Posted on 04/15/2009 7:39:25 AM PDT by AmericanHunter
Last year at this time, a presidential campaign captured the interest of many in the nation. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of voters like me supported the candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul, a long time Republican congressman from Texas. Those of us who are interested in liberty and personal independence put quite a bit of our hope for a better tomorrow into his candidacy, and in my opinion, rightfully so. Dr. Paul has a long standing record of voting in a pro liberty manner on many of the important issues of our day. Many may have been disappointed by the events that took place, but perhaps they should not be surprised. Even though Dr. Paul did not become president, or even the Republican presidential nominee, his campaign has opened the eyes of a great many people and his message continues to reverberate in the American consciousness, and indeed around the world. The freedom message is powerful and popular worldwide, not just in America.
It became evident quite early on in Ron Paul’s campaign that the establishment was not going to give into him easily, no matter his popularity. The establishment media did their best to marginalize him and his supporters and minimize the impact he had on the political discourse. They did their jobs well, as far as that went, and managed to prevent huge numbers of common folk from discovering the only candidate that could really be trusted to make a difference. But since Ron Paul was a Republican, they couldn’t keep him out of the debates like they do so many other worthy candidates with a freedom message. Unfortunately, it may have been too little, too late against an establishment that was simply too powerful.
Still, Ron Paul managed to awaken a multitude who may have otherwise remained apathetic and feeling helpless against the rising tide of political disenfranchisement that continues to pervade not just the United States of America, but the entire world. Despite the fact that he was given less time than other candidates at the debates, despite the fact that he was asked more insignificant questions having nothing to do with the main issues of the day than the other candidates, despite the media’s efforts to make him and his supporters look crazy and/or radical, he managed to deliver a liberty message that resonated in the fibers of the American people. He managed to deliver a message of smaller, more transparent government that most freedom loving individuals can agree with. Ron Paul’s candidacy was a success in so many ways simply because the establishment and their media cronies did not want the common folk exposed to such ideas and they could do nothing to stop it. The idea of freedom has always been dangerous to those in power.
Yet Ron Paul did more than just deliver the message of freedom to the masses. He was able to make some predictions about the direction this country was taking. More surprisingly, he showed that the American people are interested in economics and how money works, particularly young Americans. After all, it is the younger generations who are going to have to pay for the follies the government engages in today. What do people think debt is anyway? What do people expect from a system where money creation is based on debt? Like the old fairy tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, debts are to be paid as promised else likely the children will suffer the consequences. Perhaps the people of this nation understand more than the establishment gives them credit for and that is why there was such an outcry against the recent bailouts.
It is only now, after we have seen many of Ron Paul´s economic predictions come to pass, that he is given credibility by those who interview him in the mainstream media. It is only after an election has been held and establishment supported politicians have remained firmly in place that the mainstream media begins to give any credence to the free market proponents who had been warning all along of the impending crisis. Even now, as Ron Paul, Peter Schiff and others warn of a deepening economic crisis, the politicians continue a policy of increasing the debt burden and trying to maintain an unworkable, credit driven monetary system. Even though thoughtful, common sense solutions have been proffered by such gentlemen and reported on in establishment media these men are ignored by the political and banking elite as their solutions would curtail the power and control the establishment maintains over our lives and so no real change will take place despite the apparent prophetic nature of past predictions.
It´s not just the economy that Ron Paul made dire predictions about, however. He also made predictions and continues to warn about the likelihood that our freedoms will be lost. As it stands, the United States government still honors a few of the freedoms we used to take for granted, but even those freedoms are tenuously honored at best as the elite who control the mechanisms of state would love to stifle all dissent and silence all who would dare protest. Civil liberties which were supposed to be protected by the rules of governance that were outlined in the Bill of Rights which were eviscerated by the Bush administration have not been restored. It seems to me likely that those who broke the law by violating those rights which they had sworn an oath to uphold will never be brought to justice. Worse still, the burdensome tomes legislators and their friends create and then refer to as laws are not being repealed. In fact, I am certain more cryptic laws are being crafted as you read this to create larger bureaucracies with less transparency and more power than ever.
There are remedies available for these problems also. Dr. Ron Paul understands what these remedies entail and gave us his recommendations during the debates. On top of my list is to bring all our troops home from all around the world. As a nation the United States has over extended its budget and its authority by trying to administer an empire it should never have built in the first place. It is time to give the rest of the world the freedom to police their own nations and to keep our troops here to defend ours. It is time to deal with other nations fairly on a private business level, letting them sell their resources for what open markets will determine is a fair price, rather than trying to force them to bow to the will of our corporations. If this causes higher energy prices, then so be it. Perhaps if that were the case we would develop better alternative renewable energy sources. We should have fair trade with all nations, entangling alliances with none.
