The importance of Ron Paul

Americans may well be confused by the candidacy of Ron Paul, 10-term Congressman from Texas. Although he is a Republican, his responses during the Republican candidates debates clearly shocked the Republican Party "leaders". Even more shocking was the fact that Paul, in Fox News' own poll, won the debate. Add in the "alarming" fact that Paul ran for President once before, as the nominee of the Libertarian Party.

Paul has upset the political applecart. Leading Republicans are shaken. Apologists for American foreign policy, regardless of party, are shaken. It's one thing to understand what the truth is, and quite another to hear a Presidential candidate speak it so clearly. That is the tremor Ron Paul has caused.

A reasonable question arises in the minds of loyal Republicans... why is Ron Paul running as a Republican when his views are so contrary to the actions of that party? His views essentially attack the foreign policies of the last two elected Republican Presidents and their administrations.

There is no doubt in my mind that Ron Paul would be more ideologically comfortable in the Libertarian Party. He is a libertarian, and votes that way consistently. He is often the only Republican voting against measures he considers unconstitutional, and sometimes the only congressman of either party to vote no. His nickname is Dr. No.

The simple and significant fact is that Ron Paul is a Republican because our election system is so rigged that only a Democrat or Republican can win. It's a shameful fact that most Americans don't understand, but a fact nevertheless. If Ron Paul were to run again as a Libertarian candidate for President, you would still not know who he is. The debate in which Paul obviously delighted many viewers would not have happened. The publicity... the chance to say publicly what so many Americans know is true... wouldn't have happened.

Ron Paul's ideological views have not changed since he was a Libertarian Party candidate. Had he been elected then, in 1988, American foreign policy would have been very different. There is no doubt in my mind that President Paul would not have allowed much of the interference in the affairs of other nations. There would have been no trumped-up War in Iraq. Muslims around the world would have had little reason to hate American foreign policy, and no desire or justification for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Al Qaeda would be of little or no importance because they would have been deprived of the hatred of American foreign policy that has led so many formerly peaceful Muslims to their cause.

This would be a very different nation and world if Ron Paul, or any other libertarian, had been elected in 1988. Some Americans may be coming to realize that now. They are beginning to understand how their political options have been restricted. Even as a long-time Republican, Paul's views... views that ring true with the American people, are being attacked within his own party.

At one time, Ron Paul's libertarian ideology was mainstream Republican. His ideology is that of our nation's Founding Fathers. That it is now out of Republican mainstream thought simply indicates how far the GOP has strayed from their own former beliefs. It's important to understand that if Ron Paul had been a Democrat all this time, what is happening now would be very little different, because the Democrats have strayed from their ideals just as far as has the GOP. Paul's statements in the GOP debates would have caused just as much furor in a debate of Democratic Party candidates.

The American people, as they now come to realize the sense and honesty of Ron Paul's ideology, need to be fully aware of how much they have lost by not making the effort to support libertarians over the past 35 years. Americans need to realize how easily they have been manipulated into supporting the "lesser of two evils" in elections. Americans need to understand how they have allowed two parties to restrict our choices... each election resulting in more power for the greedy major parties and less power for the citizens.

Our election system is a joke. It no more represents the will of the people than Osama bin Laden represents Muslims around the world. Many of us condemn Muslims for allowing fundamentalist and terroristic elements to dictate what happens in Muslim-majority nations. We are at least as guilty of allowing our leaders to take aggressive and terroristic actions that do not represent what WE believe in.

This election, thanks to a courageous candidacy by Ron Paul, could change this nation dramatically. If Republicans, dismayed by the way their party has corrupted itself, will support Paul, he can be the Republican candidate. If Democrats, equally dismayed at how their party has changed, will support Paul, he can be the next President. If "Independents", and the huge percentage of Americans who have simply given up on our electoral system, will support Paul, it makes no difference whether Democrats or Republicans support him.

Republican party leadership will do all they can to divert Paul's candidacy because it threatens the greedy power-hungry leaders of that party. Listen to their media minions trying to explain away Paul's public popularity. Despite winning the post-debate polls, other polls are not including Ron Paul. One poll even included Thompson and Gingrich... neither of whom has even declared as a candidate... and still didn't include Ron Paul. Keeping his name out of the public eye... letting the public just forget that he exists... that's one of many ways in which powerful party politics eliminates dissention and reduces our choice to the same old crap we're sick of.

Politicians (of both parties) have become addicted to the power that comes with "big bully" foreign policy. They have come to revel in the increased power that comes with having an overwhelming military. Among hundreds of sovereign nations, American politicians relish the thought of being the big dog on the block, even if it means violating the sovereign rights of other nations and endangering the American people.

The two old parties, together, have dragged this nation into a pitiful position... hated by much of the world, and burdened at home to the brink of depression. D and R politicians have done that, to make short-term gains for themselves. Ron Paul represents a golden opportunity to change all that, but the American people are going to have to pay close attention and take some action to take advantage of it. A large majority of Americans have made it clear that they believe our nation is headed in the wrong direction. They still say that after voting control of Congress into the hands of the Democrats.

I encourage each of you to support Ron Paul's candidacy in every way you can, and as much as you can. Yes, there will be a Libertarian Party candidate on your ballot too. The LP works extremely hard to keep that choice available, and will field a candidate with essentially the same views as Ron Paul.

In the meantime, our best chance of recovering our lost nation is for Ron Paul to get the Republican nomination. It's a chance for disappointed Republicans to return their party to sanity. He will need lots of assistance, especially money, to pull that off against the powerful GOP leadership. If he can, at least Americans will have a viable choice for the next election... not just the "lesser of two evils".