Wars have consequences. Don't we know that?

My great-uncle Rob was a G.I. who served in the Pacific during World War II. But unless you were family you likely would have never known that. It was something that, like many others who served during that conflict, he never liked to talk about.

Mom told me when I was a child that Uncle Rob had to kill an enemy soldier. I didn't know until years later that it was during the American invasion of Okinawa. Uncle Rob dived into a foxhole for cover. At almost the same moment a Japanese soldier jumped inside the same foxhole.

The Japanese man said something that Uncle Rob could not understand. My great-uncle killed him without thinking. He beheaded the Japanese soldier with the bayonet of his rifle.

Uncle Rob was one of the kindest, gentlest men that you could ever meet in this world. But from a young age I sensed that he was a very haunted man. "Post-traumatic stress disorder" wasn't medical terminology until the tail end of the Vietnam War, but by then Uncle Rob had lived with it for thirty years. Until his passing in 1993 his experiences in the war would continue to linger on the edge of his memory. I once saw him go pale in the face as an Army helicopter out of Fort Bragg flew overhead.

Like I said, my great-uncle was a good man. So were the millions of other young men who went off to Europe and the Pacific islands to stand against their country's enemies in World War II. Another member of my family was already in the Army stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded. He survived the war... barely. A friend of my family who died recently was one of General Patton's staff officers. I had no idea that in my friend's house, which I'd been inside a few times, there was some of Hermann Goering's finest dinnerware. Turns out that a lot of the Third Reich elites' personal items made their way into farmhouses across America, but I digress...

War is terrible. Perhaps the most terrible thing. It is an unfortunate result of this fallen, broken world that war happens. That war is, sometimes, necessary and unavoidable. But I've never understood why war could possibly be a thing to be glorified, or honored. To respect and honor the sacrifices made by those who served in war, absolutely. But war itself?

I posit that our perspective on war is a far different matter than how our grandfathers and their brothers saw it. None of them regarded themselves as "heroes" because they wore a uniform or went abroad or even because they fought in combat. They knew they had a job to do, they did it and they came back to be husbands and fathers and productive members of the community. That was enough for them. Today we have an inclination to deem anybody and everybody who wears a uniform as "heroic". World War II was a conflict where we knew who the bad guys were and we knew that we had to defeat them and we knew why they had to be defeated.

But I can't for the life of me understand how any war that America has engaged in during my lifetime has had either a definitive enemy or a definitive objective. Sometimes both.

For more than ten years we have had our forces fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. For almost two years Osama bin Laden has been sleeping with the fishes, and Al-Quaeda has been quashed more or less, yet we try to conquer a land that not Alexander or the Soviets could overcome. The Iraq War turned into a costly experiment in "nation-building" (as many of us knew it would).

America's running tab the past decade and more is now a few trillion dollars and thousands of American lives lost, when the matter of bin Laden could have been resolved easily within a matter of months after 9/11. As for Iraq well, I've written before how that country needs a "strongman" figure along the lines of Tito to hold it together and how the United States has become that strongman in the absence of Saddam, but again I digress...

I was led to write something after watching what has transpired in the past few days regarding what former Representative Ron Paul said via Twitter about the shooting death of Chris Kyle, the retired Navy SEAL considered to be the most lethal sniper in American military history...

As a longtime supporter of Ron Paul, I will admit that the former congressman exercised the wrong tact. Almost certainly an ill sense of timing. However, I do believe that I can understand what he is trying to state in 140 characters or less. Paul is - apparently - noting that war has consequences, that those who fight in war must live with those consequences... and there may even be a snide remark in there about how our system has failed many of those who come back from war.

Maybe it's just me, but war seems a horrific enough thing by nature that there should be no immediate desire to write bestselling books about fighting in one. An armed forces uniform does not a hero make. Neither should tactical operations readily produce celebrities (Alvin York being one of the few exceptions).

Anyway, Ron Paul released the following on his Facebook page later on Monday...

Paul acknowledged - and there is no reason why any person should not - that Kyle's death was sad, tragic and unnecessary. But Paul also stated that...

Unconstitutional and unnecessary wars have endless unintended consequences. A policy of non-violence, as Christ preached, would have prevented this and similar tragedies.

Now, is there anything at all wrong with this, which Ron Paul has said? Because I've read it over dozens of times and I'm not seeing anything un-American, unpatriotic or insensitive toward the memory of Chris Kyle. What I am seeing however is an uncomfortable truth: that war comes at a cost. War without meaning, far more so.

I see no reason why the former congressman should be reviled for saying what he did. Instead I have read a lot of anger and even hatred vented toward the man because... well, he strongly suggested that wars involving America can be - gasp - wrong on moral and legal grounds.

But we aren't supposed to dwell upon those trivialities, according to some. Instead we are to cheer on the war, cheer on the "heroes", forgetting that too many are coming home with wounds whether visible or not.

When a young man or woman enlists in the United States armed forces, he or she is making a sacrifice of a few years of their lives. Years that could otherwise be spent in college, falling in love and starting families, buying houses, earning money. Some even choose to spend their entire lives in such sacrifice toward serving their country.

Again, perhaps it's just me, but it seems that if any person is going to lend his life and precious time to his country and its government, that that person more than deserves to trust that his time... and perhaps even his very life... will be used wisely, be given the utmost and sincerest respect, and expended only when all other options have failed.

Those who fought in World War II paid for that understanding in grief and blood and were humbled by it. As well we should.

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See BS: Tiffany Network caught discriminating against Paul, Bachmann

If CBS or any other "major media outlet" alleges that this is a matter of time constraint, then I'm gonna have to call it that I see B.S.

Look, five years ago I was one of sixteen candidates for school board in my home county, and in the final week before the election we all took part (well, one of us declined to participate, but that's another story) in a public candidates forum. A "debate", if you will. And each of us got ample time to state our beliefs and opinions on the various issues. For the very same questions, mind ya. Many people to this day still tell me that they got a kick out of my answer about whether school boards should have the power to tax: I told the audience "Look, if I get on that board and we have that power, there are good people on that board but I'm telling you now: DON'T TRUST US!! Don't trust us with that power to tax you!" But I digress...

