RPF veterans...what was it like in the beginning?

[dr. hfn]

I guess the harcore are still around, but the casual people splintered off after the primary. We need to continue what we are doing, build an infastructure, create coalitions and alliances, and have another go in 2012!!!!

 

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

When I first got here it was like a beehive of activity and honestly it was a little intimidating but it was not long before I was caught up and getting active. I had never seen anything like it in my life. We were actually able to get things done and to make changes. I have a very good feeling that we are about to see it like that again around here!

 

[UtahApocalypse]

The begining is bittersweet for me..... After learning about Ron Paul and coming here, meetups, and getting involved it was so easy. To me the idea of liberty is as natural as eating. I though "Man this guy will win soon as everyone hears what he has to say" it was such common sense, and realistic.... no smoke and mirrors as other politicians.

Sadly I learned in reality that many people are agnostic, clueless, or against liberty. I never imagined things would be as hard as the have been.

That all being said, its been a great honor and privilege to be here with all of you.

 

[newbitech]

I joined here after the tea party in 07, we were gaining popularity quite quickly. Im curious what it was like here at RPF when Ron Paul had just announced his campaign.

were goals lower?

did you guys EVER think we would have the numbers we now have?

did you expect Ron Paul to be an internet sensation?

did you think we would EVER raise the kind of money we raised in the 4th quarter, when we were in the 1st quarter?




even more important, to those of you who have been right in your predictions for the campaign/movement where do you see our support at in 2012??????

I don't think you missed too much. I was lurking on the boards here about 2 weeks before the first mini-bomb. I threw a couple of bucks at that one cause I wanted to see the meter on Dr. Paul's site fill up with the statue of liberty. I think it was for a radio spot if memory servers me.

I decided to create an account and get involved with the excitement of the guy fawkes remember remember the 5th of november money bomb, the one that set records. probably the most amazing time I had online since back in the days of quake and duke nukem.

Anyways, I had really enjoyed the tons of information available throughout the posts, and the links here are always vetted and tremendously useful. I knew I was going to make a silent donation to the big money bomb but I really got caught up in the excitement. I signed up and then ended up blowing all my savings at the time on pushing that 1 day campaign record. We did it and it was awesome.

I expect we will see some spikes in 2010 mid terms, but 2012 is going to be bedlam around here, if the power is still on of course.

 

[TheConstitutionLives]

I had been following Paul since about 2004 or 2005. When I found out he was thinking about announcing his candidacy I immediately emailed all my friends and told them to get ready b/c we're about to get into the arena. The thing I kept telling them, and people who were not familiar with Paul in the beginning was "Just wait till he gets into the debates. He's going to chop these guys up into little bits". And while Paul's speaking skills leave much to be desired his substance still stuck out like a soar thumb and it was the debates that officially got the ball rolling. That was the beginning. Before that no one had a clue who the guy was and it was difficult as hell defending what you knew his positions were going to be before he was in the spotlight. I signed up right when this forum started and it was a few hundred of us I guess with more and more joining every day. I'd like to see a membership stat sheet on that. Anyone have one?

 

[TheConstitutionLives]

I never thought he would be what he was now...

- Unfortunately, we have to thank the current economic debacle for alot of this. The crash has validated Paul's prior claims and since it happens right after the primaries folks weren't able to forget him or what he had said. Of course, republicans getting their asses handed to them has helped as well.

 

[TheConstitutionLives]

we literally shut down the Mark Levin show, rofl, we tied up that schmucks phone line so badly that he wouldn't take anymore callers, and all he did was play music, lol remember that? He kept sayin "keep callin' libs" hahahaha.

- I have the audio clip now of when I made it on. He was preaching about the founders and how awesome they were, etc, and later on he was slamming Paul and I couldn't take it so I called in. I said "I appreciate you discussing the founders blah blah and just the other day Judge Napolitano gave a speech and said 'Ron Paul was the Thomas Jefferson of our time' so I don't know what your problem is" He hung up on me and they edited me out before I could finish. I have it on my pc right now. I'd put it up but not sure where I could post it online for others to hear.

 

[axiomata]

I figured this may be a fitting thread to make my 1000th post.

