Why did he get on conference calls with Neo-Nazis?

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/291000/20120201/anonymous-ron-paul-neo-nazi-bnp-a3p.htm

"super-pac-supporting-ron-paul-is-operated-by-a-911-truther

It's not all that much money, either. Why doesn't he just refuse it?"

Because if he did he would alienate many of his supporters. The tent of Ron Paul is a large tent. I accept that there are other people in it who do not believe what I believe. Some of them do not believe as I do, but they accept me as I do them. The last thing I want is to be in is the cult of modern American political orthodoxy, where everyone is permitted to have only a very narrow range of opinion - and on many subjects, adherents aren't allowed to have an opinion at all. Screw that.

Ron Paul realizes and accepts that his supporters have free minds. I like that. If he started to stray from that and demand conformity of thought among his supporters to appease The Elites, I'd bolt in a heartbeat.

Wait. According to some of you (who shall remain nameless) isn't Ron Paul already a right wing nutjob? So why would this come as a surprise? All that this proves to me is that his supporters are very diverse.

"Why did he get on conference calls with Neo-Nazis? "

Um... he didn't.

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2012/02/did-the-hacking-of-american-third-position-actually-reveal-current-links-between-ron-paul-and-white-nationalists-as-the-hackers-claim/

Super PACs don't give money directly to the candidates, goldfinger.

Ack, you're right. I don't know much about campaign finance. Frankly, I want all PAC's destroyed. Let the candidates speak for themselves, not others for them

Yes super PACs are ridiculous. They give too much political power to the highest bidder, and only people are people.

So you want a system where all political organization revolves around individual politicians, and no one is able to agitate for particular causes?

I think that if Ron Paul avoids the wrath of the GOP establishment by not taking direct shots at Mitt Romney, and keeps the conversation nice and theoretical, he might be able to change the dialogue in the Republican Party.

I do not believe he has a shot at beating Romney in the primaries, nor beating Obama in the general if he did. Nor do I think Ron Paul is anywhere near Romney's short list of running mates and cabinet appointments. I think his best shot at getting anything done is to stay in the election as long as possible and force Romney to engage him in what passes for policy debate during election season.

No tols, I believe that we need stronger campaign inane laws than we have now. For example, the McCain-Feingold Act which was good until it was neutered by the Supreme Court in Citizens United.

*Finance, not inane. keyboard malfunction.

We need publicly financed elections, period.

@Tolstoy - I would argue for either what Nike said or what thatwasawkward said. The system as it stands is corrupt.

Romney basically bought Florida, that should not be how our system works.

"Um... he didn't."

Um, did you actually read that link? This random blog of yours doesn't actually say definitely that he was never on conference calls, only that his limited investigation hasn't found this yet.

http://www.care2.com/causes/anonymous-hacks-neo-nazis-finds-ron-paul.html#ixzz1lKOBi1ex

Yes, I did read it. It says basically that the white supremacists were excited because they got on a Ron Paul campaign conference call. Whoopdedo. I've been on plenty of those, AND I've had my picture taken with Dr. Paul *twice* as many times as Don Black apparently has. I guess that puts me in the Inner Circle, too.

I'm sure if we looked we could find plenty of pictures of Obama shaking hands with some unsavory characters as well... "Look! Obama *must* be a secret Muslim! He got his picture taken while shaking hands with one!"
http://www.saudiembassy.net/files/NewsPhotos/King_Abdullah-Obama.jpg

If this is the closest thing to a scandal you Ron Paul haters can come up with, the man has nothing to worry about.

By definition, Super PACs can have no contact with campaigns. All they do is spend money in support of candidates. If Ron Paul's a 9/11 Truther because a 9/11 Truther supports him then Obama's a communist because Putin33 supports Obama.

"This random blog of yours doesn't actually say definitely that he was never on conference calls, only that his limited investigation hasn't found this yet."

So... guilty until proven innocent? If this is true then it's a death knell for his credibility (at least for me, and voted for the guy last time), but it's so contrary to his record that I find it quite hard to believe. Neo-Nazis and supporters of individual liberty are radically different things.

Yeah except anybody who can read can find out by reading these emails that A3Pers basically run the RP organization, including the RP organization in your neck of the woods, southern California. But nevermind, you think using neo-nazis as political organizers is part of this honorable 'big tent' strategy.

"But...but...but..he's against the drug war"

"Neo-Nazis and supporters of individual liberty are radically different things."

If by 'liberty' you mean allowing states to be racist, misogynist, anti-gay hellholes in the name of 'federalism', sure.

http://www.nazi-leaks.info/

Read the stuff for yourselves, stop listening to Tolstoy the fanboy defend everything RP does.

"By definition, Super PACs can have no contact with campaigns."

Oh bullshit. All of the leaders of the major super pacs are simultaneously well connected with their candidates, even on their staffs. The only rule is they can't "coordinate".

Hey Putin why did Stalin kill 20 million people

He didn't. Try again, Goebbels.

That's not what I mean by liberty. Not what anyone means by liberty.

What it looks like to me is that some Neo-Nazis are also supporters of Ron Paul. That doesn't mean Ron Paul is a Nazi. The guy wants non-interventionism, for goodness sakes! Hardly a Nazi position.

Invictus, basically the short of it is that the white supremacists showed up at a few Ron Paul events and tried to give everyone the impression that they were critical to the Revolution so they could gain recruits. One from what I recall is even quoted as observing the youthful white Ron Paul supporters and remarking something along the lines of "if we can't make inroads with these people, our movement is dead". Racism is dying, these people know it, and they're trying to attach themselves to the Revolution in a desperate attempt to become relevant to a new generation. Interesting to note that all of the rumors of Ron Paul as a fixture in the white power movement (like Ron Paul attending neo-Nazi lunches in broad daylight in DC every Thursday, or whatever it was) are originating with nutjobs within that 'movement'.

The haters are seeing the pull Dr. Paul has with the young, and they're clutching at straws like these to keep your generation on the 'Progressive' Plantation with crap like this.

You're obviously unfamiliar with the Paleo-Con movement, Harry Elmer Barneses and Pat Buchanans of the world. The major WWII revisionists are hardcore "non-interventionists". Much of the rightwing anti-war movement during WWII were fascist sympathizers.

"That's not what I mean by liberty. Not what anyone means by liberty."

Could have fooled me with all the hue and cry about gays getting married from the libertarians re: Prop 8. Not to mention their opposition to Civil Rights law and luvluv for the Confederacy.

By "showing up at a few events" you mean "coordinating his Superpac and local campaign organizations".

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/9801-white-supremacists-love-ron-paul

I mean, RP endorsed Bill Johnson in 2008, and he was long known as a white supremacist. The claim that they only found out afterwards is utter horseshit. Why do white supremacists love RP so much, why do well known KKK members take pictures with him, why do they supposedly write his million-dollar fundraising newsletter for him for years and supposedly not knows about it, why they claim to organize his campaign for him? The lame excuse that he can't turn anybody away because it's " big tent" is even lamer than his 180s on his newsletter from 1996-20012.

Ah, Putin, full of shit as usual. Seems like you're not even trying any more.

The Libertarian Party of California was vocally opposed to Proposition 8. And as for the Ron Paul campaign in Southern California being run by overt white supremacists, well... that's just so absurd I don't know what to say. Maybe if I look through that pile I'll find myself 'outed' in there too, who knows...

Hey Putin, how can I be a white supremacist/Nazi at the same time I'm a Secret Muslim and an anarchist?

I'm wondering how you're able to keep all of my secrets straight, because they have me confused...