Topic: Ron Paul
What now? An open letter of discontentment from a r3VOLutionary.by Josh Koch
(libertarian)
Sunday, July 6, 2008
I remember October like it was yesterday. I had just moved to a new area, had a new job, and had just heard that Ron Paul's campaign was off to a solid start after months of no success. Looking at the local Meetup group, it looked really small, but it was starting to get active.
Nine months later, a lot of things have changed. We rocked the world, and we made ourselves a footnote-albeit a legendary one-in history. Dollars, time, effort, and standing in frigid conditions to wave signs were our sacrifices. Was it all worth it? Where do we go from here?
Putting all the fervor and excitement aside for a moment, we find ourselves perplexed. Like a race crew whose car gets demolished five laps from the finish, we are disgruntled and unhappy. I know I am tired of it all, but I'm downright angry at all the nonsense that followed since Ron's "I'm not dropping out or staying in" speech in April.
Sure, we made great strides, but what now? Campaign for Liberty? Break the Matrix? The St. Paul Convention? Support John McCain? Support Obama? The Libertarian Party? The Constitution Party? Barr, Baldwin, "None of the Above," or Write-in?
We gave everything we had, and now everyone is marketing themselves to us as the "next" Ron Paul. It's gotten so preposterous that, at the LP convention, people had the audacity to offer themselves as the acolytes of Ron, then support things like socialized medicine. I've heard people preach unions, weakening the dollar further, and energy mandates in his name, too. It's getting to be a parody of itself. The ones that aren't running as the next incarnation of Dr. No are trying to scare us into voting for them, giving money to them, or think they're outright entitled to our votes because of our involvement in the r3VOLution.
Honestly, I'm a little burned out by this election year, and we've got four more months until ballots are cast. What do we do? Some people gave money until it bled and then some to Ron and Ron-related causes (see blimp, etc.). Some people have already spent a year on the campaign trail. Some of us jeopardized our consciences registering with the GOP to vote for Ron.
Now, I get dunning letters from the GOP, Mitch McConnell, Laura Bush, the RNC, John McCain, Cindy McCain, and Trevor Lyman telling me to "go join this," "go do that," and the ever-present "send money fast by clicking this link." Enough is enough. We're tired, out of money, and badly in need of regrouping. We've lost people temporarily and permanently due to burnout. We're hurting.
Maybe our solution is to take our own advice: The answer isn't one group, party, or man, just as the answer isn't one government edict or law. The answer could have been Ron, but it wasn't. He may be the Barry Goldwater of our generation, but Goldwater's movement took a long time to realize their goals after he lost. How can we peer though the mists into the future?
The short answer is that we can't. Dr. Paul is a hero, but his fight has taken another direction. What about the rest of us? Well...that depends. We rallied around Ron because he had a message and he was brave enough to face the firestorm pursuing it. We don't need a man right now; rather, we need a cause. It's one thing to support a liberty candidate, while it's quite another to regroup after a loss and keep things going.
Campaign for Liberty has the potential to do this, but it needs to get the show on the road if it intends to harness our power. No offense to Mr. Lyman, but money bombs only work when there is a compelling message fronted by a compelling advocate. C4L is long on promises and short on delivery. It's as if it inhabits a special alternate universe where Ron never lost. Unfortunately for the C4L crowd, the rest of us have to live in the real world.
Trevor, you can keep squeezing us for money, but, without a compelling reason, your messages will go right in the "recycle bin" along with McCain's and Obama's. You still have $4.9 million of our contributions. Do something worthy, and people will answer. Rest on your laurels, and we're going to walk away. It's already happening.
I didn't wait for someone to start begging for time and money. I went and joined the Libertarian Party. A number of r3VOLutionaries did in my state, and we are trying to reach out to other branches of the freedom movement with very good feedback. It isn't about building empires and loyalties. It's about people and causes.
I like the Constitution Party folks and the GOP r3VOLution people I got to know. I liked the tempo and the struggle, but it needs a cause beyond nerdspeak and code words. I can preach to Ron Paul supporters all day long, but it falls on deaf ears. Why? WE know we were right, but everyone else is still stuck in the system. What now?
We need to stop running in different directions. We need a cause, and it needs to be bigger than "what shoulda/coulda been." It needs to be bigger than moneybombs and blimps and websites. It needs to be worthy of the heritage which we are trying to resurrect. It isn't Barr, Baldwin, or anyone else. It's a cause bigger than promoters and ad campaigns and conventions. What is it?
