I don't get the reason to have a ron paul guest on, Brad, and what it actually adds to any rational dialog.

Sure, paul has said some good things about endless unfunded wars. He also say extreme waco on any number of things and, like the red-meat teabaggin' base, he believes in LETTING US DIE instead of having access to healthcare.

So I understand if the point is to show the repug party has little to no integrity and neither does their presidential selection process, there is a story here. But Malloy's listeners and your regulars already know this story.

IMHO, paul actually has no integrity at all or he would not have spent his career being the lone meaningless vote. His talk does not match his walk cuz he fully-knows he has positioned himself as a "maveric" within a group that will never follow what he says anyhow.

Please don't take this as an attack, Mr. Freiman - we have exchanged some messages this week and I think you know I support you and your work.

I think it is appropriate to post that it is reasonable to view paul as a charlatain of the worst type and if Wead wants to come and represent paul as some type of "victime" in all of this --- it is not likely that those hearing what he has to say will view his perspective (especially since he is a "historian" in a positive light in any manner.

It is sick how a wacko like paul is used to stir up an extreme fringe-base and be paraded around as some type of "working-man's" populist candidate!

Respectfully --- this is a very odd dialog when you actually consider paul has never fit in with the party he proclaims he wants to represent.

"I don't get the reason to have a ron paul guest on, Brad, and what it actually adds to any rational dialog."

That is a very sad and unfortunate comment, MV. I can't tell you how sorry I am to read it, as it taps into one of my greatest frustrations over the years, trying to get the (too few) folks aware of this mortifying issue to work together, to look beyond their partisan ideology. FYI, RP peeps have fought their asses off to protect their votes - battling the very same people you are fighting in WI, and with some good effect! Shame we can't get everyone to focus on the common ground so we can achieve critical mass and actually affect some real change.

I am not a huge fan of everything RP stands for, but I will fight to the end to have every single one of his legitimate votes counted, and so should you.

RP supporters have advanced the cause of election reform in ways DEMS haven't been able to do in 10 years of slinging away at this herculean slog.

...so so so sad to me that no one seems to care about election fraud unless it's THEIR guy getting jimmied. On both sides of the aisle.

I don't even give a flying, crapping rat who's in the race, anymore. All I care about is being able to KNOW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the candidate declared the winner is the one who received the most votes.

...the rest of the cultural / ideological differences we have as a nation will mete out with verifiable elections, IMHO.

I really really don't appreciate the divisive(and nasty) rhetoric you are using above to describe some of my favorite election integrity colleagues, some of our most ardent, most active citizens fighting for (all of) our right to have our votes counted as cast.

I will keep this short and then stay out of this thread - can't stomach the tripe about paul, knew I was likely to get dumped on, but still feel its appropriate to hold paul and his people accountable.

I think it is sad that you would disparage a comment which points out that LET HIM DIE ron paul gets far too much media attention and far too much mileage out of his false claims of being a "maverick" and somehow holding meaning stands on important issues.

Talk is cheap - he has NEVER done a thing to make his insane vision of libertarianism a reality but he has made millions of dollars spewing toxic crap.

LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE!

That's what he stands for and that's what his core supporters chant.

This parade of ignorance does is not entitled to unlimited air expose. ALEX JONES and many others carry paul's water.

Even if Brad is confident that he can grill this guy on the hot seat, perhaps even exposing the hypocracy and charade that the paul campaign always has been, it will be used to promote the ongoing festival of ignorance.

I am offended to see LET HIM DIE given a platform here under any circumstances, but don't see any legitimate story here that is consistent with anything else Brad blogs about or Mike talks about.

This is not NEWSWORTHY and if LET HIM DIE paul actually had any integrity, he wouldn't stand down year after years for all the shenanigans he and his supporters claim he endlessly endures.

I posted here because I thought it was appropriate to state right upfront what a fraud "money bomb" LET HIM DIE paul was. I can here he campaign's propaganda on ALEX JONES or WHAT REALLY HAPPENED.

