Sunday Morning Ramble

Happy Sunday! We (my Dear Husband and I) watched the "Get Smart" re-make on DVD last night after our cozy supper date and really enjoyed it. Steve Carrell did a fantastic Maxwell Smart. I also spoke briefly with our new author on TRT and complimented him on a great first post ~ Mr. Espedal, we're so glad to have you aboard!

Our little Melkite Mission of Lincoln has its monthly Divine Liturgy this morning, followed by a meeting of Red State Eclectic's Dr. Laura Ebke's Campaign For Liberty group, which I have not yet visited since it changed from the Ron Paul for President group to a CFL group. I want to see what they are about, even though I don't put much stock in politics any more. Then its a family supper with our son Dan coming over for some family time (he's 24, a professional cook who lives here in town).

Some of you have asked me what sources news I like and read often, so here you go- it's a pretty eclectic group - ;D

The Distributist Review

Peak Oil-Life After the Oil Crash especially the breaking news section

Jim Kunstler's blog

AntiWar.com

RedStateEclectic

Spirit Daily

Have a wonderful day.

Deborah Yost

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"If Elected I Promise"

For my American readers, a gentle reminder that Christ told us to not "put our trust in princes nor sons of men." Vote on Tuesday, in accord with your conscience, your mind and your convictions. Always remember that the USA is a place where "I may disagree with what you say, but I shall defend to the death you right to say it."
Never ever give in to those who say we should hate because others are hateful, that we should war because others are warlike, that we should grab and worship the golden calf because others have ill-gotten gains. Stand tall, America. You are better than that, and if you have fallen, get back up.

Both presidential candidates voted for the obscene “bail-out” that was just stolen from our national treasury against the documented wishes of 85% of Americans. The rhetoric has gone beyond empty—it is a vacuum that sucks rationality and critical thinking from the minds of a panicked public.

There was one candidate who actually represented “stopping the madness” in this election cycle: Ron Paul. His candidacy is over, thanks to a media black-out, but the movement he represents is in full swing. We at the Campaign for Liberty are trying to bring together third-party and independent voters from all across the spectrum. We want your help whether you are Green party, Naderite, Independent, Constitution Party, Libertarian, or even a Democrat or Republican. We will be in your area soon, and we hope to talk about things that matter.
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The View From Here

As some of you know already, I am something of a tightrope walker politically and have good friends both staunch and true, who are nearly every political stripe there is. Many times these people would not even be comfortable in the same room together. The exception was early on in the Ron Paul presidential campaign when we bonded as antiwar, pro-Constitution, pro-civil liberty Paul-promoters. A unique and wonderful phenomenon it was, too.

Now that "the R3VOLUTION" is passing on and morphing into something else entirely our friend Laura at Red State Eclectic has issued a thoughtful analysis from a libertarian-GOP point of view. Take a look.

QUOTE My hope would be that people who are truly serious about liberty could form up as a coalition under the banner of the Campaign for Liberty--but that they could respect one another as they go about pursuing liberty in different ways. There is little (I speak from experience) that is more disheartening than to pour your time and efforts into changing things, only to be told by people who supposedly agree with you in principle that it's a waste of time because it's impossible to change that system, and that the system that you're working in--and you, by extension, I guess--are irreparably corrupt. Human institutions are all capable of changing. Political Parties are human institutions. Hence political parties are capable of changing.

Make a choice--work from within one of the two major parties, or from without. But how about we give our brothers and sisters fighting for liberty the benefit of the doubt? If they believe they can make change from wherever they are, let them have at it, without having to fight off criticism from other liberty lovers. Isn't following the path of your choosing sort of what liberty is about? Criticism from your own "family"--from the people whose respect and admiration you most want--will only reduce the resolve to make a difference; celebration of even small successes will encourage the continuation of the effort. UNQUOTE
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Third Party Candidates Points-Of-Agreement

