Censorship American Style

ACTION ALERT!!!

This just in from the Ron Paul 2008 Campaign HQ:

June 19, 2007

Iowans for Tax Relief and Iowa Christian Alliance will host a presidential candidates forum on Saturday, June 30th in Des Moines. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson, and Tom Tancredo will participate.

Ron Paul, however, will not participate. Why? Because he wasn’t invited.

We heard about this forum from numerous supporters in Iowa who asked why Dr. Paul was not going to participate. Those supporters assumed that Dr. Paul was invited.

The campaign office had not received an invitation so we called this morning; thinking we might have misplaced the invitation or simply overlooked it. Lew Moore, our campaign manager, called Mr. Edward Failor, an officer of Iowans for Tax Relief, to ask about it. To our shock, Mr. Failor told us Dr. Paul was not invited; he was not going to be invited; and he would not be allowed to participate. And when asked why, Mr. Failor refused to explain. The call ended.

Lew then called Mr. Steve Sheffler, president of the Iowa Christian Alliance, to talk with him. Mr. Sheffler did not answer so Lew left a message. He has yet to respond.

Why are the Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance excluding the one Republican candidate who scored at the top of every online poll taken after the MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN debates? Why are they denying Iowans the opportunity to hear from the Republican presidential candidate whose popularity is growing by the day?

We couldn’t get answers to these questions from Messrs. Failor and Sheffler. Maybe you’ll have better luck. Their contact information is below.

It's ironic that on the same day we learned the Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance excluded Dr. Paul from their candidates forum, we received a call from ABC News confirming Dr. Paul’s participation in its nationally broadcast August 5th debate to be held in Des Moines.


Kent Snyder, Chairman
Ron Paul 2008


Contact Information

Edward Failor
Iowans for Tax Relief
2610 Park Avenue
Muscatine, Iowa 52761

Phone: 563-288-3600 or 877-913-3600
Fax: 563-264-2413
E-mail: itr@taxrelief.org


Steve Sheffler, President
Iowa Christian Alliance
939 Office Park Road, Suite 115
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265

Phone: 515-225-1515
Fax: 515-225-1826
E-mail: slscheffler@iowachristian.com



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Please take a moment and contact both of these people to register your disgust with censoring the one candidate who has won consistently all the debates thus far.

This is about censoring the American People and denying them the right to a real debate on the very serious issues facing America Today.

These organizations are seeking to blind the American people by suppressing a real debate of the issues. Don't let this happen to our country. Call and register your complaint!

Ron Paul supporters in Iowa who want to attend the debate you can register here.

UPDATE:

In addition to Iowans for Tax Relief and Iowa Christian Alliance, the following is the contact information of the Co-Sponsors for the Event. Please contact them and urge them to invite Ron Paul to the debate. Their sponsorship of this event makes them accomplices to this attack on American freedom and the democratic process of open debate.


Coldwell Banker Mid-America Group, Realtors (ask to speak to the owner/senior manager)
2120 Rittenhouse Street
Suite ADes Moines, IA 50321
Office Phone:(515)287-0009
Toll Free Phone:(800)225-7683
Voice Mail:(515)224-8601
Fax:(515)224-8644
Email: mlc@midamericagroup.com


http://www.fairtax.org/
Americans for Fair Taxation
PO Box 27487Houston,
Texas 77227-7487
Phone: 713-963-9023
Toll-Free: 1-800-FAIRTAX (324-7829)
Fax: 713-963-8403
Email: Info@fairtax.org


Krishna Engineering Consultants (ask to speak to the owner)
1454 30th Street, Suite 104
West Des Moines IA 50266-1311
Phone: (515) 224-6300
Fax: (515) 224-0000


Light Expressions by Shaw (ask to speak to the owner)
750 Alice's RoadWaukee, IA 50263
Phone: (515) 987-3808
Fax: (515) 987-3812
Emial: clsmeltzer@shawelec.com

UPDATE II:

Also, please contact the local media in Des Moines:

letters@dmreg.com, DesMoines Register

staff@iowapolitics.com, Press Release Dept., Iowa Politics.com

dorsey@iowapolitics.com, Des Moines Bureau Chief, Iowa Politics.com

RadioIowa@learfield.com, News Dept. Radio Iowa

Blog Round Up

Here are a couple of blog posts covering the connection between Ron Paul and the most essential concerns of Catholic voters.

The Western Confucian has a post which tracks back to Catholics for Ron Paul - a big shout out to Iosue Andreas! The Western Confucian draws our attention to Catholic Anarchy's discussion as to why the republicatholics are ignoring Ron Paul.

For the debate, check it out Catholic Anarchy here.

A shout out to Mark Shea who has given us a wave at Catholic and Enjoying it!

Hat tip to Stephan Hand over at TCRNews Musings for giving us a bump!

Nate Wildermuth at Vox Nova asks "Ron Paul, Anarchist?"

Fr. Tim at Sprit of Vatican II thinks Ron Paul for President is a "Great Idea!"

More Blog round ups as the "Catholic-Ron Paul Thing" begins to attract discussion . . .

"Abortion on Demand is the Ultimate State Tyranny"

In the last presidential election, serious Catholics voted overwhelmingly for the pro-life candidate and cultural catholics were split between the pro-life candidate and the anti-war (pro-abortion) candidate.