The point is, even with a considerable number of individual candidates for office, there is PLENTY of equal time and opportunity to be afforded them by the organization sponsoring the debate... IF that organization is determined to be fair, balanced and impartial, that is.

Didn't Howard Stern once say that the term "Tiffany Network" reminded him too much of the name of a prostitute? If so, then last night CBS was certainly caught in the act of selling out its principles. What few it had left anyway...

During yesterday evening's televised debate of the Republican candidates for President, Ron Paul was given a scant 89 seconds of airtime to answer questions and lay out his claim for the Oval Office. Fellow candidate Michelle Bachmann received similarly reduced on-air exposure. The lion's share of the questions and time for answers went to Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich.

It is now a clearly documented fact that CBS was practicing deliberate discrimination against those candidates that it believes the American citizenry would do just as well to ignore.

CBS political director John Dickerson inadvertently forwarded the Bachmann campaign an e-mail stating that Bachmann would not be given much show time because...

“Okay let’s keep it loose since she’s not going to get many questions and she’s nearly off the charts in the hopes that we can get someone else."

CBS later said that they were trying to be "realistic" since Bachmann is "polling" about 4% nationally.

And this blogger says: that don't don't hunt. A study released last month by University of Minnesota notes that Ron Paul, though polling a strong third or fourth nationally, has been given the least amount of debate time during every televised forum.

Now if this ain't intentional bias and discrimination on the part of a major television news outlet, then... what is it? How can anyone defend CBS - and indeed, most of the more corporate-run press in this country - as being an objective and impartial observer of this country and this world?

Some are probably reading this and no doubt determined to tell me "Chris, CBS is a multi-billion dollar corporation and you're just a guy with a blog: what the hell do you think you can do about it?"

True, I don't have CBS's viewing numbers.

But I can document that network's abuse of journalistic ethics. Which in my opinion, this is an example of.

And there are a lot of others out there in the ether of the Intertubes who are likewise documenting it.

Meanwhile, networks like CBS keep losing viewers, 'cuz there are a lot of folks out there who are getting sick and tired of seeing B.S. too.

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All Points Bulletin issued for Ron Paul's necktie

Take a look at the necktie that Ron Paul is wearing in this photograph...

The Honorable Representative Dr. Paul has been spotted wearing this tie quite often lately. And my good friend Danny de Garcia II has become obsessed with finding that particular necktie! As Danny puts it...

"There it is again. Notice how sharp his tie looks with the light blue, silver blue, blue pinstripe and white. I'm looking for that tie."

So let's help Danny find Ron Paul's necktie, boys and girls!! If you know where to find this thing, e-mail me at theknightshift@gmail.com and I'll pass the info along to Danny A.S.A.P.!

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Ron Paul tells it like it is about auto bailout (twice!)

You would think that common sense might be prevailing enough. I mean, c'mon... would you buy a car from a company owned by the same federal government that has so brilliantly managed Social Security and Amtrak?

So yesterday before the House of Representatives came the Honorable (so rarely do I get to use that term and the person I'm speaking of actually merit it) Ron Paul, and he laid down the smack bigtime on how positively wrong the notion of this "bailout" is. Paul has the brass ones to call this what it really is: socialism, and nationalizing an entire domestic industry. Dr. Paul references not just the Constitution, but a lot of good history.

Here it is: a lone voice of sanity in Washington D.C.

Listening to this, I have no doubt: if the Republican Party leadership (a bunch that I have absolutely no respect for at all) had given this man the support that they gave McCain and the other phonies this past election season, Barack Obama would not tonight be a "President-Elect".

(By the way, I made the embedded video a bit bigger, courtesy of YouTube's new options. How's it look? :-)

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Ron Paul says there's no difference between McCain and Obama

Today U.S. House member Ron Paul, who has been a candidate in this year's presidential election, called on voters to end the "charade" of the two party system and look to traditionally third parties for leadership, citing that there was no fundamental difference between Democrat candidate Barack Obama and Republican contestant John MCcain. Paul also announced that he had refused to endorse McCain, a fellow Republican.

From the CNN story...

Instead, Paul will give his seal of approval to four candidates: Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney, Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr, independent candidate Ralph Nader and Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin.

Paul said he's supporting the third-party candidates because the two major parties and media had "colluded" to avoid discussing issues and falsely presenting the difference between McCain and Obama as real.

"I've come to the conclusion, after having spent many years in politics, is that our presidential elections turn out to be more of a charade than anything else, and I think that is true today. It is a charade," he said.

Paul offered an open endorsement to the four candidates because each signed onto a policy statement that calls for "balancing budgets, bring troops home, personal liberties and investigating the Federal Reserve," an aide to the congressman said.

Paul said a strong showing by the third-party candidates would express the public's frustration with the current system.

"I have no doubt that the majority is on our side," Paul added, citing public opinion polls. "We represent the majority of the American people."

I don't doubt that. Most Americans do want solid principles and moral integrity in their public officials. But there are a myriad of obstacles that get in the way of people who are serious about serving others from doing so. Neither the Republican or Democrat party leaderships have an interest in allowing the truly selfless and competent from having a shot at high office... or low office for that matter. In fact, as the past few elections have demonstrated, the Republicans and Democrats prefer to have, well... idiots as their front-runners! They're the ones who promise to uphold the status quo the most, without "rocking the boat" too much. The corporate press? That's why it never gives any serious consideration or airtime to the third party candidates either: because it's grown too lazy and content, and it prefers a dumbed-down citizenry than one encouraged to think and stand on its own. Candidates like Ron Paul would mess up what has been too good a thing for them.

But the bigwigs in the two major parties and the mainstream media are blind to the fact that without a serious infusion of new blood, America is withering and dying in our own generation.