Third party candidates Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney, and Ralph Nader agree with Ron Paul on four key principles central to the health of our nation. These principles should be 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.
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Justin says: QUOTE The reason Ron Paul’s actions are not like the actions of the major parties (debates, endorsements, etc) is because he is changing the way we do politics in America.
He is trying to get more people involved. Shed the apathy! Shed the sheep mentality of needing a leader. Decide what you believe, and stand for it with integrity! If the silent majority, the mass of America, that so many of us talk about is really out there then they need to vote and vote against the two party system. If 30 million disgruntled americans vote third party it will be more than the 1-2% in the past. It will be revolutionary!
WAKE UP! Endorsements, debates, charade conventions these are the tools of propaganda of the establishment.
Liberty and Freedom are spread a different way. Welcome to the new America.
This is not about division into smaller factions it is about uniting into a large voting bloc against the establishment. Voting for candidate A should not mean you are enemies of the other candidates. We are in a battle of ideas, not against people.
Don’t be a Ron Paul slave. Stop looking for a celebrity. If this whole thing is about Ron Paul then our progeny doesn’t have a chance. It’s bigger than that. The next step is to get more people educated. To get more votes. Votes against the establishment! We are tearing down the biggest political enemy against preserving the Constitution - a two-party system which has been part of the corruption of politics for nearly 200 years! UNQUOTE

DR. RON PAUL CURED MY APATHY.
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Ron, Cynthia, Bob, Chuck and Ralph

That is, Ron Paul (Republican), Cynthia McKinney(Green), Bob Barr(Libertarian), Chuck Baldwin (Constitution) & Ralph Nader(Independent).

All together for a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. ten A.M. tomorrow.

Dooooooooooooooo tell................

From George Dance at nolanchart.com

QUOTE Ron Paul will announce that the Campaign for Liberty is sponsoring a real all-candidates’ debate, to be televised, featuring every presidential candidate on enough state ballots to win: Baldwin, Barr, McKinney, and Nader (and of course McCain and Obama should be invited, too, though they’d decline.) A network, even if only C-Span, has agreed to run the debate. An all-star panel (say, Gary Johnson, Naomi Wolfe, and Walter Williams) will ask the questions. The moderator will, of course, be Dr. Paul himself.

The announcement goes over strongly enough to replace “Sarah Palin,” or whatever next week’s Top Story is. The momentum builds, and continues to build, until, on debate day, 25 million Americans watch the debate. It’s so successful that the network arranges for a full set of three, which end up being watched by over 100 million American voters. Suddenly, for the first time since television became central to it, the election process is a level playing field.
I would love to see that occur this fall. UNQUOTE
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RSE's Rally For the Republic Synopsis

At last, here is the long-awaited synopsis of the Ron Paul Rally For Liberty in St. Paul, attended by Red State Eclectic's editor, Laura Ebke. While I haven't as much in common with the Campaign For Liberty as I thought I might (their paleo-conservatism is a few tics to the right of my posture on many issues) I have nothing but affection and respect for Dr. Paul and for RSE, where I used to blog some.

QUOTE The highlight, of course, was when Barry Goldwater Jr. introduced Ron Paul, and the good Doctor appeared on stage, and had red-white-blue confetti fall around him. The crowd went crazy--and a good chunk of us stood throughout his speech--in part because there wouldn't have been much point in sitting down, since we were on our feet cheering so much. It was a special time, and for an hour or so, it didn't matter what was happening on the other side of the river; we were there with OUR nominee accepting our nomination, we were celebrating our achievements, and we were committing ourselves to a long fight for liberty. UNQUOTE
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Liberty, Peace and Freedom

What has that Ron Paul been up to? Promoting his Campaign for Liberty. Gearing up for the alternative convention, Rally For the Republic, since he was shut out of the Republican one. The mission of the Campaign for Liberty ~ formerly the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign ~ is to promote and defend the time-honored American principles of individual liberty, civil rights, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a non interventionist foreign policy (meaning peace in Iraq), by means of diplomatic, educational and political activity. I was floored by his courage last spring, and worked on Dr. Paul's Presidential campaign, personally starting the local Ron Paul meetup (which after half a year or so I handed off to Dr. Laura Ebke, current Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus in Nebraska, a group of "Ron Paul" Repubs) canvassing, sign waving, even going so far as going to the county Republican convention (!!) and braving the hordes of alcohol-saturated suited helmet-haired neocons to vote for the RP delegates.

Laura will be doing some blogging from the Campaign For Liberty and the Republican National Convention and I'll link to her posts in the coming week.

Reaching all the way back to one of the heroes of my youth, Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon, who set a pattern and protoype for Paul, Kucinich and other peace loving iconoclasts of today.