The Rand Paul Conspiracy

[John_James]

@Aristophanes

Has this made its way to people on the forum?

Not many, evidently.

The article in that link about the ‘30 minute meeting’ was written about a completely irrelevant issue. When was the last time a President was challenged and lost to his own party after just the first term? It never happens. Intra-party incumbent primaries are never a real issue for the sitting President. Obama has gotten a few decent primary challenges and what is made of them? Nothing. The meeting had to have been about a possible Rand Paul role in the administration.

Yeah I figured the whole “Romney’s scared of a 2016 challenger” thing was just typical media hype. They always need to try to have a novel angle. Basically the whole goal is to get people to either say “oh my goodness” or “Dang. Never thought of that. That must mean it’s pretty smart. I want to sound clever like that. I’m glad I read this story so I can relay it and be the one to tell people something they hadn’t heard before.”

That being said, I would be willing to bet Rand would be able to pose the biggest threat to any incumbent in recent history. But obviously that’s not saying much. I don’t think Obama’s a good comparison though. He never really had any challenger. Who are you thinking of? I wasn’t even aware of anyone in office even running. And even still, it certainly wouldn’t be a sitting Senator, who’s father just got through setting the brushfire of the greatest political intellectual revolution of at least the last century. (I realize I’ll probably get a lot of flack for that, but I think a decent argument can be made for it. Especially considering what’s ahead. Again, Ron Paul doubled his numbers from last cycle…and most of these people are under 30. Things are just getting started.)

I, also, don’t know what kind of leverage Rand could even have over Ron’s delegates. Ron Paul himself cannot wave a magic wand and make his supporters do things, why this speculation that Rand is goingto have such immense influence over the convention?

Yeah I have no idea at this point. There’s too much crap. All I know is Rand is looking less and less good.

No one wants a Rand Paul lightbulb freedom speech.

bahaha.

@Aristophanes

I want to hear Ron Paul call the Neocon, “neo-jacobins” at one of their award festivals.

Did you hear? They’re already planning another Rally for the Republic (which, if you don’t know was the essential anti-RNC held by Ron Paul supporters on the second day of the GOP convention, right across town.)

People already know they’re not welcome at the RNC…but I think there’s an anticipation Paul himself might not even be allowed in, just like last time.

Is it just me or does it seem like Ron has kind of dropped off the face of the Earth? I haven’t seen or heard any public statments of his in weeks. I find it hard to believe that Ron and Rand “don’t talk about it [politics].” Rand is meeting with Romney, Ron is “on the phone daily with the GOP.”

Yeah I think it’s pretty clear by now something went down around the time of those press releases. What keeps me optimistic though is the grassroots. The way they don’t live or die based on Ron. Outsiders may try to paint them that way, calling them Paulbots, and Paultards and any other names they can come up with (as of course one of the easiest ways to marginalize something is come up with a derogatory term for it), and no doubt there are some supporters that may as well be robots. But the vast majority of the grassroots were simply enlightened by Paul. And I think they respect him and feel a debt of gratitude to him for that. But I think they widely “get it”…what Ron himself has been saying for so long…that it’s all about ideas. I think these people by and large are supporters of the ideas, and are simply excited to have someone they can actually support in politics (of course it helps that the person they have available to support is also the person who woke them up).

But I can’t seem to read any piece from a grassroots supporter that doesn’t say something about the battle just beginning, or it always rages on, or something to that effect. They make it a point to make it a point that ultimately it’s not about Ron Paul. They know it, and Ron Paul knows it. But people in the establishment, the media, and everywhere else, don’t know it, or don’t want to acknowledge it…because it’s imperative that this movement gets marginalized. And then of course you have bitter asshats like Stefan Molyneux and Wendy McElroy who just epitomize the notion of jealousy, and are so envious, even to the point of resentment, that a politician could be so influential in turning people onto ideas that they’ve spent their entire adult lives slaving away to make even a microscopic fraction of the impact. So they attempt the same marginalize-by-characterize strategy in exactly the same way. Pretty pathetic actually, but mostly sad…as it’s kind of a waste.