Liberty Maven

With the Republican Party in the process of choking to death on its own imperialistic big government vomit, I’m reminded of a true Ron Paul classic demonstrating yet again his penchant for delivering a blunt required message rather than the usual party line candy-coated message we get from his lawmaking peers. Ron Paul is an economic and political rainmaker.

When he rises to deliver a speech in the House of Representatives he knows his words will be delivered to an echo chamber, but he does it anyway. He does it for the cause of human liberty and we love him for it.

If there is anyone out there who can make the following happen, please do so:

1. Gather all Republican lawmakers and governors together.
2. Strap them in theater seats.
3. Play Ron Paul’s “We’ve Been Neo-Conned” speech from 2003 on the screen.
4. When the speech ends, start it over again.
5. Repeat number 4 until they all reject their evil ways and embrace the Constitution.

Lady Liberty is wielding her paddle and the GOP have been very bad children. With each THWACK the only response should be, “Thank you, may I have another.”

As Ron Paul says in “We’ve Been Neo-Conned“,

Someone is responsible, and it’s important that those of us who love liberty, and resent big-brother government, identify the philosophic supporters who have the most to say about the direction our country is going. If they’re wrong – and I believe they are – we need to show it, alert the American people, and offer a more positive approach to government. However, this depends on whether the American people desire to live in a free society and reject the dangerous notion that we need a strong central government to take care of us from the cradle to the grave. Do the American people really believe it’s the government’s responsibility to make us morally better and economically equal? Do we have a responsibility to police the world, while imposing our vision of good government on everyone else in the world with some form of utopian nation building? If not, and the enemies of liberty are exposed and rejected, then it behooves us to present an alternative philosophy that is morally superior and economically sound and provides a guide to world affairs to enhance peace and commerce.

Ron Paul, writing a commentary for CNN emphasizes that the GOP should not focus on how to fix the party , but focus on fixing the country. If they focus on the country through the Constitution lense, the party will fix itself.

(CNN) — The questions now being asked are: Where to go from here and who’s to blame for the downfall of the Republican Party?

Too bad the concern for the future of the Republican Party had not been seriously addressed in the year 2000 when the Republicans gained control of the House, Senate, and the Presidency.

Now, in light of the election, many are asking: What is the future of the Republican Party?

But that is the wrong question. The proper question should be: Where is our country heading? There’s no doubt that a large majority of Americans believe we’re on the wrong track. That’s why the candidate demanding “change” won the election. It mattered not that the change offered was no change at all, only a change in the engineer of a runaway train.

Once it’s figured out what is fundamentally wrong with our political and economic system, solutions can be offered. If the Republican Party can grasp hold of the policy changes needed, then the party can be rebuilt.

Read the complete commentary.

Ron Paul supporter Will Buchanan started walking on April 14th and hasn’t stopped yet. He took his first steps at Cannon Beach, Oregon and plans to finish his trek on the seacoast of New Hampshire. What other than a passion for liberty could possess a man? Buchanan’s aim is to raise awareness for the Free State Project and Ron Paul’s message of freedom.

In late 2007, we wrote about the Ron Paul Rider, Michael Maresco, riding his bike across the United States with the main goal of promoting Ron Paul’s freedom message and presidential campaign. Now we have Will Buchanan, the Ron Paul Walker, taking one step at a time toward liberty.

I’m continually amazed at the actions freedom loving people undertake to spread an idea, but what a wonderful idea it is. After rolling over in their graves at the recent destruction of liberty by our government, our Founders would point to these magnificent individual efforts and smile knowing that their version of America may be relegated to the shadows, but still exists. There is hope.

Buchanan, recently passed through Erie, PA and attracted some media coverage from the local FOX affiliate (Video Report Here).

It’s a long way from Cannon Beach, Oregon to New Hampshire – especially when you do it on foot.

With about 2700 miles under his belt, Will Buchanan is getting close.