It is long past time we ended our wars of aggression. Too much life and treasure has already been lost on an activity which by its very nature can only destroy. Wars of any kind only serve to generate an atmosphere of fear and animosity that darkens the future for all mankind. This kind of paranoia only serves to stifle the overall productivity of the world. Rather than concentrate on producing products and services to improve the lives of others, products and services that destroy are emphasized. Rather than concentrate on products that bring joy and value to one´s life, mechanisms and policies that bring about misery to others are pursued.
Fear is the biggest threat our society faces. It is this unreasonable, irrational emotion that has eroded the American way of life faster than any enemy ever could. Because of its grip, we have allowed the protection of our freedoms to be undermined by an unscrupulous few with their own agenda. Because of its continuing presence we can expect more restrictions on the exercising of our rights.
On more than one occasion last year, Dr. Paul referenced the United States Constitution as part of his answer to a question. As far as I could tell, he was the only candidate to do so. He is, in fact, a self proclaimed defender of the Constitution. Enshrined within the body of the Constitution is the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments which are meant to restrict government’s activities and protect an individual whose natural rights might otherwise be violated by a far more powerful and possibly tyrannical entity. While the Constitution may not be a perfect document as evidenced by its past and present inability to prevent government abuses of civil liberties from taking place, it is a document those who have been unjustly persecuted can point to in their defense when making such claims. It is, at the very least, a good outline of how a just government ought to treat individuals under its auspices.
Many have come to believe that the Constitution is the document that grants American citizens their rights. This is not so. To suggest this would be to suggest that government can take rights and freedoms from its people. These rights and freedoms aren’t granted by government, but are a natural part of the human spirit. This is the case worldwide, not just in America. It is a condition that has been known to philosophers and hidden by tyrants for millennia. The question is not whether or not humans have rights that can be given and taken; the question is whether or not one can openly exercise his individual rights without fear of retribution from those who hold stations of power. This is a measure of the amount of freedom one has in a given society, and in today’s United States of America many have become afraid to exercise their rights due to the flagrant disregard the federal government shows for its own rules as outlined in the Constitution.
Last year in the debates Ron Paul was right about the direction the economy was taking. He was right about the federal government disregarding freedoms. He remains right about establishing a new, sound monetary system based on something other than debt. He remains right about curtailing government abuses by adhering to the Constitution, the highest law of the land. Just following those two simple steps would do so much to begin to bring fiscal sanity back to our economy and peace of mind back to our society. If the government continues to ignore such sound advice, perhaps it is time that common men begin to ignore government dictates and implement their own free market institutions based upon these principles which most politicians no longer care to uphold.
Ron Paul is deadwrong on a few key issues --- like defending America --- but at least he has a loyal constituency in the Texas 22nd District.
Two well intended Americans, but really nothing more than protest candidates.
The Drug War costs and has cost billions and billions of dollars and is as bad as can be. Anyone can get drugs from a person willing to sell them; and there are multitudes of them. Our youth is heavily into the different drugs available to them. They usually begin by peer pressure or just for fun ... too often it does not end there. Alcohol is the same.
What is the point of spending billions of dollars on a program that has failed? The fact that they are against the law adds certain daring to the equation ... there is a ‘forbidden fruit’ aspect to them.
Not to use drugs is the answer ... however, we can not force it ... it does not work as is plain to see.
The thing about Ron Paul and his clear seeing is it is against out basic beliefs to make drugs legal. Right? That is one thing (major) the other is the complete return to isolationist position in regard to the worlds abuses of their people such as Kosovo, Darfur, ... wars in general, which Ron Paul advocates. It is a bit too extreme for Americans. MO
We cannot ignore the plight of the rest of the world. Can we? Determining who is at fault and who going rogue is delicate stuff. Getting us out of the United Nations is the first thing to do.
Stop paying for the World Bank, and much of the foreign aid in the way it is currently does ... must be reformed. Much of it never goes to the intended receivers, rather it is kept in the bank accounts of the corrupt leaders, that seem to care nothing for their people.
The world is inherently evil in their governments ... ours too ... (it seems). How to change that is an insurmountable problem. Bit by bit we have been led away from the foundational principles on which America was founded; and by which it resulted in a prosperous nation blessed by God.
