Reverend Benny & Mister Sid's At Your Service #30

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Glen February 9, 2009 6:30 am (Pacific time)

Dorsett Bennett: your IQ fails you. I was not mocking Ron Paul for whom I have no opinion one way or the other. Instead I was having a go at the pompous blowhards who are unable to summarize their thoughts in a few simple sentences and ramble on and on as if anyone will read their dogma.

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Dorsett Bennett February 8, 2009 10:57 pm (Pacific time)

Glen-- I am at least a moderately intelligent individual, whom over 25 years and five IQ tests has tested between 128 and 140. I did read the cartoon and assumed you were mocking Ron Paul. If you were, then I would quote Mark Twain: Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty. The following is an explanation of Ron Paul's book, The Pillars of Prosperity [a collection of his speeches and writings over the last 30 years], in which HE ACTUALLY DID PREDICT OUR PRESENT CRISES, although not the date. While not a Nostradamus, he is a very clever fellow with whom I disagree with times, but who deserves better than being mocked by his intellectual inferiors. When the economic history of our times is written, one man will emerge as the prophet of both the financial collapse and the disasters associated with government management: Ron Paul. He alone among the political class sounded the warnings and sees the way out. This economic manifesto (484 pages!), which is a treasure, collects his greatest speeches and debates over the last 30 years, and provides documentary evidence that he is not only a master of the topic; he has provided a coherent explanation of nearly everything the government has done wrong in this area since he first entered public office. He also provides a way out, as implied by the subtitle: free market, honest money, and private property. Dr. Paul has consistently battled for all three. Economics is topic about which most politicians are abysmally ignorant. As this books shows, Ron Paul is a master of the topic and the nation's teacher on a vast range of economic issues. He addresses monetary policy during critical times such as the late 1970s inflation mania, and was a lone voice pointing to the real cause of Federal Reserve monetary policy. Whereas most members of Congress are intimidated by Fed officials, Paul's confrontations with Greenspan are documented here word for word. In addition, he reveals the social and economic effects of loose credit, and shows the ill-effects of bailouts. He addresses high taxes, regulation, trade restrictions, and bravely denounces sanctions against foreign countries for fueling international tensions. He also explains his view of free trade, for the real thing but against misnamed treaties that embroil international traders in bureaucracy. He covers welfare, bureaucracy, war, and a a host of other economic topics in what is surely the most comprehensive, intelligent, and revealing book on economics ever written by a U.S. political figure -- all informed by the Austrian tradition of thought that has so influenced his thinking. ============================= Excerpts from an article by Thomas E. Woods, PhD, a well known published historian about Ron Paul. Congressman Paul crossed another, more specific forbidden line when he contradicted one of the major working assumptions of nearly all mainstream American pundits: foreigners never, ever get angry at the U.S. government’s foreign policy, and would never for any reason want to avenge themselves against it. You can go out of your way to prevent water treatment facilities from being repaired, you can starve and bomb without compunction, and you can bring about half a million deaths, and the people will quietly take it. In fact, they probably spend their time reproaching themselves for having so displeased the U.S. government. A man of principle and in possession of an IQ above 80, Paul naturally refused to play along. He explained that foreign policy has consequences, and that political and military interference around the world has a tendency to stir up whole peoples against us. The rest of the world, hearing Paul’s remarks, will doubtless be relieved to know that there are still at least a few Americans in public life who are able to process information at higher than a sixth-grade level, and whose understanding of international affairs isn’t cartoonish and delusional. But being a conservative today, of course, means that on principle you don’t care what the rest of the world thinks – what are you, some kind of commie? God bless America! ================== Editorial Review From PublishersWeekly on Ron Paul's book: The Revolution: A Manifesto Congressman, Republican Presidential candidate and author Paul (A Foreign Policy of Freedom) says "Let the revolution begin" with this libertarian plea for a return to "the principles of our Founding Fathers: liberty, self-government, the Constitution, and a noninterventionist foreign policy." Specific examples demonstrate how far U.S. law has strayed from this path, particularly over the past century, as well as Paul's firm grasp of history and dedication to meaningful debate: "it is revolutionary to ask whether we need troops in 130 countries... whether the accumulation of more and more power in Washington has been good for us...to ask fundamental questions about privacy, police-state measures, taxation, social policy." Though he can rant, Paul is informative and impassioned, giving readers of any political bent food for thought. With harsh words for both Democrats and Republicans, and especially George W. Bush, Paul's no-nonsense text questions the "imperialist" foreign policy that's led to the war in Iraq ("one of the most ill considered, poorly planned, and... unnecessary military conflicts in American history"), the economic situation and rampant federalism treading on states' rights and identities ("The Founding Fathers did not intend for every American neighborhood to be exactly the same"). Though his policy suggestions can seem extreme, Paul's book gives new life to old debates. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Henry Ruark February 6, 2009 12:39 pm (Pacific time)