During the week of 9/17/07 there was the little Constitution Week money bomb. This was actually a money bomb before we knew what a real money bomb was in the style of a Nov 5 or Tea Party money bomb. The campaign wanted to see if it could getting a "whopping" 1787 individual donations in the span of a week and it tracked the count with a flash graphic of a quill filling up with ink.

Here's the thread: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=18549

 

[tremendoustie]

I joined here after the tea party in 07, we were gaining popularity quite quickly. Im curious what it was like here at RPF when Ron Paul had just announced his campaign.

were goals lower?

did you guys EVER think we would have the numbers we now have?

did you expect Ron Paul to be an internet sensation?

did you think we would EVER raise the kind of money we raised in the 4th quarter, when we were in the 1st quarter?




even more important, to those of you who have been right in your predictions for the campaign/movement where do you see our support at in 2012??????

I came on board here just before the november moneybomb, although I had been a Paul supporter for a couple of months (so I wasn't a very early member).

I think watching the donation meter go vertical at midnight on the fifth was one of the most exciting things I've ever seen.

I don't know how good my predictions are, but I think this country will be very different by 2012. I think there will be far more people on board for liberty, but I think we may be far less free, and far less prosperous. That's just my sense.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Someone recently said RPF was addictive. It was twice as much at the beginning. There were the debates, and they were crazy. Before and after each debate, the forum was packed. And the primaries... Each one was filled with anticipation of a big win.

I have been reading RPs Texas Straight Talk for many years. When Ron became a candidate, I started on the Meet-ups, but like many others, was dissappointd with the extremists and petty dictators that arose. RPF was a much better venue for open discussions, and has stayed that way ever since. It's still addictive...

 

[LibertyEagle]

I guess the harcore are still around, but the casual people splintered off after the primary. We need to continue what we are doing, build an infastructure, create coalitions and alliances, and have another go in 2012!!!!

Well, there's plenty of hardcore that aren't here too. I'm hoping they come back at some point when there's really some things that we are actively doing.

 

[Anti Federalist]

I had been following the writings and speeches of Ron Paul for years, gave out dozens of copies of his House Special Orders "Neo-Conned" speech, being one of his best, imo.

When we met up with him at Strafford Co. NH GOP straw poll in July IRC, (which he won in a landslide) Mrs. AF and I decided to jump into "politics" one more time, renouncing our "political" agnosticism.

It was not too long after that I joined up here.

The heated debate over the choice of 5 November for the first big "money bomb" (which I, and many others, thought was a great idea, much to consternation of panty wetters and hanky wringers) was a big moment and the success of it was an even greater thrill.

The efforts made to make the 16th an even bigger success was the high point for me.

My cynicism toward the system returned, in full full force, after the NH results and even more so after witnessing, firsthand, some of the "chicanery" surrounding the recount.

 

[Minuteman2008]

I loved this forum early on. I actually think people were more tolerant when the forum had such a huge number of visitors on a regular basis. I can't say I have a whole lot in common with a lot of the regular posters here, but in the early days before the Iowa caucus it didn't matter. It was a big tent and there was room for all kinds of conservatives, even "truthers" and paleoconservatives. I don't see so many of those around here anymore, but maybe someday the vibe will be back. It was more like the wild west early on where now I think the rigid ideologues more or less set the tone.

But maybe things will start to pick up by the next elections. It should be time for conservative Republicans to start making a comeback, but I'm tired of being letdown so I'm not getting my hopes up too much.

 

[Aratus]

I had been following the writings and speeches of Ron Paul for years, gave out dozens of copies of his House Special Orders "Neo-Conned" speech, being one of his best, imo.

When we met up with him at Strafford Co. NH GOP straw poll in July IRC, (which he won in a landslide) Mrs. AF and I decided to jump into "politics" one more time, renouncing our "political" agnosticism.

It was not too long after that I joined up here.

The heated debate over the choice of 5 November for the first big "money bomb" (which I, and many others, thought was a great idea, much to consternation of panty wetters and hanky wringers) was a big moment and the success of it was an even greater thrill.

The efforts made to make the 16th an even bigger success was the high point for me.

