Transcript
Interviewer: Ron Paul is packing up his Washington condo this week, preparing to sell it and move back to Texas for good. Paul is retiring from Congress, and last week he gave a farewell address from the House floor, repeating the small-government sermon he first shouted in obscurity, and then injected into the national debate. With his time in Washington DC coming to a close, I sat down with Paul for a kind of ‘exit interview’.
Question: You’ve been here on-and-off since 1976, what would you say the three most damaging special interests are in Washington?
Ron Paul: You know, I see so many, and they’re all the same.
Interviewer: I know, but you much have some that really bother you.
Ron Paul: I think the military-industrial complex is very bad.
Interviewer: That was No.1.
Ron Paul: I don’t know if they should be in order.
Interviewer: Okay, don’t give them in order.
Ron Paul: Another one would be the banking system: how the Federal Reserve works and how it helps big banks. The interest that I would like to see, and that I worked on, was to try to get those people who just want their freedom to take care of themselves, and that’s the one that’s the least influential. Up here, it’s the people who want stuff and who get the benefits by just lobbying for those things that they want.
Interviewer: Another thing you mentioned in your farewell speech is your belief that we need to build coalitions, not necessarily reach compromises. And I wonder if you think your beliefs could be a 51% coalition in your lifetime, or in what timeframe?
Ron Paul: I think if I talk to a crowd of people, no matter which crowd, and say, “Do you believe in the free enterprise system, that people should be able to work and have their earning?” they say, “Yea, I believe that”. And if I asked, “Do you believe that your privacy should be protected, that the government shouldn’t be in your bedroom, that they shouldn’t be spying on you?” people would agree. And, most of the time when I asked, “Do you think we should be the policeman of the world?” they say, “No”. But when it comes to the particulars, they don’t stick with it, and they say, “Yes, but go too far, you want too much freedom”.
Interviewer: Well, this is another thing you touched on in that speech, you said this idea of liberty is popular, has been popular, so why doesn’t it win. It’s kind of a question that you didn’t fully answer in that speech, why do you think it doesn’t win?
Ron Paul: Not a lot of people talk about it, and I did try to explain it in the speech, in that, the concern about freedom was lost because freedom creates so much prosperity, that people get complacent. Then they become materialistic, and all they can deal with is redistribution and they find that with the government, you can make more money by getting a contract from the government than by being a genius and being productive. You know, when I first came here in 1976, I think I was under the impression that if you talk about welfare, you’re talking about those people who won’t work and get food stamps. But I have a very different opinion now. That exists, and it’s not healthy, but that’s minor compared to the food stamps the wealthy get. The wealthy get the contracts and the special deals, and that’s where I think the biggest trouble is.
Interviewer: That’s a way of speaking that most Republicans don’t usually engage in. Your son, the senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, said recently that the Republican Party is in danger of becoming a dinosaur.
Ron Paul: Yea, but I think the whole government and the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are all dinosaurs.
Interviewer: What’s the future of the Republican Party, though?
Ron Paul: Well, the same as the Democratic Party. The principles are dinosaurs. The parties are going to linger because they’re locked in by law. You know, we’re not allowed to compete, the laws are biased against us from competing. And if you go third-party, you can’t get in the debates and you can’t get on ballots.
Interviewer: You talk about the grip of that two-party system, did you seriously consider running as an independent for President in 2012?
Ron Paul: No.
Interviewer: You didn’t consider it because it’s not practical?
Ron Paul: Not practical, absolutely not practical. Because this would have been a good year to have an alternative, and you can’t get much of a showing either on the Libertarian side or the Green side.
Interviewer: So then, how do we get out of this system, what do us see as the answer to this, or do we just keep bumping along with the way things are? You can’t believe that, that would make you too sad.
Ron Paul: No, you go to the campuses, you rally the young people, and you stir up a whole generation of people. Ideas do have consequences, and that’s where the good news is, because the campuses are alive and well with these views and they know the system is bankrupt. And there is this illusion that you can spend endlessly and print endlessly, and there will always be credit out there. And so far so good, but credit can end quickly, the dollar can crash quickly, and a new system will have to be developed.
Interviewer: One last thing, where do you pride yourself?
Ron Paul: Nothing in particular, other than the fact that the people say, “One thing we can say about you is that you are very consistent”, and they say this in a very nice way.
Interviewer: And you’ve changed the discussion in this country, you must be proud of that.
Ron Paul: Yea, that would be nice, time will tell. But what I always get a charge out of is when they’re so nice and they say, “This is good, you’re very consistent”, they must say to themselves, “But I’m always inconsistent”, and that’s wonderful. And they run the show, I never ran anything, I was just bubbling along here when it came to legislation. So the people who, in a way, admit they’re inconsistent, get to run the Legislative System.
Interviewer: Thank you so much for your time, we really appreciate it.
Ron Paul: You’re welcome.
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your thesis is incoherent. Right Wing CorpoRats means nothing. you didn’t explain what this conspiracy would have accomplished!
paul was a diversion from what? why misdirect his voters if there was no other candidate? what were they distracted from?
paul’s voters learned ideology & economics, woke up to zionist conspiracy, became active, coalesced into a new force, ran in local elections and won. why gather these voters when they’d otherwise still be nothing?
MSM always leaves 2 zionist choices,
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who the fuck is he, the dark knight?
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who the fuck is he, the dark knight?
