Nevada A Tie

For second place getween Ron Paul and John McCain. It's a statistical tie, yet one announcer on MSNBC announced earlier that when McCain had a few votes ahead of Paul, that it was a 'lead' for McCain. Now CNN predicts a tie. Yet Paul has beaten McCain, by the numbers. Paul is in the lead. He places second. But as usual this will get no press.

Its a conspiracy of silence, the media isn't talking to or about Paul. Despite his beating front runners McCain and Huckabee, and wannabes Thompson and Giuliani.He has consistently scored above Giuliani the Great White Hope from New York yet nary a comment from the pundits about him.

REPUBLICAN CAUCUSES January 19, 2008

Race	Status	Candidate	State Del.*	%	Del*	Precincts
Nevada Updated 1 minute ago County Results Entrance Poll		Romney	21,537	52%	18	95% reporting
		Paul	5,345	13%	4
		McCain	5,244	13%	4
		Thompson	3,266	8%	2
		Huckabee	3,203	8%	2
		Giuliani	1,777	4%	1
		Hunter	811	2%	0
		Tancredo	0	0%	0

Nary a word about Paul not on Fox or MSNBC or CNN or heck even CNBC. Even though he has come in second twice now, first in Wyoming and now in Nevada. And he came in fourth behind Huckabee in Michigan.

Considering this deliberate media campaign of silence over Paul's candidacy and his campaign he still is getting support from the libertarians in the Republican base and independents.

While the media focuses on Evangelicals they overlook the importance of the libertarians and Barry Goldwater Republicans that have converged around Paul.

And he is getting their cash Ron Paul MLK "Money Bomb" is Coming Up Monday, January 21

And he still has more delegates than Republican establishment wannabe Giuliani.

While some pundits see Huckabee as the anti-establishment candidate the Republican leadership fears. Paul is the disestablishmentarian candidate that the whole neo-con establishment fears.

SEE:

Who's the Loser?

New Hampshire Polling Puts Paul Fourth

The Secret Of Ron Paul's Success

Fox Vs. Paul

Huckabee: Paul is Dead.

Gravel and Paul on PBS

Republican Presidential Paul-itics

Libertarians for U.S. President

Ron Paul



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libertarian, Republican, Barry Goldwater US, politics, right wing, conservative, Mr.Conservative, social-conservatives, US Presidential race, Ron Paul,

CANADA
Green Party's Annamie Paul survives emergency meeting over leadership
David Thurton CBC

© Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press Green Party leader Annamie Paul survived an emergency meeting on her leadership Tuesday night. But the party's federal council adopted a separate motion asking Paul to publicly "repudiate" one of Paul's former senior advisors

The leadership of the Green Party's Annamie Paul is safe— for now — after party brass decided late Tuesday not to kickstart a process that could have ultimately ousted her as leader of the party.

The party's federal council – which is the governing body of the party – held an emergency meeting Tuesday night that lasted more than three-and-a-half hours. Officials were expected to hold a vote on whether to trigger a complex process under the party's constitution which could've declared no-confidence in Paul's leadership.

That vote did not end up taking place, multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting told CBC News.

Instead, sources say, the federal council adopted a separate motion asking Paul to publicly "repudiate" one of Paul's former senior advisors, Noah Zatzman, who accused many politicians — including unspecified Green MPs — of discrimination and anti-Semitism in a social media post last month.

The motion also calls for Paul to "explicitly support" the Green Party caucus. If not, the motion says, Paul would face a vote of non-confidence on July 20.

Tuesday night's decision follows a difficult few weeks for the party, which has been ripped apart by internal disputes over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As violence in the region escalated, Paul issued a statement calling for a ceasefire and condemning both Palestinian rocket attacks and excessive Israeli military force, an apparent attempt to put forward a moderate position close to that of the Trudeau government.

© Guy LeBlanc/Radio-Canada Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin announced on Thursday that she is leaving the federal Green Party to sit as a Liberal.

Green MP Jenica Atwin — who has since left the Green caucus to join the Liberals — ripped into Paul's statement on Twitter. "It is a totally inadequate statement," Atwin wrote. "Forced evictions must end. I stand with Palestine and condemn the unthinkable air strikes in Gaza. End Apartheid."

 (SHE HAS RECANTED AND SINCE BECOME PRO ISRAEL AS PER THE LIBERAL PARTY POLICY)

Green MP Paul Manly also took issue with Paul's statement, saying the planned removal of Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah "is ethnic cleansing."

Zatzman responded with a Facebook post stating that Greens "will work to defeat you and bring in progressive climate champions who are antifa and pro LGBT and pro indigenous sovereignty and Zionists!!!!!"

Zatzman is no longer an adviser to the leader. His six-month contract, slated to expire on July 4 and obtained by The Canadian Press, stipulates that the party will pay Zatzman a fee for time worked beyond 100 hours per month.

CBC News has reached out to the Green Party, Paul and Zatzman for comment following Tuesday's meeting.

Separately, two party executives recently announced they would step down early. One of them was John Kidder, a vice-president on the party's governing body and husband to MP and former leader Elizabeth May.

When Atwin announced last week that she was crossing the floor to join the Liberals, she said there were too many "distractions" in the Green Party and she wanted to work in a more "supportive and collaborative" environment.

In a media statement, May and B.C. Green MP Manly said they were "heartbroken" by Atwin's decision — and that Zatzman was to blame.

"Unfortunately, the attack against Ms. Atwin by the Green Party leader's chief spokesperson on May 14th created the conditions that led to this crisis," the two said. The MPs added that, while they were frustrated, they have "no intention of leaving the Green Party of Canada."

Speaking to reporters after Atwin's announcement, Paul said she was blindsided by her departure and only learned about it from media reports.

Paul said that while the party supports cross-party cooperation and rejects excessive partisanship, she said there are "significant differences" between the Green and Liberal parties and called Atwin's floor-crossing a "disappointment."

Paul said a byelection should be called in Fredericton because voters there chose to elect a Green MP in the 2019 campaign.

