Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
Ron Paul Rolls On Despite Super Tuesday Primary Results There is a reason this campaign Rolls on.by John Armstrong
(Libertarian)
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
I'm sure most political experts expect Ron Paul to drop out after Super Tuesday. They expect this because they mistakenly believe Ron Paul is simply a politician who wants to be President; they don't realize that he is actually the leader of something much bigger. The 90+% of people who didn't vote for him today don't understand this either. But there is a chance they will by the brokered convention if the message I attempt to explain below gets out to them. And if it isn't this year, or the next, or the next, it will happen as long as we who do know why we vote for him don't get caught up in politics.
How often have you heard someone say, "I don't really pay attention to politics" and then follow it up with a meager "but I probably should"? The reason often given for not knowing more is that it is just "too complicated." And there is a reason it is complicated:
People vote based on their personal beliefs.
If you believe in the right of a woman to choose, you vote Democrat.
If you believe in the right of an unborn child to live, you vote Republican.
If you believe that the government should provide universal healthcare, you vote Democrat.
If you believe that spreading democracy is the best way to protect us from terrorists, you vote Republican.
If you believe that gay people and minorities have collective rights, you vote Democrat.
If you believe that Christians have collective rights, you vote Republican.
How often have you heard that as an educated voter you should study the issues and then vote for the candidate who most closely shares your beliefs as you on those issues? How many people have told you that they voted for someone because that candidate believes in what the person talking to you believes in?
The paradigm shift that must occur for our country to be what it was intended to be is to stop asking this ridiculous question and start voting on the one and only issue that should matter: which candidate has the best ability to do what they are sworn in to do? I have asked about 50 people over the last week if they knew what it was that an elected federal government official was supposed to do--what they swear they will do--and not surprisingly not a single one so far has known.
Why? Because the discussion for so long has been based on voting based on what you believe, and there are so many different beliefs, that the whole thing has become "complicated." Do you know what these officials are supposed to do? If you do, congratulations, you are probably already voting for the one candidate who stands out above all the rest because of this candidate's proven ability to do it. If you don't, read on, and if you are intelligent you will come to the same decision other people already have.
The reason voting for your beliefs is the wrong way to go about voting is that your candidate's actually following through on his/her campaign commitments may ultimately lead to a future where your beliefs may not matter at all. Huh? Let me explain.
Despite popular belief, the Constitution does not grant us our freedom or rights as American citizens. These "self-evident truths" are part of (depending on your personal beliefs) derived either from your Creator or from natural law. A person born in a place where no government existed would indeed be free, but his freedom would not be protected against another's freedom. It was with this concept in mind that our nation's founders drafted the Constitution. It wasn't to give us freedom, which would necessarily imply that we aren't free unless the government allows us to be; it was to create a government that not only allowed a person to keep his natural state of freedom, so long as it didn't interfere with another's; this by turn protected his freedom against the use of theirs to deprive him of his. Therefore, the government as established by the Constitution was created for one reason: to protect the freedom with which we are all born.
Because the people who created this document had just placed their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor" on the line in order to regain this freedom from an oppressive government, they made sure when they wrote it that if we followed the guidelines, no such government could ever exist in our country. It's not that these men were infallible demigods (although they were pretty dang smart), it was that they understood how much freedom cost and how much it was worth. They wanted to make sure that their sacrifice didn't go to waste.
Just as a successful progenitor will create specific rules for the trust he leaves his family, which if followed will ensure their wealth; our founders created a trust for our freedom. And much like the heirs who have little appreciation for the sacrifice of the person who created this wealth for them take what they have for granted and sometimes squander it all by not following the rules; we the people do the same thing when we ignore the rules of the trust fund of freedom left for us by the people who paid for it and set up the rules of that trust.
It is this freedom that allows you as an individual to believe what you choose to believe, to freely express your beliefs as long as doing so does not interfere with other individual's rights to believe what they choose to believe. The founders were also intelligent enough to realize that times and situations would change. That is why the document came complete with easy to read instruction included on how to change it should times demand it. This process is called amending the Constitution, and the change is called, duh, an Amendment. And while changing the Constitution is not complicated, it is not easy.
That is by design. The founders knew from personal experience that the greatest threat to freedom was the government which is why the power of the government is incredibly limited in the Constitution. They realized that every law passed, regardless of how good the intention, could potentially damage the freedom of the individual since the enforcement of that law would require a sacrifice by the people (either in money or personal liberty).
