I do have to tell you that now that Ron Paul’s presidential campaign is mostly over for me, at least for me here in Washington and my neighbors in Idaho, it’s nice to actually have spare time to dedicate to such frivolous things as blogging. I’m still considering going to Minneapolis/St. Paul for the Republican National Convention for the Campaign for Liberty rally, but that’s dependent on whether someone can lock down some serious land space nearby for camping and a genuine Ron-Fest.

So, I was cruising the ‘net, getting informed, as I often do…and I found this little gem - a 9/11 truth music video, the first to my knowledge. Gotta say, it’s a little catchy…and considering I mostly detest disco and wish it would just go away forever, it’s been rolling through my head ever since I heard it. You can see my thoughts on the 9/11 truth movement here, if you’re interested.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Hope you enjoy it.

So it’s been forever since I’ve updated my blog. I’ve been busy…with a thousand things. Blogging has always taken a backseat to doing in my life…

I also have a bad habit of writing long posts - many of which I start and inevitably do not finish for one reason or another.

One of these days, maybe some time next month, I’m going to write a memoir post about the primary use of free time for the last six months. I have a thousand things to say, but this music video pretty much sums it up for me. I’m attending the Washington State Republican Convention next week as an elected delegate, as well as assisting the coordination of the statewide Ron Paul faction, and this perfectly timed tune is my anthem.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Aimee Allen - Ron Paul Anthem

I did something today that I’ve never done before in my life. I donated money to a presidential campaign - specifically, Ron Paul’s 2008 campaign. It was a piece of cake, I feel good about it and for a moment, I was recognized world-wide for it.

Ron Paul’s campaign website provides instant feedback for those who donate to their campaign - names scroll across a graphic, showing the most recent people who have donated. I wondered if these names were real people…there were so many that I’d seen over the last few weeks since they introduced it. Well, I’ve got absolute confirmation it’s real. Within seconds of my donation, my name graced the graphic for several minutes…I liked it. It was fun, encouraging and best of all…personalized. What a great personal touch for the rather “mundane” act of giving money to a politician?

As of my donation to this writing (about ten hours), the total has gone from $539,617 to $588,448…yeah!! How about over half a million in ten days? RP supporters - you ROCK! Let’s keep it going!

If you haven’t heard, Ron Paul is shooting to raise over $12 million dollars by December 31st. If you also weren’t aware, Ron Paul recently raised over $5 million dollars for his campaign, surpassing the relatively dismal efforts of almost all the other candidates. His message is being spread by thousands of grassroots supporters in a blinding effort to raise awareness to the great things he could do for our nation. Where Ron Paul has held the title of internet superstar, the people that believe in him are insuring that it goes well beyond just that…we’re putting real dollars in the bank, and we’re hittin’ the streets making sure you’ve heard about him. We’re gonna make sure he’s the GOP candidate. We’re not just talking Ron Paul revolution, we’re walking it.

Why?

A lot of us Americans have had this uneasy feeling about the direction our country has taken. This is not a new feeling - it’s been gradually building over the course of many Presidential terms. We’ve bounced between neo-con and neo-liberal factions for a couple decades now and the “massiveness of scale” of our ever-increasing government is finally being recognized as a huge financial liability. As our national debt hovers just under $10 trillion dollars and inflation pushes our cost of living higher and higher, a lot of us are wondering how we could ever pay that down…especially if we continue to overspend, decade after decade. Many of us are growingly concerned over dependence on foreign money…concerned because it has implications that affect our nation’s sovereignty.

Bush & Congress have really screwed up our country. In so much as the Patriot Act, the military tribunals, the Real ID act, prisoner torture, the North American Union and other laws that have all but chipped our Constitutional freedoms to dust, we’re just not the same nation as we once were. I personally know an American on the “no fly list” and they’re neither a criminal or a terrorist. My friends have died because of this war. These were irrational acts of fear, perhaps acts of purpose, not determinate acts of protection.

As far as I am concerned, there’s one item in Ron Paul’s campaign that really stands out…and it’s what has inspired me to not just vote for Ron Paul, but to be one of those grassroots activists that insists he get into office. “Stop the national ID card.” Sure, I support the idea of limited government, ending the IRS, getting out of Iraq now, international non-intervention, stopping deficit spending - but the whole Real ID national drivers license is a really bad thing for America. My blood boils when I think about having to accept a microchipped driver’s license in 2009. If we’re to be a free nation, we cannot allow government to track our every move through RFID tracking chips found in our driver’s licenses. I tell you now - that IS what the Real ID will do. Ron Paul’s committed to stopping it…Hillary, Obama, Giuliani…pretty sure they’re for it.

If any of this concerns you, well, there’s finally something you can do about it.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Help Ron Paul help US…donate today. It’s fun, you’ll be famous for a moment and you’ll be participating in what could be the most important fight for freedom ever waged in America. Even if it’s $25…with Paul’s frugality, he’ll make that go a long way.

