Media claims Paul’s events, attended by thousands, are not newsworthy.

It is now official. The mainstream media is no longer covering Ron Paul’s presidential campaign.

A few weeks ago Dylan Byers of Politico reported that NBC News was the only media organization that still had a reporter covering Ron Paul full-time.

Now Byers has filed an update revealing that Anthony Terrell of NBC News has also been reassigned.

“Ron Paul is officially embedless.” writes Byers, adding that NBC has refused to comment on the decision.

Byers also reveals that other mainstream organizations, including Fox News, have no intention of putting a reporter back out full-time.

“Paul doesn’t have as many events right now as the other candidates in the race,” Hunter Ryan, the politics editor at Fox News Channel, told Byers.

“He is focusing on certain states. I am planning on covering him… [and] a combination of embed and bureau resources will be used to cover Paul going forward.”

“For most political reporters, he is all but irrelevant to the future of the GOP contest.” Byers adds.

CONTINUED at Prison Planet. Written by Steve Watson.

Here are the official numbers coming from the Virgin Islands GOP website:

Ron Paul                   29%   112

Mitt Romney             26%   101

Rick Santorum           6%      23

Newt Gingrich           5%      18

“Uncommitted”???   34%    130

These are the official results from the Virgin Islands GOP, yet AP and therefore most major mainstream news organizations that receive information from them are reporting that somehow Mitt Romney has just won the contest in the Virgin Islands.  Here is an example of headlines at USA Today publishing AP’s account of the “facts” which hit the net just 15 minutes ago and well after the real results have been available for the world to see.

Many of us have been reporting on the blatant election fraud and corruption that has reached an all-time high this primary season but this situation has got to take the cake.  It is beyond my wildest dreams. This night has become the absolute “shock and awe” of mainstream media corruption being hoist upon the American people.

Source: The Washington Examiner.

Agency spokesperson “strongly cautioned” journalists to back off.

Two mainstream media reporters have revealed that the TSA has “strongly cautioned” them not to cover the story of an engineer revealing major flaws in the agency’s $1 billion dollar body scanner program.

As we reported earlier this week, Engineer Jon Corbett of the popular blog TSA Out of Our Pants! posted a video that demonstrates how the TSA’s radiation firing scanners can easily be bypassed, when carrying metal objects.

Despite YouTube initially restricting the video for no discernable reason, the story went viral and theTSA was forced to respond, albeit in a way that only made the subject more pressing.

Now Corbett, who was the first person in the country to sue the TSA over the body scanners, says that two mainstream media journalists have contacted him to make it known that the TSA warned them off the story.

“I’ve been on the phone all day for the last 2 days with reporters and journalists of all kinds,” writes Corbett.

CONTINUED at Infowars. Written by Steve Watson.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

I’m finally back home and have enough time to actually sit down and write. The drive back from Orlando last night, immediately after the debate was insane! Drivers on Interstate 4 are beyond awful and they have no regard for the written and unwritten rules of the road. I nearly died a few times and by the time I got home, I just needed to chill out with some rum and watch ‘Firefly’ on Netflix. I intended to write this immediately after the debate but it just wasn’t possible. Between the lack of sleep the night before, the traveling and the two days of heavy discussions and debate, I was a vegetable. Thank God for my own bed and a bottle of Cruzan Black Strap rum as I feel much more alive this morning.

To start the day, I rolled out of bed at 7:30, which was pretty hard considering I was up late writing and drinking the night before and I just couldn’t get to sleep in a strange bed. I’ve always had trouble sleeping on the road. In fact, the only hotel that I’m comfortable in is the Hampton Inn across the street from the New Orleans Convention Center. Hell, I even have a hard time sleeping in Vegas without a ton of alcohol as a sedative, which is still partially ineffective, as that oxygen they pump through the vents has me wide awake pretty quickly.

So I woke up, got ready and suited up for my day, packed my suitcase and took a few minutes to watch part of the first half of the Liverpool v. Manchester United game before I had to check out. I went downstairs about twenty minutes into the game and ate breakfast with my friends from the Libertarian Party of Collier County. Shortly after this, we headed into the banquet room for the Libertarian Party of Florida’s business meeting. I’m not going to discuss the details but the meeting was informative and entertaining. Like one would expect, peering behind the scenes of politics at any level, the meeting had it’s fair share of heated debates between different factions all vying for control of the Party. Don’t take this the wrong way, this isn’t a bad thing, it is a very healthy way of addressing issues and concerns. All in all, it was a cool experience to see how the Libertarian Party operates in Florida.

At around 11:30, we split for lunch and I took that time to go upstairs and meet with Gary Johnson one last time before the debate. It was your typical meet and greet but there were more people present at this one than the two that I went to on the previous day. I listened in for awhile but I didn’t really interject myself this round. I asked a lot of questions the day before and I felt it was only fair for those who missed out on the earlier meet and greets to have their chance at asking Governor Johnson whatever it was they wanted to know.

I left after about a half hour, as the subjects being covered were already addressed at the previous meetings. Plus, my claustrophobia was kicking in as ten to fifteen people in a small hotel room is too many. I went downstairs, had some killer buffalo wings and spoke to congressional candidate Calen Fretts. If you live in the Florida panhandle, you should vote for Mr. Fretts. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and is a true representative of liberty. I think that may have been an endorsement. Anyway, we all headed back into the banquet hall at 1:00 for the second part of the business meeting. At 3:00 the debate officially started.

Contrary to what I wrote before, Roger Gary was not a part of the debate. Also, Leroy Saunders, a candidate from the State of New York joined the debate. I don’t know much about Mr. Saunders but his involvement added some energy to the event. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a Facebook page or anything else on the social networking level and that can only hurt his campaign, in my opinion. He does have a decent website however. The other candidates were mentioned in an earlier article, they are Gary Johnson, R.J. Harris, R. Lee Wrights, Bill Still and Carl Persons.

