Bob Schieffer asks Ron Paul if he knew anything about this Internet thing before the current presidential campaign

On "Face The Nation" this morning, our Favorite Son presidential candidate explained that he became acquainted with the Internet beginning in 1997, when he returned to Congress and got his first computer.

Bob Schieffer, who noted that he and the candidate were roughly the same age, seemed fascinated that such an old geezer as The Fave Son would be hep to the new fangled computer devices you read so much about these days.

Hey, Bob, we'd wager that Our Congressman even has mastered sending and receiving electronic mail -- where you can send written words and images across county lines with the touch of a button! But you'll need a computer, of course.

That said, the candidate told Schieffer he can't "program" computers or anything such as that, causing Schieffer to furrow his brow and undoubtedly think to himself, "Program? I wonder what he means by that...."

Anyhow, Ron Paul, looking relaxed and comfortable, said he had little to do with the big online fund-raising push on Nov. 5 that raised around $5 million for the campaign. In fact, he couldn't remember the full name of the guy in Miami who masterminded it, but said he did give him a call to thank him for his efforts.

The next one-day fund push will occur Dec. 16 -- that date when all freedom-loving Americans commemorate the Boston Tea Party.

On other topics, the Favorite Son had this to say to Mr. Schieffer:

-- The prospect of bombing Iran "really scares me." ... "If we don't like $100 oil, wait til it hits $200 oil once we bomb Iran." ...
His advice: keep talking to Iran, just like we kept talking to the Soviet Union during the Cold War (which we won) ...

-- "The people have lost confidence in the government."

-- "We defended Seoul, Korea better on 9-11 than we defended Washington, D.C. ... " ... We're bankrupting our country today. because we're everplace. We have an empire. We're in 130 countries. We have 700 bases overseas and we're building new ones, 14 new ones in Iraq. This is why we're in trouble. We have a weakened national defense and also we're antagonizing those people that we sorta invade and occupy."

-- "How long should we stay in Korea? How long should we stay in Europe? Why should we give them that subsidy? Why are we in Japan? I'd bring 'em home."

-- Gold standard: People make fun of the gold standard, the Favorite Son said, "but what people should be making fun of is this idea that if government comes up short, they just print it (money). That's what we've been doing essentially since 1971. It encourages big government, it is the creation of inflation, it causes the business cycle, it causes all our bubbles and it undermines the middle class. It makes poor people pay an invisible tax, which is called inflation. There is a transfer of wealth when you have paper money from the middle class and the poor to the wealthy. That's why you have billionaires on Wall Street and you have people in the middle class and they can't make ends meet. And why people on retirement benefits, their cost of living is going up much faster than their income. So, inflation, that is fiat money, the opposite of gold, is very destructive to the political and economic process."

-- Finally, Mr. Schieffer asked the question that everyone always asks about Our Favorite Son.

"Do you really sincerely believe that you have a chance to get the nomination?"

"Well, I really believe if your name is on the ballot, there is a chance, you know, that that might happen. But I'm very realistic. Bu compared to 12 months ago, I would say it's much more likely now. But I also know what the odds are. I tell you what. Don't try and tell my supporters that there's not a chance, because they believe it. Matter of fact, they're making me a more credible candidate by convincing me that, you know, I'm taking that risk, my name is out there, I may well win."