Fellow Travelers and Purity Tests

Author's Note: I'm not a big fan of the whole "voting" thing, agreeing in large part with those ideological purists who consider voting a validation of the system. Nor am I seriously convinced that political action will ever reverse the current course of government. As an agorist, I think that replacing the functions of government one piece at a time in our own lives and focusing locally will have more long-term impact.

That said, I'm philosophically a pacifist, too, but in self-defense I'd certainly be willing to pull the trigger. Thus my pragmatic approach to politics, and voting. Read on and you'll understand why this explanation was necessary. I'm simply laying out a game plan for those who are convinced political action can still turn the tide. I consider them fellow travelers too, regardless of what label they self-declare, and I write for the whole "more freedom, less coercion" movement, not just those most closely aligned with my beliefs.

P.S. In this essay, I use the term libertarian in as "big-tent" a context as is possible... excluding Bob Barr, of course.

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This weekend, two-time New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson won the Presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, kicking off quite likely the most successful of Libertarian Presidential runs to date. The Ron Paul Revolution cleaned up in Nevada and Maine, claiming 22 of the 28 national delegate slots in Nevada and 21 of the 24 of the slots in Maine. While 20 of the Nevada delegates must vote for Romney on the first ballot at the convention, the Maine contingent is free to vote their conscience, since the Maine "primary" was nothing more than an unbound beauty contest staged for the press.

In a recent column, The Underground is Surfacing, we discussed The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America, by Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie. The book's thesis is that "we are in fact living at the cusp of what can only be called the libertarian moment." Independents are now the largest voting block in the country, their 41% share outstripping both Democrats and Republicans, and they hold political positions very similar to those reported for Millennials (18-to-29-year-olds) surveyed in a recent Harvard study.

In general terms, only 20% of Millennials feel the nation is generally headed in the right direction, opposed to 43% who think it's off on the wrong track and 36% who aren't sure. Only 15% disagree with the statement "Politics today are no longer able to meet the challenges our country is facing."

Where in the World is Ron Paul?

... and what's Wolf Blitzer doing in that tire swing?

On April 4, FOX Nation asked "Where in the World is Ron Paul?" They weren't looking very hard. Ron Paul is all over the place, and he's drawing crowds the other Republican candidates only dream about.

30 Seconds to Destroy Democracy

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold
is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
Thomas Jefferson
Author's Note: Regardless of your position on the Presidential candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul, I believe you will find this attack on the democratic process profoundly disturbing. If the rule of law means nothing at the lowest levels of the political process in America, how can we expect it to have meaning at the highest? Please share this column with everyone you know. Our silence grants a foothold to tyranny.

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If you believe that democracy is still alive and well in the United States, I invite you to watch the video below. In less than 30 seconds, from the call for the vote to the closing of the convention, you'll see an attack on democracy intended to destroy the will of the people, bringing to mind Jimmy Doolittle's 30 seconds over Tokyo, intended to destroy the will of a different people. This Tireless Agorist is sure that just as the raid on Tokyo provided a morale boost for the American people, the Athens-Clarke County Republican Party establishment got a boost in their morale from believing they had successfully completed their raid on democracy.

But just as Doolittle's raid strengthened the resolve of the Japanese people, so too has this action strengthened the resolve of those who expect their voices to be heard through peaceful, democratic means and the rule of law.

Who'll Slash the National Debt?

In a 51-page report titled Primary Numbers: The GOP Candidates and the National Debt, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget puts the budget plans of the four GOP Presidential candidates through a detailed review. The results show that only one candidate has a budget plan that will halt the growth of the national debt over the next nine years. That candidate? Ron Paul.

Only one candidate reverses the deficit curve over the next decade. (CRFB graphic)
The plans of Gingrich, Santorum and Romney are similar to a large degree. They all propose big spending cuts, lower taxes, and major changes in Social Security and Medicare. Only Ron Paul proposes a plan that would reduce the national debt over time and protect those currently enrolled in Social Security and Medicare, while giving younger workers the ability to opt out of those plans.

Delegate Count Media Misinformation

The Wall Street Journal and FOX credit Mitt Romney with 123 delegates to the Republican Nationa Convention in Tampa, Florida in August. CNN says no, it's 127, unless it's 106. CBS argues it's 111, the New York Times 105, Quinnipiac 102, RealClearPolitics 98, and National Public Radio says it 73. Every news source seems to disagree just as widely about the counts for the other three candidates as well.

Everyone seems to agree there will be a total of 2,286 delegates, and it will take 1,144 to win the nomination. Everyone also seems to agree that there are four remaining candidates. That's about where the agreement ends, however.

Reviewing the table below, you'll find that there's very little agreement among news outlets as to the current delegate count.¹ I'm sure I could check a few more sources and find a few more sets of widely differing numbers. Why all the confusion?

Source	Romney	Santorum	Gingrich	Paul
CBS	111	44	30	15
CNN calculator	106	37	35	27
CNN scorecard	127	37	38	27
FOX	123	72	32	19
New York Times	105	71	29	18
Quinnipiac	102	37	35	27
Real Clear Politics	98	44	32	20
Wall Street Journal	123	72	32	19
NPR	73	3	29	8

Bipartisan Bird of Prey Claims Judge Nap

Judge Andrew Napolitano's Freedom Watch, "the best damned daily libertarian news & argument show in the history of television (name a better one!)," as Reason magazine described it, was cancelled today by Fox Business Network. The Judge will still appear on Fox Business as a legal consultant.

