Jesse Collins, and then some.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about this theatre-of-the-absurd American Primary season is following some of the marginal candidates.

Some of you may have even seen the original post I made about how much I liked Ron Paul, updated with a retraction some time ago when I learned about a newsletter published under his name that was filled with racist commentary. Then the mainstream media got wind of that story (Wolf Blitzer on CNN interviewed Paul about it) and it really started to muddy the waters for Paul.

It really is too bad. Not just because it exposes the bad things that can happen when you’re asleep on the watch (Paul claims the articles where published under his name but without his knowledge or endorsement - that’s not just asleep; that’s comatose), but also how some great ideas might get taken off the table. The baby is going out with the bath-water, but this bath-water is really rancid.

One of the things that Paul has brought to national attention is the whole concept of the Federal Reserve. While discussions about banking generally make my eyes glaze over, Paul appeared in a doc that explained the whole concept pretty thoroughly. It’s a question that Americans should be asking (and Canadians, as well, being their largest trading partner): is the Federal Reserve accountable, open, necessary, good, evil–or even understood? Who’s driving this bus?

It was Paul’s comments about the Fed that led me to this documentary, Zeitgeist. I know enough about film-making to understand that it’s surprisingly easy to skew a point-of-view and give it weight and meaning. The presentation of information can truly mislead. Moreover, controversial documentaries can stir the pot, but the sources in Zeitgeist are poorly credited even if some of the message might be sound.

But I’m curious to hear what others think about this position: is the Federal Reserve the enslaver of a free people? Or is that just a left-wing propagandist bogeyman?

And the final clip in this post about Paul’s unswerving Republican beliefs… Here he rips a very smarmy and didactic little prig from Fox News, who seems infatuated with his own voice and drips condescension (”Sir…”) Paul initially takes it in stride, but then ramps his response up to stinging indictment of the other candidates.