Jon Stewart - Liberal or Libertarian?

Jon Stewart gave Ron Paul 10 minutes of network time. I think that is the longest on air interview the Daily Show has ever done. (Including webonly parts, it runs 17 1/2 minutes).

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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It is fitting that Jon Stewart is the one who gave him so much time since he singlehandedly got the media to stop (blatantly) ignoring him.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Now the ignoring is more subtle.

Political Debates

The political soul also has a sense of humor. This one from last weekend is right up there with their Halloween time candidates spoof from 4 years ago. Both provided for your enjoyment.




Obama se déguise en Obama pour se moquer... von Nouvelobs

Euro Mess - Simply Explained

Nobel Prize winning Economist, Paul Krugman, has a simple way of explaining things. I never understood the Euro mess until I read this:

The introduction of the euro in 1999 led to a vast boom in lending to Europe’s peripheral economies, because investors believed (wrongly) that the shared currency made Greek or Spanish debt just as safe as German debt. Contrary to what you often hear, this lending boom wasn’t mostly financing profligate government spending — Spain and Ireland actually ran budget surpluses on the eve of the crisis, and had low levels of debt. Instead, the inflows of money mainly fueled huge booms in private spending, especially on housing..

Solving the Paul/Cain Arizona Straw Poll Winner Riddle

 In a memorable movie Kathleen Turner says to her teacher "I happen to know that in the future I will not have the slightest use for algebra, and I speak from experience".

But to solve the riddle of major news organizations (CNN, Reuters, Politico, etc) offering conflicting stories about who won the Arizona Tea Party Straw Poll, Ron Paul or Herman Cain, a little high school algebra does wonders.

Ron Paul did win 49% of one part of an Arizona Tea Party straw poll and 15% of another part of an Arizona Tea Party straw poll.

Herman Cain did win 12% of one part of an Arizona Tea Party straw poll and 22% of another part of an Arizona Tea Party straw poll.

Ron Paul did get 581 straw poll votes 

Herman Cain did get 256 straw poll votes.
About 1600 people did take part in the Arizona Tea Party straw polls.

It is probably true that 1600 people paid up to 125$ to attend an onsite one day event.
It is probably true that 2300 (maybe even 3000) people paid up to 10$ to view this event online.

The other information in the various articles
2300 people took part in an online poll
1600 people took part in a live/onsite poll
are FALSE.

High school algebra is how you sort out truth from sloppy reporting because the number of people taking each version of this poll was never reported correctly by the news media or the straw poll event organizers. Why, is up for someone else to figure out. I just do math.

Ron Paul says he'd consider putting Dennis Kucinich in his Cabinet

Not your typical politicians...

"You've got to give credit to people who think," he said.

"Being pragmatic is about forming coalitions," Paul said Wednesday at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. "I probably work with coalitions better than the other candidates. I don't think I've said anything negative here about the president."

Mainstream Media Takes Paul Seriously

The mainstream media is finally starting to treat Ron Paul's candidacy seriously
Huffington Post likes Paul's chances
Michelle Bachmann is no longer considered credible and the author believes Paul has a shot to supplant Perry as the best non-Romney. I am surprised and pleased.

An Oktoberfest Kind of Gal / Chancellor

My answer to a Colbert segment (about Merkel not being an Oktoberfest type of gal)

And just for fun, let's contrast that with Obama:

Nobody Got Rich on Their Own

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own — nobody.

You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory — and hire someone to protect against this — because of the work the rest of us did.

Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless — keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
- Elizabeth Warren

More on Warren in MSNBC interview

Asking Politicians About Religion - On The Media

With another election cycle underway, the topic of faith is a recurring one, especially in the current Republican primary race. Bob spoke with Amy Sullivan, who writes about religion and politics for Time.  She says journalists often miss the mark when discussing candidates' religions.

Ron Paul - Fundraising

Sep 19 - Ron Paul Raises Another Million in Weekend ‘Moneybomb’

Aug 21 - Ron Paul Campaign Pulls in Over 1.6 Million in One Day

Jul 15 - Ron Paul Campaign Reports Million Cash Available

Green Libertarian

Is it so weird to vote for both Ron Paul and Ralph Nader?

Apparently not. There is a name for such behavior.
Green Libertarianism

Read more on Wikipedia