In memorium, this Tireless Agorist will step aside for this column, and let the Judge speak to us through one of his best five-minute editorials ever, Bipartisan Bird of Prey. Video first, followed by a transcript, for those who'd care to follow along or read it later.

More of Judge Nap's Freedom Watch is available here.

What's Your Candidate Done to Change the World?

"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government." -Ron Paul-

Four years ago, Ron Paul was completely marginalized by the political-media establishment. His contrarian views on the increasing centralization of power in the hands of a tiny minority residing in Washington and on Wall Street, endless military intervention abroad and economic intervention at home, the fiat money perpetuated by the Federal Reserve, the ongoing attacks on personal liberty, and the destructive war on drugs were literally mocked by other presidential candidates, debate moderators, political pundits, and the press who reported the stories.

Four years later, those topics are all at the center of the political debate.

The Lesson of Athens, Tennessee

“An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government.” -- Ron Paul

On January 28th, the Tennessee Republican Assembly Presidential straw poll was won overwhelmingly by Ron Paul, who garnered 63% of the votes cast. Rick Santorum finished second, with 20% of the vote. Later that day, the Tennessee Republican Assembly leadership announced their endorsement of Rick Santorum for the Republican Presidential nomination. No mention was made that Rick Santorum has no delegates on the Tennessee primary ballot, his ground game an utter failure in the state.

Author's Note: I generally endeavor to use only commonly-recognized mainstream media outlets as news sources in my articles. However, research shows that those sources have been silent concerning the Tennessee Republican Assembly straw poll, their endorsement, and the controversy surrounding it.

The Tennessee Republican Assembly leadership is apparently unfamiliar with their own state history, at least as it pertains to Athens, Tennessee and 1947.

Loyalists to the Corporatocracy

“You know, Ron Paul’s followers are not party regulars. He’s not a party regular. He really has these very, very impassioned followers. All four of our children are huge Ron Paul followers." -- Suzy Welch

Jack Welch, retired CEO of General Electric, and his wife Suzy, former editor-in-chief of the Harvard Business Review, have co-authored their first column for Reuters, titled "Ron Paul and the pink slip that could decide the election." During an interview this morning on CNN, Suzy let slip the little truth bomb quoted above, which led to this Tireless Agorist's commentary.

In this excerpt from that column, they demonstrate a superficial awareness of the symptoms of the political malaise infecting the country that leads them, unfortunately, to an incorrect diagnosis of the cure.

"But Paul is not really the GOP’s problem. It’s his followers, perhaps as much as 15 percent of the general electorate, many of them young, vocal and highly energized. Like Paul himself, they’re not exactly party regulars. No, Paul and his followers promise to be a lot like that fired employee who, if “handled” incorrectly at farewell, will make it his life’s work to, if not bring your organization down, at least show you how very wrong you were to cut the cord."

A very astute observation, as far as it goes. Unwisely, however, they go on to analyze the battle between the Republican wing of the political establishment and the movement toward increased personal liberty, with Ron Paul as its chief proponent, as similar to the political battle between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden four years ago -- leading to this totally erroneous summation:

He's Catchin' On, I'm Tellin' Ya!

Ron Paul's 2008 campaign was fundamentally educational. As much as a dedicated core wanted it to be about winning the election, the things it takes to put a candidate in the White House just weren't there. What began as an educational campaign exploded into a movement, with grassroots support far beyond what the official campaign was prepared to utilize.

The official campaign staff were for the most part tackling their first national campaign. Infrastructure had to be hastily built. A ragtag army of volunteers proved more interested in throwing snowballs at Sean Hannity and standing on streetcorners waving signs than in doing the hard work it takes to turn the ship of state in a new and unprecedented direction. Even the advertising had the same overly-hasty, amateurish quality.

No More!

This post title springs from one example of the shortcomings of the 2008 campaign. If you hang with this Tireless Agorist to the end, I'll throw in a viewing, and a comparison to today's campaign, as a reward.

Ron Paul's Favorite Recipes

The Washington Wire reported Friday on one of the homier touches of Ron Paul's campaign: a recipe book long maintained and produced for his congressional district by his wife of 55 years, Carol. It's proven to be the most popular piece of literature on the campaign trail. Not surprising, really, as it contains some real substance, unlike the low-calorie fluff generally served up in campaign literature.

Today, The Wire followed up with Ron's favorite recipe from the cookbook, the one for chocolate chip cookies. Carol has been making these for Ron since their college days, so keep this handy, use it regularly, and perhaps you too can one day grow up to run for President.

An important warning: Mix judicious use of this recipe with 5-mile walks every morning and 10-mile bike rides every afternoon as Ron does, or you'll look more like Newt Gingrich than Ron Paul on the campaign trail.

The Imperfect Messenger - Why Ron Paul

"I am an imperfect messenger, but the message is perfect.” - Ron Paul

Right up front, let admit that the quote above from the good doctor is spot on. My reference to him as the good doctor also tells you that, on balance, I'm still quite a fan.