Show: The Thom Hartmann Program
Host: Thim Hartmann
Date: 08/27/2010
Transcript
Thom Hartmann: Arguably one of the most conservative guys in politics is Ron Paul, or at least libertarian. He ran for president on the Libertarian ticket once and [is] the Republican Congressman from Texas. He’s been on this program a number of times and in the past we’ve debated issues or argued issues but I wanted to bring him on and congratulate him and have a broader discussion about some of the areas where we agree on the fundamental core values of America that I think are neither left nor right, neither Democrat nor Republican, neither Libertarian nor Socialist. Congressman Ron Paul, RonPaul.org by the way, the website. Welcome back to our program, Sir.
Ron Paul: Thank you, Thom. God be with you.
Thom Hartmann: Thank you. You took a very noble and courageous step when you contradicted not only your party but your son as well in saying that this so called ‘Ground Zero Mosque’… it’s actually a Muslim community center two blocks away from Ground Zero, the same distance as Starbucks and a strip club. There’s another actual mosque four blocks away, that this was being basically demagogued by people who were peddling hate.
Ron Paul: Yes, and I believe their goal was not only to peddle the hate but to justify the war. We have perpetual war, the global war, and of course, we have to have an enemy and the people have to be hateful of the enemy to be willing to die and sacrifice so much. And if there’s not a real good excuse, then the people don’t support the war. So they have to have hatred. I see, from my viewpoint, hatred of all Muslims. And we do know that the people who attacked us on 9/11 were Muslims but I think there’s more to it than that. I think it’s perfectly alright to address the subject of the danger of Al-Qaeda, which is a small number of people of the Muslim faith. And I don’t like blanket accusations and I believe that they were just trying to justify the perpetual invasion and occupation, and planning to go and attack the next Muslim nation, it’s totally unrelated to 9/11.
Thom Hartmann: Right. This would be not unlike saying that “David Koresh was a wackadoodle Christian therefore we have to declare war on the Christian countries. Let’s start bombing France tomorrow.”
Ron Paul: Yeah. The analogy I used was Timothy McVeigh. He was Christian and he killed a lot of people, and yet he doesn’t represent hardly any Christian and if there were some, I would say that they’re very confused about the Christian faith and I personally know a lot of Muslims. I’ve worked with them in the medical profession and they’re friends. And I just think through study and history, although people can cite violence in their religion, I think some can find that in the Jewish religion and the Christian religion too. There’s been a lot of killing. There’s a lot of killing in the Bible and yet that doesn’t mean that everybody endorses use of violence because if you want to go and look at all the great religions, usually you find very, very similar statements about love and peace, and no war, and I’d like to concentrate more on that.
Thom Hartmann: Yeah, me too. Congressman Ron Paul who’s on the line, www.RonPaul.org, his website. Congressman, in the Republican Party, in your party, there seems to be a scism. There’s certainly a big scism in the Democratic Party which we can also talk about, but you know your party better than I do. And I’m seeing, for example, Bill McCollum, the guy who just lost the Republican primary to Rick Scott, to run for governor of Florida. He now is refusing to endorse Rick Scott because Rick Scott basically bought the election with $50 million. The Citizens United decision of the Supreme Court that allows wealthy people, actually the Supreme Court knocked down the part of McCain-Feingold two years ago actually, that allowed wealthy people to self-finance on an unlimited basis during elections and thus we have Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman in California. I’m guessing that the Libertarian side of you thinks rich people should be able to do what they want but what about the impact that this kind of thing has on democracy in a republic and your own party?
Ron Paul: Well, it’s the fact the government’s big and they can pass out so much is the problem, not to the fact that you can have an organization, you can spend your money any way you want. That is what I think is the problem rather than saying the right of corporations. Even corporations… See, I have trouble with that court ruling because I don’t know whom you work for but if you work for a corporation…
Thom Hartmann: I work for myself.
Ron Paul: Okay. But let’s say you work for the New York Times and the New York Times is a corporation. The New York Times, at least in the old days, newspapers could destroy a candidate and they could do anything that they want. They can endorse, bias the news, and everything else. But that corporation has different protection than say Corporation ABC that doesn’t have the so-called ‘the protection of freedom of press’. And I don’t think you should be able to divide people like I think rights should always be equal. So if the corporation on the radio and the TV, or a newspaper can do something up to the last minute, and slant the news, why shouldn’t other people spend their money in support or counteracting that?
