Ron Paul, and what will go down in history as a genius fund-raising idea, raked in 4.2 million dollars over this past weekend in honor of Guy Fawkes.
With a barage of YouTube videos (best one IMO), MySpace comments, emails and the assorted MeetUp set a goal of 100,000 people donating $100 on Guy Fawkes Day.
Who is Guy Fawkes and why does he have his own day?
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, or the Powder Treason, as it was known at the time, was a failed attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics to kill King James I of England and VI of Scotland, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in a single attack by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening on 5 November 1605. The conspirators had also planned to abduct the royal children, not present in Parliament, and incite a revolt in the Midlands.
The Gunpowder Plot was one of many unsuccessful assassination attempts against James I, and followed the Main Plot and Bye Plot of 1603. Some popular historians have put forward a debate about government involvement in the plot.
Guy Fawkes Night (more commonly known as Bonfire Night and sometimes Fireworks Night) is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605 in which a number of Roman Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
It is primarily marked in the United Kingdom, but also in former British colonies including New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the British Caribbean. Bonfire Night was also common in Australia until the 1980s, but it was held on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June.
Festivities are centered around the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires.
There was also a movie made about Guy Fawkes recently titled V for Vendetta derived form the comic book of the same name – a cautionary tale about the Thatcher government.
TCD has a character called The Magic Talking Mask Of Guy Fawkes. At the local liberal Apocalyptic Lodge of Allied Mystical Oddfellows, hangs the magical talking mask of Guy Fawkes. The mask will give advice and philosophical wisdom to those that tends the strange artifact. Sometimes it talks to itself.
So this was the inspiration behind the super-whammy fund-raising weekend of Ron Paul. To go on the record, I agree with only one of his positions and it is to get out of Iraq YESTERDAY, otherwise, he makes me nervous. I do like the karma of the Ron Paul money, especially since Sean Hannity is doing everything he can to undermine the Paul campaign and its message of “war is bad.”
Anytime we can get more egg on Hannity’s face, the more I like it.
P.S. Just a reminder to vote for The Bilerico Project for the best LGBT Blog of 2007. The poll can be freeped HERE
I am not sure what to make of this…
But it was amusing and gave me a chuckle ^_^
That was a woefully incomplete narrative.
5 November was, initially, a government-mandated celebration of the defeat of those who would question the Monarchy or Parliament (i.e., the government).
It quickly evolved, however, into an annual recognition of how unnecessarily (and therefore wrongfully) vicious, barbaric and cruel the Crown’s torture and execution of Fawkes was. It turned from a pro-government celebration to an anti-oppression celebration.
Today 5 November represents the proclamation — by the people — that another 5 November must never again be allowed in the name of “protecting the government.”
Perhaps now you understand why the Paulbearers (of which I am NOT one) chose 5 November to do their fundraising campaign.
What I like about Paul is he articulates our actual foreign activities. We’ve interposed ourselves where we ought not be, and done so in deep ignorance. His stance on Iraq is born out of knowledge of history. This lack of knowledge of history, or deliberately ignoring it, by other candidates is nearly criminal, and is done in support of past and current activities that actually are. As everyone knows. Paul also reiterates, in contrast, what our policy historically was ‘supposed’ to be.
As many of us now learn more about Pakistan, we see again how our presence and/or involvement poisoned things there. As in South America, the Pacific, south Asia, or where have you.
I would not like to see Paul as President, but I am glad to see a candidate articulate these things, yup. Particularly a Republican.
Chalmers Johnson, after his three ‘Blowback’ books, called for a dismantling of our empire akin to Britain’s after WWII. Words like Paul’s would first have to be said beforehand… I wish Jimmy Carter had said them 37 years ago. I wish Jimmy had done many things differently 37 years ago.
Deep investment into actual stupidity has brought us to a real assault on reason, as Gore wrote about in his book. Gore himself may not be innocent but such discernments have become matters of relativity, sadly. The world has moved so far rightward over the span of many generations, it may well take as long to undo it all.