Frankly, I don't know. I know I'm supporting Bob Barr. I know that I'm in the LP now. I know that I miss being part of something like the r3VOLution, and I'm tired of the myriad cheap opportunists playing fast and loose with Dr. Paul's legacy. We made something beautiful this year, and I want it to have deeper meaning. Maybe it will, maybe not. One thing is certain, though: We need to figure out a direction and go, or our movement will be relegated to the past tense. All the dunning emails and spam in the world won't save our movement. Only the message of freedom can save us, and it seems to be a message that has been lost by the lesser minds trying to exploit us.
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Unfortunately, it will take something worse than the economic mess we have right now to knock any sense into people to stop voting for the same old two bought and paid for anti-Constitutionalists like the ones we're expected to choose between this fall.
We took gasoline for granted 'til it ballooned to $4/gallon, and we likewise take our Constitution for granted until we wake up and realize our democratic republic has morphed into socialism.
Don't get me wrong, I was a Paul supporter from the get-go, and would love to be able to vote for the man. But far too often Paulites reminded me of Enjolras and the radical students gathered around the table, certain in their vision and righteousness, only to be genuninely surprised when the greater firepower of the enemy mowed them down (reference to Les Miserables). Use your post-slaughter depression to assess what went wrong. And if you'll allow this old fuddy-duddy political veteran to offer some suggestions, I'll give you some food for thought.
(1) Campaigns are NOT for educating people. PERIOD. Paulites (and libertarians in general) often believe that the campaign is their soapbox for teaching the citizens The Better Way. It is not. That is what you use your "times in between" for. Campaigns are about identifying your natural supporters and massing them together. Paul never identifieid allies outside of a young, college-aged passionate extreme.
(2) ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL. Paulites insisted on using national campaign issues for its national campaign (sounds logical, right?). But how many Kill-The-Fed Paulites were in the local Chamber of Commerce? The ASPCA? The Boy Scouts? The Local Youth Soccer? The Town Band? 4-H? ANYTHING!?!?! If you're not involved at the ground level, you have no legitimacy, no matter how wonderful your message.
(3) People dont give a crap about the Fed or the Gold Standard. Give it up. You had a DOCTOR as a candidate, and Health Care is an issue, and Paul spent 1% of his time addressing that issue: it could have been his genius stroke. Instead, he railed against things the average citizen knows nothing of, and glazes over when they hear it. If you don't address THEIR issues, it doesnt matter how right you are on YOUR issues.
And that's why they call us Losertarians. We never learn, because we're just too smart and have too many important things to say.....
Posted By: No Name Supplied
Date: 2008-07-06 06:18:56
If just half the Paul enthusiasm transferred from Paul to Barr, he could reach critical mass and really make a difference. I'm afraid that the whole Paul thing was just some strange cult of personality, because Barr is about 98% overlap with Paul on the real issues yet there seems to be a lot of resistance. I guess I can understand the resistance from left (L)ibertarians who are fixated on legalizaing crack or whatever, but Paul has always brushed that type of extremism off and made it into a state's rights issue - same as Barr. Get real and support the guy who has a real shot to make a big impact. Barr was on Fox News Sunday last week and is on ABC's "This Week" today. With just a little more support he could be in the debates.
Posted By: Sara DiNicola
Date: 2008-07-06 09:23:18
Thanks for the well-written article that captures alot of my own thoughts for the past few months....However since Bob Barr voted in favor of the Patriot Act, worked for the CIA throughout the 1970s and supported the phony war on drugs for several years, I CANNOT SUPPORT HIM, even though I love most of the things Libertarians (started out) believing in, back when I was in my early 20's---I'm 56 now).....I have decided that people don't get upset enough about many things going on that Ron Paul talked about, even though they were plenty important!!! The only thing that seems to really upset the powerful and the non-powerful is the idea that 9/11 was an inside job, and I think there's ample evidence.