Thom Hartmann: Are you suggesting that when the Fourteenth Amendment was written back during Reconstruction in 1874, in order to free black people, and it said that no person should be denied equal access under the law, equal protection under the law, that as proponents of… I’m sorry, my screen is flashing and it’s distracting me. I’m trying to organize this thought. That that means that corporations are persons and… I mean, this is the argument that was put forward by the railroad barons of the day that not they themselves, not Jay Gould and Samuel Huntington. Not they themselves but that their corporations were persons because it didn’t say natural person in the Fourteenth Amendment and corporations of course are artificial persons. They can buy land and they can be sued, and pay taxes, and things like that. Are you suggesting that you agree with that notion? That corporations should have the rights of persons?
Ron Paul: Well, I think the person who labels themselves a corporation would have equal rights whether they’re an independent business group or a newspaper company.
Thom Hartmann: But they’re getting special privileges. They’re getting tax breaks. They’re getting limitations of liability. They’re getting all kinds of things. Why should they be protected under the…
Ron Paul: Well, the tax breaks, I think everybody should have a tax break because I don’t think you have to pay for a tax break. I just…
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lets kill the mosque, If Rick Scott was able to kill the Florida High speed rail, the govenor of NY should kill the mosque off of ground Zero
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Your nickname is “ispeaktruthful” and you have the nerve to call Ron Paul dumb?
»crosslinked«
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Your nickname is “ispeaktruthful” and you have the nerve to call Ron Paul dumb?
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Your nickname is “ispeaktruthful” and you have the nerve to call Ron Paul dumb?
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Your nickname is “ispeaktruthful” and you have the nerve to call Ron Paul dumb?
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Is Ron part of illuminati blood line?
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Ron Paul said Sarah Palin could be president if she surrounded herself with advisors. You lost my confidence Ron!!!
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Ron Paul said Sarah Palin could be president if she surrounded herself with advisors. You lost my confidence Ron!!!
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Ron Paul you are a wonderful person you get my families vote. Your common sense is all we need.
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Nice short comment. I guess it’s not hard to keep your comments short when you are just making ad hominem attacks that have no basis in reality eh?
If you care to elaborate in your next reply you are going to have to type out more than a regurgitated soundbite. If not, feel free to post another one line ad hominem attack, in which case you will get the only response idiocy like yours deserves, none.
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We are a constitutional republic where rule of the masses takes 2nd to rule of law. The liberals have done a good job of making people think we are a democracy first, but this is a perversion of the truth. The electoral college protects us from mob rule & the oath in which our represenatives sware to uphold to the constitution. The founders were wise in protecting the rights of individuals or we probably would have reverted to tyranical rule by now as there are so many ignorant sheeple
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We are a constitutional republic where rule of the masses takes 2nd to rule of law. The liberals have done a good job of making people think we are a democracy first, but this is a perversion of the truth. The electoral college protects us from mob rule & the oath in which our represenatives sware to uphold to the constitution. The founders were wise in protecting the rights of individuals or we probably would have reverted to tyranical rule by now as there are so many ignorant sheeple
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can’t agree more, but lets not forget that it’ll always go back to how the majority of people are, you can’t have wise public servant when the people only care about “pleasuring” themselves, the majority has to at least have an average political awareness to keep reminding politicians that they’re the public’s servants and not the other way around. Educating people is the hardest way but it sure is the real long term solution, political awareness has to become a tradition IMHO.
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A once complacent population is becoming involved in government workings once again. Incumbant Republicans & Democrats are being retired as we are understanding it has taken members from both parties to act so incompetantly to bring us to the point we are now.
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A once complacent population is becoming involved in government workings once again. Incumbant Republicans & Democrats are being retired as we are understanding it has taken members from both parties to act so incompetantly to bring us to the point we are now.
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I think you are getting him mixed up with Thom “I think there is significant evidence for the supernatural” Hartmann.