Yet they also knew that there could be an idea or philosophy that came along which would gain the support of enough citizens that they would decide to allow the government to adopt and enforce it as law. This is why free speech is so important. It allows a way for these ideas to be heard and possibly adopted. If enough people think it's a good idea, then the Constitution can be amended. But unless the people decide to allow the government to make such laws by amending the Constitution, the last line of Article 1, Section 8 clearly states that the federal government has no power to do so, and the 10th Amendment further solidifies this.
Unfortunately, most people hated history class. And the Constitution is something they learned about there. Each time the government decides to do something that is a "good idea" based on some "belief of philosophy" in order to solve some problem that pops up, the power of the government increases, and the freedom and rights of the individual decrease. Because most people slept through history class and don't realize how important the Constitution is the government has become incredibly powerful by creating laws in order to solve problems that they have absolutely no right to create to begin with.
What most Americans don't realize is that the Constitution isn't an archaic document that was written for "back then"; it is a Contract between we the people and our government. And we the people dictated the terms of that Contract to give the government its rights--not vice versa. Every time the government decides it wants to do something in the best interest of the people that it isn't allowed to do, it violates that contract.
Think of it like this: If you had a contract with someone to build a house for you, for a set price you would expect to receive exactly what you agreed to for exactly the price agreed upon. If the builder knew that you hadn't read the contract he could give you less; he could also charge you more, and you would never know. This would benefit the builder but it would harm you. Similarly, if the builder just decided that your house would look better with brick instead of vinyl and decided to build it that way although you didn't ask for it, you would be outraged when you were expected to pay for the additions he made without authorization. If the builder decided that you should have a brick house, and explained that to you, and you agreed; you could then make that change--by changing the contract. If you wanted something else added that was important enough to you to give up something for it, you could then go to the builder and ask him to do it (he would likely oblige since he would receive more money) and once again, you would change the contract. But anything done without changing the contract would without question be detrimental to the party giving up something and be exploited by the party that gains something, regardless of the intent. Which brings us back to voting based on your beliefs.
When you vote based on your beliefs instead of voting based on who is most capable of doing the job they swear they will do, you are essentially saying, "I'm okay with having my contract violated as long as the government thinks it's a good idea; since the person I voted for claims to believe what I believe, it probably will be a good idea."
But what happens when your candidate doesn't win? Well then, you blame the other people who voted based on their beliefs for ruining your country. If you are a Republican, you blame FDR's "good idea" called the New Deal for creating the welfare state. If you are a Democrat, you blame the Republican's "good idea" of democratizing the Middle East for the war in Iraq. The thing both of these "good ideas" have in common is that there is absolutely nothing in the Contract that allows them to begin with, but that matters little if the people haven't read it. If we had felt that these problems had been serious enough to deal with and that the federal government was the best way to deal with them, we could have added it into the Contract.
Of course, neither party points this out because if the people actually understood that their Contract was being violated when the party out of power got their turn to be in power again, they wouldn't be able to exploit the Contract themselves. That's why winning elections by getting you to vote your beliefs is more important than getting you to vote on the one thing that should matter: the person with the best ability to do the job they were sworn in to do. Still wondering what it is they swear to do?
It's the last sentence of Article 2, Section 1 of that Contract. If you still don't see why it's important for you to read it, I'll just put that sentence here for you:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Pretty simple, huh?
There's only one candidate who can say that he has done this without fail for 20 years. Congressman Ron Paul. Of course, both parties want you to think he's crazy because if he were elected the people would see how simple this government thing really is, start paying attention, and regain their freedom and power (which would take it from the politicians) because he would honor the people's end of the Contract.
If you watch every debate, he has never criticized the Democrats for America's problems and sometimes seems to blame Republicans. And despite what Republicans would have you believe, it isn't because he's a pacifist liberal in disguise. It's because he knows it's not the Democrats who are the problem. It's both parties. And it's because they violate the Contract between we the people and our government. And we seem to tacitly endorse this because we voted based on our beliefs instead of voting for candidates who would ensure we had the right to hold those beliefs. war on terror is a great example of this.
If you are a Republican/Democrat first, Conservative/Liberal second, and an American third vote your beliefs. If you are an American first, vote for someone who will defend the very thing that protects your right to be what an American is supposed to be: Free. That choice is as simple as government was supposed to be before politics got in the way. Don't sacrifice what you want most (freedom) for what you want at the moment (someone to solve your problems). It may be too late for Super Tuesday, but as long as the GOP remains divided this will end in September at the brokered convention which gives more time for the message to spread.