Even if you just make a LIST of highly suspicious, unexplained things that don't necessarily lead to any conclusions, this INFORMATION IS NEEDED by the American public, so they can cross that bridge to fully realizing how corrupt our government is.....I wore a hand-made T-shirt on 4th of July to all festivities that said "I Love my Country, it's my Government I Fear"....Even THAT was met a little cooly, I must say, so I think we have to spoon-feed these poor brainwashed babes-in-arms.....They can't handle the whole truth at once....Try to remember what convinced YOU, or perhaps ponder how your life was somewhat different from the norm, that you could recognize Liberty (or lack thereof).....Most Americans are so afraid of Big Brother and the corrupt police (not all, but how do you know which are which, and even good ones have orders to lay in wait to catch us doing something really wrong like putting a For Sale sign in our car, parked on a public street---how evil!)....What's really scary is watching people get arrested for speaking their minds, and now everywhere Free Speech areas are popping up, sidewalks aren't public anymore. Our Free Speech is being narrowed down to an infintesimiley small percentage of American soil....We have ALREADY lost so many Constitutionally sanctioned, God-given rights, that to exercise them means breaking the Law anymore. That's what we're up against and pretending it's not so will KEEP THE ELITES IN POWER.
Ron Paul was GREAT for letting that section of America know that they weren't alone in the way they think, but that's not enough to overcome MSM...I heard that it only takes 2% to overcome anything, but that 2% CANNOT back down one bit!!!!!....They cannot accept ONE thing or platform that they don't agree with.....They have to live & act by their conscience (and study, study, study!)....If the Presidential Race is set up so that no good candidate makes it, THEN SO BE IT. The Republicans & Democrats have scratched each other's back for 100 years, do we join the so-called Libertarians because they started scratching too?
Great article and great comments. It's refreshing to read about some honest self-evaluation by advocates of Liberty. As a long-time Libertarian, riding on that roller coaster of political excitement/depression, I see where the contemporary RP people have taken that same ride, it's just that their roller coaster was moving at the speed of light. The question always comes down to, "what do we do now?" Tully is right, all politics is local . . . after several failed attempts at running for U.S. Congress, I now sit on our City Council. Can I end the war on drugs, or abolish the I.R.S.? No, but the freedom movement now has boots on the ground in my hometown. But I have not written off the chances of success at the national level . . .I am supporting Bob Barr! For the RP patriots, Bob is your "Liberty-Plan B." His "Freedom Train" has more fuel and horsepower than any other on the tracks right now. Now I have never been much of a follower, so I don't understand having to wait for some critical mass to determine my own actions. I support Barr because I will never vote out of fear of the other mainstream evil (insert the name of your most feared candidate here). For those who cannot see past the nose on their own face, I would suggest that you also consider this . . . Even though Dr. Paul will not be president in 2009, we do have a chance that people like Ron Paul and Andrew Napolitano could be appointed to the Supreme Court! There is a chance that Chuck Baldwin could be the next Secretary of State or of the Treasury! That chance is called Bob Barr. It can happen, if all of us "experts on freedom" can drop our egos, and support what is obvious . . .the best remaining opportunity to retake the executive office of these United States of America-the campaign of Bob Barr!
Ron Pauls' was and still is. I not only learned from it, I came away with a new perspective.
It is the message... not the party.
I agree that his campaign was a little over-the-top with things like the gold stanard and abolishing the fed. Those things should have been addressed after he got into office as it was just to much to chew at one time and made people think that he was a radical. He should have focused on the things that are important to "everyday people" like the war and our civil and constitutional rights that are being stolen from us "for the good of the country." He also should have made it clear that even though he personally was against abortion, he wasn't against states deciding themselves on issues like that. It is just to big of an issue these days to claim to have all the answers to.
Yes, He shoulda, woulda and coulda, but the question now is... Where do "we" go from here?.
I personally don't think that the R3volution is ready for the White House yet, at least not without Ron. The country is, but the masses aren't. We need to further educate the people and let them know that We the People and "God" own this country and that we don't have to and will not let anybody walk on our Constitution. If we stay focused, commited and have patience we will prevail.
The Power of the Universe will take care of the rest.
