Saturday, January 7, 2012

Ron Paul Supporters, Are You Ready to Get Down and Dirty?

Politics is a dirty business. Everyone knows that. It is full of power hungry control freaks who care nothing about transparency, accountability, honesty or principle. They don't want to see government shrink because that would mean their power shrinks. If that's the case, why do we hear so often so many politicians speak about such things as if they have these admirable traits when the opposite is true? Politicians are notorious for lying, flip flopping, hypocrisy and breaking promises. There are an extreme number of powerful people who are anything but admirable. In fact, many of them would be considered despicable if not for the fact that for some reason or another we as a society seem to excuse people in politics for acting in such a fashion. We have let the system become a cesspool where such men can find a respectable home.

The nature of politics puts principled people at a definite disadvantage. I'm not talking about just the overtly immoral things like lying, misrepresenting and stealing the vote, I'm also talking about more subtle things, tricks and sleaze that are not illegal or immoral, but are quite likely unethical, in my opinion. An honest, ethical, principled individual isn't going to want to partake in any of that kind of chicanery in order to win an election, he's going to want to win because he takes a moral stand on the issues. Expecting an honest, principled man to get elected is sort of like expecting an honest man to win at poker when he's sitting at a table full of cheats. It's not likely to happen.

So I sit here, contemplating such things, and I feel the need to ask, how is it that things have come this far? How is it that the system itself has become so corrupted that honest and principled men cannot win elections? Why do we accept such nonsense? Well, I can tell you this, I don't believe it happened overnight. There was a time in this nation when we had citizen politicians and statesmen who did not make a career out of politics and were not in it simply to win and gain power. Yet even back then the seeds of destruction had been sewn. Even back then a certain amount of unethical behavior was quite tolerated. The corruption seeped into the bloodstream of the American politic, small changes were made in the Constitution and how it was applied, and from there it twisted and bent the system until it became the unrecognizable mixture of socialism, corporatism, crony capitalism, oligarchic, and plutocratic systems that we have today, I doubt very much we can straighten it out overnight.

Still, we have to start somewhere. Personally, I think we need more honest, principled individuals to get involved with local government, such as setting up oversight for the county court systems and independent citizen committees to combat over reaching city government that creates undo burdens to opening private businesses. But people seem to want to concentrate on politics at the national level, which is really where they have the least amount of power. Still, there is hope.

The first thing to consider when looking at this is that even national politics starts at the local level. If we consider that Ron Paul is the best candidate for president and if the goal is to restore a principled national government that obeys the limits put upon it by the Constitution, then it behooves us to remember that there are powerful forces working to prevent him from even achieving the Republican nomination. Of course we all know just how much chance a third party has thanks to successful propaganda about political party duopoly that has inculcated the American public. The best chance Ron Paul has of becoming president, as he himself well knows, is for him to become the Republican nominee. The old maxim that it doesn't matter how many votes he gets, it matters who counts the votes applies here. It is important that Ron Paul supporters be able to count the vote.

I am not for a moment suggesting that Ron Paul supporters do this to steal the election. In fact, I am suggesting the opposite, that supporters of other candidates already hold positions where they are able to count the vote and they will use these positions to steal the election, if they can. I believe Ron Paul has the support and the votes he needs to win an election, after all, who doesn't want honest and transparent government? Only those who benefit from such corruption, and even some of them realize the danger of allowing so much corruption as we now have in government. I think that Ron Paul supporters need to gain positions where they can take the ability to steal the election away from those in power so that we can all have confidence in the electoral process.

Yet even with elections that are not stolen there can be a certain amount of skullduggery to subvert a populist candidate. We likely saw some of that take place in Iowa. Candidates will buy votes from people who supported other candidates. Lies, propaganda and disinformation will be spread to invoke fear in certain voters so they come out and vote against a certain candidate. That's why it's important to get as many Ron Paul supporters out there to vote for him as possible. Numbers are of utmost importance. As more primaries pass and it gets closer to the Republican convention, that's when the field will be whittled down and we will really see where the truly concerned Republican base stands in terms of the most important issues.

So far, I haven't said anything that would leave a bad taste in the mouths of Ron Paul supporters. Well, the next suggestion just might. It revolves around delegates to the Republican convention. Keep in mind, it will be the delegates at the convention, not the voters at the polls, who will ultimately choose the Republican nominee for President. It has been mentioned that Ron Paul supporters in Iowa have come forth to volunteer to be delegates already. I have heard that he might already have more delegates than any other candidate. This is a good thing. Now I suggest that other Ron Paul supporters go to their county Republican party headquarters and volunteer to become delegates for other Republican candidates who have earned delegates to the convention.

I know this might sound strange and if you are a Ron Paul supporter voting for another candidate would sound distasteful, but that is how politics work in this nation. The reason to become a delegate tied to another candidate, however, is in case the convention does not come up with a clear winner, but needs to be brokered. It is my understanding that new rules adopted this year allow for candidates to keep a certain amount of their delegates from states they competed in, it is not a winner takes all delegates rule. If after the first vote there is no clear winner at the Republican national convention, delegates are no longer beholden to the candidate they pledged their vote to and can, by rule, switch their loyalties to another. At that stage, we know that the vast majority of Ron Paul supporters will never change loyalties, but the delegates of other less principled candidates will be happy to follow their candidate's example and be less than principled. Wouldn't it be better to have those delegates be Ron Paul supporters rather than those who think that being loyal to the party is more important than being loyal to principle and will vote for whoever they're told to?

Even this small deviousness would seem a big deal to many Ron Paul supporters who put honesty, ethics, morality and principle above all else. Yet it really isn't all that bad and is within the rules of the Republican convention as long as you vote for the delegate you pledged to vote for on the first ballot. Of course, if you didn't do that, well, that would ultimately be your call. Others have done worse. There are many other dirty tricks and devious practices that occur during campaigns. Right now, it looks like Ron Paul supporters don't have to do much other than support him with their vote and their money. It is yet to be seen if anything of a devious nature need be done. If something less savory needed to happen, would a Ron Paul supporter be in a position to make it happen?

With Ron Paul as president, even the corrupt mechanisms of politics in this nation might begin to change for the better. I've come to believe that a man who is too honest would not make a good politician, Ron Paul is one of the exceptions to that rule. Wouldn't it be nice if we live to see a day when those who are honest and principled are elevated to the highest levels of government while those who are less than ethical are exposed and unable to hold any position of public trust? I don't believe for a second that one man can undo overnight what has taken the system decades to achieve, but I do believe that one man in the highest position of government is a huge step along the road to accomplishing such a goal. If it takes a few twists and devious tricks along the way, then so be it. The other side certainly wouldn't hesitate to use such methods.

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