
States. This means I will never again support a business-as-usual,
millionaires-club, globalist toady from either party ever again! I
will only support candidates who are fully committed to restoring
constitutional government. If that makes me a kook, so be it.

(c) Chuck Baldwin