Before the debate, those of us who are members of the Libertarian Party of Florida were asked to write down any questions they had for the candidates. Two of my three questions were used in the debate and in fact, they were the first two questions used after the moderators were done asking theirs. The first question, which I asked in an effort to give a boost to Bill Still, went directly to Mr. Still first – how’s that for luck? The question was “What’s your plan to bring about economic recovery? Is it as simple as abolishing the Federal Reserve, returning to a gold standard and significantly cutting spending?” The reason I wanted this question to go to Still is that he takes the stance that a gold standard isn’t the answer. I wanted to give him the opportunity to explain his position, which he did by stating that the majority of the gold is held by the elite, so it isn’t a good way to give control of money back to the people and that throughout history, the gold standard hasn’t been as great as many economists claim.

The second question I asked that was used was “Is there ever a time when U.S. military intervention is necessary?” Most of the candidates said “no”. Gary Johnson however pointed to the Afghan War and said that he was for us going over there and wiping out Al-Qaeda but that we should have come back six months after going to war, as we sent the “evildoers” running for the hills. Leroy Saunders pretty much agreed with Johnson and added that if we are attacked, we have the right to go after the attacker and seek justice but other than that, we need to stay out of the business of all these other countries, except for trade – which should be free.

My third question “How would you curb the Supreme Court from making unconstitutional decisions?”, wasn’t asked. In fact, there was nothing asked about how they would work with the judicial branch, which was unfortunate. This is a subject I don’t hear libertarians discuss very often.

While watching the debate, I noticed that there weren’t a lot of philosophical differences between the candidates. They had different ways to achieve certain goals but for the most part, everything they said, I found to be correct and pretty on point. It’s hard to do a proper critique of the content, as these men know their stuff and were all pretty damn effective at expressing it and hammering their points. It’s really different when you have a debate where the candidates aren’t idiots and they don’t have to constantly explain their stance to an idiot crowd. Libertarians are cut from a different cloth and they typically educate themselves on a variety of topics. They are a group that is constantly in the know and on top of things. I’m not trying to toot my own libertarian horn here but those who truly represent our beliefs, don’t need to have everything explained to them. They are the self-educated minority and have reached a higher plane in their political philosophy that one can’t get to by blindly following mainstream ideas and not questioning what they’ve always been taught.

In the end, I felt that Gary Johnson did a solid job and articulated himself well. Bill Still did really good when the questions were economic based but needed to say more on some of the other subjects. R. Lee Wrights was great and really won me over. Even though I hope Johnson gets the nomination, I’d love Mr. Wrights as VP. R.J. Harris did alright but I was expecting a little more thunder, especially after hearing all the positive things my friends and colleagues have said about him. I wasn’t disappointed by my expectations of him but I wasn’t really impressed either. Leroy Saunders did a pretty good job but often times went on some tangents. He needs to get his talking points down and sharpen his skills. He’s a young guy though and he has a lot of time to get it right, just not in this race. Carl Persons had some sharp insight but he just didn’t bring the fire. I honestly can’t see him as a leader, which is unfortunate, as I did like the things he had to say. Truth be told though, I would take anyone of these guys over Barack Obama or the GOP contenders minus Ron Paul.

After the debate, I immediately left and drove home. I wish I could’ve mingled some more and gone to the Libertarian Party dinner but I really needed to get back. All in all it was a great weekend, I got to spend a lot of time picking Gary Johnson’s brain and I met a lot of like minded people from all over the country. It’s not everyday that an average joe can sit down with a presidential candidate and ask them questions face-to-face. I got to do it twice in one day.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

*The picture is of Libertarian Party presidential candidates Gary Johnson and RJ Harris.

Sitting in my hotel room at the Orlando Airport Embassy Suites, I am trying to write about what has happened today, since I last left you. I’m currently distracted by Erin Burnett and her guests pontificating about taxes on my large hotel room flatscreen. Also, I am on my eleventh straight glass of cheap Canadian whiskey and sour mix. Technically it is a whiskey sour but it doesn’t really taste like one. Then again, I’m not used to having them made with rye-based whiskey. It could be that all the Labatt Blues I drank affected my taste buds. It’s all good – I’m not complaining, I’m just probably sharing too much of my inner dialogue right now. While I’m at it though, the steak I had at the bar was phenomenal! Okay.. okay, let me get to the point of this post, as I light up a Padrón 1964 and hope that the hotel staff doesn’t notice that I’m smoking out my non-smoking room. Crap, that reptile man James Carville is on T.V. now, I’ve got to hit the ‘power’ button and focus.

So I took a shower and threw on a three piece suit and made my way out to attend the small meet and greet with Gary Johnson that I was invited to. As soon as I opened my hotel room door, Gary Johnson was there pacing on his cell phone. I then realized that the room that the meet and greet was in was just a few doors down but the magical appearance of my second favorite candidate right outside my door caught me off guard. I had a million questions prepared in my head and I’ve never talked face-to-face with a presidential candidate before. Well, I did talk to Herman Cain in October of 2010 but that was way before he announced that he was running for the highest office in the land. Also, I didn’t really know much about him at the time.

Johnson put his phone away, said “hello” and reached out to shake my hand. I gave him a solid shake and immediately asked him how the Libertarian Party primary process worked. I kind of knew the answer but this just immediately popped into my head. He explained that all the states have their own votes and that the final vote and selection would happen in May at the Libertarian Party National Convention in Las Vegas. Johnson explained that the selection process was essentially like that of a brokered convention. The host of the get-together then led Gary and I inside the room and we were soon followed by a few others who were also invited.

The discussion started with Johnson talking about economics with one of the other people there. They discussed interest rates, housing and all sorts of stuff. I was distracted because I was trying to think of things to ask, as my million or so questions I had in my head on the drive up to Orlando, were seemingly nowhere to be found in my memory banks. In any event, I had four drinks at this point and they were really starting to set in, making me less nervous and causing me to start throwing questions around.