I see Barack Obama, and I see a man who is stuck in the same mindset as the Sixties, and he's trying hard as he can to channel the memory of John Kennedy toward his own favor. I see John McCain, and I see a very bitter man lacking any confidence (remember, he left his wife just so he could have a younger woman... which screams out feelings of inadequacy in my book) who is still a prisoner of Vietnam.

Neither of these men - or their running mates - is going to bring America to the bright and shining future that our children and theirs deserve to have. They are going to keep us stuck here, with no clear vision or identity besides "we aren't that other party..."

We can't keep playing this kind of game anymore: the one that expects us to believe there's a real difference between the Democrats and Republicans. We can't afford it any longer.

The alternative is to keep "voting for the lesser of two evils" until a rotten and decrepit America is finally driven into the ground. At that point, will it matter who happened to have been at the wheel when it did?

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Ron Paul ends campaign for President... and what this means

Ron Paul has ended his campaign for the Republican nomination for President. Instead of conceding however, Paul has shifted gears and is channeling the resources of his political aspiration into the Campaign for Liberty.

Most readers here know that I've been an enthusiastic supporter of Dr. Paul, what with the pictures of him that I did in Photoshop and the video that was posted on YouTube. Heck, I even made a Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lantern for this past Halloween! And last month I finally got to meet him.

So now, he's winding-down his drive for the Oval Office. What do I make of this?

Personally, I think that in years to come the Ron Paul presidential campaign is going to be one of the most appreciated things to have happened in the era of modern American politics. But that's not going to happen before some very rough times we'll have to go through.

Here is why I am inclined to call Ron Paul's campaign a success: it demonstrated that there is a complete absence of principles and honor in the current American political system. And if one demands further proof, he need look no further than the "two major candidates" that our system has wound up producing, with the demand that we must "choose" one of the two.

I think Ron Paul's campaign has given ample evidence that there exists between the two major parties, the corporate media, and government in general an unwritten rule that the status quo must be preserved at all costs. Those who might threaten The Way Things Are, are effectively quashed. We saw this happen numerous times during this past year to Ron Paul, especially how he was prevented from participating in numerous "debates" and when he was allowed, the "objective" moderators from Fox News or whatever made it their mission to openly question Dr. Paul's viability as a candidate. They never did that to Romney, or Huckabee, or McCain, or anyone else.

Maybe the biggest lesson we can take from the Ron Paul presidential campaign is that: "You cannot beat the system".

Maybe we don't have to try to beat it, either.

Because the system that is modern American politics is crashing and burning quite well on its own, without any help from us.

Look at what's happening around us: soaring gas prices and even higher kerosene prices (which will soon make trucking goods a much less attractive career for those who this country depends on for shipping). Skyrocketing cost of food. Illegal migrants flooding into the country. Flagrant use of illegal labor (which has led to many recent problems involving food production). Plummeting value of the dollar. Increasing taxes. Government continually stripping rights away. Wars without end, hallelujah, amen...

Those "stimulus" checks that we all got? I made a sound investment with mine (which is all that I'm going to say about that). If there had to be a sign that ours is a broken and defeated country, that was it. "Stimulus" was socialism. It was crumbs thrown to us from the table, and we gobbled it up without thinking about it. I understand that retail buying was up last month. "Stimulus worked," some will tell Chris.

Okay, fine. But now the stimulus money has run out and the economy is grinding to a halt again. Are we supposed to expect another stimulus? Believe it or not, I have heard that this is seriously under consideration. Which will pump more money into the supply, making the dollar worth even less...

I don't even want to begin to speculate on what's been going on with the weather lately, and how this has already caused the price of corn to shoot through the roof. A number of people have suggested that if there is anything like a severe hurricane season this year, the cost of commodities like oil and food will become unconscionable. Granted, there's not much we can do about acts of God. But there has been plenty that we could have already done about managing what's been granted our purview.

Except not one of the "leading contenders" for President has a damned clue about what to do about any of this. Heck, we've pretty much been promised higher taxes, no matter who is elected.

It can't be said that we didn't have a choice. Ron Paul and a very few others who took a stab at this wanted to bring legitimate concerns and solutions to the table. They never stood a chance. They were derided as "joke candidates", "also-rans" while we were supposed to believe that people like McCain and Clinton and Obama were... what, serious?!

Can anyone tell me that any of those three have been out for anything other than the power and the opportunity to stamp their names in the history books?

I don't know what that's a worse commentary on: the ones who perpetuate this system or the American people who continually buy into it.

But hey, this system already gave us George W. Bush: bar none the worst President in American history. Why should we expect any better from it?

So it is that I'm sticking with the vow that I made over a year ago: I am voting for Ron Paul for President, or I am voting for no one at all. And if I have to go to the poll and not mark down anyone for President, so be it. I've no problem with that. My conscience will be clean. Because the sad fact of the matter is, it's not going to matter one whit who among the candidates of the two major parties is elected President.

The inertia has become too great. The timbers have become too rotted. It is the acme of either foolishness or insanity to put faith in either party, or the present system at all, to stop what was already in motion long ago.

Trust me, having done the politics game already: this is not something to stock your hopes in.

But even so, I can't help but believe that Ron Paul's campaign was not only a success, it had a divine hand behind it. Maybe it was just one of the ways that God let the American people have a chance to turn back from the brink.

But we didn't take it. Now we've got two childish punks, drunk on power, fighting for control of the steering while while the car of state speeds full-tilt toward the cliff...

Hang on tight, friends and neighbors: it's a long way down.

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Proof that I voted for Ron Paul in today's North Carolina primary

My precinct is at Reidsville Middle School. I just returned from there. Here is a photograph that I took of my ballot in today's North Carolina primary election. As you can see I cast my vote for Ron Paul for President... and it's been a long time since I've enjoyed having so clean a conscience in voting for a presidential candidate! None of that "hold my nose and pull the lever" here.

How many other people will be able to say that? Not nearly enough, probably.

I also voted for Eric H. Smith for statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction. But since I'm his campaign treasurer, y'all probably knew that was a given, too.

