Ron Paul, the GOP, and the LP

I voted today in the SC GOP primary. I voted for Ron Paul. It will be the last time I vote as a Republican.

Ron Paul can't win and won't win. This has not dissuaded me from voting for him because I believe he is the best candidate the Republican Party has to offer. But the bottom line is that our government will not change until a substantial mass of the electorate changes.

The American people are idiots. We can blame the politicians and the system all we want, but the American people have gotten the government they deserve. Ultimately, the American people make the choice, and they are the ones who bear the responsibility for the bloated government we have. The American people consistently support and vote for two opposing things. They want a huge government that does everything for them, and they don't want to pay for it. But money has to come from somewhere, so the result is robbing Peter in order to pay Paul with everyone trying to be Paul and not be Peter. But we are all Peter.

This is a formula for madness, but I find that things don't change until they become a crisis. This is because reality always wins. Even fools can't remain fools forever.

The Ron Paul Revolution has been a glimmer of hope in this sea of stupidity, but I realize that this revolution is not a libertarian revolution. This struck me as a ran into one of my old customers at a Ron Paul event. I told her I was surprised to learn that she was a libertarian. She asked, "What's a libertarian?"

The Ron Paul Revolution is not a libertarian movement. There are libertarian ideas there, but it is a coalition of libertarians, paleoconservatives, people who hate taxes, and a whole bunch of crackpot conspiracy theorists. The result is a losing movement that blames the losses on conspiracy and voter fraud. When Ron Paul loses today in SC, those loonies will blame it on just such a conspiracy. This is dumb.

I am not disappointed with Ron Paul because he is losing. I am disappointed that this flurry of activity represents even less than what it appears. Libertarians are smart. These pseudolibertarians are nuts. I'm waiting for the UFO people to come out with their endorsement in order to find out what really happened at Roswell. It feels like a bad episode of The X Files.

I'm off this bandwagon now and rethinking my approach. I decided that the Libertarian Party was a waste of time and to try and make an impact in the GOP. Fuck that. What I find so surprising is that a guy like Lew Rockwell who seems to endorse anarcho-capitalism is so enamored with Ron Paul. It seems the hardcore libertarians are the most willing to sell out while the so-called weak libertarians are the ones being principled and giving tepid support to Ron Paul. Meanwhile, Ron Paul presents a very compromised view on things like immigration and Social Security.

The GOP is a joke and so are the Democrats. They are indistinguishable in their style of governance and differ only in which constituency they will cater to in order to build a base. But we are still in Iraq even with a Democrat congress. No change there. I lay this at the feet of the voters who overwhelmingly want us out of Iraq but only with a victory. Pure stupidity there.

The only true and lasting change is the hard one. It is the difficult one. It involves educating those fools who are responsible for this mess, and I mean the American people. This cannot and will not happen in either of the two major parties. I am glad Ron Paul is running and highlighting some of these issues. But when an average member of his revolution does not know anything about what Dr. Paul is talking about, this is not good. All Ron Paul has succeeded in doing is stealing a few sheep from the larger flock.

I have decided to stick with the Libertarian Party. Perhaps Ron Paul will run on the libertarian ticket as he did in 1988. But he has said he has no intention of doing that, and I take him at his word.

The LP really is the party of principle. It is the third largest party in US politics. It is a true barometer of where the American public is in its thinking. I like their goal of sticking to principle and waiting for people to come to it. It feels better to me than being a Ron Paulian in a major party that does not give a shit about what I think.

In short, I'd rather lose on principle than win on expediency. I support Paul's campaign and hope he enjoys some success. I believe the GOP is better off with him than without him. But I think the best path for me to take at this point is to support the LP in every way I can.

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