Gawker: ron paul

Ron Paul Writes His Memoir

Michael Weiss — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:04:26 EDT

Ron Paul, the former presidential candidate and gold-lovin', sallow lady doctor, has just got a well remunerated go-ahead by Grand Central Publishing to write a book called The Revolution: A Memoir. A sequel to his New York Times number-one bestseller The Revolution: A Manifesto, and very likely a precursor to Paulismo: Year Zero, the book will teach legions of libertarians how to make napalm out of the tears of neoconservatives and also recount the Texas congressman's "career in politics, revealing his encounters with the major political figures over the last thirty years, and those events that shaped him and made him the man and politician he is." Another hit.

But here's hoping the editors at Grand Central are more discriminating than the gang at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, who were responsible for putting out those notorious, bigoted Ron Paul newsletters, which the New Republic sifted through many months ago.

[Observer]

Ron Paul Doesn't Look So "Crazy" Now, Does He, New Yorkers?

Ryan Tate — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:09:02 EDT

Look, it's Ron Paul! But what is he doing in New York, the fancy magazine for elites, alongside establishment finance types like a former Morgan Stanley economist and a famous investor? Isn't he sort of "kooky?" Everyone (who didn't live in a basement or wasn't a furry) laughed at Paul's quest for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, especially since Paul wanted to get rid of the Federal Reserve and take America back to the gold standard, in which money is backed by something other than the worthless promises of filthy bankers and shiftless bureaucrats. But now it looks like the Fed's board of governors may be leading us into depression, and even that capitalist bible the Wall Street Journal ran an article this weekend speculating that the thinking behind the gold standard, if not the standard itself, "will have its day again." So Paul's stock is rising! Let's hear what terrible things he has to say about our future:

“I think we are maybe 10 percent into this crisis. The economic distortions have been building for longer than we’ve seen in the history of the world. Never have we had such confidence falsely placed in a reserve currency.”

Ha ha, you know what's funny about that Ron Paul quote? It's probably the least disturbing one in the entire New York charticle. The people from inside the financial system sound far more depressing. Here's the former Morgan Stanley chief economist:

“The American consumer is toast. We’re talking a multiyear adjustment, at least two or three years, maybe more. Does that mean America is over? Does that mean we have a whole new world order? The jury’s out on that

If you really want to ruin your Monday, go ahead and click through and read the other two quotes. The short version is that you'll soon be starving in the street, but in the meantime don't stop reading, because there's this new tapas place New York would like to tell you about!

[New York]

Paultards Hijack Times Bestseller List

Ryan Tate — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:44:37 EDT

Kooky libertarian Ron Paul has already lost the Republican presidential nomination to John McCain, but he's technically still in the race and even picked up 16 percent of the no-doubt-minimal Republican voting in Pennsylvania. And Paul apparently still commands an army of internet zealots who spam online comment boards in between World of Warcraft guild quests, because his troops just pushed Paul's new book Revolution to the top of the May 18 Times bestseller list for nonfiction. Vanity Fair took a look at some of their shady tactics, happily confirmed by Paul's publisher Grand Central:

Paul loyalists have been responsible for much of Revolution’s success, with more than 7,000 supporters pledging to buy copies at ronpaulbookbomb.com, a site affiliated with neither the publisher nor the Paul campaign, and individual Paulheads buying as many as “five, ten, fifteen” copies at a time at signings. “A big email blast” from Paul’s presidential campaign to its list of supporters has also helped. “It’s been its own sort of phenomenon,” [a publisher spokeswoman] says.

Revolution currently has a level of reader-review praise rarely seen on Amazon, with 236 reviews out of 245 giving it a perfect five stars.

The Times put a dagger next to the book's ranking because of all the bulk orders.

But of course Paul supporters could care less about that, they just want to influence the Republican platform at the nominating convention. Which is why we'll soon be allowing deportation of native-born Mexicans, paying for lattes with gold coins and banning abortion. Yay Ron Paul!