There may or may not have been other candidates and/or measures that I gave consideration toward. Parse that however you will.

On an ironic note, someone has told me that over at Free Republic there are many North Carolina voters who are bragging about having cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton! It was a little over five years ago that I was banned from that site for admitting that I would vote for Erskine Bowles for Senate because between he and Liddy Dole, only Bowles was the real North Carolinian. I knew that Free Republic had gone down the tubes, but I didn't know it was that bad. I have to laugh.

But as for myself, I cast my vote based on my principles and my convictions, without regard to party loyalty or childish chicanery. Which means that there might have been some races or issues that I did not vote at all. And there's nothing wrong with that. I've never played games with my vote. Even the ones that I cast that in hindsight were less than wise, I cast them only out of sincere belief in either the candidate or the referendum. Too many men and women have died for that right than to cheapen it otherwise.

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Ron Paul endorses Eric Smith for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. Plus: I got to meet Dr. Paul!

Ron Paul, Republican candidate for President, spoke at Carmichael Auditorium at UNC Chapel Hill yesterday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Also speaking on the program - having received Dr. Paul's endorsements - were Eric Smith, who is running for North Carolina's Superintendent of Public Instruction and B.J. Lawson, candidate for North Carolina's 4th Congressional District. Since I am the treasurer for Eric's campaign, and also 'cuz I've always wanted to meet Ron Paul, I absolutely had to attend! :-)

It was just as noon hit that I was leaving Reidsville, and on the way I stopped at the Barnes & Noble in Burlington to buy a copy of Dr. Paul's new book The Revolution: A Manifesto, currently ranked #1 on Amazon. It was the only copy on the shelves and one of the associates told me that it had been "selling hard". When I got to Chapel Hill I spoke to Eric via cellphone and he told me that he had stopped at that very store to get a copy and we figure we'd missed each other by less than 20 minutes!

Lots of people showed up to hear Dr. Paul. One guy told me that he'd driven all the way from Asheville (which would be around 4 hours drive time). The program for the event had a Photoshop image of Ron Paul as Iron Man from the new movie (complete with stylized "Ron Paul" done like the Iron Man font).

I must apologize for the quality of some of these pictures. The lighting in Carmichael Auditorium seemed to be strange: some pics turned out great and others taken from the same spot, I had to do some work with image levels etc. to make them better because they were so dark.

The first to speak was Paige Michael-Shetley, the Chairman of UNC Students for Ron Paul:

And then Eric Smith got up and spoke for a few minutes about the platform he was running on as candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction. It was much the same speech as he gave at the Wake County Republican Convention a few weeks ago:

Eric was followed by B.J. Lawson, who spoke much about how he ended up running for Congress after hearing about Ron Paul and what he stands for:

And then, following Lawson's remarks, Dr. Ron Paul himself took to the podium!

Ron Paul spoke for about 45 minutes on a number of subjects, but especially foreign policy and economic freedom. The kinds of things that - though I'm admittedly a Ron Paul supporter I have to candidly observe - I've never heard John McCain or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or George W. Bush discuss. Certainly not with such eloquence and uncluttered presentation as Ron Paul did yesterday. It was like listening to one of the Founding Fathers, the way he spoke of individual liberty and why there needs to be less government as opposed to more.

Here are some shots of the crowd that came to listen to Ron Paul. This was a very enthused bunch but you know what? I don't know if it's because they were stoked about Ron Paul himself, or if it was more about his message of individual freedom that brought them here. Compare that to the footage we've seen of rallies for Obama and Hillary: those seem more like demonstrations of egotism. In contrast, Dr. Paul came across as probably the most humble candidate for high office that I've ever seen.

After Dr. Paul concluded his remarks, there was a "meet & greet" session where everyone could get their photo taken with him and he could autograph their books or yardsigns or whatever. While we were in line I couldn't help but take a picture of my feet standing on the floor at Carmichael Auditorium, 'cuz this is the same floor that Michael Jordan used to play on...

Here's Eric Smith along with Ron Paul:

And then finally, after wanting to meet him for a way long time (we're talking at least ten years now) I got to shake hands with Ron Paul! He also signed my copy of The Revolution:

On the way back home I couldn't help but think: more than seven years ago I almost met George W. Bush. That was the night that I saw first-hand how much an arrogant control freak Bush really is. Bush has since gone on to be the most wasteful and destructive President in American history. Yesterday I got to meet someone who couldn't be more a polar opposite: Ron Paul, who not only speaks of having less government and more individual opportunity, he believes it.

George W. Bush and Ron Paul. One is destroyer and the other is liberator. One is pro-war and the other is pro-life. One is a big-government socialist and the other is a classic capitalist. One believes in an American empire and the other believes as the Founders did that we don't go looking for fights. One preaches fear and the other preaches hope.

I certainly know which man I respect the more!

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Eating their young: Anti-Paul hijinks demonstrating GOP corruption

Anyone left who still believes that we have to "work within the system" to effect change in this country had better read this and think real hard about what they're advocating.

Because the undeniable truth is: the system no longer works. The system has not worked in a long time. The system is hopelessly broken. We're just now becoming able to see how bad the damage is.

And anyone who still believes we must abide by the status quo and stay within the confines of the system is... well, an idiot.

The status of the Republican Party of the United States isn't much different from that of the Communist Party of China, when you think about it. Both are controlled by hardliner old guards who won't bend and will crush like a bug any new blood that tries to bring fresh ideas to the scene. I'm not talking about Republicans as a whole mind you: I'm talking about the Republican National Committee and too many of the individual states' party leaders. Witness, f'rinstance, the lengths of chicanery they've gone to in order to shut out Ron Paul: the one sincere believer of Constitutional rule of law who's run as a candidate from that party.

At the statewide convention of the Republican Party in Nevada yesterday, the Ron Paul delegates were set to win control in a super-majority of votes. And then GOP officials actually SHUT DOWN their own convention to keep that from happening. As of this morning Nevada Republicans don't have delegates to send to the national convention. All because their party bosses insist on sending pro-John McCain delegates.