She said she doesn't believe the internal squabbling over Israel was what pushed Atwin to switch sides. She said she understands Atwin was in talks with the Liberals for "numerous weeks" before the internal debate over Middle East issues flared up.

After Fauci Smackdown, Rand Paul Fundraised On Fox News

POSTED BY ELLEN  ON JANUARY 12, 2022 · 

After Dr. Anthony Fauci blasted Sen. Rand Paul for spreading lies that have endangered the Fauci family for the sake of fundraising, Paul ran to Fox News – yep, to fundraise off the encounter.

The fiery exchange occurred in a Senate hearing yesterday. Paul accused Fauci of “catastrophic” errors and “an arrogance that justifies in his mind using government resources to smear and to destroy the reputation of other scientists who disagree with him.” This, from the guy who deliberately exposed his own colleagues to COVID-19 and who was suspended from YouTube for promoting the medical disinformation that masks don’t help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Paul’s larger goal was to argue that there was “no way” the virus originated in a Chinese lab and to suggest Fauci was engaged in some kind of cover up about his supposed role in its real origins, a right-wing meme.

Fauci wasn’t having any of it from Sen. Death. After a bit of back and forth, he lowered the boom, which you can watch below. He accused Paul of distracting from the real purpose of the committee, which was “to get our arms around” the pandemic and of ginning up anger against Fauci as a fundraising ploy – which has caused death threats to Fauci and harassment of his family.

That must have really gotten under Death Paul’s skin because he ran to Fox News not once, but twice. First, Paul visited the “news” show, America’s Newsroom. He joined Laura Ingraham’s more prolonged attacks on Fauci that evening.

Not surprisingly, America's Newsroom host Bill Hemmer didn’t mention the death threats Paul and colleague Tucker Carlson have instigated. That's not surprising given that Fox host Jesse Watters was just rewarded by the network with a primetime show after talking about taking a “deadly” “kill shot” at Fauci. Nor did Hemmer mention Paul’s deliberately risky behavior nor his spreading of COVID disinformation.

Instead, Sen. Death got a platform to complain, unchallenged, “we are doing way too many tests” and “before you know it, we’ve got a lockdown.” In fact, Hemmer all but asked for more attacks on Fauci, saying that after two years of the pandemic, “you can’t get a test” and “the therapies have not been pursued at the level that they should have.” Then, feigning curiosity, Hemmer asked, “Why is it so personal between you two?” That, of course, was nothing more than an opening for further attacks on Fauci from Paul.

And fundraising! Paul said, “I’m proud of the fact that people can go to [he gave his website address] and yes, we are raising money to fire Fauci.” That was followed by a long tirade against him. Paul concluded with a pitch for his re-election: “Yeah, it’s a political thing because whoever wins the election will make the decision on whether he stays or goes or whether we investigate where the virus came from in the beginning.”

FACT CHECK: While it’s true Paul is up for re-election this year and that GOP control of the House or Senate would inevitably lead to the kind of COVID investigations Sen. Death is salivating for, neither Paul nor his fellow Republicans have the power to fire Dr. Fauci.

Hemmer didn’t point that out to his viewers, even though they may have been duped into believing Paul's pitch.

But we, the voters, can fire Sen. Death Paul. A good guy, named Charles Booker, is running against him. You can check him out and join the fight here.

You can watch Fauci’s smackdown of Paul as well as his subsequent Fox fundraising below, from the January 11, 2021 America’s Newsroom. And don't forget: This dangerous demonization of one of the world's most respected infectious disease specialists is bankrolled by Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch.

Republican Presidential Paul-itics

A Headline you won't see in the MSM.

Ron Paul Beats Fred Thompson.

In the Iowa Straw Poll this weekend.

The final results:

Mitt Romney 4516 31.5%
Mike Huckabee 2587 18.1%
Sam Brownback 2192 15.3%
Tom Tancredo 1961 13.7%
Ron Paul 1305 9.1%
Tommy Thompson 1039 7.3%
Fred Thompson 203 1.4%
Rudy Giuliani 183 1.3%
Duncan Hunter 174 1.2%
John McCain 101 1.0%
John Cox 41 0.1%

14,302 Total Votes

Libertarian Anti-War Blog; Unfair Witness has interesting ongoing results of the Ron Paul campaign on the Internet and post debate polls.


The libertarian underdogs; Kucinich and Paul agree on abrogating NAFTA the WTO and the North American Union, they also agree on getting out of Iraq.

Karen Kwiatowski a libertarian blogger on the 'liberal' Huffington Post agrees with me in regards to the libertarian candidates in the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election.

Ron Paul, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich are the only candidates who seem to understand this. They are also the only candidates who will quickly, if not immediately, end the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Wait a sec -- I mean end it peacefully. Ultimately, Iraqis and their supporters around the world will bring down the American occupation -- but they will do so limb by limb, heart by heart, and soul by soul. They will kill thousands of us and themselves before it reaches that inevitable point of non-occupation and honest political independence. Only Paul and two underfunded Democratic contenders offer wisdom to Americans across the nation who are hungry for wisdom, at least in foreign policy. However -- it is in domestic policy where Ron Paul completes the package. Unlike the democratic longshots, and the candidacy of GuiliClintoRomnObamThomEdwaCain, Ron Paul is about real freedom. Freedom to choose, freedom to live, freedom to decide for ourselves. He offers freedom from excessive government mandates, excessive rules and regulations, excessive confiscation of our life and property. In this, Paul is the only real conservative in the group, and yes, perhaps the only radical.

Where Paul fails as a Libertarian, and Kucinich doesn't,is over the issue of abortion, where he plays to the Republican Social Conservative base.

While abortion should be a non-issue for the President of the United States, it is a social cause for the fundamentalist social conservative right and their use of the Presidency to appoint anti-choice Supreme Court Justices.

The point is that Paul falls down as a Libertarian when it comes to the issue of a womans right to reproductive choice.

And while he opposes universal health care, unlike Kucinich, it's a good thing he has tax payer funded health benefits.