First, I asked Mr. Johnson if he had a strategy to bring in the Ron Paul supporters after Dr. Paul was eliminated from the race, assuming he doesn’t win the Republican primary – which isn’t looking good at this point. Gary said that he is a Ron Paul supporter and that he knows that Paul supporters are smart people that are already aware of him and the fact that his message is pretty much the same as Ron Paul’s. He doesn’t feel that he needs to do anything, as that support will shift towards him. Honestly, I disagree with this, as I know how most of us Paul supporters are feeling right now. We’re disenfranchised and so sick of the political system that if Paul isn’t on the ballot in November, many of us either won’t vote or we’ll write “Ron Paul” on the ballot. In fact, I know that a lot of people are planning to give Paul a write-in vote come November and because of that, Johnson will have lost people that he could’ve attracted if there were a real effort to grab those people and give them a second chance of hope. I think that rounding up the Paul supporters is essential if Johnson wants to come close to winning. I’m already on board and will give Johnson my vote, if Paul doesn’t get the Republican nomination.

I also asked Johnson if he was a Libertarian Party member for life or if there was the possibility of him running as a Republican candidate again, somewhere down the line, if he were to not win the presidential election in November. Johnson told us a story that he had bought a Libertarian Party shirt earlier in the day and that he was proud to wear it. He said that he never bought a Republican shirt but was given thousands of them for various groups and organizations over the years. He said that, regardless of owning many, he has never once worn a shirt promoting the Republican Party. He said that the reason was because he was never comfortable doing so because people typically have hostile reactions towards Republicans. He says that he feels it is due to their stance on most social issues, I agree. He said that as a Republican he was always expected to make excuses for the GOP in defense of many common criticisms of the party on social issues. He admitted that he was never able to wholeheartedly do this, as he more often than not agreed with the criticisms of the Republican Party on social issues. He finished by saying that he has never been more comfortable in his life at wearing a party’s banner. He said that he was always a libertarian and that he is focused on bringing the party to the next level.

Expanding on that, I asked him how he could bring the party to that next level. He pointed out that if he could get just 5 percent of the vote in the November elections, that it would bring in $90 million for the Libertarian Party. He explained that the Democrats and Republicans set the system up to be a two-party dominated game, as the money given to parties, is based off of how they perform in the presidential elections and for a party to get a substantial amount of cash (that being $90 million), they need to get at least 5 percent in the general election. So if a third party can generate the difficult amount of 5 percent against the ultra-rich powerhouses, they are entitled to get paid. Now with a third party getting $90 million with just 5 percent of the vote, imagine how much the Democrats and Republicans get regardless of how they finish! This is how they stay in power and dominate politics and this is what Johnson wants to fight against by getting at least 5 percent of the vote. He pointed out that he is currently polling at around 9 percent head-to-head-to-head with Obama and Romney. Gary Johnson can truly alter business in Washington and throw a wrench in the machine of tyranny, as far as the two-party system goes.

Now if Johnson can get 15 percent, he will be invited to the national debates between Barack Obama and the Republican nominee. Since he is polling around 9 percent, an increase in 6 points isn’t impossible before the October debates. Truth is, this is very doable and if he was able to participate, Gary Johnson could serve up some hardcore truth to the Democrat and Republican establishment. Gary told me that the rule of having 15 percent was established by both Republicans and Democrats back when Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 as a member of the Reform Party. It is essentially another establishment tactic to try and keep the power consolidated within the boundaries of just the two major parties.

The meet and greet was then broken up and I went down to the hotel bar to meet my friends from the Libertarian Party of Collier County. While waiting for them, I spoke to many of the libertarian attendees over drinks. Nothing really exciting happened other than typical networking jargon and business card passing. I promoted TheSwash.com and most of them either promoted their blogs, their local organizations or whomever candidate they were there working for. My peeps from the LPCC finally arrived and shortly after that, Gary Johnson made his way down to the bar area to chit-chat, providing me with a second opportunity for some deep and insightful discussion.

Kicking off round two, I asked Gary Johnson how he differed from Ron Paul. He said that he didn’t want to build a border fence and didn’t understand why Paul was for the idea. I agree with Johnson on this one, as I always questioned Ron Paul’s reasoning on wanting a border fence, as it will cost a ton of money and it has been proven to be ineffective. Johnson also pointed out that he believes in a woman’s right to choose where Ron Paul is anti-abortion. Gary Johnson also believes in marriage equality for all people, which really isn’t far off from Paul’s stance, so let me clarify this. Ron Paul said that if he was in Congress in 1996, he would have voted for DOMA or the Defense of Marriage Act. The reason being is that he believes that states should have the rights to either allow or prohibit same sex marriage. In a nutshell, the bill’s purpose gave states the power of being able to refuse to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states or countries. I side with Johnson over Paul here, simply for the fact that the federal government needs to stay out of it and shouldn’t be bothered passing such a law to begin with. They should instead, honor the Constitution and especially the 10th Amendment, which gives the states the right to do whatever the hell they want in this case.

I brought up the issue of the gold standard and Johnson said that it was a step in the right direction but added that there were still horrible cases of inflation under the gold standard before. He believes that we need a dollar backed by commodities but that just incorporating gold wouldn’t generate the best results. He also wants to end the Federal Reserve but doesn’t believe that this will fully fix the problem either. He went on to be critical of people who say that the Fed is a private entity. He says that the government owns it and that it is like something that we all own stock in but can’t vote on, so we are essentially powerless to do anything about it.

I asked Johnson about his thoughts on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s ‘Freedom Watch’ being cancelled by Fox Business. Johnson said that it was unfortunate and a blow to liberty and that the movement needs to keep moving forward regardless of losing such an important and honest show for the libertarian faithful. He also added that he will appear on the last episode, as he was asked earlier in the day and said “yes”.

That was pretty much it for round two. I took a step back and let all the other people ask questions, plus I was starving and tired of standing so I sat down at the bar and ordered a steak and whiskey. Bill Still, another Libertarian Party presidential candidate, came down to the lobby but quickly left before I even had the chance to approach him. A few minutes later, someone came over to me and announced that Mr. Still would be at the T.G.I. Friday’s down the street if anyone wanted to pick his brain. By the time I got and ate my steak, a lot of time and liquor had passed and I didn’t feel like drunkenly walking a third of a mile through the rain in the dark in an unfamiliar place was the best idea. I opted to go back to my room and write this article instead.

