“Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her (America’s) heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. – John Quincy Adams, then-Secretary of State, 1821
We are inspired by the desire of the Libyan people to overthrow Muammar Qadhafi. Sadly, Qadhafi has reacted violently to their protests, and a civil war is now being waged.
We hope the insurgents are committed to freedom, and if so, we hope they will prevail.
But they must to do it without our help. This is THEIR struggle, not ours. As the letter below shows, a U.S. military presence may only undermine the insurgency, not help it.
The good news is that the Obama Administration has shown skepticism toward intervention.
The bad news is that the advocates for intervention are prominent and vocal.
To counter their pressure, we need more members of Congress to speak out in opposition.
Last week Donald Rumsfeld went on the Opie and Anthony radio show to promote his new book, “”. It was an odd interview to begin with. Opie and Anthony are not known for their hard-hitting political interviews, but rather, numerous fart and sex jokes. Comedian Louis C.K. was in studio during the interview, and decided to ask Donald Rumsfeld a humorous question. You can listen to the interview here:
Compare that interview with the rather hard-hitting tough journalistic interview Judge Andrew Napolitano did last night with The other Donald:
And here is the Judge after the interview, saying that Rumsfeld described the interview as the “toughest” he’s had. I’m thinking he wishes he’d rather be asked if he’s a lizard by Louis CK than be interviewed by the Judge again.
Earlier today, Ron Paul used his five minutes of questioning to ask Hillary Clinton why we prop up dictators. Clinton’s answer seemed a bit similar to David Letterman’s response to Ron Paul’s son when Rand Paul appeared on Letterman’s show.
Letterman, basically said what Rand was saying didn’t sound right, but he didn’t know why. Hillary’s response to the elder Paul was more or less “sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don’t”. That is another non-answer, but that’s why they are called politicians I suppose. Check out the exchange below.
About half-way through Rand Paul’s new book, “The Tea Party Goes to Washington“, makes me realize that he is trying to really put liberty back into the Tea Party as it was meant to be from the beginning. Making the media rounds yesterday and today, he is spreading that sweet message of freedom like his father. He is scheduled to be on Late Night with David Letterman tonight as well as Hannity’s TV show. Yesterday he was on ABC’s Good Morning America, Nightline, and Hannity’s radio show.
Here is an excellent appearance by Ron Paul on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”. Fiscal responsibility, foreign policy of Obama, and more is discussed. Ron Paul at one point bluntly calls Barack Obama a warmonger.
Here is Ron Paul discussing his CPAC straw poll victory with Fox and Friends this morning. This is a really good interview as he is able to articulate his own positions and is not interrupted when doing so. He even takes a retaliatory shot, although a bit indirect, at Donald Trump.
Yes, Ron Paul has won his second consecutive CPAC straw poll and as expected all the anti-libertarian, defense=offense, neo-conservatives (and Donald Trump, whatever he is) are dismissing the victory. They say it doesn’t mean anything. They don’t know what they are talking about, as usual. Of course it means something.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that Ron Paul will be the GOP nominee in 2012. Paul hasn’t even announced if he’s running yet. The victory’s meaning really has little to do with 2012 and much to do with the future direction of the Republican Party.
The organizers of CPAC sheepishly denounced their own straw poll prior to announcing Ron Paul as the winner. Appropriately enough, while they denounced the presidential preference question they gushed when talking about the results to the other questions in the poll. Yet the same people that voted for Ron Paul answered those other questions as well. Why did they not suggest that those results were skewed?
Yes, Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty made it easier for supporters to attend CPAC by offering discounted tickets and lodging packages. They did not “bus them in” as some suggested. The reason so many showed up at CPAC for Ron Paul is because they are true political activists. They are active, vocal, and dedicated to spreading the liberty message to those who are and aren’t willing to listen. This is something the GOP has been missing for a long time.
It is mainly foreign policy differences that keep the old guard GOP from embracing these young Ron Paul activists. Perhaps if the rest of the Republican Party could ever understand the fundamental differences between…
preemptive war and national defense
isolationist and non-interventionist
anti-semitism and ending all foreign aid
blaming America and blaming American policy
…they could welcome Ron Paul and his supporters. The CPAC straw poll result suggests an effort should be made to understand and perhaps embrace these differences. After all, isn’t the ultimate Republican goal to defeat Obama in 2012? Seeing eye to eye with Ron Paul and his numerous activist supporters could go a long way toward that goal.
I have little hope this will happen, but in the long run it may not matter. Many of those young Ron Paul supporters are growing up, feeding on liberty, and will become office-seekers in the future.
The result of the CPAC straw poll does have meaning. It suggests the future is burning bright with the fire of liberty.
There are cerebral strategists and balls-to-the-wall activists in the tent of Ron Paul. Both were evident at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) today. Prior to Rand Paul’s stellar speech the surprise speaker was Donald Trump. Many of us in the audience had come to get our seats to see The Rand instead of The Donald, and things got a bit ugly.
During Trump’s speech there were some vocal activists shouting out Ron Paul’s name, among other things. At one point when Trump mentioned there were no good GOP candidates the shouts of Ron Paul became too much for him. The video below shows what happened:
Yes, the out-of-touch celebrity with lots of money reacts by telling the crowd that Ron Paul has zero chance of winning. I immediately said something that was later echoed by Rand Paul, “Trump has an even less of a chance of winning than Ron Paul”. That was only the beginning.
Liberty Maven
“, makes me realize that he is trying to really put liberty back into the Tea Party as it was meant to be from the beginning. Making the media rounds yesterday and today, he is spreading that sweet message of freedom like his father. He is scheduled to be on Late Night with David Letterman tonight as well as Hannity’s TV show. Yesterday he was on ABC’s Good Morning America, Nightline, and Hannity’s radio show.
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