Ron Paul's wife hospitalized in Iowa


For libertarian Democrats the support has to be for Kucinich, for libertarian Republicans the choice is Paul. For the rest of us the ideal would be a Kucinich/Paul candidacy for President and VP. You choose which for Pres.


See:

Ron Paul

Mr. Conservative

Death Of Laissez-Faire Politics

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Bemjamin Tucker, Liberty, Lysander Spooner, Godwin, Constitution, law, libertarian, anarchism, invdidualist-anarchist, Proudhon, mutualist, mutualism, anarchist-law, Ayn Rand, Republicans, US Presidential race, Ron Paul, Kucinich, US, libertarian, Democrats,

Who's the Loser?

The LA Times doesn't like Ron Paul. In this blog post they claim he 'lost again' last night in New Hampshire. Fact is he virtually tied with Giuliani.

How come they didn't post Giuliani loses again? His is after all the campaign that claimed to be inevitable, he claimed to be a contender. Ron Paul never did. And last night that one percent difference between his fifth place and Giuliani's fourth was a mere 2223 votes.Giuliani spent millions on ads in New Hampshire compared to Paul.

Rudolph’s camp knew he couldn’t win, so they used the effective strategy of downplaying his loss by claiming that the candidate didn’t make any real effort in New Hampshire. The media, however, today exposed some interesting facts about Guiliani’s efforts in New Hampshire. Guiliani not only made more campaign appearances in New Hampshire than any other candidate but he spent more money in the state than all over candidates except for Mitt Romney. That Ron Paul virtually tied Guiliani is an incredible political feat and the Paulites of New Hampshire should be wildly applauded. Had it not been for Paul activists, the candidate would have finished around Hunter’s 1%.

And Paul beat Giuliani in Iowa. And Paul has delegates while Giuliani has none.

Mr. McCain received 37% of the vote, in comparison to 32% for Mr. Romney. Mr. Huckabee garnered 11%, and Mr. Giuliani beat Ron Paul by one percentage point, 9% to 8%. Senator Thompson captured just 1% of the vote.

		Romney	73,806	32%	4
		Huckabee	26,035	11%	1
		Giuliani	20,054	9%	0
		Paul	17,831	8%	0
		Thompson	2,808	1%	0
		Hunter	1,195	0%	0

Republicans »

Jan 8 Del

Del*

Romney

24

4

Huckabee

18

1

McCain

10

7

Thompson

6

0

Paul

2

0

Hunter

1

0

Giuliani

0

0

*Pledged delegates to date. Republican Scorecard lists all Republican delegates, including unpledged RNC members.

And Paul beat the last best conservative hope the media has been pushing; Fred Thompson. Whom he also beat in Iowa. And he is tied with Thompson in SC where Fred promises to make his final stand; ala the Alamo.

This is probably the real reason the liberal LA Times is pissed off about 'loser' Ron Paul, he is still in the race and they will have to continue writing about him.

Ron Paul: N.H. no reason to let up

January 8, 2008

CONCORD, N.H.—His didn't upstage the Republican frontrunners in New Hampshire, but Ron Paul said Tuesday he will continue on, raising issues that have riled many other Republicans and raising record amounts of cash on the Internet.

"There's really no reason for us to be letting up. It's really only the beginning," the Texas congressman told a raucous crowd of campaign workers and supports in Concord.

Paul, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, was on track for fifth place with about 8 percent of the vote. He had hoped to better his 10 percent showing in the Iowa caucuses last week.

The libertarian-leaning doctor who says the Republican Party has lost its way said his campaign will gain strength as more voters hear his message of individual liberty and a strict interpretation of the Constitution.

"There is no doubt in my mind that we're on the right track. We're moving," Paul said.

He credited much of his support to young people, and an intense Internet campaign that saw him raise record amounts on the Web in the last three months.

Just like the right wing bloggers are gleefully cheering his loss in New Hampshire. They too suffer from Paulitis. But he just isn't going away or giving up, and good for him because unlike Kucinich this gadfly is getting press and will get more. He is far from irrelevant. Ron Paul is good for shaking up the conservative and Republican establishment in America and pissing off liberals who can't figure out his popularity.

These same folks also don't get Huckabee and his success either. They dismiss the populist as simply a born again phenomena, missing his appeal to the blue collar Republican base.

Working class America with all its peccadillo's and quirks is voting for change, both in the Republican and Democratic party's. And not just a change of leaders but a sea change in the politics of the two ruling party's of the ruling classes.


SEE

New Hampshire Polling Puts Paul Fourth

Tags;
libertarian, Republican, US,elections, politics, right wing, conservative, New Hampshire, Fox News, Jay Leno, US Presidential race, Ron Paul,

Huckabee: Paul is Dead.

Republican candidate Mike Huckabee seems to have slammed Ron Paul yesterday when he defended his Christian Christmas TV Ad.

"I will confess this: If you play the spot backwards it says, 'Paul is dead. Paul is dead,'"

Was that a subliminal smear against Ron Paul? Since the National Journal Poll found Ron Paul was dead last in national polling for Republican candidates.

"Merry Christmas," Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said simply Tuesday in Houston in response to criticism that his latest campaign commercial mixes too much religion with politics.

Huckabee, here to raise campaign money, said the nation is in serious trouble if it is politically incorrect for him to use his TV spot to remind voters about the religious meaning of this holiday season.

Departing from the standard pitches for the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary two weeks from now, the former Arkansas governor and Southern Baptist minister appears on television screens in some states with the shape of a cross behind him and Silent Night playing in the background.

"Are you about worn out by all the television commercials you've been seeing, mostly about politics? Well, I don't blame you," he says in the commercial. "At this time of year, sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all of that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and friends."

Subliminal message?

Some political observers see the ad as appealing directly to evangelical voters and tapping into the religious differences between Huckabee and one of his chief rivals for the GOP presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, a Mormon. Others such as candidate Ron Paul, the Republican congressman from Lake Jackson, said the ad goes overboard.

"It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, 'when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross,' " Paul, a Protestant, told Fox News. "Now I don't know whether that's a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he is the only Christian or implying that subtly. So, I don't think I would ever use anything like that."

Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights President Bill Donohue said images of a cross in the commercial are an attempt to send a subliminal message.

"What he's trying to say to the evangelicals in western Iowa (is): 'I'm the real thing,' " Donohue said on the same news network. "You know what? Sell yourself on your issues, not on what your religion is."

Play it backward

Huckabee said Tuesday that he mentioned Jesus Christ in his unscripted commercial because, considering the meaning of the holiday, "I don't know what else to say about Christmas."

Some people are drawing such wild inferences from the commercial, Huckabee joked, that they might believe the ad says "Paul is dead" when played backward. It was a reference to the myth that the hidden news of Beatle Paul McCartney's "death" was revealed in the backward playing of one of the band's songs.

Really I heard Huckabee's quote and he said Paul is Dead, three times with no reference to McCartney. Now he is claiming he was referring to Paul McCartney but was he really?

After all Huckabee has no money and Ron Paul again broke a record for one day fund raising this week; when he raised over $6 million on internet donations. The previous record had been $4 million, raised by Paul a couple of months ago. And Paul was the first Republican candidate to criticize Huckabee's ad. And both are contenders in New Hampshire as I have pointed out.

Both these guys were once the so called second tier candidates in the Republican race. Huckabee now has the support of the evangelical conservative base in the party and Paul has become the most successful fund raiser, beating out all the front runners.

Huckabee is hated by the Republican establishment, who have abandoned their Moral Majority evangelical base that is the Reagan Republicans that Huckabee is shamelessly appealing to. He has little money or organizational staff with which to beat his opponents so he is doing the next best thing, talking to the folks, the base of the party who are alienated by the the current crop of 'liberals' running as Republicans; in this case the two front runners Mitt and Rudy.

This ad will come back to haunt him of course because he forgot that Hanukkah is also being celebrated this time of the year, and that Jesus was a Jew not a Republican.

In both races, Democrats and Republicans, this is not politics as usual, it is about the politics of change. Making this one of the most interesting U.S. Presidential elections in decades.




SEE:

Lieberman Endorses McCain

Huckabee A Red Tory

Republican Presidential Paul-itics

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Republicans, US Presidential race, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, US, libertarian,

SOCCER

A family feud, blackmail and a witch doctor -- what is the Paul Pogba affair?

A police investigation has been opened after claims by French football star Paul Pogba that he is the victim of a multi-million euro blackmail plot that includes his brother Mathias.


Paul Pogba 

© Rui Vieira, AP

AFP looks into an affair involving a family conflict and a witch doctor, and which comes less than three months before the Juventus star is expected to help France defend their World Cup crown.

 
Who is Mathias Pogba?

Mathias, 32, is the elder brother of Paul (29) and the twin brother of Florentin. All three are professional footballers. Mathias, who was born in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, has had a journeyman career which has taken him to Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Slovenia. Much of his career has been spent in the United Kingdom, including spells at Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra and Partick Thistle. Last year he played 12 matches for Belfort in the French fourth tier. Mathias Pogba has also appeared on television in France as a pundit.

Until recently, the Pogba brothers appeared close-knit. Mathias, Florentin and their mother, Yeo Moriba, have regularly been seen attending France matches in which Paul has played. Paul Pogba is also one of the main donors to 48 H POUR, a charity established by Mathias to help provide drinking water and education for children in Guinea.

What has Mathias Pogba said?

On Saturday, Mathias Pogba published a video on Instagram in which he promised "great revelations" about Paul and the Juventus player's agent, Rafaela Pimenta. In the video, Mathias Pogba says the "whole world, as well as my brother's fans, and even more so the French team and Juventus, my brother's team-mates and his sponsors deserve to know certain things".

"All this is likely to be explosive," he concluded without adding any substance to his "revelations".

How has Paul Pogba responded?A statement released on Sunday, and signed by Paul Pogba's lawyers, his mother Yeo Moriba and agent Pimenta, said that the videos published on Saturday night "are unfortunately no surprise".

"They are in addition to threats and extortion attempts by an organised gang against Paul Pogba," read the statement. They added that "competent bodies in Italy and France were informed a month ago".

France Info radio reported that Paul Pogba told investigators he had been threatened by "childhood friends and two hooded men armed with assault rifles". They are demanding 13 million euros ($13m) from him for "services provided", he said, adding that one person close to him had withdrawn 200,000 euros using his credit card.

How far along is the investigation?

Paris prosecutors confirmed to AFP that an investigation was opened on August 3 into allegations of extortion and attempted extortion by an organised gang. According to France Info reports confirmed to AFP by a source with knowledge of the case, Paul Pogba told investigators that he had been threatened by "childhood friends and two hooded men armed with assault rifles" who blamed him for not having helped them financially.

Paul Pogba also told investigators that he had been threatened on several occasions in Manchester, during his time playing for Manchester United, and in Turin, where he currently plays for Juventus. He said he recognised his brother Mathias from among the suspects.

What does Kylian Mbappe have to do with this?

The Paris Saint-Germain striker, and France teammate of Paul Pogba, appears reluctantly in the affair. Paul Pogba told investigators that his blackmailers wanted to discredit him by claiming he asked a witch doctor to cast a spell on Mbappe, which Pogba denies.

In a series of tweets published on Sunday, Mathias Pogba appeals directly to Mbappe, saying: "Kylian, do you understand now? I have nothing against you, what I am saying is for your good, everything is true and known, the witch doctor is known! Sorry for this brother, a so-called Muslim up to his neck in witchcraft."

How could this affect the France team?

The revelation of the affair is badly-timed for the French national team, coming less than three months before they defend their World Cup crown in Qatar. Paul Pogba is currently sidelined with a knee injury and faces a battle to be fully fit, but he remains a key player in the France team, for whom he has won 91 caps and was influential in the run to glory at the 2018 World Cup.

