Thursday, April 15, 2010

Media Downplay of Ron Paul’s Popularity Reflects Establishment Fears

We are not stupid. This becomes more and more evident as time goes on. Oh, sure, many of us are or were apathetic. Many of us living amongst this mass of humanity residing in this land designated The United States of America have given up hope of effecting change in the political system and have become resigned to accept the corruption that is inherent in it. That’s not stupidity, it’s more like despair. It’s simple resignation. It’s simply believing the individual has no power and so one just gets on with his life as best one can. It’s sleepwalking through life. It’s giving up any hope that answers can be found, or that if there are answers they can only be found using the force of government. Perhaps the establishment’s greatest fear is that the masses will discover that they do have power and that there are answers to our problems that do not involve government intervention.

Dr. Ron Paul, who was a candidate for the Republican nomination during the 2008 presidential campaign, tried hard to relate this message to the general public during the campaign and the debates. He discussed real solutions to the problems we face. He didn’t make unkeepable promises or jingoistic proclamations to garner votes from those who easily fall prey to such methods. He was refreshingly honest and his voting record reflected his principles, unlike most politicians. He merely defended the Constitution of the United States and opined our elected officials should obey it. He merely tried to remind us of our historic principles and why we as a nation became so prosperous in the first place. It is a message many people were waiting to hear and no other politician in either of the major parties was delivering. It is also a message that most globalists, collectvists and the power elite greatly fear.

It was during this time, as Ron Paul was trying to educate the populace as to the philosophy of individualism which was espoused by some of the most prominent founding fathers, that the mainstream media showed where its loyalties truly lay and did its best to minimize the impact Dr. Paul was having. They proved to be the establishment’s faithful pets as they called him names and degraded his supporters. They proved to be the champions of collectivism and propaganda as they made ridiculous claims against Dr. Paul’s character and the principles of individualism he espoused.

As much as they tried to make him and his followers look crazy, as much as they tried to make his policies look unrealistic, as much as they tried to make him look unelectable, they couldn’t hide the truth from those who were willing to look for it. They couldn’t make the common sense of what he had to say just go away. They couldn’t make their twisted spin take hold in the consciousness of the awakened populace. Although Dr. Paul didn’t win the nomination for president, and I think he would have destroyed Mr. Obama’s statist arguments in any debate, he did get his message out and it continues to grow as more and more people discover the message of liberty and the prosperity freedom brings.

But then something amazing happened. After McCain gained the nomination and Dr. Paul no longer seemed a threat, he suddenly became a media darling. Once it seemed as if he was politically insignificant, the media wanted to cash in on his popularity by interviewing him and exploring his views on the economy. They also showed interest in his other views, but his knowledge of economics and the following he elicited seems to be what interests them most. I don’t know for certain, but I believe his appearances boosted their ratings whenever they had him on. As long as the ratings were good and there was no election going on, Ron Paul was welcome and treated with great respect by the talking heads in the corporate media. Many of them even seemed to agree with his point of view on many issues. Suddenly, Ron Paul wasn’t such a bad guy after all and his ideas didn’t seem so impractical. Suddenly his followers were welcome viewers rather than crazy fringe fanatics.

Still, the message Ron Paul advocates frightens the ruling elite. They don’t want the common folk to be educated. They don’t want them to exercise their power, or to even believe that they have any power. The power elite want the populace dependent on them so that they are able to dictate everyone’s behavior, so that they can garner complete control, so that they can practice their own form of modern tyranny, just like their ancestors, the monarchs and royalty of old. The trick for them is to accomplish this while creating an illusion that the common folk are able to exercise some form of freedom.

In fact, it seems there are many things the wealthy power elite are terrorized by, things that you and I have learned are good and healthy and lead to prosperity for all. It seems to me they are terrified of hard work. It seems they worry that if they lose their government subsidies they will be forced to figure out ways to provide excellent customer service. They seem terrified of competition. They seemed worried that if government regulations aren’t in place other businesses will be able to provide better products and services and break their government sanctioned monopolies. They seem terrified of respecting individual rights. The laws they’ve passed since 9/11 have come home to roost and threaten the very fabric of our free society by authorizing government violations of free speech and personal privacy that can easily be abused and used to stifle political discourse, dissent and activism.

