Lucille
08-29-2012, 08:11 AM
Doug's absolutely right. It would have been awful for him. I wouldn't wish that on Ron in a million years.
Besides, do we really want the collapse to happen when a conservative's in the WH? Or even a phony one like Romney? No. It is not in the GOP's interest to win the WH this year (and some believe (http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/03/29/mitt-romney-in-your-heart-you-know-hes-a-loser/) the GOP knows this too). Especially not our man.
The system will collapse, and my hope is that the political system full of corrupt, treasonous goons will be swept away with it (including SCOTUS).
Please keep educating the people on how Leviathan is responsible (http://blog.independent.org/2009/11/02/can-the-rampaging-leviathan-be-stopped-or-slowed/) for all of our woes, and we need to be ready to pick up the pieces and restore America then.
Daily Bell (http://lewrockwell.com/wile/wile57.1.html): Congress likes to pose as a part of the solution but it seems to be part of the problem. Are there political answers to these questions? What is to be done?
Doug Casey: It's not just part of the problem; it is the main problem. One thing I always liked about Ron Paul is that he says we should observe the Constitution. Unfortunately, that's not going to help right now because basically the Constitution is whatever the Supreme Court says it is. In other words, the Constitution has been interpreted out of existence. Everything that the US government does today is constitutional; it's all been arbitrated by the Supreme Court. However, if you use a simple, common sense reading of the Constitution, and don't try to parse it like a medieval scholastic or a Talmudic scholar, it's completely obvious the whole thing is a dead letter – except for those portions that deal with procedural trivia, like who acts as the vice president of the Senate, voting procedures, administrative details and the like, things that are of no consequence to anyone outside of the Washington Beltway.
As much as I like Ron's solution of observing the Constitution – the entire Constitution – it's not realistic in the totally corrupt political system we now have. Any part of the Constitution that deals with maintaining liberty for the individual against the state – which is to say the important parts of the document, the parts that made it unique – are now meaningless. In fact, anyone who quotes the Constitution now runs the risk of being jailed, in the interest of "national security," as a subversive, a dangerous anti-government radical or perhaps sent to an institution for psychiatric procedures. I kid you not; things have changed radically in the US over the past few decades.
But let's indulge in a fantasy and say Ron Paul somehow became President. Even if the Supreme Court didn't overturn everything he did as unconstitutional, Ron would have another, even bigger, obstacle with the US Congress. They would impeach him. In addition, he would find that the people, average Americans, would be bitterly unhappy about having all the government freebies taken away; they would want to lynch him.
Even if, through some miracle, the Supreme Court, the Congress, or the rioting mobs didn't remove him from office, he would still have to deal with the three million government employees, starting with the people who run the praetorian agencies – FBI, CIA, NSA, ATF, DEA and others. He'd likely get a very forthright and disturbing talking to. The government as a whole – absolutely including the Pentagon – would, at a minimum, scheme against him.
So I'm afraid that's the long answer to your question. There really are no political solutions at this point, not within the current framework.
The only possible "solution" for change is a dictatorship. We'll probably see a dictatorship in the US, perhaps after the next major real or imagined terrorist event. Or perhaps if the US gets involved in a real war, not just a sport war like those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or perhaps if the economy really collapses. Maybe we'll hit the Trifecta and all these things happen. Of course, a dictatorship, although it won't be called that, is actually the worst thing that could happen. Dictatorships are never a good idea even if their intentions are good. But that's the way things usually progress; it's a pattern throughout ancient, medieval and modern history. Why should the US be any different at this point?
It's not any different. Cincinnatus is the exception. Ron is the only modern Cincinnatus I'd trust, but he'd be too principled to take it.
My question is, will it be a "soft dictatorship," or will this one end in a mound of skulls too?
Interesting times!
Besides, do we really want the collapse to happen when a conservative's in the WH? Or even a phony one like Romney? No. It is not in the GOP's interest to win the WH this year (and some believe (http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/03/29/mitt-romney-in-your-heart-you-know-hes-a-loser/) the GOP knows this too). Especially not our man.
The system will collapse, and my hope is that the political system full of corrupt, treasonous goons will be swept away with it (including SCOTUS).
Please keep educating the people on how Leviathan is responsible (http://blog.independent.org/2009/11/02/can-the-rampaging-leviathan-be-stopped-or-slowed/) for all of our woes, and we need to be ready to pick up the pieces and restore America then.
Daily Bell (http://lewrockwell.com/wile/wile57.1.html): Congress likes to pose as a part of the solution but it seems to be part of the problem. Are there political answers to these questions? What is to be done?
Doug Casey: It's not just part of the problem; it is the main problem. One thing I always liked about Ron Paul is that he says we should observe the Constitution. Unfortunately, that's not going to help right now because basically the Constitution is whatever the Supreme Court says it is. In other words, the Constitution has been interpreted out of existence. Everything that the US government does today is constitutional; it's all been arbitrated by the Supreme Court. However, if you use a simple, common sense reading of the Constitution, and don't try to parse it like a medieval scholastic or a Talmudic scholar, it's completely obvious the whole thing is a dead letter – except for those portions that deal with procedural trivia, like who acts as the vice president of the Senate, voting procedures, administrative details and the like, things that are of no consequence to anyone outside of the Washington Beltway.
As much as I like Ron's solution of observing the Constitution – the entire Constitution – it's not realistic in the totally corrupt political system we now have. Any part of the Constitution that deals with maintaining liberty for the individual against the state – which is to say the important parts of the document, the parts that made it unique – are now meaningless. In fact, anyone who quotes the Constitution now runs the risk of being jailed, in the interest of "national security," as a subversive, a dangerous anti-government radical or perhaps sent to an institution for psychiatric procedures. I kid you not; things have changed radically in the US over the past few decades.
But let's indulge in a fantasy and say Ron Paul somehow became President. Even if the Supreme Court didn't overturn everything he did as unconstitutional, Ron would have another, even bigger, obstacle with the US Congress. They would impeach him. In addition, he would find that the people, average Americans, would be bitterly unhappy about having all the government freebies taken away; they would want to lynch him.
Even if, through some miracle, the Supreme Court, the Congress, or the rioting mobs didn't remove him from office, he would still have to deal with the three million government employees, starting with the people who run the praetorian agencies – FBI, CIA, NSA, ATF, DEA and others. He'd likely get a very forthright and disturbing talking to. The government as a whole – absolutely including the Pentagon – would, at a minimum, scheme against him.
So I'm afraid that's the long answer to your question. There really are no political solutions at this point, not within the current framework.
The only possible "solution" for change is a dictatorship. We'll probably see a dictatorship in the US, perhaps after the next major real or imagined terrorist event. Or perhaps if the US gets involved in a real war, not just a sport war like those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or perhaps if the economy really collapses. Maybe we'll hit the Trifecta and all these things happen. Of course, a dictatorship, although it won't be called that, is actually the worst thing that could happen. Dictatorships are never a good idea even if their intentions are good. But that's the way things usually progress; it's a pattern throughout ancient, medieval and modern history. Why should the US be any different at this point?
It's not any different. Cincinnatus is the exception. Ron is the only modern Cincinnatus I'd trust, but he'd be too principled to take it.
My question is, will it be a "soft dictatorship," or will this one end in a mound of skulls too?
Interesting times!