Good article.... I'd give it 2 thumbs up.... but I can't.
some will say that Dr. Paul himself has said so - but has he? Listen very carefully to what he says and writes - listen and read at lest TWICE! the good doctor does not speak like the others, his words have meaning, compared to him, theirs don't...
here lately, when he speaks, he is speaking to three audiences at the same time:
the Federal Election Commission and to compliance with federal and state election laws
to voters and the general public not yet for liberty and constitution
to us, we that know (or should know) that nothing has changed, that for the sake of liberty and constitution he did, does, and still needs to be nominated from the floor and then elected by the Delegates in Convention as the Republican Party Nominee, and then finally elected by General Election voters to the White House (who would argue that he does not?)
as to the first - he nails it! as to the second - there are still folks coming to the banner of freedom - he is nailing that too! as to the third - he hasn't the power nor the responsibility to do what only what we can do...
if he nails the third, it will be because we have the ears to hear and the eyes to see, and the determination in our hearts like that of Ron Paul and the founding fathers - to never quit, to not give up, to finish the race...all the way across the finish line - you can't win if you quit before finishing the race and as any runner knows, you give it all you have, and nothing less, all the way through to the end, only after crossing the finish line do you let up
This years race has never been about the person of Dr. Paul - it is about the the message - the message that is not his alone - it is our message, the message of our forefathers - Ron Paul only offered himself as a candidate for the message - he is not a Ron Paul supporter, we are - it is not up to him to finish what he alone did not start - it is up to us - it is our responsibility, our joint responsibility and our personal responsibility
do not expect him to be something he is not, do not expect him to be like the others, do not expect to hear the words of others in him... study Dr. Paul - he is not a shallow man (and we may yet prove him to be the smartest guy in this election cycle)
every real and good reason to stand tall for Ron Paul at any point in time, is still just as valid
Posted By: Gary Dale Cearley
Date: 2008-07-06 20:12:41
I am actively supporting Bob Barr as well. I am looking at the reality of the situation. I have been a huge Ron Paul fan for years but he understands that he cannot make an alliance with the Libertarian Party without damaging himself in the Republican caucus in Congress. It is sad but true.
At the same time, I have been a Libertarian for many years and will remain one. I am extremely happy to vote for an experienced candidate and high profile person like Bob Barr. This is a giant step in the right direction for our party. If we could begin landing more and more high profile former Democrats and Republicans, former and especially current, sitting congress people then we will get there sooner. And then maybe we will see the likes of Ron Paul back in our fold, with our own Libertarian caucus. Continuing to promote candidates like Michael Badnarik, as much as I like the guy (I voted for him), is a death sentence to irrelevancy.
I liked the 'Strange Bedfellows' civil liberties partnership and started spreading that information around; who wants FISA?
I saw Dr. Paul's speech regarding the Iran resolutions up almost immediately to provoke cause for a war and spread that around, as well.
I'm trying not to just tread water, and RP did say it would take a while to 'unwind' the FEC regulated campaign, and that we would need to be patient. I assume we all are self starters enough to find SOMETHING to do, pro liberty, but I liked the group and the strength of the group to turn to an issue. Personally, I'd like to shut down the switchboards over that Iran resolution, at the moment.
An army without an enemy to fight falls apart. I'd hate to see that happen. There are plenty of enemies to go around.
"Trevor, you can keep squeezing us for money, but, without a compelling reason, your messages will go right in the "recycle bin" along with McCain's and Obama's. You still have $4.9 million of our contributions..."
Josh, while I pretty much agree with everything you said, the above statement is just untrue. Trevor doesn't have a dime of this money - Ron Paul does. Did I miss something here? I even re-read it a few times.
I'm not accusing Trevor of running of with any of the money. My understanding is that it is all within the Ron Paul 2008/C4L organization. Trevor is engaged to Ron's daughter and remains attached to Ron's outlying projects, so he is in a position to influece the use of the assets.
My point is that they have huge quantities of cash which aren't really being used, at least not visibly. It's hard to tell people who gave so much to give more when they don't seem to be using the money they already have to great effect. If FEC laws prevent it, they need to make that clear. If not, they need to consider using the assets they have before they start strip-mining the r3VOLution folks for new contributions.
Trevor is engaged to Ron's daughter??? Really??? That is really a big surprise to me!!! I guess I've been too busy campaigning to keep up. It wasn't that many months ago that Ron didn't even know who Trevor was. Where did you get this info?
The FEC will not allow money collected for one campaign to be used for others - I'm fairly certain about that. I trust that RP will put it to good use. That's not blind trust, its based on his decades of demonstrated fidelity.
Hmmm...I think it was on Daily Paul. March or thereabouts.
Looking for the entry now, but I'm stuck with IE, so I can't view DP directly. I may be wrong, but it's a pretty vivid memory. We talked about it at a Meetup.