I'm especially disgusted at what one McCain shill is quoted as saying in that story...

"But at the end of the day, part of the job of being a national delegate is to do what is best for the party in November. And that means supporting the party’s nominee."

Just drag everyone kicking and screaming into the smoke-filled room and get it over with already, why don't ya?

In addition to the above report by the Reno Gazette-Journal, you can also read a firsthand report by a party member who was there.

Here's a delegate to the convention, who posted a YouTube video about what happened yesterday...

And then I received an e-mail from a friend who said that the same thing has been happening here in North Carolina as well...

The same thing happened at the NC 2nd District. Only they allowed counties to choose the Delegates and when the Ron Paul folks called for a point of order (40 of them) someone else made a motion to dismiss and the chair called it.

My friend further commented that "It amazes me that the GOP will eat their young just because they don't agree with them."

This is the "democracy" that we're trying to convince other countries is a good thing that they should adopt?

And how in the Hell does anyone even remotely like John McCain become the anointed candidate of the supposedly "conservative" Republican Party? More to the point: Why should anyone of good conscience feel obligated, in any way, to support McCain? Is personal conscience the price that must be paid for ultimate loyalty to a political machine?

Has America finally arrived at that terrible line where both rule of law and private character are made sacrifice for sake of power?

Because if so, then America is lost already.

Here's what I think: the Republican rank-and-file, the "grassroots", is finally waking up to what it's own leadership has been doing to it for going on decades now. And that's the last thing the GOP leadership wants. Their control is now more threatened than ever before. And it's become patently obvious that the Republican National Committee and other GOP elites actively despise the grassroots Republicans.

And now it's been laid bare before everyone.

It wouldn't surprise me if this election year is the final one for the Republican Party as a viable political force in this country. The rift between the sincere believers in limited government and the "blue blood" party management that's exploiting them threatens to become the greatest political divorce in this country's modern memory.

And I can't help but think that maybe that will be a good thing. Something as inherently corrupt as the two major parties should be let to collapse and fall into ruins. The Republican leadership should have been thankful for Ron Paul, and for the wisdom and fresh perspective he brought with him. Instead it conspired to shut him down at every conceivable turn.

Now it's going to have to pay the price. If Clinton or Obama win the White House, the GOP's honchos will have no one to blame but themselves.

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So I'm "watching" this Presidential "debate" from Myrtle Beach...

But when I say "watch", I mean that I'm paying attention in my own fashion: only listening to it, with my back to the television screen, so that my mind tunes-in to what the candidates are actually saying, without any distraction from visuals.

And it must be said: in spite of Fox News doing its damndest to manipulate things, Ron Paul is kickin' tail and takin' names!

He just nailed something that I haven't seen anyone touch: the fact that people like Saddam and Osama were at one time allies of the United States. We trained them, supplied them... and then they turned on us. And maybe, just maybe, if we did as Dr. Paul suggests and stop taking sides all over the world, this kind of thing wouldn't be coming back to haunt us as often as it does.

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The Ron Paul "Affair"

Without a doubt, the support for Ron Paul has been the most passionate and creative that I've ever seen from regular people for a candidate for President. And it's also wonderful to see that, unlike too much of modern-day politics, the pro-Paul campers aren't afraid to laugh at themselves from time to time.

Check this out f'rinstance...

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"Tea Party money bomb" gets Ron Paul more than $6 million in one day

Ron Paul's presidential campaign raked in more than $6 million across 24 hours yesterday. It was part of a "money bomb" coordinated by supporters outside of the official Ron Paul campaign (meaning this wasn't something run by campaign executives... which makes it all the more impressive). The event was meant to tie-in with the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, and handily beats the record set for fundraiser that took place on November 5th (the "V for Vendetta" one).

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Regarding those suggestions about running for Congress ...

Hard to believe that as of this morning it's been an entire year since Election Day 2006, when I was on the ballot for Rockingham County Board of Education.

If you were reading this blog then, you'll remember that throughout that day I was posting a series of "live reports", to convey the sense of what happens in the life of a candidate on Election Day. It's been a pretty neat thing, to have gone back over them in the last little while and reflect on that day and everything that led up to it and has transpired since. You can find them here on the school board articles archive, along with everything else that I posted here that was associated with my campaign.

You wanna know what's one of the funniest things about my having run for school board? That in the entire year since the night of the election, when the results came in, not once... not once... have I regretted not winning a seat on the board. And you wanna know why? Because this entire thing was too much of an amazing experience!

That by itself made doing this worth it. It didn't matter that I didn't win. By the end of it I was a much wiser, more mature, and stronger person than I had ever been before I became a candidate. Running for school board was a growth thing. And it was the perfect experience for the kind of person God made me to be because it was one of the most serious things that I had ever done... and I still did it without compromising on the more fun-loving and creative aspects of my life. I ran on my principles and stayed true to them in my own unique way. In the end, that's a pretty neat thing to be able to confidently boast.

And since I'm looking back on that election, maybe it's time to address something else...

Ever since the school board election last year (which you should bear in mind, that I did not win a seat), quite a number of people have been making some ummm... "interesting" suggestions, through e-mail or in person, and lately there've been a lot of comments posted to this blog about it: that I should consider running for U.S. House of Representatives.

I honestly didn't know what to think about those. It was certainly a bit flattering. I've definitely gotten a chuckle out of thinking about what a "Christopher Knight for Congress" campaign would be like.

If that ever happens, I can sincerely promise that there will be no negative campaigning or "dirty tricks". Personally, I believe that candidates who resort to negative advertising against their opponents do not deserve to be elected at all. Their doing so demonstrates that they're running for the power, not for the opportunity to serve others.

I can also promise that if I were to run, the TV commercials that would come out of my campaign would be every bit as clever and entertaining - and hopefully thought-provoking - as those that I did for my school board campaign, if not wildly more so. And you thought the Death Star blowing up a schoolhouse was something...

Well, all of this was fun to inwardly speculate about, no doubt about it. And then last week someone that I respect an awful lot told me that I "should" seriously consider running. If it had been from anyone else, I would have probably still dismissed the idea. But that it came from this particular individual, it made me start to more soberly contemplate the idea.

I'm at the point in my life where I want to work on my own, more personal projects. For years I've been involved in what has been a long, never-ending series of struggles... and last year's school board campaign was definitely one those (albeit a good one). For the first time in a very long time there's finally light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm wanting to come out and see what's out there and make the most of my opportunities. Yesterday I took the GRE. I did well on it by the way! The part that's scored automatically by computer anyhoo :-)

So I'm finally starting to take the steps toward earning my master's degree in history, which in retrospect I should have done a long time ago. I'm trying to get a business going. There is a book that I'm working on and my full-length feature film project, that's still in the pipeline.

Most of all, the thing that I want more than anything else in my life... I want to be a father. You've no idea how much that means to me. Especially lately. A few weeks ago we were at a wedding and my cousin Walter, his four-year old daughter was the flower girl. I'm telling you all right here and now, that Walter is one lucky guy for God to have blessed him with a terrific son and a beautiful little girl like Morgan. And then there's Adam Feldman's newborn daughter (doesn't she look sharp wearing that Georgia cap? :-).

I do want to run for Congress. I won't deny that. Not because I want to make a "career" out of it though: ever since high school the notion hasn't left me alone that I should run for Congress, serve two or three terms, and then come home and let someone else take the job. If I can do that much, then I'll believe that I've done my part to serve the community. That doesn't jibe with conventional wisdom though: these days, just about everyone who runs for high office does so already knowing that they want to stretch it out as long as they can.

I don't want to do it like that. If I ran and won, I would go and serve and then come back and spend the rest of my life being creative and productive, being a husband and a father, and doing what I can to grow spiritually.

Be a career member of Congress, or be a regular guy who's trying to make the most out of the life that God has given him. Only one of them is, to me anyway, a meaningful way to live.

Besides, I don't believe anymore that in order to change the world for the better, that you must possess political power. The world is changed and made new every day, and it's not by politicians in Washington either. They wreck stuff more than they create.

So yes, I do want to run for Congress. I don't know if I'm ready to run for Congress right now though.

Let's say that I were to run for Congress, for the seat from the 13th district here in North Carolina. Politically I'm very much an independent. And I'm currently non-affiliated. But I'm not so naïve as to not realize what it takes to mount a serious campaign in America these days... even if I don't particularly like that it is that way. So if I did run on a party ticket it would be as a Republican. Meaning that I'd have to run in the primary and if I won that, then against Representative Brad Miller.

If I did run as a Republican, it would be as an "old-school" Republican. The kind that believes in limited government and individual freedom. If you read this blog then you know what I believe: I'm against abortion, I think the income tax should be abolished. I also believe that George W. Bush is the worst President in American history for his being impotent on defending our borders, for things like No Child Left Behind and the PATRIOT Act, and for bogging us down in meaningless wars that sap away at our youth and resources. I'm basically against everything that the current regime of "neo-conservatives" has pushed on us.

You see? Already, there are a lot of liabilities against me running right now. 'Cuz the Republican party, by and large, isn't what it used to be. I would get no support from it.

I also believe that so-called "Christian leaders" who prostitute their principles for political power so that they can have a seat at "the king's table" are the biggest bunch of hypocrites that I've ever seen. There would be at least one Christian candidate who wouldn't give a flying rat's butt about wanting an endorsement from Pat Robertson or James Dobson.

And then there is the simple fact of the matter that, like I said before, I want to get on a bit with my personal life. That means creating things. That's what makes me happy. How much time would I have to devote to those, if I were serving full-time in Congress right now?

Would you really want someone whose heart may not be fully into it, serving you in high elected office?

And then there is the biggest reason at all for why I shouldn't run right now: I don't know if I have enough wisdom at this point to serve in that capacity. I don't know if I possess enough to resist the power that comes with that kind of a position. The greater part of me believes that I should have some more life experiences, and build up that wisdom and gain more knowledge and insight, before offering myself up to serve others in so high an office.

(I will absolutely promise you though, that if I ever do run and Lord willing should I win, that I'm going to fill up that congressional office with the best people that I know. And they will be people who I trust will not only do their jobs well, but will also not be afraid to hold me accountable in my own job.)

Maybe someday, if God really puts it on my heart to run and if enough people would support me, I will do that, and run for Congress and let things happen as they may. If I don't win, it won't bother me anymore than I was bothered by not winning the school board election a year ago. And if I win well like I said, I'll go and serve a few years and then come home and let the next guy take over.

I'm not ready to run for Congress right now. But there is still something else that I can do in that regard, that in many ways is much better than running for Congress myself...

America desperately needs men and women who will rise at this hour to serve her. And I will do whatever it takes to find them and encourage them to take the lead.

I'm going do my best to inspire other people - especially "regular" citizens - to run for office, be that the local school board or the U.S. Senate. At whatever level they might feel led to go for.

That's why I chronicled my own campaign so thoroughly on this blog: so that other people could find it and think to themselves "I could do that. I can do that. Maybe I WILL do that!"

And you should do that. Because if it's not you... then who is it going to be?

Why should elected offices only go to the wealthy and the powerful and the well-connected? How the hell do most of them get off believing they're "owed" that, anyway?

Why should we be expected to believe that only "they" deserve to be the ones running this country? The Founders wrote the Constitution so that anyone could read and understand it. You don't have to be a lawyer or a corporate bigwig to appreciate and follow through on it.

So yeah: if you have a thorough-enough grasp of the Constitution, and personal responsibility and sincere selfless sense of duty to your community, what more do you need to run for office?

It's well past time for us to step up to the plate and become the government that the Founders envisioned.

Don't think that I'm trying to make this sound like it's easy, because it's not. Running for office is a hard thing to do... but what worthwhile things in life are ever easy? But it's also an awful lot of fun.

