[Peace-discuss] We agree with Ron Paul: McKinney, Baldwin, Nader

[E. Wayne Johnson]

Carl, your link was broken by the cr/lf  try this one instead.
http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/09/10/ralph-nader-ron-paul-press-conference-this-morning/

I think that getting Chuck Baldwin and Cynthia together is a great 
example of coalition building.

Now, if Bob Naiman will fork over my two bills I'll be happy too.  :)



C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> [It is surprising that Ralph agreed to participate, but he clearly 
> did.  See his website: <http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/09/10/
> ralph-nader-ron-paul-press-conference-this-morning/>. As the following 
> account says, "It's a coup for Paul, who has settled into a role as 
> the patron saint of political outcasts. He introduced the candidates 
> as representatives of the real American majority. 'Most people are 
> voting for the lesser of two evils!' Ralph Nader took the sentiment 
> further, arguing that lousy media coverage and trivia 'like the newest 
> one, Lipstickgate!' was preventing the average voter from learning how 
> he agreed with these four candidates. As weird as the event got, this 
> was really something: Ralph Nader, old-time contributer to the 
> Freeman, signing on to a libertarian candidate's principles." --CGE]
>
>
>     What About Bob?
>
> David Weigel | September 10, 2008, 11:50am
> http://www.reason.com/blog/show/128716.html
>
> Ron Paul's press conference with the top third party candidates just 
> wrapped up, but it was missing one of the scheduled speakers: 
> Libertarian Bob Barr. Barr pulled out of the conference this morning, 
> but the LP's Austin Petersen hadn't been told. He showed up with 
> campaign literature and was kicked out of the hallway by Paul 
> spokesman Jesse Benton. "He was extremely angry," Petersen said. "I 
> feel like the fall guy."
>
> [UPDATE: A video of the press conference is here: 
> http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Ron_Paul_offers_support_to_thirdparty_0910.html] 
>
>
> I'll find out shortly why Barr decided to bail on the press 
> conference. He wasn't going to get an endorsement apart from Paul's 
> blanket, quasi-endorsement of all four candidates. According to Ralph 
> Nader (who joined the Green Party's Cynthia McKinney and the 
> Constitution Party's Chuck Baldwin on the dais), Barr's campaign 
> manager Russ Verney affirmed that Barr agreed with the premise behind 
> the press conference, that all the candidates had agreed to four 
> principles.
>
>     Foreign Policy: The Iraq War must end as quickly as possible with 
> removal of all our soldiers from the region. We must initiate the 
> return of our soldiers from around the world, including Korea, Japan, 
> Europe and the entire Middle East. We must cease the war propaganda, 
> threats of a blockade and plans for attacks on Iran, nor should we 
> re-ignite the cold war with Russia over Georgia. We must be willing to 
> talk to all countries and offer friendship and trade and travel to all 
> who are willing. We must take off the table the threat of a nuclear 
> first strike against all nations.
>
>     Privacy: We must protect the privacy and civil liberties of all 
> persons under US jurisdiction. We must repeal or radically change the 
> Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the FISA legislation. 
> We must reject the notion and practice of torture, eliminations of 
> habeas corpus, secret tribunals, and secret prisons. We must deny 
> immunity for corporations that spy willingly on the people for the 
> benefit of the government. We must reject the unitary presidency, the 
> illegal use of signing statements and excessive use of executive orders.
>
>     The National Debt: We believe that there should be no increase in 
> the national debt. The burden of debt placed on the next generation is 
> unjust and already threatening our economy and the value of our 
> dollar. We must pay our bills as we go along and not unfairly place 
> this burden on a future generation.
>
>     The Federal Reserve: We seek a thorough investigation, evaluation 
> and audit of the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationships 
> with the banking, corporate, and other The arbitrary power to create 
> money and credit out of thin air behind closed doors for the benefit 
> of commercial interests must be ended. There should be no taxpayer 
> bailouts of corporations and no corporate subsidies. Corporations 
> should be aggressively prosecuted for their crimes and frauds. 
> financial institutions.
>
> Barr agrees with all of that. It's a coup for Paul, who has settled 
> into a role as the patron saint of political outcasts. He introduced 
> the candidates as representatives of the real American majority. "Most 
> people are voting for the lesser of two evils!" Ralph Nader took the 
> sentiment further, arguing that lousy media coverage and trivia "like 
> the newest one, Lipstickgate!" was preventing the average voter from 
> learning how he agreed with these four candidates. As weird as the 
> event got, this was really something: Ralph Nader, old-time 
> contributer to the Freeman, signing on to a libertarian candidate's 