They seem to be very frightened of transparency, of exposing what they actually do. Just look at how much secrecy surrounds government functions. One of Ron Paul’s most popular issues is the drive to audit the Federal Reserve. The legislation he introduced to do just that has garnered overwhelming support of both the electorate and in the House of Representatives. Even a third of the senators cosponsored their version of his bill, yet that arm of congress still shows total disdain for the people and disregard for the states they are supposed to represent.

A couple of high powered senators continue to show their fealty to their wealthy, powerful, elite masters by trying to remove that extremely popular provision from a law that would give the already too powerful Federal Reserve System even more power they do not deserve. One might wonder what these people have to hide that they would fight so hard to keep it hidden from public view. Could it be massive fraud? Has our wealth been squandered to benefit so very few? One might also wonder what has been offered to the high powered politicians to get them to risk their political careers. How much money and power does it take to get someone to sell out their fellow countrymen? What secrets can be used as blackmail to hold over their heads? Or perhaps they aren’t frightened of losing their positions because the entire electoral system is so compromised by hackable, unreliable electronic voting machines.

The power elite seem most frightened that you will stop obeying them. They fear their authority will be more than just questioned, it will be challenged. They worry that you might stop paying for their wars, the interest on their debt, and the waste that keeps them in business. They worry that their scams might be discovered and they will have to stop stealing from the public and make an honest living. God forbid they would actually have to produce something of value to the human race in order to survive. The fears they have of common folk exercising their freedoms might be nightmarish in their minds, but to the rest of humanity these are wonderful dreams that have yet to be realized.

Although he might not express it the same way as I do, Ron Paul is making the same points in a different way. He advocates for smaller government, more personal freedom, more economic freedom, and more openness and honesty in our public governance, all of which he believes will lead to a more prosperous society. This was all fine and dandy as long as the corporate media could frame him as someone with little public support and not much political clout. This was fine for them as long as their talking heads on the boob tube could make their collectivist arguments against his individualist points and pretend that they were the intelligent, caring ones with the support of the masses. All that changed again, however, when the Republican Party started conducting its straw polls and found that popular sentiment for Ron Paul and his policies were growing. Their control over the hearts and minds of the common folk was slipping away.

So, the spin was turned on. This despite the fact that Ron Paul continues to claim he has no plans to run for president. What does that suggest, that they would crank up such spin before he even announces his candidacy? Are they really that afraid? Suddenly, the CPAC poll, which had been an important launching pad for Republican presidential campaigns in the past, was insignificant and the winner earned nothing be bragging rights. Suddenly, losing the Republican Southern Leadership Council straw poll by only one vote is evidence of some sort of political trickery rather than popularity. It seems that Ron Paul is fine as a commentator on certain issues, but not if he were to actually try to gain political power so that he could change policy and actually implement some of the ideas he espouses. The same corporate interests that own the government also own the mainstream media. They would have you believe that the majority of Republicans want big government and would prefer to see globalists like Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich as party leaders rather than a limited government advocate like Ron Paul.

The corporate media seems to believe the common folk are stupid. At least if they don’t, they want them to remain misinformed. They’d like to keep them apathetic. They’d like to keep them asleep. They’d like to keep them in despair. They’d like to keep them resigned to believe they have no power and the only answers to society’s woes are through government intervention. It seems this way, but I believe the media is simply letting us know what their power elite masters are most afraid of. Perhaps we should think of ways we can take advantage of their fears to reclaim our freedoms and start keeping for ourselves the wealth that we earn.

(I wish to thank the many people who have supported my work through these years. Today I would like to announce that I have launched my own website to help those who wish to support me do just that. It is a work in progress, but I hope you will visit Szandor Blestman Dot Com and support my efforts. I will, of course, continue to publish at the various outlets I have been for as long as they wish me to. Peace to you all. Szandor.)

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