You Can Only Truly Win By Being Right

At the meeting of a liberty-minded political action group this week week, we were visited by a couple of men who had just won their elected seats in the county. One of them was a seasoned political operative who had been in the county for a number of years and in other places around the country.

He made an interesting statement. Many of us embrace constitutional and libertarian ideas, so in his enlightened wisdom, he said something to the effect of, "Libertarians, I love them, God bless them, but you can't win elections by being right all time." It was an extraordinary statement. On one level, he echoed Ed Griffin's conclusion that we have to come to power before we can implement our ideas. In a practical sense this holds true. Lenin preached this and many others. However, in that statement, also lies the seeds of corruption.

The first job of the politician is to get elected. The second job is to stay elected, somewhere, sometime after that he must get around to carrying out the ideas and wishes of those who voted him into office. The challenges are fierce. The opposition is vicious. The temptation to form questionable alliances, make compromises and backroom deals is very persuasive. The activity of staying in power can become so all-consuming that it seems the issues, voters care about most, never see the light of day. The politician gets caught in the game of the lesser of evils and he becomes evil to his own end.

"Libertarians can't win by being right all the time." Says who? When do we get to the business of the people? How long must it take? How many elections and re-elections do we have to win? How long must the voting public put up with the political games and shenanigans before their business is addressed? Why can't we win because we're right? Or better yet, Can we win by being right?

Ron Paul, the congressman from Texas has won 11 terms to represent his district is an example of winning by being right. What does that say? He's a constitutionalist, a libertarian, a Republican. He fights fair and his ideas are based on logic, an understanding of history, economics and the foundations of this country. He does what he says he's going to do. He votes his conscience and is frequently the lone voice of dissent in Congress. He has more principled integrity than any other member of congress, the senate and the executive and judicial branches combined and he wins elections. Maybe the key to winning elections and getting our voices heard in Washington and Sacramento is by being right. Maybe this is what is needed to turn around our country.

Maybe the key to making genuine changes in our government is to communicate the right message to enough people. What good is winning elections if the right ideas are never implemented?

The GOP in this last election cycle lost the presidency, and a majority of seats in Congress and the Senate by promoting a message of big government, aggressive wars, violating civil liberties and corporate bailouts and budget deficits. It completely abandoned the foundational principles of its own party's roots. It lost the election by being wrong on all of these issues and now efforts are being made to find better ways to communicate, without changing the essential message, without bringing the GOP back to its core principles. Maybe it's time to be right for a change. Maybe voters want to be right about who they elect to represent them.

If we keep electing wrong individuals who have wrong ideas, how can we ever expect anything to go right?

Libertarian Michael Badnarik once said, "If I give you a choice of at 45% chance of lethal injection, a 50% chance at the electric chair and 5% for escape what are you going to vote for? The electric chair because you are likely to win? What are you going to vote for? Escape!
But it's only 5%!
I don't care! It's the right thing to do!"
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIOX9IQhL3M&eurl=http://www.campaignforliberty.com/)

My conclusion is being right on the issues and the candidates is the only way to really win in politics. Winning for the sake of winning ensures the voters continue to lose.

McPainful Episode at the Texas GOP Conventions

Professional electioneering begets more and more of itself. Alan Stang from News with Views details the sordid proceedings of the Neuces County and Texas state GOP Conventions. I think this paragraph sums it pretty well:

"A word should be said about the convention mentality. It appears to be a species of hypocrisy so intense, so total, that it metastasizes into brainwashing. It is a bizarre combination of politics and show business, a procession of dignitaries with perfect hair and choreography, speaking through mechanically pasted Senator McNasty smiles, thundering that the main problem in the country is the Democrats. For instance, on the dais in Houston, Newtie Gingrich favors wall to wall drilling for oil. Elsewhere, he is an Al Gore carbon “footprint” environmentalist. Asking about the discrepancy means you are disloyal."

Read the whole thing here.

If this sort of thing is happening all over the country, and I've heard of like stories in Missouri, Alaska and Nevada, then perhaps Obama wins this election by a landslide. Either that or McCain wins narrowly, with a little help from the electronic voting machine vendors.

Fiat Empire

Up until now, this is a the best net film I have seen on the Federal Reserve system.
It explains the system, its history and solutions for improving our economic system in the clearest and most level-headed fashion I've yet seen.

Here's the link: Fiat Empire

The movie takes about an hour, but it is more than worth it. As an American citizen, I feel duty-bound to vote only for representatives at the national level who are committed to ending the Federal Reserve's monopoly on our monetary system and that includes the income tax.

When In the Course of Human Events

Watch this video, share it with others:



This is the only Presidential campaign that has ever inspired me. Funny, he's not one of the guys the Fiat Money guys are betting on. Sometimes the high-rollers have to lose and I hope this is one of them.

Freedom Is Not Complicated

Ron Paul paid a visit to the San Francisco Bay Area this last weekend (July 13-14). On Saturday, July 14, the South Bay Ron Paul Meetup group hosted a rally for the Presidential contender in Charleston Park, right next door to Google's corporate campus.

Here are the YouTube videos of his address:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


I loved the backdrop of the stage depicting Howard Chandler Christy's painting "Scene at the Signing of the Constitution." The painting with it's faded yellowish tinge made Ron Paul, wearing a yellow sport shirt and tan slacks, appear as though he stepped out of it to give us his speech - straight from the Constitutional Convention.

Dr. Paul's speech was one of the best I've heard so far on the campaign. His message that 'freedom isn't complicated' drew enthusiastic applause and cheers from 500-600 supporters in attendance.

The wonderful thing about Ron Paul is that he comes across as a real person, with no one handling him. He speaks without notes, spreading both arms wide as though he's passing along the gift of the Founding Father's wisdom to us. His message was about personal liberty, humble, non-interventionist foreign policy, low taxation, sound money and small government. He pointed out that critics and naysayers of this message are quick to brush aside these principles because simplistic they are simplistic, outdated and isolationist. Looking back on history and where we stand in the world, the current policies have done more to isolate the United States from the rest of the world than anything.

I agree with Ron Paul. It isn't that complicated. Give freedom a chance.

Ron Paul Forums

Anyone wishing to discuss and debate Ron Paul's candidacy can go to www.ronpaulforums.com . I had some fun on the slogans thread under Writing Projects.

My favorite was:

Atlas Shrugged: Who's Ron Paul?
Spartacus: I am Ron Paul!
Rebel Comrade of Spartacus: No, I am Ron Paul!

Neocons, Feeling a Little Uneasy These Days?

Ron Paul articulates the traditional Republican message. Apparently it's been lost on those who feel that the Neocon agenda should supercede the Constitution and the advice of the Founding Fathers to future generations of Americans.

Here's Ron Paul on CNN:



Conventional political wisdom suggests first you must win the party's nomination, then go after the main election. However, there is a storm brewing and the winds are howling "RON PAUL!"