My cynicism toward the system returned, in full full force, after the NH results and even more so after witnessing, firsthand, some of the "chicanery" surrounding the recount.

Vintage AF

 

[Aratus]

In the beginning...

 

[sam1952]

Well, let’s see, first the earth cooled. Then the dinosaurs came, but they all got to big and fat. So they all died. And they turned into oil. And then the Arabs came and they bought Mercedes Benz’s...

https://youtu.be/MabLtuTpDw8

 

[Anti Federalist]

I had been following the writings and speeches of Ron Paul for years, gave out dozens of copies of his House Special Orders "Neo-Conned" speech, being one of his best, imo.

When we met up with him at Strafford Co. NH GOP straw poll in July IRC, (which he won in a landslide) Mrs. AF and I decided to jump into "politics" one more time, renouncing our "political" agnosticism.

It was not too long after that I joined up here.

The heated debate over the choice of 5 November for the first big "money bomb" (which I, and many others, thought was a great idea, much to consternation of panty wetters and hanky wringers) was a big moment and the success of it was an even greater thrill.

The efforts made to make the 16th an even bigger success was the high point for me.

My cynicism toward the system returned, in full full force, after the NH results and even more so after witnessing, firsthand, some of the "chicanery" surrounding the recount.

Suffice to say, sadly, almost ten years after writing that, my cynicism has not abated.

 

[brandon]

What do RPF veterans think now, 10 years later?

 

[Anti Federalist]

What do RPF veterans think now, 10 years later?

My thinking has not changed much about things in general, but I found out Ron was very wrong about a critical and vital idea that his whole candidacy and this movement based itself on.

Freedom is NOT popular.

 

[francisco]

My thinking has not changed much about things in general, but I found out Ron was very wrong about a critical and vital idea that his whole candidacy and this movement based itself on.

Freedom is NOT popular.

Too true.

But Ron Paul often talked about something else: The Remnant. Originally a concept discussed by Albert Jay Nock, it refers to the small group of people who keep the spark of the ideas Liberty and human progress alive. This is the only thing that gives me hope in the current environment. I never would have dreamed 10 years ago about the bitter divisions and the evil embrace of authoritarianism that have come about.


From an essay by Lew Rockwell from 2012:

...Once in a while we hear Ron Paul speak of the Remnant — how he's been trying to find it, speak to it, build it up. What does he mean by it?

He's referring to "Isaiah's Job," a famous essay by Albert Jay Nock. In that essay, Nock borrowed the example of the prophet Isaiah to describe the task of the honest man in public life. (I think the example of Elijah is a bit closer to what Nock had in mind, but that's not the point.)
Listen as Nock adapts the Lord's instructions to Isaiah into a modern vernacular:

“Tell them what is wrong, and why and what is going to happen unless they have a change of heart and straighten up. Don’t mince matters. Make it clear that they are positively down to their last chance. Give it to them good and strong and keep on giving it to them. I suppose perhaps I ought to tell you,” He added, “that it won’t do any good. The official class and their intelligentsia will turn up their noses at you and the masses will not even listen. They will all keep on in their own ways until they carry everything down to destruction, and you will probably be lucky if you get out with your life.”

Isaiah had not been reluctant to take on his divinely appointed task, but when it was put to him like that, it seemed like a fruitless task indeed. What was the point of embarking on a mission that was doomed to failure?

“Ah,” the Lord said, “you do not get the point. There is a Remnant there that you know nothing about. They are obscure, unorganized, inarticulate, each one rubbing along as best he can. They need to be encouraged and braced up because when everything has gone completely to the dogs, they are the ones who will come back and build up a new society; and meanwhile, your preaching will reassure them and keep them hanging on. Your job is to take care of the Remnant, so be off now and set about it.”

And that's what Dr. Paul has been doing. He's been looking for this heretofore invisible Remnant, giving them comfort, making them aware of themselves, providing them a rallying point. Selling out for the sake of mainstream respectability would defeat his purpose entirely. Those approaches repel the Remnant, Nock said. On the other hand, the truth teller who appeals to the Remnant will find them...

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2012/06/thomas-woods/ron-pauls-task/