Like the 2016 blackmail affair involving Karim Benzema, Mathieu Valbuena and a sextape, there is a danger that this affair could negatively impact morale within the squad. It could also impact Paul Pogba's relationship with Mbappe. Speaking to RMC Sport, French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet said he hoped the affair "does not call into question" Pogba's place in the team. "At this stage these are just rumours," he added.

(AFP)

AN HONEST POLITICIAN

'It has been the worst period in my life': Annamie Paul resigns as Green leader

TORONTO — Annamie Paul is stepping down as leader of the Green Party of Canada following months of strife within its ranks, saying she doesn't "have the heart" to keep fighting to hold onto the reins

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Paul announced her resignation in Toronto on Monday, a week after the federal election that saw the party fail to grow its foothold in the House of Commons as its share of the popular vote plummeted.


Paul said she started thinking about whether she wanted to stay at the party helm in recent days after learning that a leadership review had been launched.

"I just asked myself whether this is something that I wanted to continue, whether I was willing to continue to put up with the attacks I knew would be coming, whether to continue to have to fight and struggle just to fulfil my democratically elected role as leader of this party," she said.

"And I just don't have the heart for it."

Paul said she knows some will be disappointed and that her supporters would like her to stay on, and stressed the decision wasn't an easy one.

"It has been the worst period in my life in many respects, but I am not alone and you are not alone," she said.

Paul overcame a bid to oust her as leader just weeks before the election, and faced an automatic leadership review following the ballot. She said Monday that she had contacted the party's federal council to start the process of her resignation and the search for a new leader.

The announcement comes less than a year after Paul took the reins of the Greens, becoming the first Black and Jewish woman to lead a major federal party in Canada.

She said Monday that part of her motivation during the campaign came from wanting to pave the way for others like her and show them it could be done.

"What people need to realize is that when I was elected, I was breaking a glass ceiling," she said.

"What I didn't realize at the time is that I was breaking a glass ceiling that was going to fall on my head and leave a lot of shards of glass that I was going to have to crawl over throughout my time as a leader, and when I arrived at (the leaders' debate during the campaign), I had crawled over that glass, I was spitting up blood but I was determined to be there."

Last week's election saw Paul come in fourth in Toronto Centre, her third failed attempt to win the riding. The party elected two candidates, including its first in Ontario — the same number of seats it held before the election.

The Greens also drew 2.3 per cent of the popular vote, less than half the 6.55 per cent they received in the previous election.

The election was "very difficult," Paul said Monday, pointing to a lack of funding, campaign staff, and a national campaign manager. Ongoing internal strife also undermined the party's chances at the ballots, she said.

"When you head into an election being, again, under the threat of a court process from your party, it's going to be very hard to convince people to vote for your party," she said.

It was a "tremendous struggle" to decide to go through with the election under those circumstances, she said, adding she knew the outcome would likely not be good.

"I knew that we were likely not going to do well, and I knew that as the leader -- even without those tools that I needed — the first person that the public would look at would be me," she said.

Paul said that while she doesn't regret her decision, it is "quite clear" she wasn't given the opportunity to lead the party and wasn't going to be given that chance in the future.

The head of the Green Party of Ontario thanked Paul for her "bold and daring leadership."

Mike Schreiner, who campaigned with Paul, called her party leadership victory last year "a historic milestone" but lamented systemic barriers that remain in society, politics included.

"As leader of the Ontario Greens, I cannot speak for the federal party, but I do recognize that the party I lead has more work to do to combat systemic racism," he said in a statement. "I am committed to doing the hard work to build a party that is diverse, inclusive and welcoming."

Dimitri Lascaris, the runner-up to Paul in last year's party leadership race, said her resignation "is the right decision" for the Greens.

"Now is the time for Canadian Greens to focus on unity and strengthening the Party," he wrote on his website.

Other party leaders thanked Paul for her service.

"Thank you, Annamie Paul, for stepping forward and for serving Canadians with determination," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote on Twitter. "Wishing you nothing but the best in your next chapter."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh thanked Paul for her leadership, resilience and perseverance.

"You made it possible for an entire generation of Canadians to see themselves reflected in politics," he tweeted.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole also tweeted his admiration and support.

"Thank you Annamie Paul for your perseverance & for being a trailblazer for Canadians from all backgrounds interested in public service," he wrote.

Mike Morrice, who was elected for the Greens in Kitchener Centre, ruled himself out of the race to replace Paul.

Morrice has been urged by many within the party to throw his hat into the ring, but the rookie MP said he wanted to concentrate on representing his constituents in Parliament.

"While I'm open-minded about my future, my immediate focus remains on the job my neighbours across Kitchener Centre have sent me to Ottawa to do: to respectfully advocate on their priorities, from the unaffordability of housing to the climate crisis," he told The Canadian Press.

"Having just completed my first day of orientation as a rookie MP, I intend on staying focused on working across party lines to make progress on these concerns."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2021.

— With a file from Marie Woolf

Liam Casey and Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press

Smearing Paul

I came across this article on Ron Paul being associated with the American Nazi party, posted on Indymedia. It is innuendo and a drive by smear.

Like this one or this one. We can expect to see more of them in the coming days resurfacing as Paul's campaign gains momentum and becomes more visible in the MSM.

Now the smear campaign makes it into the main stream press. It began last fall and gained more attention during the New Hampshire primary .The smear campaign comes from the left and the right.

First, the New York Times claims that Ron Paul is in cahoots with KKK racists. Then they retract the story because the paper failed to properly investigate its own story. Jamie Kirchick of the pro-war publication "New Republic", owned in part by Roger Hertog (a neoconservative), went on Tucker Carlson's show tonight to supposedly prove that Ron Paul is a racist, that he called Martin Luther King horrible things and is a secessionist (i.e. he probably supports slavery as well).

On the Tucker Carlson Show, The New Republic’s Jamie Kirchick accused Ron Paul of engaging in a massive conspiracy to propagate a racist agenda by speaking to white supremacists in code. He explained that when regular viewers and Paul supporters think they are hearing a typical stump speech or a press interview, they are actually the witless pawns of Paul and his real, intended audience. Sure, it sounds like Paul is spreading a message of freedom and liberty, but Kirchick insists that Paul has woven an encoded message of hate into his live-and-let-live platform. Kirchick did not explain how he managed to crack the code. Nor did he explain why Paul chooses to spread his message this way rather than, you know…using telephones.