Your fellow American,
John Armstrong
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P.S. I'll probably repost this article several times with different names. It think the message needs to get out. I apologize in advance if you waste a few seconds of your time reopening the same article. I'll probably change it a little when I do repost it.
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I am personally glad he ran, and is still running. You are also right, politics were so very confusing and complicated(or so it seemed until i started listening in on his debates). I have to say that, aside from everything else, he is one of the best teachers you can ever have. It makes you realize how simple it really is, this politics business (and the way the world works, generally speaking). He is our very own liberator. Our real-life Tyler Durden, without all the violence and anarchy of course.
When I think of Ron Paul, I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotes:
All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as being self-evident...Schopenhauer
We've seen Ron Paul ridiculed by the media and by the other candidates, but we've never seen him ridicule others. We've seen him violently opposed by exclusion in the media, and by refusal of the people to do their own research to find the truth. It's only a matter of time until the wisdom of his beliefs and his truths will be seen as self-evident.
We can only hope that people will wake up before the demise of America is beyond repair.
"...if you are intelligent you will come to the same decision other people already have."
That's the first sign the author may have a closed mind (anyone who disagrees must be unintelligent).
If only the world were as simplistic, unsophisticated and un-nuanced as you seem to hold it to be. Welcome to the complex world of politics, friend. You can keep wishing the game was straight forward and continue to lose miserably or understand the complexities of the game and actually try to win to it. That's the real choice here. Best of luck.
I don't think that the author believes the people are unintelligent, just uninformed. However, if they are informed and vote for the other Republican candidates who openly support Bush's war, or for the Democratic candidates who lay back and take whatever Bush decides...then they have made their choice. This means the small 10% or so of the American people who believe in the Constitution lose to the 90% who want war and want our lives controlled by government. As we continue these senseless wars and make more enemies, continue to borrow money from countries like China and decline into a recession...then maybe there will be one last chance if the people stand up, but then again it may be too late.
Figuring most RP supporters are "hard core" believers and made absolutely SURE they voted yesterday..... I added up the total RP votes.... in all states to date....
526,000 people. pop. of U.S. is 300million
Let's say adults represent 1 in 5 people or 20%, that's 60 million people in society eligible to "change" the status quo.... if they were so inclined.
Our "something much larger" hope is a delusion I'm afraid.... we are less than 1% in reality.
America is going to get what it deserves...... what it wants.
Only 1 out of every 100 adults you meet thinks like you..... I really "wish" it were "something much larger".
With all due respect, your post is actually inspiring. To know that half a million people are ready to stand up for liberty equates to a standing army. Considering most people had not even heard of RP less than a year ago, this number is huge. The general tipping point on a Belle curve is ten percent before it shoots straight up. An example of this is the Meetup group in my area. It started with five people in July and we grew to 280 by January. This is a movement and not just for an election.
Chin up, my friend. Stay the course. Future genrations will thank you.
John, Thanks for your enlightening view of how current politics function. I never could figure out why people would vote for certain crooked politicians - now it all makes sense.
This article needs to go in every newspaper and political blog in America (a shortened version would be needed). I would like to take the key points out of here and submit it to out local newspapers and college papers.
Don't give up, this is just the beginning. It seems like we have returned to the point that the Founders of this Nation faced in the decade prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Is history repeating?
"Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves." D.H. Lawrence, Classical American Literature, 1922
I really don't care at this point. I will keep voting for Ron Paul. I am sick and tired of my fellow Americans being SHEEP. WE all bleat about our rights and the government passes PRIVELEGES back to us that can be taken away.
We (Collectively) will pave a wide and greasy path to socialist/tyrannical rule. Good luck to you, I for one would rather be dead.
Libertarian Presidential Tickets
1972: John Hospers and Theodora Nathan
2,691 popular votes (0.003%); 1 electoral vote;
1976: Roger MacBride and David Bergland
173,011 popular votes (0.21%)
1980: Ed Clark and David Koch
921,299 popular votes (1.1%)
1984: David Bergland and James A. Lewis
228,705 popular votes (0.25%)
1988: Ron Paul and Andre Marrou
432,179 popular votes (0.47%)
1992: Andre Marrou and Nancy Lord
291,627 popular votes (0.28%)
1996: Harry Browne and Jo Jorgensen
485,798 popular votes (0.50%)
2000: Harry Browne and Art Olivier
384,431 popular votes (0.36%)
2004: Michael Badnarik and Richard Campagna
397,265 popular votes (0.34%)
I conclude that 526,000 votes (if true), so far in this PRIMARY election, is an advance for liberty, based on the above numbers for the GENERAL election.