We are at the door of losing it ... and we procrastinate by thinking ... we have been here before ... this to shall pass. RIGHT?
Only what will be left?
Except, of course, when he's voting for unconstitutional earmarks and pork for his own district.
Except he doesn’t vote for those bills.
Yeah... Because Republicans not putting in earmarks, but then voting FOR the spending bill, are that much more principled...(/sarc)
Ron Paul is clearly on one side - many so-called "patriotic" FReepers are firmly on the other. They may want to control different aspects of people's behavior than Obama and his ilk do, but the urge to exercise a high degree of control over others is exactly the same.
So then you believe in anarchy being that all laws are intended to control others.
Ron Paul is right on all fronts.
The War on Drugs is a failed policy. It costs us millions of dollars and thousands of lives every year, and our citizens are in MORE danger than they would otherwise be without it.
Re “protecting our country”, RP is the ONLY one talking about securing our borders and limiting immigration so that our culture does not become overwhelmed by an invasion — which is what we’ve got now. Shooting them over there while we invite them in here, is NOT “protecting our country”! I’m more worried about the Islamofascist down the block who can vote and demand “religious rights” and “Sharia banking” in the USA — than I am about the ones on their own turf. Let Iraqis sort out Iraq. And believe me, I’ve been warning about Islamofasicsts for the last 15 years, long before 9/11, so I am not “surrender monkey”!
Speaking of which, have we got bin Laden yet? No! And yet, Ron Paul was the only one with a plan to specifically go get bin Laden through the use of Marques & Reprisal — (something that would also have worked for dealing with Somali pirates). We don’t have bin Laden because they don’t want to catch bin Laden — they need him as a symbol of “a perpetual war yet unfinished and unwon”.
Under the current political scheme, America will always be “at war”, because that is how they perpetuate the fear and investment in the current power structure — and that military investment costs us over 50% of the annual government budget. There is too much money involved for those in power to give up on scaring the hell out of us with promises to “protect us” in order to pocket our tax dollars.
However, these days we have more to fear FROM government than we do from anyone else, and if people can’t see that, then they need to take off the rose colored glasses. DC is not on our side, or the Constitution’s side. Global corporations, bankers and war profiteers are taxing us dry, and expecting us to say, “Thank you!” for it! Well, they can KM freedom-loving American behind!
It’s not “Ron Paul”, “John McCain” or “Barack Obama” who matter so much. They are just symbols of a movement in a political direction. (Both Ron Paul and McCain are too old to ever run again for president.) But RP’s is the only one with a road map out of this mess and back toward the priniciples that country was founded on. The other two have no road map to anywhere other than a socialist hell — and I ain’t going — or at least not quietly!
Libertarian Party Platform:
Throw open the borders completely; only a rare individual (terrorist, disease carrier etc.) can be kept from freedom of movement through “political borders”.
Homosexuals; total freedom in the military, gay marriage, adoption, child custody and everything else.
Abortion; zero restrictions or impediments.
Pornography; no restraint, no restrictions.
Drugs; Meth, Heroin, Crack, anything new that science can come up with, zero restrictions.
Advertising drugs, prostitution, pornography; zero restrictions.
Military Strength; minimal capabilities.
I wasn’t aware that Ron Paul matched the Libertarian Party platform. Heck I didn’t even know he was in the Libertarian Party.
Basically the libertarian party believes that we should have no right to representation on almost any issue at all because they believe that it is tyranny for the majority to make law. In my opinion the libertarian party is anti-liberty based upon this extreme position on my right to representation.
Conventional wisdom - but why? Lincoln was thought of the same way because he failed so may times. Keyes won't give up, I like what he says, and I like the Independent American Party. What else is there? The GOP which ALWAYS puts party ahead of country? I'm done with them.
Ron Paul has a good economic road map, a sketchy political/constitutional road map and he’s lost the foreign policy road map.
Ron Paul is irrelevant and he is in the GOP but my libertarian post wasn't about him, it was to the poster that said that he would vote libertarian if, I posted a few more ifs to him.
LOL, so your argument is essentially "well, they did it too!"
REAL principled, that.
Good post.
Sure, he only voted for the amendments to put the spending into the bills.
Brilliant strategery he has.
How are earmarks approved? What I don’t understand is why his are allowed when the leadership knows he’s going to vote against it. What incentive is there to have his requests approved?
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