Among the Paultards
LABASH, MATT
Among the Paultards Even they are ashamed of their candidate’s supporters BY MATT LABASH While the press often considers the Ron Paul movement to be chock-full of cranks, wackos, and...
...He’s like one of those Shaquille O’Neal cardboard cutouts you can have your picture taken with at the mall...
...But Paul is the main attraction, standing there, having snap after snap taken by a photographer with a long line of admirers that he mows down one by one...
...In the parking lot, I encounter Caitanya Dasa, a 15year-old with braces who is getting something out of a van...
...Behind the building, on the well-manicured grounds, there is indeed a buffet of bear claws, sticky buns, melon wedges, and fresh-squeezed juices...
...The rally intends to call “the GOP back to its roots,” if by “roots,” you mean lots of people in tricorn hats, whose idea of a good time is batting around their favorite economists from the Austrian School...
...None of us knew what to say...
...Tucker hadn’t heard the speech, so I break the news to him that Ventura got off his leash...
...Then he hits me with a little more: “I wanna get [our interview] over with, because I wanna go eat breakfast...
...Backstage afterwards, Ventura is further holding court for reporters, after having hinted to the crowd that he might be amenable to a presidential run in 2012 if the Revolution stays on track...
...The slate of speakers move along in a slow-as-molasses fashion...
...And the speakers do, too...
...It’s the “Liberty Van,” which is painted on the back of the Chevy Venture, along with “Truth is Treason In the Empire of Lies...
...I ask...
...Tucker did a hang-out with Paul piece last year for the New Republic, and I suggest to him that he’s gotten too close to the story...
...I’ve driven up to the Earle Brown Heritage Center, where leadership training is taking place for the Ron Paultards, as they are often called...
...Try the sticky buns,” I offer...
...My high-placed Paultard source gives me all sorts of insider dope...
...The bumper stickers are the giveaway, saying things such as “I don’t suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it,” and “My other car is a UFO...
...Such as when Conservative Caucus chairman Howard Phillips ticks off a list of his favorite Ron Paul bills complete with their congressional numbers...
...And so they have convened in Minneapolis, to conduct a three-day shadow convention, the capstone of which will be an allday “Rally for the Republic...
...he threatened...
...Not gonna discuss it,” she fi ercely reiterates, before bouncing me to the sound of fi fe music, giving me a taste of how the Redcoats felt in the 1700s...
...Nahhh,” Tucker says...
...Then, keeping his promise to me (and breaching assurances to convention organizers), he gets down to business, to a little “something called 9/11...
...Taking the stage, Ventura has the crowd ululating as he hits all the hot buttons, from the evils of the Patriot Act and closed presidential debates to the need to jealously guard our Second Amendment rights...
...You can stay on the sidelines with the jackals, or enter the arena, your face marred by dust, sweat, and blood,” he says, archly paraphrasing Teddy Roosevelt...
...Among the Paultards Even they are ashamed of their candidate’s supporters BY MATT LABASH While the press often considers the Ron Paul movement to be chock-full of cranks, wackos, and conspiracy theorists, I take a more nuanced view...
...Though my Mapquest directions are sketchy, it’s readily apparent I’ve arrived at the right place...
...Just one tactic...
...In jeans and a Navy SEAL T-shirt under a sports jacket, his large shiny head ringed with long wisps of unkempt hair, he has, since leaving offi ce and moving to Mexico, taken on the demeanor of a deranged homeless man...
...A true patriot defends liberty...
...We both like to think of ourselves as conservatives with strong libertarian overtones...
...The speech is a six-parter, so I don’t watch the whole thing, on account of wanting to be present when my young children graduate from college...
...The next day, I attend the “Rally for the Republic” at the Target Center with 12,000 or so Paultards...
...Along the way, a swarm of gnats infi ltrated their van, they were attacked by bees, and they ran over an entire bumper on the interstate...
...Who I believe did it are the ones who control our money systems...
...We’re going to get down to some of the tactics we’re going to be using,” she says...
...When I approach, Ventura is talking about his Belgian Malinois attack dog who understands commands in three languages, and who’s picking up Spanish as a fourth...
...He’s the smartest one in the house,” he says, making an entirely believable claim...
...But it was worth the sacrifi ce...
...And it’s easy to see why people subscribe to the Ron Paul Revolution...
...I plead...
...It’s like journalistic Mad Libs...
...We slip out the back door of the arena to hail a cab and get some steaks...