Alyssa Lopez | January 8, 2008, 1:40am | #James Kirchick is a Giuliani supporter

Of course American politics is the politics of conspiracy and conspiracy theories, has been since the founding of the republic. You can't have a revolution after all without a conspiracy of equals.

And of course Paul like other fringe political candidates has support amongst well the fringe, where conspiracy theories abound like jelly beans. And some of these folks are racist, antisemitic, red necks. But that doesn't mean Paul is.
After all he is a genuine libertarian not a poser like Ted Morton.

But to smear his libertarian politics as racist or Nazi is to misunderstand American libertarianism. It is a desperate attempt to equate libertarianism with secessionist white nationalism, etc. deliberately divorcing it from its roots in the traditions of Lysander Spooner, Josiah Warren, Benjamin Tucker,Lucy Parsons, Voltairine de Cleyre , Emma Goldman, etc.

And later in the Sixties with the New Left Alliance of Murray Rothbard and Sam Konkin with the likes of Carl Davidson and Carl Oglesby of the SDS. This is tradition that Paul comes from, not the Ayn Rand Objectivism of the right wing conservative establishment as exemplified by Allan Greenspan.

It is the same smear that has been used against other anarchists be it Proudhon, who was accused of antisemitism and mysogny, or Bakunin, again antisemitism. Or Aleister Crowley, who deliberately and with calculated glee made outrageous sexist and racist statements to upset the staid Edwardian bourgeois. Rather than argue their ideas, one focuses on their political foibles. In Bakunin's case his fatal alliance with Nechayev. Antisemitism is also a smear that has been used against Marx to devalue his theories. It is the oldest canard and apparently still a useful one.

This smear campaign against Paul can be seen in the same light. On the right it is the desperation of the War Mongering Imperialist establishment. On the left it is fear of his growing popularity amongst the anti-war left, progressives and liberals.

Ron Paul Statement on The New Republic Article Regarding Old Newsletters

Tue Jan 8, 2008 4:26pm EST

ARLINGTON, Va.--(Business Wire)--
In response to an article published by The New Republic,
Ron Paul issued the following statement:

"The quotations in The New Republic article are not mine and do
not represent what I believe or have ever believed. I have never
uttered such words and denounce such small-minded thoughts.

"In fact, I have always agreed with Martin Luther King, Jr. that
we should only be concerned with the content of a person's character,
not the color of their skin. As I stated on the floor of the U.S.
House on April 20, 1999: 'I rise in great respect for the courage and
high ideals of Rosa Parks who stood steadfastly for the rights of
individuals against unjust laws and oppressive governmental policies.'

"This story is old news and has been rehashed for over a decade.
It's once again being resurrected for obvious political reasons on the
day of the New Hampshire primary.

"When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine full-time, a
newsletter was published under my name that I did not edit. Several
writers contributed to the product. For over a decade, I have
publically taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention
to what went out under my name."

d blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Bemjamin Tucker, Liberty, Lysander Spooner, Godwin, Constitution, law, libertarian, anarchism, invdidualist-anarchist, Proudhon, mutualist, mutualism, anarchist-law, Ayn Rand, Republicans, US Presidential race, Ron Paul, US, libertarian, Democrats,

State Department official resigns over U.S. support for Israel's actions in Gaza

Doug Cunningham
Thu, October 19, 2023 

State Department official Josh Paul resigned Thursday over what he said was continued U.S. weapons shipments to Israel. He condemned the Hamas terror attack on Israel as "monstrous" but also said Israel's siege of Gaza civilians was collective punishment that violates human rights. 

Photo courtesy of Josh Paul LinkedIn


Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A State Department official has resigned over what he says is the Biden administration's decision to keep sending arms to Israel even as it imposes a siege on Gaza that violates international law according to the U.N. Human Rights Office.

Josh Paul, who worked for 11 years at the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, posted his resignation letter on LinkedIn.

In it, he wrote, "Let me be clear: Hamas' attack on Israel was not just a monstrosity; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities. I also believe that potential escalations by Iran-linked groups such as Hezbollah, or by Iran itself, would be a further cynical exploitation of the existing tragedy."

He added, "But I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people -- and is not in the long term American interest."

Paul explained that, "Decades of the same approach have shown that security for peace leads to neither security, nor to peace. The fact is, blind support for one side is destructive in the long term to the interests of the people on both sides. I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it for longer."

Paul said he believes the administration's response is an impulsive reaction built on "confirmation bias, political convenience, intellectual bankruptcy and bureaucratic inertia."

Paul wrote that what he desires most is that both Israelis and Palestinians have protection and the right to flourish.

"The murder of civilians is an enemy to that desire -- whether by terrorists as they dance at a rave, or by terrorists as they harvest their olive grove," Paul said in his resignation letter. "The kidnapping of children is an enemy to that desire -- whether taken at gunpoint from their kibbutz or taken at gunpoint from their village. And, collective punishment is an enemy to that desire, whether it involves demolishing one home, or one thousand; as too is ethnic cleansing; as too is occupation; as too is apartheid."

Paul said he had seen U.S. weapons shipments sent to other Middle Eastern countries, even when federal should have prevented them.

He said when gross violations of human rights occur, like the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel or when Israel cuts off water, electricity, food and medicine to millions of people in a "collective punishment" the U.N. deems a violation of international law, the U.S. must call it out.

"And, when they happen, to be able to name gross violations of human rights no matter who carries them out, and to be able to hold the perpetrators accountable -- when they are adversaries, which is easy, but most particularly, when they are partners," Paul wrote.


Veteran State Dept. Official resigns over U.S.'s 'blind support' of Israel in its war against Hamas

Abigail Williams and Summer Concepcion
Thu, October 19, 2023 

GPO

A State Department official with over a decade of experience in the agency’s bureau that oversees U.S. arms sales resigned this week, citing what he called the U.S.'s "blind support" for Israel in its war with Hamas war and its continued "provision of lethal arms to Israel."