I don't come here for that same programing. Just my opinion - stated directly and not withholding any punches.

Jeanne, I respectfully don't think we have a "shared agreement" on my point.

Jeanne, is it really the fact I directly quote the chants from repug debate --- paul's base, some of the most offensive chants ever heard on your TEE-VEE during a broadcast of a political event, what bothers you?

Intensre rhetoric about LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE chants and at least tacit approval of paul too extreme?

POPPYCOCK!

It is easy to jump on other people's rhetoric for whatever reason (stated or unstated).

Perhaps if some rhetoric sounds too inflamatory, it is because it is much closer to the truth than one is ready to accept.

LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE LET HIM DIE

That is hateful, vial, and un-christian (which paul and supporters claim to rMoney styhle hypocracy.

Maybe you come here for that --- I expect more. It is appropriate to discuss giving this radical and dangerous extremist a platform here.

What Jeannie said. (A Republican who wants free and fair elections too.)

Madison Voices ~ (if you're still participating in this thread)~

Clearly, you have made up your mind about RP supporters and nothing I type or write to you on a blog is likely to have much impact. I can feel your palpable anger vibe me from the nebulous regions of cyber-space. Thanks for that.

I'm very familiar w/ your work, follow your blog, and have great respect and gratitude for all you're doing / have done / will continue to do for clean elections in WI. I spent the last year and a half working very closely with several key WI election integrity groups with the same gusto I tap for ALL parties trying to verify elections; have spent years doing everything within my limited means to protect ALL elections, all voters, all parties from election manipulation and insider hooey.

And now I am just about as heartbroken by it all as I can be. WI on June 5th was sort of my final stolen election straw. I've spent 10 years at the slog, working with various groups from all sides of the aisle who would rather fight with each other than ORGANIZE and FIGHT the same cheating bad guys trying to "divide and conquer" us all...your comments are an indication that the bad guys are winning.

...

I would hope you would at least give a listen to the archives of Brad's show tonight(now posted above) and hear out the very people you're demonizing.
They have a great story.
And it was a great show.
Best.
jeannie

I just absorbed this comment, MV:

"Jeannie, is it really the fact I directly quote the chants from repug debate --- paul's base..."

Er...not sure where you're getting that - I'm not sure it's correct to say that the Republican audiences for those "debates" are Ron Paul's base. Those audiences are carefully screened to get just the right amount of venom in the room to make good TV / Political narrative. As far as I know, Ron Paul supporters often found themselves marginalized at these events.

In fact, Ron Paul's "base" was even ousted from their own OPEN CAUCUSES by the GOP state chairs, while following all the GOP rules of order - and the RP supporters fought back. They're still fighting. The GOP. As a result, they have been (unlawfully) arrested and physically hobbled, as Brad details in the second hour of his broadcast tonight...

Also -I'm not that the comment you're referring to was ever attributed to a Paul supporter. Tho' I'll try to check.

Remember the original Ron Paul "base" was hijacked by the GOP in 2009 - the astro-turfing Koch Bros funded TEA PARTY EXPRESS. There IS a difference between the two groups. They split in 2010 after a contentious fall-out re: the direction of the movement, if I'm not mistaken.

Just FYI...

Like your show... BUT do be aware that Ron Paul has the all-time most disgusting voting record when it comes to veteran issues. I don't care to hear from others their ignorant excuses that RonMorons have come up with this repulsive attitude as expressed by his actual votes in Congress.

I refer you to Full IAVA Report Card a link to the full pdf. I note that Paul has never been rated above an 'F' and he gets equally dismal marks from other veteran organizations.

For a quick look at any member that survived the unfortunate 2010 elections (where a number of 'A' scoring members were removed by tea party pigs) see Ron Paul jerks vets again

I supported neither war, though a veteran myself, but that gives no shelter to any who think they can then deprive the injured of expeditious and complete care.