...Paul, the former obstetrician...
...promises presidential historian Doug Wead...
...That’s a quote from Paul’s book, The Revolution: A Manifesto,” Dasa helpfully explains...
...The beauty of the Ron Paul Revolution is that whatever you miss, you can catch on YouTube...
...someone chants...
...Easier still when you’re nowhere near it...
...I will be watching...
...We’re gonna rock tonight...
...He’s in from Oregon after a 36-hour, near-sleepless trek with several people rotating driving duties, including his mom...
...This is crazy...
...Being a devout believer in the conventional, single-bullet version of the 9/11 attacks (that the terrorists acted alone), Tucker is both alarmed and offended, but doesn’t have much time to refl ect...
...I can’t help but think that this sort of interaction is good for the personal growth of the Paultards, as Tucker will introduce them to something they’ve likely never experienced before: irony...
...After a brief sparring match with the nutcakes, Tucker looks ashen...
...We’re all in agreement that buildings can’t fall at the rate of gravity without being assisted...
...So the Paulians have convinced Ventura to button it on the subject, since furthering the cause of liberty and sound money doesn’t have much to do with who Ventura thinks may or may not have felled the Twin Towers...
...They will when I get up there,” he growls...
...When Bill Kristol says he loves her, it makes me wonder,” he says...
...Inside job...
...Former Minnesota governor/pro wrestler Jesse Ventura, who is on the speaking docket, is a serious 9/11 denier...
...I’ve heard people say that...
...And though the schedule calls for a 12:30 P.M...
...Except Ron Paul is right here, in the fl esh, right down to his black referee shoes...
...Or when John McManus of the John Birch Society whips the crowd into a frenzy when asking what we should do about the unsoundmoneychangers at the Federal Reserve (“Suck my butt, Fed...
...Paul’s opposition to the Trans-Texas Corridor was a particular crowdpleaser...
...We were standing in the food line...
...I really like Ron Paul...
...It’s a testament to Paul’s drawing power, considering he’s no longer running for anything...
...And why hasn’t the Justice Department charged Osama bin Laden...
...This must be a stroke to their egos, as I suspect there aren’t many occasions when people such as Lew Rockwell, the founder of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, are treated like visiting rock stars complete with foot-stomping and Ron Paul balloons being volleyed around during their speeches...
...Rights are something that are very precious,” he says...
...Write the story before you come...
...As a gentleman in a colonial outfi t, complete with tricorn hat, plays “Yankee Doodle” on a fi fe to call the meeting to order, an organizer named Deb Hopper rushes over and tells me I’ve got to go, this is a closed meeting...
...They don’t come from the government, they come in a natural way or a God-given way . . . as a right to your life and a right to your liberty...
...As I get a crack at him, he seems bemused by Republican skittishness over Gustav, and smells a rat...
...Are you going to tell him you’re leaving...
...Though he’s a little bit nervous about his uncharacteristic role—“falling off a cliff,” he calls it—Tucker opens the ceremonies with a stirring explanation of why he’s here: because, although he signs on to no platform and supports no candidate (especially since Paul isn’t one, though somebody should tell that to crowd members holding state delegate stanchions as though they’re at a nominating convention to make Paul emperor), Ron Paul, unlike most politicians, is a decent, gentle, and kind human being, who has no interest in controlling you...
...For me, the Ron Paul Revolution is like a cozy winter fi re...
...I’ve been there, man...
...When asked what the truth is and whether the government had something to do with it, he says, “I don’t know...
...Though he doesn’t actually accuse the government of participating in the attacks, he doesn’t need to, judging from the crowd reaction...
...I decide to bait Ventura, offering that some of the 9/11 Truthers in the crowd are disappointed their viewpoints aren’t being represented...
...We certainly like to do whatever we want, whenever we want, and hate paying taxes, as our libertarian brothers do...
...Still, Paul sounds some nice notes on personal liberty, not wanting to control others, and the importance of adhering to both moral and constitutional principles, neither of which are in fashion where he works...
...What are they...
...There’s suffering all over every single day,” one tells me...
...I adjourn to an arena snack bar during a Grover Norquist anti-tax speech—actually I’m just guessing what his speech was about, but it feels a safe bet...
...I tell him I’ve got a good seat at the press table, but that I’ll keep an open mind...
...More than 10,000 have made the Paul pilgrimage, arriving by plane, train, and “Ronvoy” caravans...
...Government should serve us, not the other way around, and we are not beholden to any government for our rights...