One thing I want to point out before I end this, is that no other candidate apart from Johnson and in the end, Mr. Still, even made an attempt to come down and mingle with the people who would ultimately be voting for them. Those who hold the fate of the candidates in their hands were only entertained by Gary Johnson and Bill Still, who weirdly took his show off-site. The fact that the lesser-known guys were M.I.A. was odd. You think they’d be out lobbying for support and in all honesty, I’m completely puzzled as to why they weren’t. Maybe they think that opposing Gary Johnson is a losing battle. If that’s the case, drop out, go home and let the big boys play the game.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

Driving up from Bonita Springs, FL to Orlando early on a Friday morning can be strenuous, especially during season. For those that don’t know, season is what we Floridians call the time of year that all the “snowbirds” come down to overtake our roads, restaurants and lives. It’s a very annoying period for most of us in the Sunshine State but for those in the tourism or service industries, it is a time for making serious bank. In fact, I remember the days when I used to work to service these often times nasty and irritable snowbirds. I pretty much hated life, as I worked in a few different top notch joints around Naples and Ft. Myers, and even though I busted my ass and made a boatload of cash, often times I had to work twice as hard because the tips were shit. Here I go venting about life a decade ago and getting off track.

Anyway, my trip up to Orlando was full of several near accidents, none of which were caused by me. The problem is that many of these glaucoma-afflicted snowbirds shouldn’t be driving. Additionally, they really shouldn’t be driving these ten ton M1-A1 Abrams tanks around like they own the goddamned road! It’s deadly on I-75 and I-4 with these people, especially when early morning rush hour hits! Funny huh? A libertarian trying to restrict these old birds’ freedoms. Whatever. Between having to dodge these kamikaze tank drivers with no regard for painted lane lines, I was also distracted by the countless billboards up and down the highway. It’s as if Disney, Universal Studios, Sea World and Anti-Abortion groups are in a competition to see who can plaster the Florida Interstate System with the most advertisements. When I was a kid traveling these roads with my dad, we had a better class of billboards. One in particular that comes to mind featured scantily clad women with bad 80′s hair with the words “We Bare All!” I know that these lovely signs still exist but they are seemingly far and few between. Let’s celebrate these hard-working beautiful single mothers and get away from sprinkling the roads with pictures of fetuses and Shamu.

So after three hours of dealing with all this madness, I arrived at the Embassy Suites near the Orlando International Airport; I’m not sure if that is the official name of the airport or not. The reason why I am at this hotel is to experience and cover the 2012 Libertarian Party of Florida Convention and Presidential Debate. Even more importantly than that, I came to meet and shake the hand of Gary Johnson. He doesn’t have the Party’s nomination yet but many feel that the thing is basically a done deal. Regardless of that, there is a debate to be held on the second day of this event, which will feature all of the candidates trying to get the Party’s nomination to run against Obama and whomever the fickle doublethinking Republicans choose between Romney, Paul, Gingrich and Santorum.

Now just because Johnson is known nationally and was even involved in some high-profile Republican debates last year, doesn’t mean he is just going to run away with this thing. There are several very qualified candidates in the hunt. First up is renowned author and documentary filmmaker Bill Still, who is best known for his films ‘The Money Masters’ and ‘The Secret of Oz’. Next is R.J. Harris, who has been building up a lot of steam online. He is an Afghan war veteran and a Kiowa Nation member. There is R. Lee Wrights who is a lifetime Libertarian Party member, as well as co-founder and editor of ‘Liberty For All’, an independent online magazine. There is also Roger Gary who is a former Texas Libertarian Party State Chairman. Last but not least is attorney Carl Person. I must admit that I really only know Still and Harris, apart from Johnson, but after recently reading up on the other three, I am psyched for the debate.

As I arrived at the hotel, not even an hour ago, as I type this, I met a delegate from New York in the elevator and he invited me to a meet and greet with Governor Johnson in his hospitality suite. Now I already had a meeting set up to meet Johnson later this evening with my friends from the Libertarian Party of Collier County but it looks like I will have the pleasure of double dipping and getting two chances to pick the man’s brain tonight.

As I am just over an hour away from the first encounter, I must wrap this up and start to get ready. Plus I’m looking down at the bar from my seventh floor window and it looks like there is a seat with my name on it right in front of an incredibly gorgeous bartender. Looks like it is going to be a whiskey night. Libertarian Party Convention, here I come.

After huge volume of complaints, Fox reporter was forced to do-over post debate breakdown revealing that Ron Paul blitzed the debate in every category.

The dirty tricks campaign against GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul reached new heights during the South Carolina debate last night, with virtual exclusion from the first 40 minutes of the program, poisonous questions in the second half, and a cringe inducing situation during the post debate analysis where Fox pundits were forced to admit that Paul had completely wiped the floor with the other candidates.

During the post debate commentary, Fox reporter John Roberts blatantly excluded Paul from the charts and graphs he presented representing feedback from viewers.

The results of Twitter surveys on which candidate had most accurately answered questions and who had performed the best were displayed with Ron Paul’s name nowhere to be seen.

Almost one hour later, Roberts was called upon to go over the results one more time, after floods of complaints from viewers asking why Paul had been left out.

“John, you caused a fury in my world.” Fox anchor Harris Faulkner began. “I have a bone to pick with you. You left off Ron Paul.” she added, before Roberts attempted to slime out of the fact hat he had totally excluded Paul from his results tally by saying that because Ron Paul won by huge margins in every category, it was unnecessary to report on it!

Roberts then went through each debate topic again with Paul added to the graphic. As he explained the result Roberts downplayed and skipped over Ron Paul’s figures in every category, causing Harris Faulkner to interject.

“John, can I stop you right there because I’m getting real time feedback.” Faulkner said. “Ron Paul did not just do well, he did the best from that chart. I just want to be fair because people are watching for this.” she added.

Roberts then laughed out loud and flippantly said “his bars are bigger than everyone else’s, we report you decide.” before once again mocking Paul’s performance as he continued the presentation.

Watch the unbelievable footage below:

The fact that Ron Paul was the outright winner of  the debate was remarkable, given the fact that the moderators had done their utmost to exclude, smear and misrepresent the Congressman earlier in the night.

The opening portion of the debate was exclusively reserved for Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to attack frontrunner Mitt Romney in an atmosphere that more resembled The Jerry Springer show than a coherent political debate.

Refraining from joining in with such pantomime ridiculousness, Ron Paul patiently waited to be addressed by the moderators… and waited… and waited.

Indeed, during the first 40 minutes Ron Paul was only asked one question, and that was about “scathing attacks” on the other candidates in campaign ads. Refusing to be drawn into what was rapidly becoming something resembling an opening segment of WWE Smackdown, Paul succinctly noted that he believed pointing out legitimate flaws in the other candidates voting records was fair game.

As the exclusion of Paul continued, it even triggered a commercial break discussion between the Fox political panel about how Paul was being sidelined. Analyst Ed Rollins commented, “I thought Paul placed second in New Hampshire and was effectively second in Iowa – but they’ve got him standing way over on the side.”

When Paul was finally asked further questions, they were so leading and laced with underlying venom it defied belief.

With almost every question the Congressman had to begin his answer by correcting the moderators for grossly distorting his position on multiple issues.

Firstly, Paul had to once again explain that there is a significant difference between “defense spending” and Pentagon waste, and that he is not about to decimate military funding, as the moderators suggested.

“You don’t understand there’s a difference between military spending and defense spending. Just because you spend — spend a billion dollars on an embassy in Baghdad bigger than the Vatican — you consider that defense spending. I consider that waste.” Paul said to thunderous applause.

“I want to cut military money. I don’t want to cut defense money,” Paul said. “I want to bring the troops home. I’d probably have more bases here at home. We were closing them down in the 1990s and building them overseas. That’s how we got into trouble. So we would save a lot more money and have a stronger national defense, and that’s what we should do,” he contended.

Following that, Fox Moderator Bret Baier then essentially called Paul a terrorist-sympathizer by suggesting that he was opposed to the capture of Osama Bin Laden and that international law should have prevented US forces from tracking Bin Laden down.

“Obviously no, and I did not say that.” Paul retorted, explaining that he voted for provisions to go after Bin Laden following 9/11, and even introduced legislation to keep focused on the target, rather than become embroiled in nation building.

Paul then explained that “there are proper procedures, rather than digging bigger holes for ourselves”, noting that a ten year campaign of bombing Pakistan and repeatedly violating their sovereignty was not something he supported.

Watch all of Ron Paul’s debate answers below:

Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, andPrisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.

Source: Prison Planet.

Source: Journalism.org. Higher res version at the link.

*Written by Rob Rimes.

1. Introduction:

So, just like with the last GOP primary debate of the 2012 presidential election cycle, I figured I would share my thoughts, my rants and my ravings about the latest debate last night. I am a bit fired up over a situation regarding how Ron Paul was treated after the election but I will write a separate article about that immediately following this one. On a side note, Bill O’Reilly wants you to go to his website because he promises the “best election coverage”. Bullshit! Fuck Bill O’Reilly! TheSwash.com is the greatest site for election coverage and pure unadulterated truth! That fucking hack doesn’t even know what Keynesian economics is! No really, he doesn’t (see for yourself here).

As far as the debate itself goes, this was by far the best one yet, minus the exclusion of Gary Johnson once again! Anyway, Fox News puts on a much better show than CNN and last night was no different. After being subjected to John King’s weird noises and horrible pop culture laced questions last round, this debate was refreshing. The best part of all was that the candidates FINALLY stopped playing nice and started taking some serious jabs at each other. The three biggest battles of the night were Bachmann v. Pawlenty, Paul v. Santorum and Gingrich v. Fox News (his employer).

In any event, the debate was much better than watching the alternative last night. All my friends were more interested in the first NFL preseason games than watching the GOP contenders fight for the top spot in a war against our current president and a culture of corruption that has given us an economy comprised of a bipolar stock market and a downgraded credit rating. But yeah, in America that shit isn’t important because a bunch of whiney overpaid prima donnas in tights and pads were playing a game that doesn’t even count for the fucking record books. People wonder why we are so fucked.

So fuck all that and let me break down the debate itself because that is what is truly important here.

2. Hour 1:

The debate immediately starts off with a question for Fox News’ second front-runner Michelle Bachmann. Her answer is typical as she is fishing for cheap pops from the crowd to start the night. Her short answer was laced with colorful regurgitated rhetoric like, “Let’s make Barack Obama a one term president!” Yay! Sorry lady, I like some of what you say but overly used catchphrases are only effective in sitcoms and comic books. Now I am not beating up on Bachmann here, she held her own for sure and did really well, especially against the attacks of Tim “Vanilla Beans” Pawlenty. I’ll get into the big battles of the night deeper into this article.

Fox News then immediately went to their handpicked primary front-runner Mitt Romney. Not only did Fox show that they were focused on pimping out Bachmann and Romney but they gave Mittens three fucking questions in a row! Three! Um.. homies, there are eight people on that stage. You should probably stop sucking Mitt’s balls out of the gate and give some time to the other candidates.

One thing I’ve noticed during this game of favoritism is that Romney and Bachmann are both placed at the very center of the stage. I’m not lobbying to be the new host of ‘Conspiracy Theory’ but I do find that a little odd with the way things have gone thus far in the debate. Moving on.

Fox News finally gets with it and moves around to ask some other candidates some questions. After the first round of uneventful answers and introductions the two guys in the lead where I sit are Ron Paul and Herman Cain. I just like what they had to say to start the night because they say things that fucking resonate. While I came to this assessment I also realized that Newt Gingrich still looks like Chucky, Rick Santorum looks like a racquetball player from a Speed Stick commercial, Jon Huntsman looks like a dapper Barney Fife and Tim Pawlenty likes to offer free services like cooking and cutting grass.

Speaking of which, T.Paw asked the audience in the arena and at home, “Where are all of Obama’s plans to fix stuff?” He said that there was nothing on his website and that the current POTUS isn’t offering any real solutions. He says that if anyone can tell him where Obama’s solutions are that he’ll either cook them dinner or cut their grass. M’kay dude, they’re in Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto”. Question answered! Now get working on some Chilean sea bass because I’m hungry.