Glen: How UNreasonable can you get, sir ? You really expect "them" to read, much less understand, your excellent comments re this special format ? "They" seek out any place to drop in negativity, always intended for impact-alone, while they run to cover when questioned in any way. Sorry to see your fine effort so demeaned by their desperate touch --as with anything else delivering testable, checkable truth to S-N readers.

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Glen February 6, 2009 9:48 am (Pacific time)

blakmira: Did you actually read the comic? From your comment, it doesn't appear you did. You have to click on the "CLICK HERE to View Comic" link.

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Henry Ruark February 5, 2009 8:21 pm (Pacific time)

blakmira: Au contraire, indeed, in reverse, sir ! Paul is by own statement a libertarian. No libertarian true to that philosophy can possibly contract with "the people" to meet demands of the 21st Century already potently evident; it is a strictly limiting philosophy ill-suited for world trends already very strongly evident, and probably unavoidable.

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Henry Ruark February 5, 2009 5:57 pm (Pacific time)

Glen: Dee-licious !! But don't understand that about Ron Reagan...all along I always thought he was only practicing his actor role for a block-buster...calamity film, of course.

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blakmira February 5, 2009 12:43 pm (Pacific time)

Yes, it's only clear to those with open minds that Ron Paul not only is a visionary but has the answers to our economic woes. As for "not being in sync with voters" -- au contraire! The voters (aka The People) definitely support his most crucial views. They are tired of the unconstitutional war(s), sick of government stealing our money and lying to us, and fed up with civil liberties being stomped on. It is not the voters but those currently in power that would never allow the election of Ron Paul. The actual number of his growing support is suppressed and greatly underplayed, and that is to keep voters believing he has no chance (hey, it worked on you).

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Glen February 4, 2009 8:55 pm (Pacific time)

ChrisJones, phrases like "leviathan state" are killer, dude.

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ChrisJones February 4, 2009 8:48 pm (Pacific time)

I'm a dumbass and didn't see yer comic...I was wondering what was going on here...LOL. Very funny work. I like it. It had me crackin up.

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Glen February 4, 2009 8:47 pm (Pacific time)

AM: But for Heaven's sake, he predicted the rising of Atlantis from Lake Michigan! And don't forget he predicted Lincolns' assassination.

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ChrisJones February 4, 2009 8:37 pm (Pacific time)

Economics is not as complex as everyone makes it out to be, unless you spend all of your time coming up with elaborate 2+2=5-like ways to bypass a free market. It never works. The market wins ever time. I guess prosperity and a higher standard of living isn't something they are interested in because the leviathan state can't take credit for the economic progress.

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ChrisJones February 4, 2009 8:27 pm (Pacific time)

That's funny how the practice of sound economic theory is so mysterious to the "intelligentsia". Also to clarify, RP is not alone in his accertations, he represents, I would guess, the vast majority of economists of the Austrian school.

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Andrew Miller February 4, 2009 8:03 pm (Pacific time)

Ron Paul has a few good points, granted. He is not in sync with voters though, and the evidence of his lack of sync is in the vote itself. He has the same possibility of being elected as Kucinich and Nader and its not going to happen any time soon.

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