You see Ron Paul has an MD from Duke University School of Medicine while Thom Hartmann has a PHD in… Homeopathy (hahahaha) from…Brantridge (???).
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Ron Paul lol? he is so dumb its funny.
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Your republic isn’t serving its public for the time being. Unfortunately for the US of A Ron Paul is an exception not the rule. I believe that any president who wants to challenge the corporate puppeteers, should be ready to sacrifice his life because when you’re addicted to power which IMHO is the most powerful of all drugs, you’ll do anything to keep the euphoria going even if it means getting rid of presidents or crashing economies.
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lol
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He is pro private property. I’m sure he thinks it is incredibly offensive, but will not yeild to government discrimination to individual rights. NewYork has the right to challenge the property use as it is not unconstitutional to have them build it some place else if the city decides that spot would better serve the community in a better way.
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He is pro private property. I’m sure he thinks it is incredibly offensive, but will not yeild to government discrimination to individual rights. NewYork has the right to challenge the property use as it is not unconstitutional to have them build it some place else if the city decides that spot would better serve the community in a better way.
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It’s amazing how Tom claims to be at one time a Libertarian, then can regress into a liberal. Most people advance in age, he is an acception.
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It’s amazing how Tom claims to be at one time a Libertarian, then can regress into a liberal. Most people advance in age, he is an acception.
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He is traveling the middleeast allegedly advancing promuslim relations with the US. He is also pro shia, & does not view hezbollah as terrorists. We are a REPUBLIC not a democracy as the liberal media & democratic politicians here would like the world to believe. I call them as I see them & there are some true scoundrels benefitting from a once complacent population. Obama is a 1 term President as many senators will be finding the door come november.
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He is traveling the middleeast allegedly advancing promuslim relations with the US. He is also pro shia, & does not view hezbollah as terrorists. We are a REPUBLIC not a democracy as the liberal media & democratic politicians here would like the world to believe. I call them as I see them & there are some true scoundrels benefitting from a once complacent population. Obama is a 1 term President as many senators will be finding the door come november.
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Maybe you also didn’t know that that imam since 911 helped and is still helping the US government, he’s in a way a traitor in the eyes of the extremists. Look friend i’m not the one living in a democracy but when anyone is playing on people’s passions by blaming the -fill in the blank-, especially when the economy is in crisis, it starts looking like a very dangerous deja vu if you catch my drift.
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I hate Thom Hartmann with a passion but Ron Paul is a statesman.
Hartmann encapsulates both economic illiteracy and religious and mystical superstition (he has a PHD in homeopathy).
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I agree with Paul, but I think this is gonna hurt him big time in the 1012 primaries. I think he just should have said nothing. But then he wouldnt be Ron Paul..
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The Imam has come out to say he will allow Jews and Christians an area for worship so maybe he is not entirely the asshole I originally thought he was. They have a right to build according to zoning and cannot be denied the right to build a church under the Constitution, but property location is not relevant to freedom of religion. The courts have already established this, so New York has the ability to argue if it feels the property serves the good of the community in another way.
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The Imam has come out to say he will allow Jews and Christians an area for worship so maybe he is not entirely the asshole I originally thought he was. They have a right to build according to zoning and cannot be denied the right to build a church under the Constitution, but property location is not relevant to freedom of religion. The courts have already established this, so New York has the ability to argue if it feels the property serves the good of the community in another way.
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you should fear for your own rights if that muslim community center isn’t built, you fail to see the symbolism of denying a constitutional right to your own people on illogical claims, the only people who’ll gain anything from this ridiculous none-issue are extremists from both sides.
That community center will serve normal muslims and be a bridge to other communities, how the heck would that sully the memory of the dead of 911 who FYI included muslim americans. Wake the f up
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RON PAUL 2012 !!!!!
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The Imam has the legal right to build a mosque/community center, just as the state of NewYork has the right to see that property is used in a way that best suits the communities need. It’s dissapointing to see Ron Paul not acknowledge a property damaged by 911 as symbolic to those we are still at war with & discredit those who do see the symbolism. He is a true advocate for individual, & property rights so though I am disappointed I am not surprised.
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i think this man is a saint
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Where’s the rest of this
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