Join the Rebelion

I must admit, I am surprised at myself. But I am now a foot-soldier in Ron Paul's Army of Reason. I think I have long been the target of Ron Paul propaganda, probably because I have access to sooooooo many stencil's and poster paints. But I've read his book and stand converted.

Let me begin with some Ron Paul Complaints.

Ron, not every bad idea is unconstitutional. And you lose credibility when you gloss over constitutional and policy issues and dismiss or ignore legitimate analysis contrary to your own. And you do this often. Sometimes, you quote constitutional provisions that are not in the constitution, and expect me to accept, sans citation, that some constitutional-era record supports your position that this is what the constitution really means.

The fact that Thomas Jefferson said it does not convince me of much. He was one of many framers, and had many, many ideas you would reject. Are you aware that THE Thomas Jefferson, the one you parade around as your Personal and Property Rights Savior, often argued that there was no natural right to pass your property to others upon your death? You know what he thought should happen? He thought it should return to the government for either redistribution or public use. Not surprisingly, you don't bring this up. I suspect that you ignore much of what Tommy J. and others had to say. And it makes most of your Constitutional arguments (which, apparently, always rely on Framers' Intent) suspect.

You leave a lot of gray area. Great, we are legalizing Marijuana because it was racist legislation to begin with. Do I still need a prescription for Vicodin? Won't a black market for it arise? If income tax is "legal plunder," why isn't sales tax, property tax, and every other government program? Do you really think there is no situation where the President can declare a person (yes, even an American Citizen on American Soil) an Enemy Combatant and deny him Habeas Corpus? Are you aware of what Abe Lincoln thought about it (here is a hint, he felt that army dissenters and deserters should be shot on site, less the spread their ideas)? Is Lincoln less of an authority than Jefferson? This list could be very long.

You tell me that Politicians avoid real issues and talk in platitudes and catch phrases. Then you write a book dripping with "patriotic" language and telling me that I'm unconstitutional if I disagree with you. Seriously, your movement (I believe) has garnished more support by swinging the Stars and Stripes and declaring that everyone else is (impliedly) unpatriotic than it has by decrying the Federal Reserve..

Frankly, you are a bit crazy.

But you are also correct.

Maybe I will write more latter, but to me it is as simple as this: We must value freedom over all other values. And we (meaning all those who are granted the benefit of Constitutional Rights, which admittedly is an unfortunately restricted historical group) are less free now than at just about anytime in U.S. History. We have substituted vacuous values like "security" and "comfort" and "wealth" or "equality" (meaning all equality except equally free) at the expense of our freedom. We believe that the Government can solve issues that it is ill equipped to deal with. In the short run, it feels good. In the long run, it is a disaster.

I don't know if this is on his reading list, but may I suggest Modernity and the Holocaust to any Ronnie fan. The short version is this - Bureaucracy is a sole-less machince capable of any horror.