Josh Paul, who served as director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for more than 11 years, posted a letter about his resignation, dated Wednesday, to LinkedIn.

In the letter, which was first reported by HuffPost, Paul wrote that Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel was a “monstrosity” and criticized the Biden administration’s assistance to the country.

"I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued — indeed, expanded and expedited — provision of lethal arms to Israel — I have reached the end of that bargain," he wrote.

“I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people, and is not in the long term American interest,” Paul wrote. “This Administration’s response — and much of Congress’ as well — is an impulsive reaction built on confirmation bias, political convenience, intellectual bankruptcy and bureaucratic inertia.”

“That is to say, it is immensely disappointing, and entirely unsurprising,” he added. “Decades of the same approach have shown that security for peace leads to neither security, nor to peace. The fact is, blind support for one side is destructive in the long term to the interest of the people on both sides. I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it for longer.”

Paul said that he has “deep personal ties to both sides of the conflict” and he wrote his master’s thesis on Israeli counterterrorism and civil rights. He also said he served for the U.S. Security Coordinator, "living in Ramallah while advancing security sector governance within the Palestinian Authority and liaising with the [Israel Defense Force]."

“I acknowledge and am heartened to see the efforts this Administration has made to temper Israel’s response, including advocating for the provision of relief supplies, electricity, and water to Gaza, and for safe passage,” he wrote. “In my role in the [Bureau of Political-Military Affairs], however, my responsibilities lie solidly in the arms transfer space. And that is why I have resigned from the U.S. Government, and from PM.”

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters when asked for a response to Paul's letter.

Paul’s resignation letter was posted to Linkedin on the day of President Joe Biden’s latest trip to Israel, during which he reaffirmed his support for the country and said that he was planning to ask Congress for an “unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense.” Biden also announced $100 million in new U.S. funding for humanitarian aid to both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

During his remarks in Tel Aviv, Biden said that a “terrorist group in Gaza” was apparently responsible for the deadly blast at a Christian-run hospital in Gaza City that is estimated to have killed hundreds.

When asked what made him confident the Israelis were not behind the hospital explosion, Biden said: “The data I was shown by my Defense Department." He did not provide any supporting evidence.

NBC News previously reported that the U.S. has an independent assessment that it was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad group rocket that misfired and hit the hospital in Gaza, according to two senior U.S. officials.

That would match what Israeli officials have said caused the blast. Palestinian health officials and Hamas have blamed an Israeli airstrike for the explosion, which they said killed almost 500 people.

The Biden administration is expected to submit to Congress this week a request for supplemental funding package that is likely to seek $60 billion for Ukraine, a lawmaker and two sources with knowledge of the request told NBC News on Wednesday. The rest of the request will include roughly $40 billion to provide aid to Israel, Taiwan and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Following his trip to Israel, Biden is scheduled deliver a prime-time foreign policy speech to the country on Thursday night, during which he's expected to address the administration’s response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

As of Thursday morning, more than 3,700 people have been killed and more than 13,000 have been injured in Gaza. In Israel, 1,400 people have been killed and 3,500 wounded.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

'I Couldn't Shift Anything': Senior State Department Official Resigns Over Biden's Gaza Policy

Akbar Shahid Ahmed
Updated Wed, October 18, 2023 

Veteran State Department official Josh Paul resigned from the agency on Tuesday over President Joe Biden’s approach to Israel-Palestine, telling HuffPost he felt he had to do so because he knew he could not push for a more humane policy within the U.S. government.

“I have had my fair share of debates and discussions and efforts to shift policy on controversial arms sales,” said Paul, who spent more than 11 years at State’s bureau of political-military affairs, which handles weapons deals. He most recently served as the bureau’s director of congressional and public affairs.

“It was clear that there’s no arguing with this one. Given that I couldn’t shift anything, I resigned,” he told HuffPost on Wednesday evening in his first media interview since he revealed his decision, which he also described in a LinkedIn post.

The department received “a clear top-down guidance that we are moving forward with everything we can,” Paul said. Asked when he decided to quit, he told HuffPost: “I wouldn’t say there was a single decision point — it was watching things unfold over the last 10 days.”

In response to an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Israel has been waging an increasingly aggressive campaign in Gaza, where Hamas is based and more than 2 million people live in already impoverished conditions. Biden has repeatedly promised extensive support to Israel in its operation.

Multiple officials within the Biden administration who want the U.S. to encourage Israeli restraint and concern for civilians as the country seeks to exact vengeance against Hamas have told HuffPost they are experiencing a chilling effect.

Paul’s public announcement of his resignation sent shockwaves through the State Department on Wednesday. He said he was struck by how colleagues across the government and in Congress received his internal message: “I’ve been surprised by how many have said, ‘We absolutely understand where you’re coming from, we feel similarly and understand.’”

Paul told HuffPost he had been on leave last week, adding: “It was pretty fortunate because I think if I hadn’t been I would have been fired rather than have the time to think it over and resign.”

A State Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Paul’s decision.

I wouldn’t say there was a single decision point — it was watching things unfold over the last 10 days.Former State Department official Josh Paul

In his LinkedIn message, Paul noted that he felt he had been able to use his role to make “many differences ... on pending administration decisions to transfer lethal weapons to countries that abuse human rights, to sculpting policies and practices that advance human rights, to working tirelessly to advance those policies and decisions that are good and just.”

Various U.S. presidents considered and approved billions of dollars in arms sales to controversial nations during his tenure — for instance, to Saudi Arabia in its ongoing war in Yemen.

“When I came to this bureau ... I knew it was not without its moral complexity and moral compromises, and I made myself a promise that I would stay for as long as I felt … the harm I might do could be outweighed by the good I could do,” Paul wrote on LinkedIn. “In my 11 years I have made more moral compromises than I can recall, each heavily, but each with my promise to myself in mind, and intact. I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued – indeed, expanded and expedited – provision of lethal arms to Israel – I have reached the end of that bargain.”