He’s making his way to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project – a group of 20,000 libertarians who are moving there to try and create a libertarian state:

“Basically they feel government’s gotten too big and too intrusive. So they want to congregate in one area to try to make more of a difference and doing something on a local level rather than being spread out all over the country.”

You can retrace Buchanan’s footsteps every step of the way via his video blog of the trek at walkforliberty.com.

In his weekly Texas Straight Talk, Ron Paul congratulates Barack Omaba for making history this election, and voices his hopes that the new administration will not make the same inerventionist mistakes that were make in the 30s which exacerbated the problems of the Great Depression:

With the election behind us, our country turns hopeful eyes to the future. I have a few hopes of my own.

I congratulate our first African-American president-elect. Martin Luther King, Jr. certainly would be proud to see this day. We are stronger for embracing diversity, and I am hopeful that we can continue working through the tensions and wrongs of the past and become a more just and colorblind society. I hope this new administration will help bring us together, and not further divide us. I have always found that freedom is the best way to break down barriers. A free society emphasizes the importance of individuals, and not because they are part of a certain group. That’s the only way equal justice can be achieved.

We will face more tough economic problems during this new administration. In fact, the worst is yet to come. A vast amount of problematic mortgages have not begun to reset their variable interest rates and go into default. We already have unprecedented deficits, spending is out of control, and more big industries are coming to government with their hands out. My hope is that this administration will handle this economic crisis better than the interventionists and big government spenders of the 1930’s, the bureaucrats that prolonged the Depression. I hope that new government programs and spiderwebs of red tape do not pop up to interfere with American productivity, and that we can quickly get our financial footing again. We have to understand that an economic correction needs to take place and the only way out of the coming recession is to go through it. Efforts to avoid it can only prolong it. I hope we can somehow find our way back to sound money and reject corporate cronyism.

We cannot address our budget problems at home without changing our disastrous foreign policy abroad. I am hopeful that the new administration can take on the mantle of peace and diplomacy in foreign policy that many Americans feel they were promised. Many other nations also have this hope, which exudes from their congratulatory sentiments offered after the election. They hope that national sovereignty will be respected. They hope that through diplomacy violence and war can be averted. I hope so too. One thing is unquestionable: our aggressive foreign policy of the past has been costly, in blood and in treasure. Our treasure is running out, and fewer volunteers are stepping up to enable that foreign policy. So for these reasons, if we are to continue to have an all-volunteer military, and see prosperity again in the future, I have every reason to hope our foreign policy will change. In order for it to remain the same, mandatory military service would have to return, as well as accelerated theft through debt and inflation to pay for it. I have a hard time imagining popular support for these policies, simply for the sake of war and conquest, when we clearly want peace.

I have many hopes for the future in this time of transition. But I have seen this country face many forks in the road, and sadly take the wrong one too many times. We have heard a lot of talk, and it remains to be seen what actions and specific policies that talk will translate into. So while I may be hopeful, I remain deeply concerned about our future.

Ron Paul was interviewed on Brian and The Judge on FOX Radio this morning. This interview is classic Dr. Paul. Very interesting topics were discussed. Ron Paul was able to describe why he doesn’t like talking about “trickle down or trickle up” economics, but instead wants the financial conversation to focus on freedom and individual liberty.

Brian Kilmeade suggests that if John McCain offered Ron Paul some type of deal that it was possible that McCain could have won the election. Dr. Paul thinks otherwise.

This is definitely worth a listen.

The interview lasts about 11 minutes. Listen below.

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Ron Paul appeared on FOX News with Neil Cavuto today to discuss the latest bailout package: adding another $50 Billion of taxpayer money to the coffers of AIG. Ron Paul is like a beautifully welcomed broken record. A few choice quotes from this latest appearance from Dr. Paul are listed below along with the video.

“When companies get too big and make mistakes they should fail.”

“We’re propping up all the bad mistakes.” (which penalizes the people that made the right choices)

“Governments can’t make the correct decisions. They aren’t smart enough.”

“This whole idea that Washington are genuises… that they can do central economic planning. In this country we don’t call it socialism we call it interventionism and a planned economy.”