[Vanity Fair]

Ron Paul Buries Rudy

Pareene — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:33:45 EST

Internet sensation Ron Paul beat former New York Commandant Rudy Giuliani in last night's Michigan primary. In fact, the government-hating congressman received more than twice as many votes as America's Mayor. Paul also beat Giuliani in Iowa and beat Fred "Die Harder" Thompson in New Hampshire. Also he has a goddamn blimp. All hail Ron Paul! Digg this post! Let's elect the internet! Ron Paul/Corey Delaney '08! [LATimes]

Writers Do Matter! (Sorta)

Pareene — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:47:43 EST

Ever since the late night talk shows returned to the air, Leno has been beating Letterman in the ratings, as he has for a good dozen years. This despite Leno still working without his writers (a terrible, uncomfortable sight), all of whom are still on strike. Letterman's production company's deal with the WGA gave him back his staff, but hasn't awarded him a ratings edge—until Monday! "In the overnight ratings, measuring the country's 65 largest cities, Mr. Letterman had a 4 rating on Monday to Mr. Leno's 3.8. (Each point is worth 787,659 households.)." Of course, Leno still won the first half-hour. But once they brought the guests out, Letterman had America's favorite Oscar-whoring not-funny-anymore superstar Tom Hanks! Leno had Ron Paul. Enough to win an unscientific online poll, yes, but not to beat Forrest Gump in Nielsen households. So writers finally have some proof that their contributions are important! Specifically, their contribution of a sad picket line that SAG members and bleeding-heart superstars will hopefully continue to refuse to cross. [NYT]

Rudy is a loser!

Pareene — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:58:04 EST

According to MSNBC analysts, including Joe Scarborough, Pat Buchanan, and Howard Fineman, John McCain's decisive victory in New Hampshire is fantastic news for Rudy Giuliani's campaign and their decision to enter the race late with a focus on Florida. But, according to those same analysts, McCain's strong showing in New Hampshire may spell doom for Rudy's plan to enter the race late, in Florida. Also: Ron Paul might beat Rudy in New Hampshire. Is the state located on the internet?

Fox's Hannity pursued by Ron Paul supporters

Nick Denton — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:06:21 EST

You've heard those libertarians were fanatics. You have no idea. Watch a group of Ron Paul supporters pursuing Sean Hannity, the Fox News host, after the cable news network shut the libertarian candidate out of its next television debate. The clip, after the jump.

MySpace Primary Winner Ron Paul Will Boost Your Traffic!

Pareene — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:47:25 EST

Have you heard of Ron Paul? He is running for president. He has a blimp. He would like to abolish the government and bring back the gold standard. His internet fans are legion, and they are also nuts. Did we mention that they got him a blimp? And whenever Ron Paul is mentioned, on the internet, in just about any capacity, on sites large or small, the Paultards show up en masse to argue in the comments and berate the regulars. Then they spam Digg with it. It's called The Ron Paul Effect. Would you like the hear the headline of the single worst press release of 2008 so far? It is: "MySpace Community Chooses Barack Obama and Ron Paul as Leading Presidential Candidates in Nation's First Presidential Primary." See? And everyone on the internet can play along.

The Ron Paul Effect helps explain why Jeff Bercovici and Silicon Alley Insider both covered Fox's decision to uninvite Paul from the next GOP debate, and stuck Paul's name in their headlines (much like we did!). Duncan Hunter, similarly uninvited by Fox, got no such treatment.

Bercovici admitted the whole game to acting Gawker Managing Editor Nick Denton:

I wanted to write the item anyway but putting his name in the hed was definitely a traffic ploy. I tried to get "Julia Allison liveblogging" in there also, but it wouldn't fit.

(Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul Ron Paul.)

Sorry, Ron Paul> Why Fox Should Limit Debate [Portfolio]
Fox Snub Boosts Ron Paul [Silicon Alley Insider]
Related: The Ron Paul Blog Bomb [Anti-Positivist]