If you haven’t joined your local Meetup group & you want to make a real difference for America…get started today!

I think it was the band “Korn” that revolutionized my thoughts on music and what I choose to “like” and “not like.” See, I didn’t like Korn’s first albums at all…despite their popularity and promotions. In fact, it went beyond just not liking them; I went out of my way to let people know how much I thought they sucked. Time passed and an album of theirs came along that knocked me down and had all the synergy and magic that I look for in music. It was at that point that I decided to be more careful about declaring a band “unworthy” (for a lifetime) of my ears. I don’t mean anything negative, but rather imply that I prefer not to listen to crap and readily and consistently choose to listen something that interests me. In a way, this event helped me to be even more open minded, and moreover patient, with music and the evolution of bands. It took hating something with all my being to being discovering a nugget of great music from the same source to learn…this coming from a guy that was all ready cultured in decades of music; everything from classical and jazz all the way up “hard” music like metal and industrial.

Another band, Eminem, followed the same patterns with me…worse, for me anyway, it made no bones about being “rap,” a genre that is generally not appealing to me. Nothing against it, but most of it’s ignorant, insignificant and uninteresting drivel. Having learned a better way, I chose not to pass judgment…and glad I am…because it seems Eminem has stepped up his thought & rhyme to a level where can appeal to me. In his song, “Mosh,” his words speak much truth, albeit still slightly misinformed…yet, for me, it’s not the commentary but the message of hope, the message of “the people run things around here” that I feel is critcal for Americans (especially today’s youth) to be exposed to. Eminem has risen to the podium of activist leadership and has reminded me again; there is hope because people that have a far greater voice than I are paying attention and resisting this world that is being forced down around us. I hope that his activism stays true and guides him to wisdom and knowledge.

[flashvideoo filename=http://jeffwhiteside.com/video/eminem_mosh.flv /]

Mosh Lyrics:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands
One nation under God
Indivisible
It feels so good to be back..]

Scrutinize every word, memorize every line
I spit it once, refuel, reenergize, and rewind
I give sight to the blind, mind sight through the mind
I exercise my right to express when I feel it’s time
It’s just all in your mind, what you interpret it as
I say to fight you take it as I’m gonna whip someone’s ass
If you don’t understand don’t even bother to ask
A father who has grown up with a fatherless past
Who has blown up now to rap phenomenon that has
Or at least shows no difficulty multi taskin’
And juggling both, perhaps mastered his craft slash
Entrepreneur who has held long too few more rap acts
Who has had a few obstacles thrown his way through the last half
Of his career typical manure moving past that
Mister kiss his ass crack, he’s a class act
Rubber band man, yea he just snaps back

Come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won’t steer you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors

To the people up top, on the side and the middle,
Come together, let’s all bond and swamp just a little
Just let it gradually build, from the front to the back
All you can see is a sea of people, some white and some black
Don’t matter what color, all that matters is we gathered together
To celebrate for the same cause, no matter the weather
If it rains let it rain, yea the wetter the better
They ain’t gonna stop us, they can’t, we’re stronger now more then ever,
They tell us no we say yea, they tell us stop we say go,
Rebel with a rebel yell, raise hell we gonna let em know
Stomp, push, shove, mush, fuck Bush, until they bring our troops home come on just . . .

Come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won’t steer you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors, come on

Imagine it pouring, it’s raining down on us,
Mosh pits outside the oval office
Someone’s trying to tell us something, maybe this is God just saying
we’re responsible for this monster, this coward, that we have empowered
This is Bin Laden, look at his head nodding,
How could we allow something like this, Without pumping our fist
Now this is our, final hour
Let me be the voice, and your strength, and your choice
Let me simplify the rhyme, just to amplify the noise
Try to amplify the times it, and multiply it by six
Teen million people are equal at this high pitch
Maybe we can reach Al Quaida through my speech
Let the President answer our high anarchy
Strap him with AK-47, let him go
Fight his own war, let him impress daddy that way
No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our soil
No more psychological warfare to trick us to thinkin’ we ain’t loyal
If we don’t serve our own country we’re patronizing a hero
Look in his eyes, it’s all lies, the stars and stripes
They’ve been swiped, washed out and wiped,
And Replaced with his own face, mosh now or die
If I get sniped tonight you’ll know why, because I told you to fight

So come along, follow me as I lead through the darkness
As I provide just enough spark, that we need to proceed
Carry on, give me hope, give me strength,
Come with me, and I won’t steer you wrong
Put your faith and your trust as I guide us through the fog
Till the light, at the end, of the tunnel, we gonna fight,
We gonna charge, we gonna stomp, we gonna march through the swamp
We gonna mosh through the marsh, take us right through the doors

[Eminem speaking angrily]
And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present, and mosh for the future of our next generation, to speak and be heard, Mr. President, Mr. Senator