{"id":351,"date":"2012-01-11T21:40:32","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T02:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=351"},"modified":"2012-01-11T21:40:32","modified_gmt":"2012-01-12T02:40:32","slug":"institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html","title":{"rendered":"Institutional Paulophobia and Paul Deniers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most recent CBS poll shows that among the Republican challengers to President Obama, only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul <\/em>have the potential to defeat him.\u00a0 This same poll shows that among all <\/em>of the candidates, including Obama, Ron Paul <\/em>does best when it comes to the much coveted \u201cindependent\u201d voter.<\/p>\n

Today, the morning after Ron Paul finished in second place in the New Hampshirecaucuses and this poll was released, the hosts of Fox and Friends, <\/em>as if still in a state of disbelief, began to consider the possibility that Paul just might be a serious contender in this presidential race.<\/p>\n

If ever we needed proof that the pundits of the so-called \u201cconservative\u201d media\u2014Fox News, talk radio, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Commentary, Newsmax, <\/em>etc.\u2014are nothing more or less than Republican Party propagandists, their treatment of Congressman Paul provides it in spades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul has been a serious, \u201cviable\u201d candidate since this primary contest began.\u00a0 And, unlike every other \u201canti-Romney\u201d flavor that, like the proverbial flash in the pan, has come and gone\u2014Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and, now, Rick Santorum\u2014Paul\u2019s viability has only become solider.\u00a0 This is a remarkable achievement when it is considered that all of the other candidates could rely upon the GOP\u2019s apologists in the \u201calternative\u201d media to fuel, and in most instances, actually create<\/em>, their momentum.\u00a0 Paul, in sharp contrast, has managed to steadily become ever more popular in spite of <\/em>overwhelming media resistance to his campaign.<\/p>\n

Paul is indeed a serious presidential contender. Not only can he pick up more independents than Obama, legions of young people draw to Paul like moths to a light, and they draw to him with energy, with passion, that no other candidate has succeeded in tapping.\u00a0 As far as non-white voters are concerned, Paul is more appealing than every other GOP candidate\u2014including Mitt Romney.<\/p>\n

Whether we are discussing the Republican or<\/em> Democratic Parties, there is but one \u201canti-Romney\u201d candidate: that candidate is Congressman Paul.<\/p>\n

How, we can\u2019t but wonder, could so many otherwise presumably astute observers in the media fail to notice this?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, perhaps many of us do not wonder about this at all.\u00a0 Moreover, there may even be, and probably are, a number of people who would eagerly take exception to my premise that the chattering class is composed of \u201castute observers.\u201d\u00a0 But for those who do not react incredulously to my question, there is <\/em>an answer in the coming.<\/p>\n

In a word, it is Paulophobia <\/em>that accounts for the media\u2019s reckless coverage of Ron Paul\u2019s feats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What makes this Paulophobia intractable, though, is that it is institutional <\/em>or structural <\/em>or systemic. <\/em>\u00a0Even those media pundits who don\u2019t consider themselves Paulophobic nevertheless suffer from the same condition as those of their colleagues who are chronic Paul haters. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Institutional Paulophobia is actually more invidious than overt Paulophobia because, being undetected, it is more difficult to discern and weed out.\u00a0 It is like the air that the media, especially the Republican controlled media, breathes: ubiquitous and, thus, invisible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

This, of course, isn\u2019t to say that those Paulophobes who are unconsciously Paulophobic are more vicious than those for whom Paulophobia has come to define their very essence.\u00a0 Fox News contributor and former Democratic fixer Dick Morris, for instance, is a full throated, doctrinaire Paulophobe.\u00a0 So virulent is Morris\u2019s Paulophobia that he has resorted to spewing outright lies <\/em>regarding Paul.\u00a0 The most recent lie\u2014and that it was indeed a lie, <\/em>and not an honest mistake, is easily gotten from Paul\u2019s recent poll numbers alone\u2014is that Paul routinely does far worse than all of the other Republican candidates against Obama.\u00a0 Just a couple of weeks ago, Morris said on Fox that Rasmussen shows Obama beating Paul by 20 points<\/em>!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nationally syndicated radio talk show host Michael Medved is another dogmatic Paulophobe.\u00a0 Medved is obsessed with not just discrediting Paul as a candidate, but with demonizing <\/em>him as a person.\u00a0 According to Medved, Paul is a \u201cneo-Nazi,\u201d a \u201c9\/11 Truther,\u201d a \u201cracist,\u201d a \u201cleftist,\u201d a \u201ckook,\u201d and an \u201cextremist.\u201d\u00a0 Medved irresponsibly refers to Paul as \u201cDr. Demento\u201d and his supporters as \u201cPaulastinians.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Irresponsibly repeating Morris\u2019s lie on his show, he insists that Paul is \u201cunelectable.\u201d\u00a0 Medved\u2019s Paulophobia is fueled by a zealotry for which the constraints of reason and morality are no match.<\/p>\n

Unconscious Paulophobes, on the other hand, by virtue of inhabiting the same circles of such rabid Paulophobes as Morris and Medved, essentially just imbibe the party line.\u00a0 They don\u2019t give much thought to what they have been conditioned to think.\u00a0 Their intimate, daily association with Paul Deniers prevents them from realizing Paul Denial for what it is\u2014the function of Paulophobia, but another species of raw, undifferentiated irrationality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ron Paul has already scored some amazing achievements.\u00a0 Perhaps he will, eventually, succeed in weakening institutional Paulophobia.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jack\u00a0Kerwick, Ph.D.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most recent CBS poll shows that among the Republican challengers to President Obama, only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have the potential to defeat him.\u00a0 This same poll shows that among all of the candidates, including Obama, Ron Paul does best when it comes to the much coveted \u201cindependent\u201d voter. Today, the morning after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nInstitutional Paulophobia and Paul Deniers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Institutional Paulophobia and Paul Deniers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The most recent CBS poll shows that among the Republican challengers to President Obama, only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have the potential to defeat him.\u00a0 This same poll shows that among all of the candidates, including Obama, Ron Paul does best when it comes to the much coveted \u201cindependent\u201d voter. Today, the morning after…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-12T02:40:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jack Kerwick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Institutional Paulophobia and Paul Deniers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Institutional Paulophobia and Paul Deniers","og_description":"The most recent CBS poll shows that among the Republican challengers to President Obama, only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have the potential to defeat him.\u00a0 This same poll shows that among all of the candidates, including Obama, Ron Paul does best when it comes to the much coveted \u201cindependent\u201d voter. Today, the morning after…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html","og_site_name":"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture","article_published_time":"2012-01-12T02:40:32+00:00","author":"Jack Kerwick","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html","name":"Institutional Paulophobia and Paul Deniers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-01-12T02:40:32+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-12T02:40:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/6832222998cc14717ded1849531201c5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/01\/institutional-paulophobia-and-paul-deniers.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Institutional Paulophobia and Paul Deniers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/","name":"At the Intersection of Faith and Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Jack Kerwick","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/6832222998cc14717ded1849531201c5","name":"Jack Kerwick","description":"I have a Ph.D. in philosophy from Temple University, a master's degree in philosophy from Baylor University, and a bachelor's degree in philosophy and religious studies from Wingate University. I teach philosophy at several colleges in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jackkerwick.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/author\/jkerwick"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions\/352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}