I think one thing that is being forgotten (or ignored or simply not known) about the United States’ involvement in forigen areas that we simply don’t belong are the sources of (at least) 3 factors:
1: It is all about money. every activity that we do overseas where we meddle where we do not belon is either an effort to make money, or foster a situation later on where we can. Now, by “We” I do not mean the Middle Class. Oh no…this is the “Upper Class”, Corporations and others that possess clout and a need to do this. I would not complain about this at all if the extra capital being earned was disciminated down to the masses instead of being kept at the top.
2: Cold War habits. During the Cold War it was very much a “We must stop the spread of communisim”. Therefore we fought all sorts of proxy-wars (Remember the Iran-Iraq conflict? How about the constant warfare in Afgahnistan with Russia trying to take it? Yeah…all proxy wars). We got in the habit of sticking our noses into someone elses business and now we can’t stop.
3: World Police Force. Like it or not, after the fall of the USSR, the United States became the world’s ONLY Superpower. As such, a lot of nations and people feel it is our moral obligation to play the police force/parent/moderator of world affairs. Even before the USSR crumbled, there was that feeling that people felt that the US should be stepping in. What I mean by this, is that if we went to the isolationist mentaliity we had before WWII, other nations would be banging at our doors and windows for us to solve their problems – begging us to stick our noses in. Regardless of what we do, we would be stuck with people pissed off at us.
Something else that I have observed over the years, is that a lot of the activities that we (and many others) view as being “stupid” are more out of careful calculation and manipulation. Reasons for this sort of thing are numerous, but politically and econimcially make sense (See point 1 above).
Do I agree with it? Hardly. I just aknowledge that such things go on and point them out.
Stormbear, it’s 4:22 pm right now and are you listen to C-Span and what’s going on in the Congress right this minute. You’d be proud of Kucinich and hate the Democrats guts!!!
That was the best drama on TV in the last three years!
Now it is committee with Republican support. Who knew?
Let’s not confuse Ron Paul’s superficial party affiliation with the current GOP central committee or platform, nationally or in his home state.
The Texas GOP was caught using party resources (illegally) to undercut Paul’s election as a Texas Congressman, after he defeated their good ol’ boy contender at primary. Paul is part of the old Goldwater era GOP faction largely displaced into the Libertarian Party, and which has little voice today inside the GOP, outside of a few scattered local clusters.
Paul is not exactly a friend of civil rights, but the GOP and Dem organizations and key players both are so far removed from honoring their Constitutional obligations, that Paul would at least offer a serious shift in the right direction. Gore, and folks like Irwin Schiff or Peter McWilliams (killed via Fed. Judge King in LA), could round out a slate to develop legitimate government, likely starting with some aggressive changes to treat IRS and DEA or similar agency thugs as the violent criminal conspirators they are, even if by pushing paper to enable and direct armed mercenaries engaging in direct felonious violence imposing unConstitutional laws.
What if we could craft a different form of bipartisan Congress? One one side of the aisle, control vested in the Pansexual Peace Party (a sort of sex-positive, non-sectarian green-pagan-secularist friendly violence opponent), and on the other side, a Constitutionalist party, pledged to strict law enforcement, such as extermination of domestic enemies, like most current members of Congress, many judges, all IRS and DEA employees, and others who’ve similarly conspired to deprive citizen rights under color of law? Clearly, those factions would not see eye to eye, but might raise some interesting debates on practical means to obey the rule of law.
The thing about Ron Paul is that he gives the strong impression, at least, that what you see is exactly what you are going to get. Spin and BS are not on his planet. He is an old-style fiscal conservative with the tolerable idea that government should be just big enough to supply necessary protections (against REAL threats)and everything else should be managed as close to home as possible. (He has more faith in the commitment of the people toward protecting the environment, treating the sick, etc. than I do, but concedes that federal withdrawal from such issues would HAVE to be a long process.)
Re the right-to-life thing, the guy has delivered 4,000 babies. What he says when asked is that yes, of course he is “pro-life,” but opposes the interference of the federal government or the courts into women’s medical decisions. That is not a “plastic fetus” concept, just old-time common sense.
Summation: We could do one hell of a lot worse, in this next election.