> principles. Cynthia McKinney and Chuck Baldwin agreeing on the bulk of 
> a political platform.
>
> But it did get weird. There was no censorship of the candidates. 
> Cynthia McKinney had time to tell press to watch the film American 
> Blackout and learn how the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen. Chuck 
> Baldwin repeated his line that when he's elected "the New World Order 
> comes crashing down!"
>
> A few more details:
>
> - Paul said that the McCain campaign contacted him on Tuesday about 
> endorsing the GOP candidate. He turned them down, again.
>
> - Paul lambasted the Commission on Presidential Debates for excluding 
> third parties and recalled the way that his was excluded from 
> Dukakis-Bush debates 20 years ago. (Those wounds never heal. Who 
> hasn't wondered what he would have done if Kitty Dukakis was raped and 
> murdered?) Paul's stance: If you're on enough ballots to theoretically 
> win 270 electoral votes, you should debate.
>
> - Paul, on whether his endorsements would hurt McCain or Obama: "I 
> don't want to hurt anybody! I want to save the country!"
>
>
> Robert Naiman wrote:
>> As far as I can tell, there was no such press conference and no such
>> joint statement.
>>
>> Somebody posted a statement on a Ron Paul website claiming that these
>> were areas of agreement, not claiming that there was a joint statement
>> of agreement.
>>
>> That Ralph Nader would have signed off on this statement is highly 
>> implausible.
>>
>> In particular, as far as I know, Ralph Nader does not advocate getting
>> rid of the Federal Reserve function of regulating the money supply.
>> Nor does he advocate "pay as you go" budget rules, which, in practice,
>> are quite reactionary in their impact.
>>
>> This is the sentence that tipped me off:
>>
>> "The arbitrary power to create money and credit out of thin air behind
>> closed doors for the benefit of commercial interests must be ended."
>>
>> That sentence was written by a Ron Paul supporter - someone who wants
>> to abolish the Federal Reserve, the US central bank.  I will wager a
>> thousand dollars against a dime that Ralph Nader never signed off on
>> it.
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 10:41 AM, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag> wrote:
>>> This morning at a press conference, Cynthia McKinney (Green Party), 
>>> Chuck
>>> Baldwin (Constitution Party), and Ralph Nader (independent) released a
>>> a statement that they agree with Congressman Ron Paul on 4 key points.
>>>  Interestingly Bob (patriot act) Barr did not participate.
>>>
>>>
>>> *
>>>
>>>
>>> We Agree
>>>
>>> The Republican/Democrat duopoly has, for far too long, ignored the most
>>> important issues facing our nation.  However, alternate candidates 
>>> Chuck
>>> Baldwin, Cynthia McKinney, and Ralph Nader agree with Ron Paul on 
>>> four key
>>> principles central to the health of our nation. These principles 
>>> should be
>>> key in the considerations of every voter this November and in every
>>> election.
>>>
>>> We Agree
>>>
>>> Foreign Policy:
>>> The Iraq War must end as quickly as possible with removal of all our
>>> soldiers from the region. We must initiate the return of our 
>>> soldiers from
>>> around the world, including Korea, Japan, Europe and the entire 
>>> Middle East.
>>> We must cease the war propaganda, threats of a blockade and plans for
>>> attacks on Iran, nor should we re-ignite the cold war with Russia over
>>> Georgia. We must be willing to talk to all countries and offer 
>>> friendship
>>> and trade and travel to all who are willing. We must take off the 
>>> table the
>>> threat of a nuclear first strike against all nations.
>>>
>>> Privacy:
>>> We must protect the privacy and civil liberties of all persons under US
>>> jurisdiction. We must repeal or radically change the Patriot Act, the
>>> Military Commissions Act, and the FISA legislation. We must reject the
>>> notion and practice of torture, eliminations of habeas corpus, secret
>>> tribunals, and secret prisons. We must deny immunity for 
>>> corporations that
>>> spy willingly on the people for the benefit of the government. We must
>>> reject the unitary presidency, the illegal use of signing statements 
>>> and
>>> excessive use of executive orders.
>>>
>>> The National Debt:
>>> We believe that there should be no increase in the national debt. 
>>> The burden
>>> of debt placed on the next generation is unjust and already 
>>> threatening our
>>> economy and the value of our dollar. We must pay our bills as we go 
>>> along
>>> and not unfairly place this burden on a future generation.
>>>
>>> The Federal Reserve:
>>> We seek a thorough investigation, evaluation and audit of the Federal
>>> Reserve System and its cozy relationships with the banking, 
>>> corporate, and
>>> other financial institutions. The arbitrary power to create money 
>>> and credit
>>> out of thin air behind closed doors for the benefit of commercial 
>>> interests
>>> must be ended. There should be no taxpayer bailouts of corporations 
>>> and no
>>> corporate subsidies. Corporations should be aggressively prosecuted for
>>> their crimes and frauds.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>