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Ron Paul was a willing “Stooge” for the Right Wing CorpoRats! Ron Paul’s purpose in the 2012 Elections was to be a “Diversion” to gather and corral all the voters who believed in real Democracy and then “abandon” them right before the election! With no other suitable leader available or forthcoming as “Traitor” Ron Paul fled,the Democracy Voters were left with only 2 lousy choices either Obama or Romney! This was the Fascist Plan all along!
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Ron Paul was a willing “Stooge” for the Right Wing CorpoRats! Ron Paul’s purpose in the 2012 Elections was to be a “Diversion” to gather and corral all the voters who believed in real Democracy and then “abandon” them right before the election! With no other suitable leader available or forthcoming as “Traitor” Ron Paul fled,the Democracy Voters were left with only 2 lousy choices either Obama or Romney! This was the Fascist Plan all along!
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REPUBLICANS :
RIGHT WING GUN NUTS, DELUSIONAL, ANTI-SCIENCE, FANATICS, EXTREMISTS, DERANGED, PARANOID, CONSPIRACY THEORY LUNATICS, ANGRY WHITE MEN, INTOLERANCE, ANTI-WOMEN, ANTI-CHOICE, ANTI-MINORITIES, CLIMATE MORONS, SEGREGATION SOUTH, VINDICTIVE, INEPT, IGNORANT, UNEDUCATED, DYING BREED, HILLBILLIES, MISINFORMED, SARAH PALIN, WARMONGERS, HALLIBURTON,TEA PARTY FILTH, OBSTRUCTIONISTS, PARTY OF NO, FAUX NOOSE BRAINWASHED LEMMINGS, NRA, GOP (GUNS OVER PEOPLE), ASSAULT RIFLES, BULLIES, HYPOCRITES
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I don’t know anything about his son. Can anyone tell me if he is a man of honesty like his father, or is he like aaaallll the other worthless politicians?
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If the states secede from the union (highly unlikely I might add) he would make a great leader for those states, don’t you think?
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If you’ll check into it, Ron Paul was CHEATED out of the right to the floor at the GOP convention. That’s because they knew he would have won the republican ticket. After winning the ticket he would have beat obama hands down. That being said, once they put our votes on a computer, we were screwed. When they can’t even keep our government websites protected from hackers how do you think they kept our voting machines safe? It was hard enough to trust our old way of voting not being tampered with
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But their is no hope for this country because he didn’t get elected in 2012
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RON PAUL ALMOST GOT KILLED IN BULGARIA.THIS ISN’T GOING SO WELL FOR RON PAUL SUPPORTERS.GOTTA KEEP HIM ALIVE.
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America didn’t elect Ron Paul. Now they’re coming for our guns. Hope the dimwits that voted for Romney and Obama are happy. Thanks assholes.
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Truly one of the greats . Only hope now is that enough people have learned his constitutional message and will be willing to spread it to others . The only way this country survives is for the people to learn , protect and defend the … constitution .
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Truly one of the greats . Only hope now is that enough people have learned his constitutional message and will be willing to spread it to others . The only way this country survives is for the people to learn , protect and defend the … constitution .
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The one thing Ron Paul should be proud of particularly is….well hes My hero…one only politician i know who isnt one of the vipers or thieves. I wish he won the presidency though…such a loss for america.
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The military industrial complex, the banking, and the prison industrial complex….all must be destroyed.
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RON PAUL got hacked on the votes.. poor guy
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Our hero and leader is gone but he left us the weapon of revolution. He taught us to dream, be consistent and honest and fight for what is right in this world even when all good and light is gone.
WE ARE THE FUTURE. WE ARE NOW HISTORY. Ron Paul may be gone but we are the heroes who will fill his place and fight for liberty and peace.
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I checked this movie because I eventually got really concerned with the economy and had no clue how to handle it. Dough does not always mean anything anymore. Thus I thought I would do some groundwork and ran into Goldiverse. I am just so fortuitous, I can easily switch my money from cash to all the major currencies, to any precious metal the moment I want. The governing administration can go and take a jump for all I care. Just Bing it Goldiverse.
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The average American has become stupid where only the next new “reality” show is what is important. Add to that the fact that so many illegal and subversive emigrants have also influenced policies in this country.
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wRONg Paul is batshit crazy. You fuckin’ Paultards need to get a checkup from the neck up.
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You sir are a humongous fucktard.
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Love Ron!
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Yeah I see your point. Ok. Let me rephrase this.
Please. Please. Rethink what you think to be true…and only use evidence and critical thinking…not emotion and faith…
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…..and you are a big meany! You SUCK! I’m gonna tell on you for being such a DICK! You’re a fuckin’ QUEER! Do you suck dick? I’ll bet you can suck a baseball through a McDonald’s straw! Freaks like should be beaten to a bloody lifeless pulp! Go tell your mommy to change your poopy diaper, you big fuckin’ douchebag!
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The neo con Zionists made sure he never became president.
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This man saw a US not else did. Totally out of touch, never bipartisan and became marginalized in Washington by his own ideologies. Too bad and so long dude!!
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Agreed.
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I AGREE
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Just here for my daily Paulian education…
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You are a pathetic little waste of life.
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I just don’t understand why RP never became president. I can only conclude that the average American just “does not care”
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watch 2:32 – 2:45. That is the single most important truth about the socio-economic system. This shows the great wisdom of RP.
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Paul, you don’t believe in the incorporation of the bill of rights.
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Ron Paul, with all the refreshing common sense he brought to the political arena, was a wussy in the face of the NeoCons. He never stepped up to bark back, just giving away his election chances. What a sellout.
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