When "Kerry Catholics" were challenged with the reality that, "You can't be Catholic and be pro-abortion," the usual erroneous response was, "You can't be pro-life and pro-war!"

When it came down to it, informed Catholics understood that voting for a candidate that supports a public policy that violates the Dignity of the Human Person is itself gravely wrong, no matter how well intentioned. The issue of war is serious, but ultimately it comes down to the prudential judgement of the legitimate state authority. War is a position the State can morally take, Abortion simply isn't.

Catholics are not single issue voters, they are voters who understand what issues are of singular importance!

No other issue is more gravely important than the principle of the inviolable Dignity of the Human Person - it is this idea which is so unique in human history (arising from the Judeo-Christian Tradition) and so critical for all our human rights, freedoms and duties.

The idea that human beings are endowed with certain inalienable rights comes from the genius of the Jewish story of creation and the unique anthropology that flows from it that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Contemporary creation stories make man into a slave of god(s), and thus this creates a very different set of assumptions regarding man's Liberty and his relationship with the State (but more on that in the days ahead).

Either God has endowed man with basic rights and liberties which the State must respect, OR the State gives man these rights and liberties and man must respect the State as god.

This is issue is critical, as it is the lynch pin upon which every civil liberty hangs; the whole social fabric will be undone in time if this basic truth is violated.

War is sometimes necessary, but when the State makes laws which violate the Dignity of the Human Person, it is a sign of deep sickness in the body politic which will bring about the collapse of all human liberty in the society.

So this issue is simply non-negotiable. If the United States desires to keep its Liberty, the it has to say NO to:

• Abortion
• Embryonic Stem-Cell Research & Cloning
• All Fertility Treatments which involve the destruction of human embryos, and
• Euthanasia

So where does Ron Paul stand on the issue of the Dignity of the Human Person?

Let Ron Paul speak for himself:

Libertarians believe, along with the Founding Fathers, that every individual has inalienable rights, among which are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Neither the State, nor any other person, can violate those rights without committing an injustice. But, just as important as the power claimed by the State to decide what rights we have, is the power to decide which of us has rights.

Today, we are seeing a piecemeal destruction of individual freedom. And in abortion, the statists have found a most effective method of obliterating freedom: obliterating the individual. Abortion on demand is the ultimate State tyranny; the State simply declares that certain classes of human beings are not persons, and therefore not entitled to the protection of the law. The State protects the "right" of some people to kill others, just as the courts protected the "property rights" of slave masters in their slaves. Moreover, by this method the State achieves a goal common to all totalitarian regimes: it sets us against each other, so that our energies are spent in the struggle between State-created classes, rather than in freeing all individuals from the State. Unlike Nazi Germany, which forcibly sent millions to the gas chambers (as well as forcing abortion and sterilization upon many more), the new regime has enlisted the assistance of millions of people to act as its agents in carrying out a program of mass murder.
. . .

We must promote a consistent vision of liberty because freedom is whole and cannot be alienated, although it can be abridged by the unjust action of the State or those who are powerful enough to obtain their own demands. Our lives, also, are a whole from the beginning at fertilization until death. To deny any part of liberty, or to deny liberty to any particular class of individuals, diminishes the freedom of all. For libertarians to support such an abridgement of the right to live free is unconscionable.

There you have it.

Ron Paul understands that the Dignity of the Human Person is essential to preserving our Liberties and a cornerstone for living in a healthy society.

This is the single most important reason why Catholics should support Ron Paul for President.

Welcome to Catholics for Ron Paul!

This website is a place for ordinary Catholics who are serious about the wholistic body of principles known as the Social Doctrine of the Church to examine how Ron Paul's message and public policy proposals square up against these natural principles.

The Social Doctrine of the Church, or Catholic Social Teaching ("CST"), are an organic set of wholistic principles which are necessary to develop a free, virtuous, prosperous society that promotes the common good for all not just Catholics.

These universal principles can be found operating in healthy societies and these principles are found violated and discarded in sick ones.

All the principles are important and necessary, but some principles are more vital and necessary than others because of the gravity of the evil that occurs when they are violated and the impact that has on the social body of the community.

This blog is a place to learn about Catholic Social Teaching and to examine these principles and in light of the practical proposals Ron Paul is making. Only a return to these universal principles which are profoundly represented in our Declaration of Independence , the Constitution of the United States of America and the Bill of Rights can return America to a place where life can flourish, where social development occurs for all and a sustainable and lasting peace can grow.

This is why Ron Paul candidacy is Hope for America.

At Catholics for Ron Paul, we are faithful to the Magisterium and the Social Doctrine of the Church; if there are areas where Ron Paul's policies don't square with CST, we will not jettison CST to promote Ron Paul but will examine the issues. It is important to remember that CST does not offer any "model" solutions, it only teaches the principles and leaves the application of these principles to more competent authorities working in the public square at any particular moment in history. As a result, there does exist some debate disagreement among men and women of good will as to the particular application of these principles. However, on the essentials there is no disagreement among those of good will as to what is essential and necessary to promote the common good.

It is our contention that Ron Paul's candidacy has the most reality based understanding of the problems facing America and his policy proposals are profoundly in harmony with CST.

Over the course of the coming weeks and months, this blog will take up the work of making that case.