Many people were a little depressed when Dr. Ron Paul didn't get the nomination to run as the Republican candidate in the 2008 presidential election. Many activists had fought hard to get his name out there and get him the recognition he deserved. Many people found real hope in his message and were sorely disappointed by the way the corporate mass media reported on the movement and misinformed the general public as to the real numbers and nature of those involved.
The nomination of the statist and collectivist Mr. John McCain was at least in part due to the corporate news sources pounding home the talking points that Dr. Ron Paul was unelectable because his ideas were too radical. Too many didn't take the time to think for themselves and realize just how absurd the idea of being unelectable was. Ron Paul's ideas made sense and were popular, but too many neocons came out to the polls to vote in the primaries with the idea that John McCain, with his left leanings, would be better able to steal votes from the even more left Barack Obama.
There were, however, many of us who realized that it didn't so much matter whether Dr. Ron Paul was elected or not, what mattered was that his message of freedom was broadcast for the populace to consume. The seeds would be planted. After the election, Dr. Paul was invited to speak on many news shows. Even the corporate media had to admit his popularity and that he made sense in many ways, especially in terms of economics. Even they had to realize that the common folk were thirsty for a different way to look at the issues. They kept inviting Dr. Paul back to boost their ratings. He is now likely one of the most recognizable congressmen ever, but more importantly people have had time to mull over the ideas he espouses in their minds and are beginning to understand their value and significance. The seeds planted during the 2008 election are beginning to sprout.
John Boehner is the presumed next Speaker of the House. He is very likely to gain the position because he has likely been bought and paid for by corporate interests. Since the Republicans have gained the majority of the house, Ron Paul is in line to become the chairman of the powerful Monetary Policy Subcommittee. For awhile, there was some question as to whether or not Mr. Boehner was going to give that position to Dr. Ron Paul. The announcement that Mr. Boehner plans on granting this position to congressman Paul has helped to ease this fear. It shows that even those paid for by the established corporate elite can be politically pressured into submitting to popular will.
Lest they forget, the Republicans need to little else than look to the current administration to see what happens when the base that brought you to power is snubbed. The true socialists are coming out of the woodwork and admitting what they are. They are mad at the Obama administration for what they see as a betrayal. They are mad that he has compromised the principles of socialism, the same principles of force that failed in the old Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. They have exposed themselves and shown how unpopular their ideas truly are.
This current crop of congressmen were swept into power by the grass roots movement known as the Tea Party. The Republican neocons tried to co-opt the movement and make it into less than it could have been by their statist, socialist ties, but at its core it is still a movement that was created by the Ron Paul Revolution. It was a movement to kick out the incumbents. It is a movement that demands a return to the rule of law, and that law is the Constitution of the United States of America, its outline for keeping the federal government small and its powers enumerated, and The Bill of Rights. The grass roots realize what must be done and have spoken loud and clear in this last election. The new crew is ready to go and hopefully the old boys are shaking in their shoes. Many have awakened, shed their apathy and are once again getting involved and looking closely at their political system. The time has come to finally scale down the government we have.
The message needs to be repeated again and again. Freedom works. Liberty is a good thing. Less government means more prosperity for the rest of us. It can start with the Federal Reserve. It can start with Ron Paul using his newfound power to subpoena and calling to account officials from the Federal Reserve. It can start by reintroducing Ron Paul's simple bill for a full and complete audit of the Federal Reserve and putting pressure on any opponents or anyone who wants to water the bill down to explain themselves to an ever more angry general populace.
But it can't stop there. Recent legislation needs to be repealed, all of it. The legislation passed by the lame duck congress needs to be repealed and the damage done reversed. Recent comments made by one senator leads me to believe that this congress believes that partisan bickering has created a situation in which not enough could be accomplished. Nothing could be further from the truth. Too much has been accomplished. These people don't seem to understand that the problems this country and the world faces aren't caused because government doesn't do enough, they're caused because government does too much. The laws created particularly over the last decade or so have done nothing but stifle innovation, shut down competition, consolidate power and near monopolies, and construct barriers to the creation of new businesses. These barriers need to be removed if we are serious about wanting our economy to prosper once more.
The people have been taxed enough and their money wasted on fruitless endeavors. Government and its elitist corporate masters have proven to be poor conductors of the world economic symphony. The cacophony of laws intertwine in such an horrendous and discordant fashion as to make it impossible for one instrument to tell what the other is doing. Politicians, both Democrat and Republican, seem to want to throw even more noise into the mix when what is needed is to simplify. Spending needs to be cut and the federal government reduced in size so that more local government and individuals can decide the most productive way to spend their money.
Politicians who will be taking the reins of power next year will also do well to remember that a powerful anti war message was also part of the Ron Paul Revolution. Dr. Paul spoke loud and clear about his feelings that foreign policy should be built on trade, not war. He is not a isolationist, as some war mongers would have you believe, but a non interventionist. This might conflict with the beliefs of some of the more "mainstream" Republicans, or neocons as I would label them, but I would remind them that the collectivism of a corporate warfare police state is just as bad, if not worse, as the socialism of a corporate welfare state. Our nation, such as it is, should not concern itself with the politics of other nations, however well intentioned such concern is. We have enough problems to worry about here. The time of empire and nation building needs to end. The money spent on such endeavors could be better spent here at home where the corporate elite have squandered our wealth, lowered our standard of living and given us high unemployment, a weaker dollar, lower productivity and little or no hope.
The Constitution cannot defend itself. Ron Paul eloquently points this out, but it is up to us to demand its mandates be adhered to by those elected to government offices. They will get away with whatever the common folk allow them to get away with. For too long now, politicians have nibbled away at the treasure accrued by our forefathers and now we are left with less than nothing. We as a nation and a populace have forgotten what it means to be free and independent. We have forgotten that in order to live free of government coercion one must take personal responsibility for their own life and stop trying to coerce others to live as one wishes them to live. Remember, the levers that control the force of government might be in your hands today, but tomorrow someone who would do you harm might control the very levers you used against them.
The Ron Paul Revolution tries to reestablish these ideals. It tries to bring back the principles this nation was built upon and teach us all how to live by those principles. It does not try to establish a utopia, that is something collectivists believe can be accomplished by using government force, but it does try to establish a society where everyone has the opportunity to become the best human one can possibly become. This might be best achieved by a slow deconstruction of the over bloated bureaucracy that has been established over the years. I can only hope next year will mark the beginning of phase 2 in the Ron Paul Revolution where such deconstruction starts and a new base to build a free society upon is created.
My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.
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