Topic: Ron Paul
A Call to Arms An appeal to the Ron Paul movement on behalf of Bob Barrby Josh Koch
(libertarian)
Friday, June 6, 2008
Fellow Ron Paul supporters, it is with some degree of angst and trepidation that I approach you today. We are in a moment of crisis, as we dare not retreat in our fight, yet we know not where to go from here. Hopefully, we can come to a concept of our possible future course in this hour of need.
In the Christian tradition, Jesus stayed among his disciples for a time after his resurrection. He stayed long enough to rekindle their passion and to restore their hope. Even so, he did not dwell among them for a long time, and, upon returning to Heaven, He gave them this admonition, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. ... And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.' After this happened, He departed, and the Apostles were left to carry His message to the world.
Brothers and sisters of the Revolution, we are standing on that same mountaintop two thousand years later. Our hero, our leader belongs now to the ages. He will be remembered as a hero if we are successful, but he will not be the president no matter what we do. The Republican Party has bypassed a great man and teacher for a charlatan. This does not change our calling, however.
We have felt the fire of displeasure from the establishment. We have felt the poison of their wrath. We have been called traitors, anarchists, and worse. We have driven the demons of elitism and power-madness back into their bulwarks of party power, and they tremble at our approach. Through it all, we have retained our honor and our conviction, and, if we have been beaten, it has never been done fairly. Why should we let this cause die in a moment of confusion now that our leader has been removed?
Ron's fight continues, but it continues from the floor of the St. Paul GOP Convention and on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Our fight goes on unabated. Consider the evidence:
The War Continues
The Interventionism Continues
Frivolous spending remains alive and well
Our Dollar's Value Keeps Dropping
Federal Surveillance Increases
The REAL ID Act is upon us
The North American Union is near
Our border is still wide open
Corporations are picking our bones clean
Your nation needs you, friends, even if Ron no longer can benefit from your labors personally. We cannot vote for McCain or Obama, so they are out. You have three options left:
First, you can do nothing different. This is the road some will choose, but it does not fulfill the obligations of conscience. This option negates all of our efforts to date.
Second, you can write in 'Ron Paul' in November. Unfortunately, the deck is stacked against you in many states. Lest you be deceived, this is not a Constitutional Republic. Your voice will not be heard in many states, and such a vote will be counted as an 'error' or will not be counted at all in states with "sore loser" laws that require registering write-in candidates. It isn't fair, nor is it just, but it is how things work as of today. Thus, option two reverts to being option one under a different guise, an exercise in futility.
Third, you can choose another course. Right now, there are two freedom candidates from whom to choose: Bob Barr, the Libertarian, and Chuck Baldwin, of the Constitution Party. Your voice will be counted in this third option, and you will make a difference.
The Good Doctor told us that this day would come. He left us with no illusions about the importance of this struggle, and he knew that it must outlive his campaign. It is time to take his words and put them into action. We stand on the mountain now, but the time for standing here in pain and confusion is over. The next move is our own, and none but ourselves can continue this fight.
I am a Libertarian, but I do not care which side you choose, only that you retain your fire and passion and put it to good use. It's what Ron told us to do mere months ago, and it is time to make our move. We have been frozen, mocked, and reviled together. Let it not have been in vain.
We have just over 150 days until that fateful day in November. That is not a lot of time, friends. Whether or not we make our voices heard, America will go to the polls. Whether we keep Ron's fire alive or let it die, we will inaugurate a new president in just a few short months.
If we desire to have an impact, we must plot our own destiny. There are two candidates who embody the elements of the Ron Paul platform, and we would do well to shed the trappings of mourning and return to the trenches. This is not a time to weep over the loss; it is now the hour in which we must begin the next battle. Be cognizant of your losses and pain, but relish, for a moment, the glory of our shared victory: We bested the establishment in their own house under our own power, underfunded, undermanned, and outgunned; now, let us do the same thing in the electorate at large.
I call on you each to pick up your political arms once more, that the cause of liberty may not fade with this campaign. Dr. Paul was not the cause: his platform was. Yet, his platform was a mere mortal document comprised of ideas, but the ideas are timeless and potent, an unquenchable fire that can only be extinguished by our own inaction. Those ideas still hold a special enchantment for each of us, for our own beautiful and unique reasons. Let those reasons guide you now in this moment.
In the annals of history, we need not stand in shame for our defeat here. When others folded in weakness, we remained true to each other, ourselves, and our cause. Each of us stood boldly under persecution, discouragement, and defeat, and they could not break our spirit with all their weapons. Our ideas continue unabated, and no mere party structure can contain them, nor can it halt their advance.
We must take the fight to the streets once more. This is an honor worthy of Dr. Paul's legacy, accorded to us, his worthy supporters. Do you see the followers of the 'has-beens' summoned by their souls to such a great struggle that it transcends the fortunes of their respective candidates? Indeed, you do not! Take this gift as a badge of honor: you still have a cause, and it didn't begin or end with one campaign. It began when the first man threw down the yoke of slavery to a tyrant, and it will never end.
In the fight to come, we may struggle under the banner of Barr or Baldwin, but we fight with the courage of Ron Paul, in the memory of the Good Doctor, and in the Spirit of '76. To arms, brave warriors. Your nation needs your resolve this summer. As we speak, the forces of totalitarianism are in disarray, and we may yet strike them a fatal blow if we have the clear vision to do so. May we never have cause to sound 'retreat' when the enemy is in such a state!
Our victorious moment will come, and, when it does, Dr. Paul will be among us and in our hearts. Let us be worthy messengers in his cause until that day, and let us make him the Founding Father of a great movement among men and women who, bereft of one leader, chose their own course to freedom and restored their liberties for themselves, their posterity, and the world. Rally, once more to the flag, and we will carry the day.
Bob Barr (or Chuck Baldwin) 2008!
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Josh Koch only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Josh Koch is
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employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
We cannot emphasize enough the importance of voting for a freedom candidate rather than writing in the Good Doctor's name. As a longtime, lifelong Libertarian who cast his first vote for a president in 1988, I'm bummed that I won't get to vote for RP this year, but I know that this isn't about Ron Paul.
Hopefully we can marshall some semblance of unity, working especially hard to rein in our enthusiastic-but-not-altogether-sensible friends that have given our movement the "cult of personality" reputation that only a small fraction of our numbers deserve.
I'm voting for Barr because I agree with most of his positions, and the GOP is peeing down its crooked weak legs at the prospect of us pushing him into the debates. I know that alot of anti-war voters supporting Obama would also gravitate toward Barr's "Gov't is NOT the answer" message.
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