So it didn’t go as hoped—Ron Paul came in fifth place (although there is some speculation that there were some electronic voting shenanigans that could have been in play, as well as some obvious miscounts that did not favor Dr. Paul). The big upset is on the Democratic side—that Hillary came from a 10 point loss to a 3 point lead. What happened?

I wonder if independents in NH had lost so much confidence in the Republican candidates that they went to the Democrat side and voted for pro-war Hillary. (Obama is moderately pro-war, although he seems to be a little more reluctant than Hillary). The Republican party really is in shambles. Even political reporter Josh Marshall doesn’t know what to make of it.

Update: I’m starting to really wonder if there was some vote fraud going on after all. If you would like a recount (as I would), there is a recount chipin project we can donate to (sponsored by the unstoppable Granny Warriors):

About a year ago, I wrote about election fraud in Ohio and how easy it is to hack into electronic voting machines.

Last week, Democracy Now did an interview with Harvey Wasserman who has been actively working with civil liberties groups to restore accurate vote counting in Ohio. It was very interesting to note how he had been laughed at before for suggesting this could and is happening in America, but it seems with several recent annoucements, he is being vindicated.

For example, the Ohio Secretary of State recently published a report admitting that the vote counts on these machines could “easily” be flipped. The 6% of the vote in Ohio that elected Bush over Kerry was fraudulent, as far as I can tell.

I’m so grateful that so many patriots are standing up all over the country to restore honesty and pride to our system of government. Whether inside or outside of the Ron Paul campaign, there is a revolutionary movement calling for a redress of grievances and a change in the status quo. God bless America!

Colorado is banning most of the electronic voting machines in its state, bringing the number of states that have properly audited these machines—and found them severely lacking in security and other measures that would protect against vote fraud—to 4.

Two conclusions caught my attention:

1. One of the ES&S machines could be permanently disabled using a simple MAGNET.

2. A Hart Intercivic machine was decertified “because test results showed that they could not accurately count ballots”.

WOW! And we thought we could trust technology to fix our woes. It turns out that hand counting is not only more accurate in this case, but it is also guaranteed to retain a paper trail which all of the machines fail to do.

We’re one step closer to ensuring that “he who casts the vote” decides the election, and not “he who counts the vote.” Thanks Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman!

Democratic presidential candidate and Senator, Chris Dodd, is currently speaking in the Senate. And speaking, and speaking. And speaking. The reason is that he is filibustering a bill that would give retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies that engaged in warrantless wiretapping against US citizens.

Harry Reid, the LDS senator who should know so much better than to trample the constitution under foot, is primarily responsible for forcing the filibuster.

Read more at The Seminal or watch Sen. Dodd live at c-span 2.

You can support Chris Dodd right now by calling your senator through this link. I just called Senator Hatch, a man who, unfortunately, seems to support corporations more often than he upholds the constitution.

Update: I just received an email from Democracy for America (a progressive organization):

You did it! Minutes ago, Senator Reid pulled the FISA bill from the Senate floor.

Since Friday at noon, you made 2,443 reported calls to Senator Reid demanding he stop this bill. All weekend internet blogs, like Firedoglake and DailyKos, kept it in the news cycle. From the ACLU to the Courage Campaign, progressives took action. And today, Senator Dodd threatened to filibuster. Together, we won.

Update 2: Here’s a great article, “Another Milestone on the Road to Serfdom”, on why it’s so important to not go down this slippery-slope of government-corporation collaboration.

Tomorrow is Sunday, December 16th, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The revolution that began with a protest against the intolerable British tax is continuing in full force, this time with the campaign of Congressman Ron Paul who promises to stop using our tax dollars to fund foreign wars of aggression, and even to repeal the income tax with the help of congress.

Join the 32,000 other individuals who have pledged to donate $100 tomorrow and let’s make another historical splash!

One drop at a time, the dam will burst!

“Ron Paul is the barometer of discontent within the Republican Party.” - James Millard

“Voting for Ron Paul is like sending a Patriot missile into the heart of big, corrupt government.” - Duane Johnson

“I am a ‘Ron Paul’ Republican” - Dean Santoro (running for Congress)

“No army can stop an idea whose time has come.” - Ron Paul, presidential candidate

As Ron Paul has gone from place to place and from interview to interview, I’ve heard him claim on several occasions that President George Bush campaigned on a “humble foreign policy”, “no nation building” and so forth. I wasn’t really involved with politics in the year 2000, so I had no memory that would either confirm or deny this claim. Recently, however, this audio surfaced on YouTube to confirm Ron Paul’s recounting of President Bush’s campaign platform:

Why, may I ask, do core principles change with the circumstances, Mr. Bush?

I read a great article from Bretigne Shaffer published at LewRockwell.com. For some time, Bretigne has protested the system by refusing to vote at all, but on this election, she believes there may be a chance to upset the status quo with her vote. One of my favorite parts:

Ron Paul has spent over 30 years of his life demonstrating that his promises are not empty and that he is utterly devoted to the pursuit of liberty in this country. Even people who have just been introduced to him see that he means what he says.

And this changes things. People are accustomed to voting for the lesser of two evils. What happens when someone who is not evil shows up? Integrity is not generally an ingredient found in presidential elections and its presence here now changes the entire nature of the game. Ron Paul is not playing by the same rules as everyone else, and by playing by his own rules – by committing the political cardinal sin of meaning what he says – he changes the rules for everyone else. Candidates are now no longer measured against other politicians whose words mean nothing, but against a man of integrity, and in order to succeed they must rise to his level. But they can’t. A reputation earned in over thirty years of dealing with people is not something that can be bought. Nor can it be “spun” out of thin air. Quite simply: Ron Paul has something none of the other candidates have or can get in time for the elections. This fact alone could very possibly win him the Republican nomination and even the presidency.

She goes on:

I’ve long believed that politicians cannot get ahead by delivering more freedom and less government; that the game of politics can be won only by delivering more favors and more of other people’s money to one’s constituents; that the only real winner, ultimately, is the state, and that those who play the game end up serving its expansion. I’ve always qualified my condemnation of politics and politicians with the words “except for Ron Paul.” I’d then usually say something like “but of course he doesn’t actually accomplish anything.” Well I was wrong about that. Really really wrong. For all these years, Dr. Paul has been building something no other politician has – something that when just one person has it, suddenly becomes an incredibly valuable asset: credibility.

(emphasis mine, full article here)

I heartily agree!

I complimented the reporter, Lisa Anderson, on writing this article: Paul, a seller of ideas.

The next big donation day for the Ron Paul campaign has been set by some of his supporters: December 16th! Check out this inspiring video that was compiled for the occasion: