Game Changer

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She really was. Maybe she still is.

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Ron Paul walks out of CNN interview over racist newsletter

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Paul abandons interview concerning controversial newsletters

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) took off his microphone and left a contentious interview on Wednesday when a CNN reporter asked repeatedly about racist articles published in his newsletter in the 1980s and 1990s.

“It’s been going on 20 years that I’ve been pestered about this and CNN does it every time,” Paul said, clearly adjitated by the line of questioning. “When are you going to wear yourself out?”

The Texas congressman said that the articles – which did not carry a byline – were written by his publishing staff and that he did not know about them at the time.

“I didn’t write them, I didn’t read them at the time, and I disavow them. That is the answer,” Paul said.

When CNN reporter Gloria Berger defended her questioning as legitimate – noting that some of the articles were “pretty incendiary” – Paul began to remove his microphone.

The newsletters, mainly a forum for essay’s on Paul’s brand of libertarianism, once referred to Martin Luther King Jr. as “the world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours” and who “seduced underage girls and boys.”

In another article, the author writes that “given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.”

The newsletters have long been an issue for Paul. In 2008, the congressman explained that he did not know who had written the offending essays and that they did not represent his views.

Before leaving the CNN interview, Paul admitted to having made money off the publication of the materials, but disputed a report in the New Republic that he had earned more than $1 million from the newsletter.

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It’s been an open secret for years that Ron Paul is a nutjob libertarian. But he has a small army of dedicated supporters (aka “Paultards”) who donate to his campaigns and who vote for him in straw polls, boosting his early numbers. I’m guessing the GOP let Paul hang around and treated him like a second-tier contender in hopes that they wouldn’t alienate his supporters for the general election.

Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses Paul’s “Old News” more in detail here. It’s some ugly stuff.

If he didn’t write them, who did? It was his newsletter. Who was on his publishing staff?

Expect to hear more about this topic in the next few weeks and days.

BTW – As you might guess from the title on the video, it was posted by a Paultard.

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The times they are a-changing

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2 women share 1st kiss at US Navy ship’s return

A Navy tradition caught up with the repeal of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule on Wednesday when two women sailors became the first to share the coveted “first kiss” on the pier after one of them returned from 80 days at sea.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta of Placerville, California, descended from the USS Oak Hill amphibious landing ship and shared a quick kiss in the rain with her partner, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell of Los Angeles.

Gaeta, 23, wore her Navy dress uniform while Snell, 22, wore a black leather jacket, scarf and blue jeans. The crowd screamed and waved flags around them.

“It’s something new, that’s for sure,” Gaeta told reporters after the kiss. “It’s nice to be able to be myself. It’s been a long time coming.”

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I’ve seen a lot of these kinds of “firsts” in my life. I hope to live long enough where this kind of thing isn’t even noteworthy anymore.

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Newt Gingrich should hire these guys

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Occupy protesters heckle Newt Gingrich at Iowa event

In an ornate room of the golden-domed Iowa Capitol building this morning, Newt Gingrich stepped before cameras to thank two state House speakers for their endorsements. Kraig Paulsen of Iowa and William O’Brien of New Hampshire had just given their blessings to his quest for the Republican presidential nomination.

But Gingrich had barely gotten a sentence out when a young man who had been sitting behind him — perfectly positioned for the cameras, it must be said — leaped out of his chair, moved toward Gingrich and yelled, “Mike check!”

That signaled to three other youngish adults who had been sitting behind Gingrich and his wife, Callista, to leap to their feet. They began clapping and chanting “Put people first! Put people first!”

Occupy Des Moines, which similarly interrupted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s news conference on behalf of Gingrich’s rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, had struck again.

The Gingriches didn’t flinch. They turned their backs to the cameras to watch the commotion behind them. The protesters were gently hustled out by security men in suits. When they were gone — or seemed to be — Gingrich turned back to the assembled members of the media and noted:

“You just saw the one-tenth of one percent. I was at the University of Iowa the other day and that same tenth of one percent — all noise, no thought — tried to drown out conversation, so I appreciate you all putting that in perspective.”

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If whatever you are doing makes Newt Gingrich look good in comparison, you need to stop doing it. These pinheads are just giving Newt a chance to look rational and reasonable, as well as providing him an opportunity to tell jokes at their expense. Not to mention the free publicity.

On the other hand, if you watched that clip and thought “Yay! They really showed him,” then you need to Occupy Rehab.

Seriously.

Put down the Koolaid and step away from the punchbowl.

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Joseph Cannon is full of shit

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From the comments at Cannonfire:

You want to know about PUMA? Go to Hillaryis44, UppityWoman, John Smart’s place, crawdad hole, the best among others. We’ve stayed focused on working toward a country in which democracy is valued again, and towards Hillary not being cheated out of her win this time around.

I don’t think she is open to challenging Obama for the nomination, but I believe she is open to being drafted by such a write in campaign, and the party elders finally getting some sense and getting Obama to stand down, spend some quality time with his own beloved mirror.

PUMA power hasn’t gone anywhere. We’ll all here. We’re ready to go!
posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 8:13 PM

[...]

Anon 8:13 — take it somewhere else. The sites you mention (except for Smart’s) are basically Republican ratfuck operations.

[...]

posted by Blogger Joseph : 8:37 PM

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I’m guessing the people at Uppity’s will be shocked to discover they are Republican Ratfuckers, considering how close they are with John W. Smart. I know I’m shocked to discover my true identity since I’ve been registered as a Democrat since 1984 and cast exactly one protest vote for a Republican since then.

I used to consider Joseph Cannon a friend but lately he has become increasing erratic and bizarre. Earlier this year he advocated killing Tea Partiers and said this:

I would counsel people to talk to the tea partiers the same way one talks to someone wearing a swastika or Klan robes. Talk to the neo-Birchers, the Alex Jonesians, the Dominionists, and the CD-ers the same way you would talk to a Holocaust revisionist: Reluctantly, rarely, and always with a tone of sneering disgust.

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This is the final straw. I am removing Cannonfire from our blogroll and I want nothing further to do with Joseph Cannon or his blog. But I am not going to engage in a blogwar or psychoanalyze him and declare that I know his “true” motives and beliefs.

I will continuing being who I am. Joe Cannon can kiss my ass.

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