...The Texas Republican congressman’s people have decided that, though the presidential primary is long over, the Paultardiness must go on...
...frothed one crowd member...
...Not gonna discuss it,” she says...
...They might’ve been looking for an excuse not to have the president speak,” he says, “but I wouldn’t accuse them of that...
...It’s like lighting a match around the double-knits...
...I ask...
...After breakfast, I settle into the invitation-only Leadership Summit with Dasa, who’s not supposed to be there himself on account of being underage (“The side door works great,” he says...
...One of the crowd is so moved by this testimony as to yell: “I love you, Tucker...
...It’s an attractive line...
...By the way,” Tucker at one point tells the crowd, “if you can’t get enough of [constitutional lawyer/lobbyist] Bruce Fein, he will be signing books afterward, so please don’t mob him, despite the temptation...
...Attendees say it’s like Woodstock, but with wi-fi connections instead of free love...
...Under the impression that there are no stupid questions, Ventura proceeds to ask several: such as why doesn’t the FBI website’s list of top ten international terrorists include the 9/11 attacks among Osama bin Laden’s other crimes...
...Number of Paul videos: 150,000 and counting...
...They ignite...
...A friend at the press table notes that “You can’t light a match near anybody because there’s so much double-knit here, the place would go up like that...
...I talk to the Oregon delegation waiting for my audience with Dr...
...Have you followed the [National Institute of Standards and Technology] report on the collapse of building seven...
...Since he knows my affi liation, I give Paul points for honesty...
...But I know this, I do have somewhat of a demolition background, being a member of the Navy’s underwater demolition team, and I spoke to a few of my teammates a couple weeks ago...
...He is accosted by some grubby indie-media types who start trying to engage him: “Have you ever heard of the Controlled Demolition Hypothesis...
...My journalistic detachment is dealt a blow, since emceeing the event is my friend and former WEEKLY STANDARD colleague, MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson...
...The summit is to highlight the particulars of Paul’s new permanent organization, the Campaign for Liberty, the mission of which is to promote individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy...
...Like Dasa before me, I don’t know what to say...
...He stands for freedom and therefore will defend your right to do things he doesn’t even agree with, taking political hits for people with whom he has nothing in common...
...opening bell, “the hemp activists have taken over organizing,” says Tucker, “so there’s not a chance that we start on time...
...I love you too,” he shoots back, “And I mean that in a nonerotic, but powerful way...
...Like most of the Paultards, and unlike most of the mainstream Republicans who are wringing their hands over whether to press on with their convention with Hurricane Gustav bearing down on the Gulf states, they are not going to let somebody else’s bad weather get in the way of their gathering...
...Paul takes all comers, as he will at a Borders book-signing later that day, where I’m told he signs for no less than a thousand people...
...But Tucker’s still supposed to be emceeing the event, and Paul has yet to speak...
...I’ve got to get out of here...
...But get too near the searing embers, and they will cause blistering, profuse sweating, and all-around general discomfort...
...Sure you will,” he mocks...
...From a distance, the crackling fl ames of individual liberty and freethinking libertarianism take the chill off sterile two-party politics...
...Dasa wastes no time in taking me to his leader...
...Backstage I fi nd Jesse Ventura holding court...
...Show up, and fi ll in the blanks...
...Let’s go get dinner...
...Some stay in hotels, others under the stars at “Ronstock,” which is being held in the middle of a farmer’s pasture somewhere on the outskirts of town...
...Tucker also won’t introduce a speaker from the John Birch Society, just as a matter of principle...
...Because Ron Paul is here...
...I’m partial to Eugen von B?hm-Bawerk, but then, who isn’t...
...He generally likes Sarah Palin, though is skeptical of her signing up with such a pro-war team...
...He says he’s been studying the issue “for well over a year and a half,” and he feels “very strongly that the truth has not been forthcoming...
...So if I skip the sticky bun, the world would be better...
...I don’t want to hurt his feelings...
...And he comes up to us, and says, ‘That looks pretty good!’ ” a breathless Dasa exclaims...
...To fi nd this many people who’ve ever been this excited about John McCain, you’d have to go back to his press bus in the year 2000...
...And that’s called physics, that’s not an opinion...
...Or else they’ll stay out at Camp Iduhapi, which, when I later stop by, I learn is the Lakota word for “campers who have unsafe amounts of political signage in their car windows...
...Matt Labash is a senior writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
Vol. 14 • September 2008 • No. 1