It's like this: you can either go with the flow, and die in your bed many years from now after a life of comfort and contentment, with not much to show that you were here.

Or you can get up and do something to rattle the cages, and make damned sure that "they" never forget that once upon a time, here you stood and would not yield.

If you do this, you will be opposed. Especially right now. And more from those who you would normally think of as allies as opposed to your opponents. Look at what's happening to presidential candidate Ron Paul: some of the most vicious attacks on him are coming from what are supposed to be "conservative" outlets, like the GOP leadership and Red State and Free Republic and Fox News, and others of their kind.

Don't think that I don't know what I'm talking about in that regard, because I used to be a long-time member and contributor on Free Republic. Free Republic has not accomplished a single worthwhile thing in its entire existence. Not anything at all. Oh sure, they'll boast about standing up to Clinton and meaningless pageantry like that... but what about seriously shaking things up? They can't do it because they're too locked-in to the party mindset: it's impossible for them to think outside the box. I don't know of a single person on that board who actually ran for office on their own, except for me... and that probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been banned from it to begin with.

If you are expecting leadership or even sympathy out of those places, you are greatly mistaken. Their sole purpose is to corral and control for sake of power. They aren't about encouraging and building up people to take control of their own lives. So of course they oppose people like Ron Paul and what he stands for: because in his worldview and that of many others, people like "them" aren't needed anymore.

A new day is dawning in America. There are many of us who know what's going wrong in this country and we've resolved to do something about it. We have a dream of a new world. A better world. And people from "the old way of things" have no place in that world.

They've had their chance. They've been weighed in the scales and found wanting. They are dying off. But they can do a lot of damage on the way down. Which makes it all the more important that people like you and me stand up and make sure that they go down hard and that they stay down.

What do you have to lose? You are going to die someday anyway. You might as well slam the door as hard as you can before you leave.

As C.S. Lewis said: "Die before you die. There is no chance after."

If you are reading this, please, I urge you: wherever you are, run for office. However you can. Don't do it for the power. Do it because you want to serve others. And if you do, please e-mail me and let me know and I'll do what I can to support you in your endeavor.

You don't need "them" telling you what to think anymore. You are much more than what "they" expect you to be.

Americans are supposed to be a people of liberty and free will. Ain't it about damned time that we started using those attributes?

I know you are out there. You have the strength and the ability to do something with what God has given you. He doesn't want you to waste those gifts. And neither do I.

It's time to rise to the occasion, my friends.

And when you do: be bold, but be humble. And you'll no doubt be as amazed as the rest of us at how far God will take you.

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Ron Paul campaign is shattering fundraising records today (and it's not over yet!)

It must be said: supporters of presidential candidate Ron Paul are, by the widest of margins, the most passionate and creative of any candidate for President out there right now... and perhaps ever. Look at all of the Ron Paul videos on YouTube, and everything else going on to show that we believe in Dr. Paul's message of personal liberty and responsibility... along with limited government.

Some have claimed that this "enthusiasm" is nothing more than the work of a relatively few rabid followers working out of their mom's basement. That's gonna be a hella thing to claim, after tonight.

A few weeks ago some Ron Paul supporters had a great idea: "detonate" what they are calling a "money bomb" (meaning a single day of mass contributions to the Ron Paul campaign). Inspired by the movie V for Vendetta the date was set for today, November the Fifth. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. this morning, Ron Paul supporters were encouraged to donate as much as they can for this fundraising quarter.

It's now 6:42 p.m. Look at this chart comparing fundraising throughout today, with funds raised for the Ron Paul campaign over the previous two days...

That's almost $3 million... raised in a single day. Some are now seriously saying that it could reach 4 or 5 - and perhaps even 6 million - dollars by the end of this evening. In fact, by the time you read this Dr. Paul has probably already overwhelmed the single-day fundraising record (set by Mitt Romney) of $3.1 million earlier this year.

I know of no better way to celebrate such an awesome accomplishment, than to post V's televised speech from the movie V for Vendetta:

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November."

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More Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lanterns!

Apparently, Ron Paul is a big theme for Jack-o'-Lanterns this Halloween :-)

Here is one made by im_a_pepper. Look at the amazing level of detail on this pumpkin!

And then there is this one (of two) made by Mustardseed (click to see more photos):

I'm about to go light my own Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lantern (along with that... other thing). They'll be on display on our patio throughout the night. So if you're in Reidsville and are driving around Sherwood Drive, come by and take a looksee!! :-)

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The Ron Paul for President Jack-o'-Lantern!

Tonight I set to work on carving a Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lantern, using the pattern that I came up with a few days ago. I've been a longtime admirer of Dr. Paul and I am definitely supporting him for President in next year's election (as I've said here before: I'm voting for Ron Paul or I'm voting for nobody at all). So I thought it would be fun to do something in keeping with the spirit of the holiday for when the trickster-treatsters in the neighborhood come around for candy on Halloween tomorrow night, and do my part in promoting Dr. Paul.

(Here's Ron Paul's official campaign website and I'll also recommend the Ron Paul Forums, where I hang out a lot.)

I started carving it a little before 7 p.m. tonight, and finished just before 9:30. Like the Jack-o'-Lantern I made of local politician and admitted thief Ron Price last night, a lot of the work in this one related to the extra-thick skin that had to be scraped away. But also on this one, the "RON PAUL" letters that I made on the pattern were not very workable. I ended up having to re-design them on the fly, as I was carving them (had to do that carefully 'cuz I did not want to botch up a perfectly good pumpkin :-).

Finally after two and a half hours, here was the finished product...

What does it look like when it's lit-up with a candle? Feat your eyes on this my friends!

And here's what it looks like on our porch...

So... what y'all think? :-)

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How about a Ron Paul Jack-o'-Lantern instead?

Okay, this will be the last post I make before getting back to my much-needed break from blogging! Because after making and publishing the Ron Price Jack-o'-Lantern pattern, I couldn't in good conscience leave things dangling with something that scary.