Paul described Hamas’ assault on Israel ― which killed more than 1,400 people ― as “a monstrosity of monstrosities.”

“But I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people,” he continued.

He concluded his note by wishing fellow government officials “continued success, strength and courage.”

“And I wish all of us ― peace,” Paul said.

It's All About Paul

Why Progressives Cannot Vote Liberal

Cerberus has an excellent article defending the Liberals and attacking the Conservatives in these final days before E-Day.

That being said I disagree with him completely when he says the only choice is between these two parties. I began to leave him a comment but it was getting long, then longer so I thought I would post it here and expand on it.

To say that the Martin Team, NOT the LIberal party, the Martin Team deserve to run this country well as the saying goes; they had their chance and they blew it.

With a minority government handed to them last election they were expected to make a go of it. And even knowing that they faced a disgruntled, ticked off Official opposition, they had to make a go of it. And they blew it. They remained arrogant, dismissive, ruling as they had for the last 12 years, as if they were the Natural Ruling Party. As if they had a majority. This arrogance was the same as that of their predecessor the ever hated Jean Chretien, the guy they fought to replace cause he was old news.

The whole Martin for Leader campaign was the pre-election campaign. And for two years before the 2004 election all these internal shenanigans reflected badly on the Liberal party. They showed a party indifferent to the needs of Canadians, a party more concerned with winning, and with its own internal needs.

After having been in the back rooms, then spending two years abandoning Chretien as they plotted their coup, Team Martin swept through the party purging enemies, and NOT making friends. In a very public way. There was no unification under Team Martin. There was a glorious purge, sweeping away all the Chretienites, in order to claim to be a whole new Liberal Party.

When they got to 24 Sussex they found out that Chretien still had a trick up his sleeve, he left them the ticking time bomb of Adscam. That is why no one can believe Team Martin. Even if Martin says he didn't know about Adscam and even though Gomery exonerated him that claim doesn't sit well with Canadians.

Because we see him as not wanting to know, too busy plotting to overthrow the boss. In effect we are saying he didn't do his job when he was Finance Minister and later when he dropped all his caucus affiliations to run his dump Chretien campaign.

So really if the Liberals loose this one it will be because Team Martin lost it for them three years ago as they brought out the long knives for Chretien. So intent on dumping him, they were solely focused on gaining power, now they appear as only focused on holding onto power. Which is so obvious to everyone in the Country that the vote will certainly go against them. It will go to the BQ, the Conservatives and the NDP. It will be an anybody but Team Martin/Scott Reid/John Duffy/etc. etc.

His own isolation from the party, from a real unified Liberal team, is so obvious that this election has shown him haggard, tired, overworked, short on supporters, short on support, short of new things to say. Team Martin has run this campaign, as they ran the ran the House, for the past eighteen months. They have been arrogant, elitist, out of touch with their base, and unwilling to be open to input from those outside of their small clique.

They are asking for us to vote for Paul Martin Liberal Leadership Candidate.
They have run both the 2004 and this election as if it were a Liberal Party Leadership race. A race they won at the expense of alienating the left of the party, the centre of the party and the right of the party. All that was left was incumbents, back benchers and Team Martin. Now that team is in real trouble where is Martin.

He has failed to campaign for his good pals Anne McLellan in Edmonton and Ralph Goodale in Saskatchewan. Loyal pals, who have taken it on the chin for Team Martin have been deserted by Paul and his crew. Why because there is no Team in I, Me, Paul Martin. This is Pauls war. Just like it was Pauls war against Jean. This is Paul's war against Stephen. This is Pauls election. This isn't about voting for a government its about voting just like in high school, for class president. In this case for Prime Minister.

Team Martin was all about making Paul Martin Prime Minister, as if the position was akin to the American Presidency. It was never about building the Liberal party. Sheila Copps and Warren Kinsella, are both right on this point. Team Martin was all about inheriting the mantel of governance, and placing the laurel wreath on Martins head. Hail Caesar.

This whole election has been not about Liberals versus Conservatives versus the NDP versus the Bloc. It has been about Paul Martin's Vision of Canada. Not the Liberal Party or its vision or representation of Canada. Of a party that is Canadian and conducts Canadian values by its cross country base a base that exists even in Tory blue Alberta. A base that will be gone after Monday night.

No this has always been about Paul. Paul versus Harper. Paul versus Layton. Paul versus Duceppe. The only political leader Paul has not been against is Jim Harris of the Green Party.

In the debates it was never about policy, platform, or party position. The Liberal Party was not in the debates. It watched Paul Martin perform in its name, and sat on the sidelines.

Team Martin has made this election about Paul and Stephen and Jack and Giles. Martin has personalized it. Ironically for all his exhortations of I Am Canada, Martins campaign has been the most American style campaign we have seen in years. And it hasn't worked.

The polls don't lie. They may not show the winner but they sure do show the loser and that loser is Paul Martin. Under his and Team Martins campaign the Liberal Party numbers have dropped and his personal appeal has declined so far that Jack Layton is meeting him on the way up. But Paul true to form will still be singing I Did My Way until the night the fat lady sings.

The choice Canadians face this election is between the right and the left. That leaves out Team Martin. They do not represent the Liberal Party, the traditional centre of Canadian politics. By personalizing it they have polarized the vote.

This Monday the Choice is clear it is a choice one of four PARTIES, The BQ, The Conservatives, The Greens or The NDP. There is no Liberal party in this election, certainly not one fit to govern as a government. There are four parties in this election running for government and opposition and one guy running for PM.

In English Canada if you are in the least progressive, centrist or to the left of centre, socially aware, concerned about fairness and social justice, and opposed to the Conservatives you have only one choice this election that is the NDP.

On Monday night it will not be a Liberal party loss it will be Paul Martin's loss, and he will go quietly into that good night. Because it has never been about government, good governance, or the Liberal Party. It has always been about Paul Martin Prime Minister. We are not voting out a government we are voting out a man so arrogant that he thought this election was all about being PM.

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