"Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is far and away the most popular on the Internet. Yet, despite his massive online lead, the mainstream media has barely managed to cover him at all.
On 5/14 and 5/15, Ron Paul was the #1 most-searched-for term on blog search engine Technorati. On post-debate polls on ABC.com and MSNBC.com, Ron Paul was voted the winner of the debate by a wide margin.
[]
So what's going on here? Why is there such a disconnect between the Internet and the mainstream media? Whether you are a fan of Mr. Paul or not, his apparent non-coverage is an extraordinary story just by itself."
* Amy:
"Report: Justice Dept. Considered Dismissing 26 Prosecutors
There is a new development in the U.S. Attorneys scandal. The Washington Post is reporting the Justice Department considered dismissing at least 26 prosecutors between February 2005 and December 2006. They amounted to more than a quarter of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys. Thirteen of those known to have been targeted are still in their posts.
* Amy:
Ex-EPA Head Refuses to Testify About Ground Zero Cleanup
Christine Todd Whitman, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is refusing to testify before Congress about the government"s handling of air quality in New York following the 9/11 attacks. A week after the attacks Whitman claimed that air monitoring tests at ground zero showed the air was safe to breathe. Later the EPA's own inspector general determined that Whitman"s comments were misleading. Thousands of rescue workers, firefighters and downtown residents have since developed severe respiratory problems after being exposed to dust and toxic material.
* Amy:
Military Scientists Link Gulf War Illness to Exposure of Sarin Gas
Scientists working with the Pentagon have found evidence that exposure to sarin nerve gas could have caused lasting brain damage in U.S. soldiers who fought during the Persian Gulf War. More than 100,000 American troops were exposed to sarin nerve gas after the U.S. military exploded two large caches of ammunition and missiles in Iraq in March 1991, a few days after the end of the gulf war. It is unknown how many Iraqis might have been exposed to the nerve gas. Advocates for veterans have argued for more than a decade and a half that a link exists between veterans suffering from gulf war illnesses and the nerve gas exposure.
* Digby:
"But as this primary unfolds, it's becoming more and more obvious that ninety percent of these hard core conservative "Christians" are completely full of shit. Let's not waste any more time debating issues like abortion or bending over backwards to respect their allegedly deeply held religious convictions. Those are merely rhetorical bludgeons with which to beat other people over the head. What they care about is brute power, period."
* Hitch on AC360 ( youtube):
"Classic Christopher Hitchens appears on Anderson Cooper 360 to discuss the "Legacy" of Jerry Falwell. Watch as Hitchens demonstrates what EXACTLY Jerry Falwell is and stood for, a malevolent bigotted bully, just like his imaginary god. "
* Hitch and Ralph Reed discussing Falwell on Hannity (yuotube)
* TP:
"The Bush administration today threatened to a veto a House defense spending bill over a 3.5 percent pay raise for U.S. soldiers and a $40/month increase in benefits for military widows, among other provisions. The legislation passed the House today 397-27."
2 comments:
check out scott paul at the washington note commenting on repub efforts to ban ron paul from the repub debates... he quotes from the chair of the michigan repub party...
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"I think he would have felt much more comfortable on the stage with the Democrats in what he said last night and I think that he is a distraction in the Republican primary and he does not represent the base and he does not represent the party."
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sweet, eh...? ron paul is a duly elected republican congressman from texas and a legitimate, declared candidate for the presidential nomination of his party... and the problem with that would be what, exactly...? we simply cannot tolerate this kind of overt censorship... ron paul is entitled to his views, to his party affiliation, and to his constitutional right to seek to represent his country by running for the highest office in the land...
This came up,
"I think he would have felt much more comfortable on the stage with the Democrats in what he said last night..."
I don't know this about the Rep. from Texas. But, perhaps he feels more comfortable in the Republican party because,... well, for several reasons:
He mentioned the history the Republican Party had being anti-war. He claimed that the Republican Presidential candidates had been supported because they said they would end the Korean war, started by Democrats, stop the Viet nam war, started by Democrats, and maybe stop the cold war, again started by Democrats. He argued, as I heard him, that the Republican party had the stronger history as a party against war and against foreign interventions that lead to war.
I also understand he is a Libertarian and that body of doctrines has been influential in the Republican party but not in the Democratic party.
These seem to be two ways why he could argue he finds the Republican party more comfortable for him.
The other candidates seem to be telling him, however, by the audiences they are trying to appeal to, that the Republican party is in a large way not Rep. Paul's kind of party anymore. As he said, he thinks it has lost its way.
I have several questions. One, would the Republicans who will vote for Paul sit on their hands in an election where the Republican candidates would say and probably do exactly what Paul has warned his party against? Would there be anyone on the Democratic ticket who would appeal to them?
Would Gravel or Kucinich as the only Democratic "peace" candidates? Maybe. However, I can't see any Democrat appealing to the Libertarian "less government" values.
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