So here's a Jack-o'-Lantern pattern of the candidate for President that I'm backing: Ron Paul. Same basic instructions as the original: Click on the image to get it full-sized and print it out. Use pins or tape to secure it to the side of a pumpkin. Then use a Pumpkin Carving Kit from Pumpkin Masters, and do with this as you would do with any other pumpkin pattern.

Happy Halloween! :-)

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Christian "leaders" considering third-party for President

According to The New York Times:

Alarmed at the chance that the Republican party might pick Rudolph Giuliani as its presidential nominee despite his support for abortion rights, a coalition of influential Christian conservatives is threatening to back a third-party candidate in an attempt to stop him.

The group making the threat, which came together Saturday in Salt Lake City during a break-away gathering during a meeting of the secretive Council for National Policy, includes Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, who is perhaps the most influential of the group, as well as Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, the direct mail pioneer Richard Viguerie and dozens of other politically-oriented conservative Christians, participants said. Almost everyone present expressed support for a written resolution that "if the Republican Party nominates a pro-abortion candidate we will consider running a third party candidate."

After reading the story, I had the following thoughts...

1. Why are these people considered to be "Christian leaders"? I sure as hell don't follow them. I don't see why any other Christian should be beholden to them, either.

2. There is a candidate for President running on the Republican ticket who is everything that so-called "Christian conservatives" have always claimed to have wanted in a candidate: Ron Paul. None of these "leaders" however, to the best of my knowledge, has ever come out and said that they support Dr. Paul.

3. These Christians should not be looking toward supporting a third party... because these Christians should have never stood behind any political party to begin with, at all. To follow Christ means to defy the patterns of this world, and not adhere to them at the cost of Christ-like principles and character. Do I believe that Christians in America should be politically active? Yes. But only so far as individual candidates go. Hitching our wagon onto the Republican party has led Christianity in this country toward disaster time after time. As it is, it's not enough to talk about going with a "third party": if these "Christian authorities" are going to show serious leadership, then they are going to have to advocate that this country's Christians break away from the party structure and process completely. It must be an absolute divorce, with no turning back as Lot's wife did at Sodom.

4. The previous observations, sadly, can only lead me once again to believe that too many Christians in this country are more fixated on acquiring worldly power than they are with seeking out Christ and serving Him with due humility.

5. It is our failure to do that which is destroying America. Yes, I blame the Christians in America for that. Because we have chosen not to be the salt of the earth any longer.

6. Being that the previous point demonstrates a monstrous lack of skills contributing to criminal negligence in the spiritual sense, I propose that we, the followers of Christ in these United States, kick Dobson, Perkins, and other self-proclaimed "leaders" to the curb. We should then proceed to find and install new "leaders" if we are to insist on having them. Because the current management is, to put it mildly, screwed beyond all hope.

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One reason why I support Ron Paul for President

Here, read his latest essay, "The Fear Factor".

When was the last time we had the opportunity to elect a man with an intellect on par with that of the Founding Fathers?

You'll never see this kind of thought and eloquence from Hillary Clinton, Rudolph Giuliani, Fred Thompson, or any other empty suit that the party bigwigs and the mainstream press would rather you vote for. You certainly can't say that you've ever seen this level of articulation from George W. Bush.

Just one more reason why in 2008 I'm voting for Ron Paul, or I'm voting for nobody.

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Excellent piece about Ron Paul in The Red and Black

Something I haven't let y'all in on nearly as much as I should have: I am a die-hard Bulldogs fan. When the girl of your dreams is a grad student at the University of Georgia - the school whose motto should be "Play Football or Die" - you tend to get caught up in the spirit of the place very quickly as you start making regular visits to Athens.

Seriously though: it's a great university. Even though I'll always be proud of my alma mater Elon, you can often find me wearing a Georgia Bulldogs t-shirt whenever I'm out. So I was especially glad to find that this very good article about presidential candidate Ron Paul was written by J. Patrick Rhamey for The Red and Black, the student newspaper at UGA ...

What are our traditional values? Looking across history, they are most certainly not wire-tapping, secret prisons, and preemptive wars. The Republican Party gained power with Newt Gingrich to minimize the size of government, lower taxes, encourage free trade, and get government out of our lives.

Unfortunately, they did the opposite and have paid the price.

It is time to elect someone who represents the political views of Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater and Dwight Eisenhower. A patriot who will not put our brave fighting men and women needlessly into harm's way. A candidate who supports policies of economic growth for the middle class such as lower taxes and minimizing government. A man of outstanding character who has been married to the same woman for fifty years and opposes abortion. A veteran who will secure our borders. This is the type of Reagan Republican we need back in the White House.

I encourage Georgians of all parties to take a moment to investigate Paul as a candidate on his website, www.ronpaul2008.com. In this great struggle against terror, amidst the many successes and setbacks, I fear we may be losing sight of that which our fighting men and women are dying to protect: individual freedom. If we lose sight of that, the terrorists have most surely accomplished their goals.

We must elect a candidate who will pursue a humble, defensive foreign policy. One who will bring our fighting men and women home to protect us here, not in Iraq, Afghanistan or Iran.

To quote another great Republican president, Dwight Eisenhower, "Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. Frankly, I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing."

As the only Republican candidate who took that advice seriously and opposed the war in Iraq, let's give Ron Paul a chance.

I've been thinking for awhile: even though I'm no longer a believer in political parties, I cannot help but think that if the Republican party does not steer toward the direction that Ron Paul represents, it will no longer be able to claim to be a party of principle after this next presidential election. Unfortunately I'm seeing most, if not all, of the party leadership putting their support behind the usual "contenders" of shallow character.

It's like this: the Republicans must decide that they either want reality, or illusion. It's time for them to take the proverbial red pill and put their money where their mouth is.

And if most people in the GOP seriously believe that Fred Thompson is going to be anything better than George W. Bush, then that party can kiss whatever respect they still have goodbye. It's almost gone anyway, after the fiasco of our border situation.

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