One of the reasons I am so disappointed in the vote on “Super Tuesday” is because I saw the people choose to give away more of our freedoms by that vote. When I choose a candidate to vote for, I look for the person that does have a chance to be elected and who also is a protector of those freedoms. My view of being a republican is less government, less taxes, and more individual power to the people. But there is more to it than just that. If that was all there was to it, then why even unite as states back in the beginning of our country. It is because there is more power and protection in those greater numbers and unity. Protection not just from outside forces such as dictators or terrorists, but also from those things that would destroy our civilization from with in, like selfishness and the erosion of values such as work, individual responsibility, freedoms, compassion for others, etc. We need a president who sees the world as it is today, not the same world that was at the time the constitution was first written. We have different things that threaten our civilization now. We need a president who unites and inspires us, one that will untie our hands from all the government red tape and take off the suppression of over taxation. One who will encourage our resourcefulness so we can be competitive in a worldwide economy. One who understands the value of the individual family in the role of civilization and the training of our children for the sake of the future. The only candidate that I see that comes close to that description is Mitt Romney
Thank you for a very enlightening article.
Ron Paul, I'm begining to believe more and more is the bringer of light (truth). And the corporate controlled medias are the forces of dark, that feeds on war, violence and manipulation of people's minds. They are afraid of Ron Paul, therefore, the reason that there has been a media black out on him.
The majority of the American people do not like to read, they get most of the information from TV.
And the majority believes whatever the media throws their way. Going by that reasoning, I can understand why Ron Paul's message has not caught on yet to the silent
majority. But it will, and he will become our next president. The road will be uphill most of the way for Ron Paul and his supporters, but it is a very worthwhile battle. After all, the other candidates pales in comparison; McCain, with his temperamental outbursts and deep seated anger and hatred for the vietcongs, and itchy trigger finger, makes him unfit to be president. Romney, though he seems personable, doesn't seem strong enough to stand by his own principles or convictions. Huckabee just seems like a moron without integrity. Clinton and Obama with their socialistic ideas will just spend more of the peoples money to regulate and control the people for the "good of the whole".
Posted By: John Armstrong
Date: 2008-02-06 14:47:45
Kim,
Your commentary makes my point. If we decide we do need those things, "we" can decide to allow the government to do that--not by voting for a President, but by changing the contract. If something like national healthcare and fighting terrorists is really that important, enough people will see it as such and be willing to change the contract. We've forgotten this as a country which is why we find ourselves in the state we are in. Terrorists cannot destroy our country. But taking away our rights in order to do so can.
If Iraq was truly enough of a threat to the U.S. to need to fight a war there, the people could have told their representatives to authorize a war by a real war declaration. That would have provided all of the funding necessary as well as clear definitions as to exactly what it meant to "win." Because we didn't do it the right way, people have turned this issue into a political one--because the people weren't allowed to decide--through their representatives--that it was necessary.
Posted By: Barbara Krzewicki
Date: 2008-02-06 15:09:50
Your article is terrific, but I could not help but notice the ads from peta.org attached to it. Why on EARTH would this be allowed? If there is any organization more devoted to stripping American citizens of a basic right (that of owning animals, even pets) it is Peta. Peta believes that the lives of bugs and lab rats are more important than that of human beings.. go to their site and read the quotes from its founder Ingrid Newkirk. Peta operatives go into schools and try to indoctrinate children that "your mommy kills animals". Peta has monetarily supported convicted environmental terrorists. See the site www.petakillsanimals.com for the truth about these hypocrits. Peta and its crony organization, the HSUS, aim to get legislation passed on a state & national basis to prevent people from breeding // owning pets. The "pet extinction act", which would have FORCED Californians to spay or neuter their pets, was only narrowly defeated. In one major CA city, where there is a mandatory spay // neuter law, animal control officers go door-to-door seeking intact animals. Shades of stormtroopers? This is America? PLEASE remove the Peta ads from your oyjerwise excellent site!!!!
