Tomorrow marks the beginning of the primary election process for the Republican party to pick its nominee to run against Barack Obama in November 2012. Starting off in Iowa, in the dock are Michele Bachman, John Hunstman, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. I believe this is arguably the most important election in American history, considering what is at stake.

The Real Issues

Some of the most critical issues that make this a once-in-a-lifetime election are:

  • $15 trillion of national debt
  • $1.3 trillion budget deficit
  • Money mischief of the Federal Reserve (during the mortgage crisis, they secretly created $16 trillion out of thin air to lend to banks at almost zero interest with no Congressional oversight or approval)
  • The appalling corruption and insider trading going on in Congress for decades
  • Endless foreign wars / nation building / foreign occupations that are bankrupting America
  • The assault on personal freedoms through acts like the Patriot Act and recently signed National Defence Authorization Act which enables the government detain terrorism suspects indefinitely without access to a lawyer or due process
  • The insatiable appetite for the expansion of the government to the detriment of the economy
  • High unemployment
  • Dismal economic growth
  • A looming Dollar crisis which will be triggered by other nations withdrawing from using the Dollar in international transactions and reserve currency
The Media Corruption

One would expect that the election primary would be focusing on these critical issues but not only are the candidates largely avoiding discussing and dwelling on them with clear workable solutions, the media has continued giving more coverage to non-issues like what Kim Kardashian is up to or Bachman’s latest hairstyle. Anyone paying attention should know by now that news and critical analysis in America is all but dead and has been replaced by entertainment.

In the last six months, it is obvious that the media has been corrupted over time by some people with deep pockets who own most of the major news organizations. It became obvious when the media went out of their way to ignore the candidacy of Ron Paul, something that was proved by two separate studies by University of Minnesota and Pew Research. He only got 2% coverage overall. Candidates polling less than him such as Santorum and Hunstman got more coverage. Even people not running in the race like Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Sarah Palin got more coverage!

After Ron Paul’s polling improved, especially in Iowa and he could no longer be ignored, the next thing that followed was a vicious attack on his character that painted him as a crazy loony nut, unelectable, fringe, racist, anti-semite, homophobic, conspiracy theorist with equally kooky associates. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. The demagoguery & distortions are beyond appalling.

The Exposure

The candidacy of Ron Paul has done something awesome that has hardly been reported on, if at all. It has forced almost every stakeholder’s hand. By injecting real issues in the televised debates and interviews, Paul has forced people to either endorse his policies or write them off as nonsense. The Republican Establishment leaders have been exposed by who or what they are backing.

So for example, we have Mike Huckabee bashing Paul, saying he will never be elected. We have Chris Christie – a Tea Party favourite – endorsing Mitt Romney, a man who is supposed to be anathema to the Tea Party movement which originally stood for limited government and fiscal discipline. It is becoming painfully obvious that the Tea Party has become diluted and is at risk of becoming irrelevant if they continue supporting candidates that are opposite to their original platform. Heck, even Newt Gingrich at one time polled well among Tea Party members.

The Christian Angle

Christianity holds honesty as a very important virtue. The Iowa electorate is about 60% evangelical Christians and yet many of them support candidates with a proven track record of lying. Gingrich, Santorum and Romney up to today peddle lies and dishonest distortions of the positions of Paul and get away with it. Paul is the most authentic and honest candidate (contrary to what the media portray in their endless obsession with his “racist” newsletters). It seems a large chunk of Iowa christian voters do not take this issue too seriously, otherwise they would support Paul in greater numbers.

The Conclusion

As far as I can tell, Romney and Paul are the only two viable candidates in the long run. Santorum will not last despite his current surge in Iowa that has been trumpeted by the corrupt media (something they never did for Paul). I just do not see Americans voting for a one-dimensional guy whose only message is “family values” and who has offended the gay community. Gingrich is on the way out as people now know more about his corrupt lobbying. Bachman is a liar with a disorganized campaign. Perry and Hunstman may perhaps pick up later and could be wildcards. Hunstman’s fundraising is poor while Perry has lots of cash but seems at the moment to have been written off.

I sincerely hope Ron Paul wins the GOP nomination and then the election in November. There is a vast array of forces working against him and it will be a miracle if he succeeds. All the other candidates represent the status quo, bought and paid for by the big corporations that love cronyism. They will fight hard to prevent their scams being exposed and destroyed. Ron Paul is the only real hope for America.