Of course, the entire GOP was fully lying as they screamed 'Support the Troops' to any who would question their actions. They cut combat pay, military housing and numerous other personnel related funds as they sent them into get shot at.
For an excellent synopsis written by a military spouse with a plethora of QUALITY sources see Bush and GOP screwed troops repeatedly

Let's put an end to the myths re faux patriotism

Dear Madison Voices,

For what it's worth as I read these comments from the sidelines--

I don't think you got where Jeannie Dean was coming from concerning Ron Paul at all. Nothing you said spoke to what she was writing about. Maybe slow down and go back and read her initial response to you again? The main thing she's talking about/concerned about is election integrity. And on that score the Paul people have something to contribute.

I can certainly understand Madison's strenuous opposition to some of Ron Paul's substantive policies.

I touched upon the deficiencies of those policies in Rand Paul Exposes Libertarian Blind Spots and in 'Tea Party' Healthcare Plan - 'Let Them Die!'

But there are many substantive issues upon which Ron Paul is far more aligned with progressive causes than those advanced by President Obama, e.g., civil liberties, an immediate end not only to the war in Afghanistan but an end to Empire's global military presence, opposition to all forms of corporate subsidies, including oil industry subsidies, ending the fruitless and destructive 'war on drugs,' and election integrity.

It is one thing to say that you take vigorous exception to this or that policy position taken by Ron Paul and his supporters; quite another to suggest, as Madison did @1, that Paul supporters, who have some remarkable stories to tell about the war on democracy carried out inside the GOP by the Party establishment, does not "add to the rational dialogue."

As Mike Malloy points out, it's nice Ron Paul opposes the foreign wars the U.S. is now engaged in. The problem is he wants to wage war on Americans --- by ending Social Security, by ending Medicare and Medicaid, and by ending all manner of regulation.

Thank you, Brad, for uncovering that story about the Republican Party brutally suppressing Ron Paul supporters in the lead-up to their national convention in Tampa. That tells me what they have planned for the rest of us.

Great shows as always, Brad. You and Desi should have your own show on Current TV. Until then, would it be possible for you to also become Bob Kincaid's regular fill-in host? Bob frequently has to shut down his show for a few days so he can personally campaign against mountaintop removal. If Stephanie Miller can lend you her L.A. studio, you can use these fill-in spots to keep brad-casting --- and help raise money for Bob's show, Stephanie's show, and for your website. I see a win-win-win here!

Ron Paul wants to give states their individual rights to vote on abortion....the states choose individually, not the government. Paul is an obstetrician so he of course does not condone abortion, however he knows it isn't up to him or the government to decide on abortion. It's freedom he believes in....freedom from big government.

Yes, Bonnie (#12). Paul wants freedom: freedom for corporations to pollute, discriminate, pay subsistence wages, and defraud investors; freedom for individuals to die from inadequate health care, to live in constant fear of being fired, and to live in penury.

Can I just say that "freedom from big government" is for me a big catch phrase almost completely devoid of meaning? Cuz unless you're going to fundamentally change the way we do everything, which I'm all for but which I don't here any politician on any side really talking about, something big is going to be having some big say in a lot of things. There have to be some rules and it sorta depends who you want to set them. I don't think the problem is so much big government, as it is stupid, corrupt, not really representing the people government.
In addition, the wacko conservatives in congress say "freedom from big government" but it means nothing cuz they're all for government telling you who to marry, what women can and can not do with their bodies, and for having the biggest military in the world imposing our idea of "freedom" all around the planet.
The Ron Paul "freedom from big government" to me looks too much like it'd be replacing big government with big corporations, since he's such a "free market" kinda guy.
The way things are currently set up here, it's an intertwining of the government and the corporations running things with the people now entering another phase of pushing back.
If you wanna talk smaller government you gotta talk more self-sufficient communities with smaller more localized energy systems and more locally grown food for starters.
If Ron Paul or the clowns in congress ever start talking in those terms(and I ain't holdin' my breath)I'll give 'em a listen, but as things stand now when I hear "freedom from big government", I hear--here comes the hypocrisy parade.