The next big thing to happen was the moderator trying to stir the pot between T.Paw and Bachmann. T.Paw was asked about a negative statement he made about Bachmann but he immediately dodged the bullet, playing it safe as he always does, and flipped the script to bash Obama. There were a few cheap pops but the crowd wasn’t really pleased with the spineless swerve. Bachmann responded by running down T.Paw’s track record as governor and essentially slapped him around like a two dollar hoe. This created a mini shit storm between the two where T.Paw finally started taking shots and Bachmann just swatted him like a little fly again and again. Many pundits after the debate felt that this was bad for Bachmann, as she seemed to be stooping to a lower level, but I loved her fire and cojones. She ain’t taking no lip from some Vanilla Bean shitcock.

I do have to point out the lowest blow of the Bachmann-Pawlenty exchange though. It was definitely when T.Paw put the blame of the failed Democrat-led Congress on Bachmann’s shoulders. He essentially painted the picture that the debt crisis, Obamacare and everything else Skeletor Pelosi’s House did was somehow Bachmann’s sin to bear. Needless to say, everyone in the arena and at home saw through that bullshit. What little respect I had for Pawlenty was gone after that. The gloves were definitely off at this point and as hard as some of that rhetoric was to swallow, this sparked a change in attitude for the debate that brought out some of the candidates true colors. As far as Bachmann and Pawlenty go, I never knew Canadians could turn up the heat so much.

Chris Wallace, one of the Fox News moderators then turns the attention to Newt Gingrich and really sets off the former Speaker of the House. Wallace essentially asks Newt how he can swim when he lost the major players on his campaign staff, that his campaign has amassed a million dollars in debt and that the public perceives his campaign as a “mess”. Newt tells Wallace to stop with the “gotcha questions” and then gives him a serious earful that leaves the Fox News Sunday host nervously trying to defend his question. I’ve never seen Chris Wallace bow down like that, he’s usually able to get in there with the best of them. Newt wasn’t having any of it and for as much shit as I have talked about Newt for years, I had no choice but to respect him after the exchange with Wallace. Newt also laid the smackdown on Bret Baier and anyone else that asked him other “gotcha questions”. Newt showed that he has leadership qualities and that he wasn’t going to backtrack like a little bitch ala Pawlenty. Newt Gingrich put a smile on my face for the first time last night. Gingrich’s best line to the “gotcha” serving moderators was:

I’d love to see the rest of tonight’s debate asking us about what we would do to lead an America whose president has failed to lead, instead of playing Mickey Mouse games!

Chris Wallace then moves on to Jon Huntsman and keeps up the “gotcha questions”. He mentions that Huntsman was Obama’s Ambassador to China, that he claimed Obama’s stimulus package wasn’t big enough, that as governor he supported cap & trade and that he supports civil unions between same sex couples. Wallace then asks Huntsman if he is running for president under the wrong party banner. Huntsman doesn’t have a real answer, he just talks about his service to his country and how proud he is being the only person who perceives himself as awesome. His self-love fest is met with dead silence and absolutely no applause.

Shortly after that, Huntsman is asked about illegal immigration and goes on a rant about securing the border. Yeah dude, I want to build a spaceship out of pistachio ice cream. Nothing wrong with being a dreamer homie. All I will say about Huntsman is that he is the dumbest superhero ever! Ketchup manipulation is a lame power!

Herman Cain is then asked about questionable statements he has made in the past. His response to that is a mystery to me. Not to knock the guy, I was just distracted by how smooth and col he was. He’s twice as raw as Big Daddy Kane and as eloquent as the world’s greatest poet laureates. Cain has a way with words that most of the other candidates don’t. Essentially, Herman Cain made the silly media’s questions look like they were being asked by Dum Dums: my favorite flavor is coconut pineapple.

We then go through a rather boring phase where Ron Paul is nowhere to be seen. I am assuming he’s in the bathroom. Mitt Romney then talks about punishing businesses that hire illegals. That leads to everyone then randomly talking about moats and alligators. Lastly, Newt Gingrich proposes that we throw a bunch of Homeland Security people on the Mexican border.

Ooh.. Ron Paul is back in the mix on the illegal immigration issue and he makes some solid points. One point is that he doesn’t believe that the burden of being the immigration police shouldn’t be on the shoulders of businessmen. He then mentions that if a church feeds and helps illegals, we don’t blame the church but if a business owner does, we blame the businessman. Dr. Paul hits the nail on the head as far as I’m concerned. He then flips the script on the establishment Republicans on the stage and the panel when he asks why we are more concerned with controlling borders overseas and not our own. This leads to Ron Paul pleading to the American people that it is time to bring our troops home.

After bouncing around between candidates a bit, round two of the Bachmann-Pawlenty bout kicks off. When Bachmann is confronted about questionable decisions and votes in her past, she explains that she has learned from those mistakes and that moving forward, she is sticking to her platform. While every candidate preaches this, Bachmann seems incredibly sincere and even though I am a huge skeptic when it comes to political rhetoric, for some reason I do believe her. Pawlenty jabs and jabs but comes out of this round looking like a fucking toolshed. Michele Bachmann has the ability to bring out T.Paw’s inner weasel.

During the second round of the Bachmann-Pawlenty main event, Santorum starts whining that no one is paying attention to him. He is quickly blown off and ignored again. He uses that free time to post an ad for his exercise bike on Craigslist.

The subject of the new unconstitutional Super Congress is brought up. Newt Gingrich hates the idea, as do I. Being a former Speaker of the House, there are very few people that could understand the lunacy of this idea as much as Mr. Gingrich. He goes into a great explanation of how idiotic and asinine the idea is. Newt is winning some points, as far as I see it. He’s doing pretty damn good for a guy that lost most of his posse a few months back.

T.Paw then gets back in the fray and is asked about his “Obomneycare” comment from months back that he originally caved on when in front of Romney the last debate. T.Paw then tries to take it to Mitt, feeling the testosterone from the Bachmann battle but Vanilla Bean is just too nice. It’s like he’s afraid he’ll lose a friend if he says too much. Is that a leadership quality?

