Ron Paul

Via my good friend John Medaille , an article from CounterPunch on Ron Paul the Jeffersonian:

If we stipulate that a candidate
polling at least 5% in national polls is a "major candidate,"
there is simply no other major candidate in 2008 who is more
Jeffersonian, more committed to peace, justice, and democracy,
than Ron Paul. He puts pretenders like Edwards and Obama to shame.
I like a lot of what John Edwards is saying on the campaign trail
today, but I don't think he means a word of it. He's a limousine
liberal phony when it comes to the rich/poor issue. He supported
the Iraq War until it became widely unpopular. He voted for the
Patriot Act. He claims to be against outsourcing of American
jobs but he voted for permanent normalized trade relations (MFN)
for China.

...

While the stray neo-Confederate
may like Ron Paul, he is also the recipient of more African American
support than any other Republican. Paul is backed by both realistic
veterans and idealistic pacifists, Christians and atheists, John
Birchers and NORML members. It's a kaleidoscope campaign--not
of pandering or double-talking but of an honest commitment to
an array of deeply held American values. Liberty and peace are
popular. It's not a cult of personality like Obama.

Hat tip to the Libertarian Alliance for this pointer to a nice quote from Ron Paul about "big government". I'm not as convinced as some libertarians about Ron Paul's own credentials to say I would support him but here's the quote anyway - something Liberal Democrats should remember when the cry of "Something Must be Done" goes up:

What Does Freedom Really Mean?

Few Americans understand that all government action is inherently coercive. If nothing else, government action requires taxes. If taxes were freely paid, they wouldn’t be called taxes, they’d be called donations. If we intend to use the word freedom in an honest way, we should have the simple integrity to give it real meaning: Freedom is living without government coercion. So when a politician talks about freedom for this group or that, ask yourself whether he is advocating more government action or less.

By Ron Paul