Obama coming in is a lot like “Hoover leaving and Roosevelt coming in.”

If I had an ounce of gold for every time Ron Paul was right I’d be one rich freedom lover. The latest proof of Ron Paul’s soothsaying prowess comes in downright scary words from two European leaders. They react to the current financial crisis with rhetoric pushing for a global society. Both Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are advocating this evil.

First, let us digest the words of Brown, who plans to say the following (in part) during his speech Monday (today) at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet:

“The alliance between Britain and the U.S. — and more broadly between Europe and the U.S. — can and must provide leadership, not in order to make the rules ourselves, but to lead the global effort to build a stronger and more just international order”.

“My message is that we must be: internationalist not protectionist; interventionist not neutral; progressive not reactive; and forward looking not frozen by events. We can seize the moment and in doing so build a truly global society.”

Not surprisingly, Ron Paul was right to worry about world leaders using the financial crisis as an excuse to create a more globalized and internationally regulated economy. I don’t think I’ve read a more frightening sequence of words in a very long time. I thought Brown was considered a “conservative”? This proves he is a Bush-style neo-conservative, and not a true Old Right conservative.

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Those of us in Ron Paul withdrawal and excited at the prospect of former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson running for President in 2012, received some good news today. According to Charles Frohman writing on the Gary Johnson 2012 Facebook group, Johnson is interested in running. Frohman writes:

I met with Gary for a couple hours at his new mansion in Taos, New Mexico, and got confirmation of his interest in running for the 2012 presidency. Like Dr. Paul, the former Governor is a big believer in vetoing unconstitutional laws, and doing everything to allow individuals to pursue their happiness in most any way. Progressives should like his tolerance for alternative lifestyles, and conservatives should like his high standards for govt efficiency and support for local innovative govt solutions.

I suppose it is a bit early to start planning the first Johnson Money Bomb, but this is great news for us Ron Paul liberty lovers looking for a candidate in 2012. There is a lot of time between now and 2012, but this certainly provides hope for the future. In the meantime there is much work to be done with the upcoming 2010 election year. As Wendell Phillips reminds us, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”.

Until then, why not show your support for Johnson by joining the Gary Johnson 2012 Facebook group. As of this writing the group is up to 88 members. You can read more about my assessment of Gary Johnson here.

A brand new book about Ron Paul is set to be released on Tuesday, November 11th. “Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas” is the first biography of Ron Paul. It is not about the issues, but about the man and what molded him into the hero of liberty he has become. For fans of “the most honest man in Washington”, according to John McCain, this book promises to be a necessary addition to the liberty section on your bookshelf.

Two authors collaborated on the book. Chris Horner, who wrote the New York Times best seller “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)” and Dr. Karen Kwiatkowski, a frequent contributor to LewRockwell.com are the authors.

I’ve already preordered mine, have you?

Gary Johnson

Make no mistake, Ron Paul lit the flames of liberty under a small but active percentage of the American populace about one year ago. At this point last year the Ron Paul faithful were drunk on hope after the first highly successful money bomb brought in millions of dollars in a single day. Now that Barack Obama is our President-Elect and Ron Paul is focused on continuing his freedom education and liberty activism effort through the Campaign For Liberty, talk of a 2012 Ron Paul Republican Presidential candidate has begun in earnest.

One of the most popular choices to carry forward the Ron Paul liberty torch is former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. There is certainly a lot to like about Gary Johnson and he may very well be the best choice for 2012. However, investigating Gary Johnson a bit deeper does reveal some cracks in his freedom armor. I don’t find these cracks significant enough for me to not support him, but then again I supported Bob Barr for President, so I’m used to “cracks”.

These cracks may cause some Liberty Maven readers to reject supporting him. We hope to rate Johnson on the Paul-O-Meter within a few days, so that will give a more complete picture of Johnson. Until then let us discuss some of his potential negatives to the cause of liberty and the viability of him running for the Republican nomination.

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