This naturally flows into asking Romney about health care and his Romneycare plan versus the Obamacare plan. Of course Mittens tells us that they were different and avoids really having to break it down. He claims that he will repeal Obamacare and that it really comes down to states rights via the 10th Amendment. Romney goes on a 10th Amendment rant which is great because the 10th Amendment is fucking dope! However, hypocrisy is on the horizon as later on in the night, Romney flip-flops on the ultimate awesomeness of the 10th Amendment.

Ron Paul steps in and educates the establishment dicks on health care and it’s relation to corporatism and how that is the root of the real problem. It’s not like they are even paying attention or getting it. I mean he’s fucking nuts, right? Free market solutions to health care are just crazy. Oh wait.. the crowd roars with cheers and thunderous applause.

Rick Santorum opens his mouth and shit literally falls out. No, for real! He doesn’t “get” the Constitution and starts getting all religious and shit. This is why he won’t even come close to winning this election. He disses Ron Paul’s stance as he tries to justify his unconstitutional ideals by referencing America’s biggest tyrant of a POTUS Abraham Lincoln. Then, acting quickly, like the mainstream midgets they are, Fox News cuts to a commercial break leaving Ron Paul without the opportunity to respond to Santorum’s call for “moral enterprise”.

3. Hour 2:

We come back from commercial break and hey! Where’s Michele Bachmann? Oh, there she is strolling back on stage late. Women are never punctual! I hope this isn’t a sign of how she will run things as president. My inside source informed me that she was tearing up a dope ass crescent roll! No worries Bachmann, I can’t walk by one without having to throw down on it either.

So immediately Bret Baier decides to waste time by asking every single candidate how they feel about a potential candidate that isn’t even there, Rick Perry. Why even ask that? Well, Rick Perry is Fox News’ dream candidate, even more so than Romney. They’ve been pimping him out for months now and there isn’t a single day that goes by where someone at Fox News doesn’t give us a Rick Perry update. Fuck that douche! Ron Paul and Herman Cain ain’t worried ’bout no Rick Perry and Huntsman took a nice jab at him.

Now they name drop Sarah Palin to waste time getting the candidates take on another hypothetical. Michele Bachmann gets goofily excited and talks about how they are best friends and trade My Little Pony accessories. Newt Gingrich reminds us of another hypothetical in Rudy Giuliani. He then talks up Perry. C’mon Newtie Bootie, you were doing well thus far!

For the next segment the moderators take us into the War on Terror and foreign threats to the United States. T.Paw tries to get some cheap pops spewing the same tired rhetoric. I almost sensed that he was going to drop the word “evildoers” but lucky for us he held it back. Romney proved that he has no idea how the War on Terror works or what is really going on. He says that the people want freedom. M’kay, if that’s the case let’s get the fuck out of there and let them be free! Oh, but the Taliban will waltz right in eight seconds later. Whether that’s true or not, does that justify anymore dead soldiers? Well, most of you voting for most of these candidates seem to think so.

Newt Gingrich gets irritated with yet another “gotcha question”. He then says some stuff but I got up to get a glass of bourbon and a quesadilla. He sounded like he was bringing the fire again, which I like. Homeboy is not going to roll over and die like everyone thought he would.

As I sit back down with my 100 proof beverage and my cheesy Mexican treat, Huntsman is taking about how a cyberattack is an act of war. Shit man, hackers going ape shit means we have to blow some people up? Shit’s gonna get messy! I’m sure they are referring to Iran and China and shit but LulzSec and Anonymous are blowin’ up right now!

Now we get to some good shit, as Chris Wallace tries his “gotcha” tactics with Ron Paul in bringing up that he stated that Iran has the right to build nuclear weapons to defend themselves in a world where so many other countries have their own nukes. Ron Paul mentions that even the CIA has come out and said that there isn’t any real evidence that Iran is working on building nukes. He then uses the Cold War as an example while informing us that he served in the Air Force during the height of the Soviet threat. In regards to this he says:

We were standing up against the Soviets. They had like 30,000 nuclear weapons with intercontinental missiles. Just think of the agitation and the worry about a country that might get a nuclear weapon some day. And just think of how many nuclear weapons surround Iran. The Chinese are there. The Indians are there. The Pakistanis are there. The Israelis are there. The United States is there. All these countries … why wouldn’t it be natural if they might want a weapon? Internationally, they might be given more respect. Why should we write people off? In the Fifties, we at least talked to them. At least our leaders and Reagan talked to the Soviets. What’s so terribly bad about this? And countries you put sanctions on you are more likely to fight them. I say a  policy of peace is free trade, stay out of their internal business, don’t get involved in these wars and just bring our troops home.

The crowd pops like a motherfucker! Of course this was probably over the heads of most people on that stage and the moderators. In fact, Chris Wallace had to question Ron Paul on what he had just heard because in his mind, Dr. Paul must be crazy and he needed clarification. Ron Paul continued with:

Why would it be so strange if the Soviets and Chinese have nuclear weapons? We tolerated the Soviets, we didn’t attack them and they were a much greater danger. They were the greatest danger to us in our whole history. But you don’t go to war against them.

Rick Santorum is apparently offended by Paul’s statements because Santorum is a whiney hoe. He then interrupts a question for Herman Cain to respond to Ron Paul. Of course he flat out lies and claims that the Iranians have killed more Americans than the Iraqis and Afghanis in both Iraq and Afghanistan. As a part of his bullshit lie, he states that we’ve been at war with Iran since 1979. Um.. no we haven’t. So Ron Paul has to quickly remind this fucktard weasel that our history with Iran goes all the way back to 1953 when we intervened and assisted a coup in Iran which eventually backfired and created the problems we have today. Santorum is a fucking moron and even with his blatant lies, he couldn’t trump the master of foreign policy, who is also the biggest anti-war voice on stage. And why does Santorum call them Erranians? Learn how to talk you simple fuck.

Michele Bachmann who is the Tea Party darling and libertarian leaning shows her true colors when she perpetuates the War on Terror hysteria that the Republicans always use. Just when you think she’s going to cross the Rubicon over to the shores of reality, she puts her foot in her mouth. Too bad for her.