Posted By: Alex Plewniak
Date: 2008-02-06 16:57:23
Dear Mr. Armstrong,Thank you for your wonderful article.I’ve been trying to reduce to sufficiently brief space a “Help Wanted” ad that hits many of same points.I believe that the Oath of Office needs to be the keystone.I served in the Navy for many years.Although I resigned my commission and no longer wear a uniform my Oath of Office is still binding.I have the choice of publicly and specifically renouncing that Oath, I can act directly to undermine the Constitution, or I can continue to honor my Oath as a private citizen.I’m quite fond of the Constitution so I will continue to support and defend it.Prior to the polls opening yesterday, I made a plea to my local BNI chapter during our weekly breakfast meeting.BNI is “Business Networking International”, a voluntary business networking group through which members pass referrals and work to build their respective businesses.When one joins BNI they agree to a Pledge of Ethics.I discussed the Pledge, the value of voluntary exchanges, and asked if the members felt it important to honor their pledge.I asked, “What is the worst that will happen if you violate your pledge?” Someone might get cheated, receive bad service etc, and the offending member will be removed from the group and discredited.I then addressed the Constitution, and the Oath of Office.I asked the same questions, and referred to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma as a reference point.I stopped short of asking everyone to vote for Dr. Paul (California is a closed primary state), but I requested that the members at least give the same level of consideration to their votes for President as they do to their business decisions.Perhaps most amazing of all, is that out of nowhere, I got choked up, tear streaked, and actually had to collect myself while speaking.In spite of that, I think they got the message.I would like your permission to use some excerpts from your piece as I continue to craft this ad.Additionally, I offer this idea up for collaboration.I think it might make an interesting statement in newspapers, mailing lists, forums etc across the countryHelp Wanted:Senior Executive Leadership PositionMust be willing tothe best of your ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." .Must be U.S. BornAnd then include additional desirables:Monetary PolicyNo entangling alliancesProven Performance RecordI want to make it longer than just the Oath, but I hope to could create a sufficiently high impact piece to reach the voting public.My contact information is below, any takers?R/Alex Plewniakaplewniak@aol.com
My apologies for the lack of punctuation in the previous comment. I wrote it offline and did a cut/paste to the comment block. I used paragraphs, honest.
Posted By: David Wiersma
Date: 2008-02-06 19:36:24
"The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." We have a duty, an obligation to be lnvolved. Sadly in our post WWII generation people just don't get it. Life in Disney Land is what they know. Brave intelligent men took on the most powerful nation on earth, armed with the truth, and established a more perfect union. As Americans we need to protect and defend what we have inherited. Be one more voice for FREEDOM!!
Thanks for that most elucidating article. The message espoused by Ron Paul is so elegantly simple, it is utterly captivating. In my personal experience, anyone exposed to it finds himself having to bow to the superior intellectual position it represents - a platform of principles rather than platitudes ("Ready for Change", "Change we can Believe". "True Strength for America's Future" and so on, ad nauseum) cannot be resisted. Deep down, even the most ambivalent American knows that things, as they are now, are NOT good, and that more of the "same old, same old" will lead the nation to ruin - fiscal, military, and cultural. God bless Ron Paul.
Posted By: patrick henry
Date: 2008-02-07 16:49:46
John,
Another great article and thanks for your time. I am in (Ft. Campbell)Clarksville and would like to get up with you sometime to formulate a plan for Middle TN
Thank you for the great article. I had this conversation will my son the other day, people seem to vote for the wrong reasons. I am from Mich. and spoke with so many voters before our primary, and it was either Republican or Demecrat or about the issues, policies, religion, the war in Iraq, Gobal warming and so on.... it goes on indefinatlly. No one felt it was in the best inerest of this country to vote for the candidate that would up hold the Constitution. People have been brainwashed for so long that their sences have been duled, they have the attitude well I can't do anything about it any ways. I belong to http://www.downsizedc.org/ which says yes you can. Every bill that Ron Paul writes I will support, every petition that I can sign I do. It's not to late to make a difference, I'm going to forward this messgage to every state that hasn't had their primary yet. I would challenge everyone that reads this to do the same. Thank you.
I think that Ron Paul should drop out of the Race as a Republican a few days before May 22, and show up at the National Libertarian Party Convention on May 22, and ask for their nomination. He would then be on all 50 ballots for the general election, and the LP would have major party status when he won the election, or even got 5% in most states. The 2 frontrunners for the LP's presidential nomination have both agreed to run as VP candidates for Paul if he does so. To do anything else is to divide the freedom movement when they need to be united more than ever, around common ideas, to win. Moreover, it gives credibility to the dead institution of the "Republican" Party. Wayne Root as a VP candidate would be able to bring in more votes for a Paul/Root ticket than any other option. And what happens when Paul fails to get a brokered convention? He just fails? Does he run as an independent, or suggest people write him in? That would be insane. http://www.rootforamerica.com
The two guys above are the best chance, by far, for liberty in 2008. Other than that, creating a new leveller movement is the way to go: http://www.fija.org
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