Posted By: Floyd W. Whitley
Date: 2008-07-11 10:25:31
Of all here, Tully's comments were spot on..."Paulites (and libertarians in general) often believe that the campaign is their soapbox for teaching the citizens The Better Way."
Couple that with the comment by "No Name Supllied" that "the whole Paul thing was just some strange cult of personality", and there you have the plumbing to this phenomenon.
Point in case, are the comments by pendragon "determination in our hearts like that of Ron Paul and the founding fathers". Pretty soon, apparently, there'll be a Libertarian petition to chisel his likeness onto Mount Rushmore.
I will conclude this post with a citation from a REAL Founding Father regarding such personality cult politics, but first, let me ask:
Why is it that supposedly "superior" Libertarian intellectuals cannot see their own sanctimonious arrogance, nor understand their own exagerated condecension?
Why too is it that Libertarians call for "Rule of Law" but yet often insist on ignoring it and its precedential history? And then they deny, incedulously, that the State has authority to exercise such "rule" when the Libertariains themselves continue to call for it? Semblence rather than substance.
To me, Libertarians are spoiled elitists [as evidenced by DougBurlison's comments: "I have never been much of a follower, so I don't understand having to wait"].
They apparently are convinced of their own self important, albeit presumptive, intellect [e.g. Kipper Matthews: "We need to further educate the people..."], as being superior to the "ignorant" masses who don't see it that way [e.g. DougBrulison: "For those who cannot see past the nose on their own face...].
Meanwhile, oddly, they insist that only they themselves understand the enlightened and highly "evolved" secret of liberty and "individual responsibility". Yet without question whatsoever, Libertarians accept homosexual pederasty, despite the "rule" and traditional legal customs of this nation, and ignore the advanced notion that, in human society, surrendering to perversion, rather than "liberating" actually enslaves the human (and if extensive enough, the society itself) to beastial lust.
Worse still, to justify this selfish "me agenda" behavior (dope, homosexual deviancy, etc.) they reach, if necessary, all the way back into primitive cultures and tribal societies claiming "See!...Other cultures "condoned" this!"--So much for human "evolution". So much for enlightenment.
Reaching all the way back into nearly prehistoric societies to justify their own inability to call for, much less expect and demand from its members today, the very personal responsibility that they claim they support and champion?
It isn't personal responsibility that Libertarians support, it is personal license; selfish petiness, arrogance, elitism, and an almost paranoid [e.g. spinnikerca: "An army without an enemy to fight falls apart. I'd hate to see that happen. There are plenty of enemies to go around."} cultism.
What baffles me is that, given the problems of this world, why is it that the homosexual activisits and dope users expend the amount of energy they do to alter society's "educated" opinion on such matters? Are there not enough more pressing issues which require our attentions?
Why not simply pull your pants up and put away the pipe, and take some responsibility to behave as an "evolved" human being for a change? That would be called integrity, without which you will never evolve, and without which your calls and cries merely sound like the tinkling of a brass cymbal.
Lastly, as for personality cults in politics, consider these words well:
"The people are too apt to yield an implicit assent to the opinions of those characters whose abilities are held in the highest esteem...it behooves you well to consider, uninfluenced by the authority of names."--Samuel Bryan, Centinel, Anti-Federalist.
I have to agree about the Cult of personality. For a long time I too was an active member of Paul's campaign and it seemed as though the issues were binding us all together. But after he left the Front and urged his cohorts on to their own local fight, suddenly noone was there anymore. Oh yes, I've seen some of my former campaigners run for local office, but their support has almost drained away to nothing.
I was also seriously disturbed that Floyd B. Whitely seems to be under the impression that libertarians are anarchists. Much more than that, he seems to feel that we are all amoral and have no ability to see that we are waltzing America down the garden path as it were. I have consistently heard this argument from most Conservative Republicans when discussing the 'faults" of Libertarianism.Too many read Anne Ryand and think this inculcates all Libertarians with some amoralistic need to destroy American Society.
The true irony is that Floyd calls us elitists and then goes on to use all the talking points of a party that has lied to the Nation for the last 8 years. As though that is not enough he then makes this about Homosexuals and how they will bring down society to the lowest common denominator. I too used to think that way. But then I grew up. I'd love to see Floyd join the adult discussion and put his powerful writing skills to use in a fight that is worthy. Perhaps the fight for Freedom is just not enough?
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