All these candidates except for Paul subscribe to the theory that if we are carrying the big stick, no one else can. If you can’t see how that is the opposite of freedom and liberty than I can’t help you.

Wallace then refers to a comment made by Santorum where he said that Eric Holder must be “smoking mushrooms”. Okay dude, you really are a simple fuck Santorum! You don’t smoke fucking mushrooms! Man, I should just chill out and go drink a big glass of marijuana.

Now the moderator from the Examiner keeps saying “mooslims”. They’re not fucking cows, they’re people dummy! Then he presses Herman Cain on how he always has something to say about other religions, like Mormonism and Islam. He diplomatically explains that he wants to understand how Mormonism fits with Christianity. With Islam he states that he is against Sharia Law as the Constitution is the law of the land and we can’t strip it away in an effort to be sensitive or politically correct. Kudos sir, kudos.

Michele Bachmann then finds herself to be the victim of the strangest question of the night when the Examiner moderator asks her if she would be “submissive” to her husband. After thirty seconds of boos from the crowd and awkward silence from Bachmann she states that she respects and loves her husband. This moment was fucking weird but it gave Bachmann a window to mention her 127 kids.

Now remember when I warned you that 10th Amendment champ Mitt Romney was going to fly the hypocrisy flag earlier in this article? Well, that flag was flying high when the subject of gay marriage came up. We see through you ass clown! Now you think that this issue should be decided at the federal level? Really? Here goes another establishment dickbag trying to justify the stripping of OUR constitutional rights so he can force us to live within the rules of HIS religious faith. Typical. Fucking. Republican.

Huntsman then lets us know that he supports civil unions between gays and lesbians. He then immediately tries to trump Bachmann when he mentions his huge legion of children. After that, Ron Paul pimps out the 10th Amendment like Romney should’ve and he then warns about the actions people like Romney would like to implement. That being the action of forcing everyone to comply with their belief system and their “morals”.

Of course bitch ass whiner Santorum is disgusted and tries to drown us in more of his deluded self-righteous holier-than-thou bullshit. He brags about how he came to Iowa and got rid of three justices who supported gay marriage. Rick Santorum saved the state from man-on-man buttsex. Guys like Santorum are usually the first to sign up for amateur night at the drag show. He hates gays because he hates the part of himself that he can’t show the world. Santorum is a walking fucking tragedy. He should also put down Racquetball Weekly and read some Murray Rothbard.

Pawlenty then gets the abortion question and he states that he would punish abortion doctors but not patients seeking abortions. Yeah man, that makes perfect fucking sense. T.Paw is referred to as “the most pro-life candidate”. I think they fucked up reading their notes and they meant to say “the most pro-lame candidate”. Vanilla Bean is nowhere near as whacked as Santorum but he’s drowning in this race very quickly.

Pawlenty’s lameness is then followed by more lameness when Romney and Huntsman just give us empty insincere filler for several minutes. Off screen, Santorum is having trouble changing his tampon while he’s covered in tears.

Bachmann then gets a chance to express why she voted against the Boehner bill to raise the debt limit. Ron Paul and Herman Cain obviously get where she’s coming from as she explains why raising the debt ceiling is madness. She cites the downgraded credit rating by Standard & Poor’s as proof that she made the right decision. Cain admits that he was also against it.

Next up, Newt declares his love for having a central bank. What the fuck dude?! You were doing so goddamned well and you really just fucked up in my book. Where the hell is Andrew Jackson’s ghost to cook this turkey?! Oh wait! Ron Paul serves up some heat and educates Gingrich on why the Federal Reserve needs to be destroyed. We all know that Newt ain’t listening though.

Oh fuck! Santorum is still there? He’s against the gold standard and then takes more cheap shots at Ron Paul. Santorum is feasting on sour bitch grapes. Man the fuck up and stop being a little bitch dude! This guy looks like absolute shit at this point. People pulling for Santorum in this election need to check their ass. He’s against the gold standard?! Really?!

The debate concludes with a short exchange about education where Huntsman and Cain say that they are against No Child Left Behind. After that we are subjected to the generic closing comments we always get. Luckily we weren’t bombarded with URLs this time. Maybe they held back because Pawlenty and Santorum’s campaign managers thought it would be a waste of money to renew the domains for another year.

4. Conclusion:

This was the best debate so far in the 2012 presidential election cycle. Some people shined, a few sunk. Sure I am biased towards Ron Paul but he was under fire a lot and he continually brought it hard against all comers and made all of his points clearly. Bachmann did really well in my opinion. Gingrich didn’t make me a believer but he did win a lot of points overall. Herman Cain was good but he needs to turn it up a few notches. However, I was pleased that he wasn’t repeating his catchphrases over and over or counting down his solution talking points numerically. Because of that, Cain’s performance was an improvement over the last debate. The other four candidates can suck a dick, especially that jackass fucksack Santorum.

So without further ado, as this article’s title asks, “Who won the debate?” I do have to give you an answer. Well, after watching this damn thing three times and after taking a fuckload of notes, I gave each candidate a letter grade. Here they are from best to worst:

Grading Scale:
Grade A: Ron Paul
Grade B+: Michele Bachmann
Grade B: Newt Gingrich
Grade B-: Herman Cain
Grade C: Mitt Romney
Grade D+: John Hunstsman
Grade D:Tim Pawlenty
Grade F: Rick Santorum
Grade I: Gary Johnson

*Taken from Prison Planet. Written by Paul Joseph Watson.

NBC edits out “under God” from pledge of allegiance during US Open coverage, replaces it with worship of empire.

NBC Sports has been forced to apologize following an outcry after the network deliberately edited out the words “under God,” from the US pledge of allegiance in a video segment for the US Open that showed images of US troops, but the edit has nothing to do with NBC’s purported “liberal bias” and everything to do with the fact that NBC is owned by the US military-industrial complex.

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” states the United States Flag Code for the Pledge of Allegiance, but in an NBC promo for the US Open golf tournament, the “under God” part was cut from a recording of schoolchildren reading out the words.

CONTINUED..