That old-time religion, best editorial yet

[dmitchell]

I really love this piece (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDkyYzdkNDNjM2QzMmI1NGEzZmEzYWRjYzQ0OTgxNmU) by John Derbyshire. It's message? Ron Paul's problem isn't Ron Paul. It's us. (Here 'us' means America.)

[cac1963]

So what happens to 'mature economies' as they become more decrepit in time?

[Bruehound]

On the whole, though, we have settled in with this system. We are used to it. It’s not going away, absent a revolution; and conservatives are — duh! — not, by temperament, revolutionaries.

Well, there it is folks. Mr. Derbyshire has provided us a challenge as well as a winning campaign plan. The peaceful revolution is key. I hope today's youth take to the streets this fall.

[goldenequity]

Thanks for posting the article. I enjoyed it and liked his take and humor.

Although I understand his dismal conclusion via the intransigence of a "mature economy" .....

I give great credence to the quiet revolution and the numbers factor:


Congress's 535 + hot air | versus | internet + exponential thousands + time + A LEADER!

Color me O P T I M I S T I C :) :)

[foofighter20x]

So what happens to 'mature economies' as they become more decrepit in time?

the debt monster eats them

[Badger Paul]

It's a good article but it shows the mindset of those who call themselves "conservatives" nowadays. They've become corrupted by power. They thought once like Ron Paul still thinks because they never ran anything or belived they would. Since 1980 though, they have run things, whole branches of government and agencies. They have their own little establishment set up. RP threatens it all. They came to Washington D.C. telling everyone government was the problem and they were going to clean it up. Now they find out they rather like government and like Washington a lot.

Thank God the RP movement is bigger than just conservatives or we would never get off the ground with the way those people are now. They've corrupted themselves.

[Hurricane Bruiser]

I think this was a good article and National Review is very widely read by conservatives. People in the Conservative movement do want to dream but they also want to appear in the "mainstream" at times and so this article, the way I see it, gave the author a chance to give a positive piece on someone that is not "mainstream". Welcome to the revolution.

I've got a meetup group meeting tonight (1st meeting)

[Dary]

Wow.

1690 words describing how Ron Paul cannot be elected.

Yet I can sum up how he CAN be elected with only one.

Votes.

>"You don’t imagine he’s going to be the 44th POTUS..."

Thanks for telling me what I'm imagining John.

Actually I AM imagining that he WILL be elected the next president.

Derbyshire attempts to marginalize Ron's position on alternative, legalized currencies by reducing it to:

"the gold standard? Come on."

Does he really think his readers are that stupid? My guess is yes.

The article just sounds like more republican apologencia to me, although on a higher and overly intellectual level than you might get from Sean Hannity.

Get on board John. The train is leaving the station. We don't want to leave without you, but we will.

[Sean]

The biggest obstacle to Ron Paul getting the nomination is people don't think he can win. If you are a conservative or not you must realize that Ron Paul needs the conservative vote to win. His campaign has to address this problem with some sort of plan. I think it has to have two prongs to it a negative attack and a positive. One you must advertise what happens to conservatives when they support who you think is the most electable candidate even though they don't agree with him: ie George Bush. Second a positive one based on a win in the Iowa straw poll. To win the poll they have to put some resources into it.

[shadowhooch]

As much as we all like Ron Paul and love his ideas, the article has a point.

A lot of people immediately "tune out" as soon as they hear "get rid of the IRS, no more income tax", etc. People have lived with it so long they just see it as a pipe dream. They don't know government without it. And people fear change.

I've been gently spreading the Ron Paul message since I found him in June (from the debates). And that is the biggest road block I see. People just don't believe it can happen and they put him on the fringe.

That's our task folks. We gotta make people believe it IS possible. We gotta get people ACTIVE in voting for a cause instead of voting for the lesser of 2 evils.

It's not easy. But I believe it can be done.

[micahnelson]

I wrote this the other day about getting people active

http://www.micahnelson.com/?p=78 (http://www.micahnelson.com/?p=78)

[Hurricane Bruiser]

The letter I emailed to National Review letters@nationalreview.com regarding this article. You might also want to write a letter.

"I really enjoyed the article by John Derbyshire on presidential candidate Ron Paul titled "that old-time religion." It reminded me of what conservatives used to stand for and what is so absent from the Republican Party in recent years. After studying up on Ron Paul and seeing his absolute purity regarding constitutional matters, his high regard for national sovereignty while welcoming free trade, and his utter devotion to liberty, I truly wonder why more people in the conservative movement have not even heard of him. I know that I still have my dreams and I choose to vote and support people and ideas such as Ron Paul and his ideas. I do know that I want to have the presidential election coming and be truly excited about the person and ideas that are being promoted. That is why I am going to be a part of the Ron Paul revolution and actually support my dreams."

Sincerely,

[Dustancostine]

Ain’t gonna happen. It was, after all, a conservative who said that politics is the art of the possible. Ron Paul is not possible. His candidacy belongs to the realm of dreams, not practical politics. But, oh, what sweet dreams!


We'll at least we have 'em dreaming. After dreaming for a while maybe they will get the courage to vote for RP.

[R_Harris]

"As much as we all like Ron Paul and love his ideas, the article has a point.

A lot of people immediately "tune out" as soon as they hear "get rid of the IRS, no more income tax", etc. People have lived with it so long they just see it as a pipe dream. They don't know government without it. And people fear change.

I've been gently spreading the Ron Paul message since I found him in June (from the debates). And that is the biggest road block I see. People just don't believe it can happen and they put him on the fringe.

That's our task folks. We gotta make people believe it IS possible. We gotta get people ACTIVE in voting for a cause instead of voting for the lesser of 2 evils.

It's not easy. But I believe it can be done."


I always chuckle at people who say that dramatic tax and spending reduction is not "practical." Do they mean to tell me that we have now IS practical???

The first thing you have to tell people is that we have no choice. Show them an article about David Walker, the US Comptroller General, who is going around the nation sounding the alarms that our economy WILL - no ifs, ands, or buts - go bankrupt in 15 years (I think sooner) unless something is done about Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and all the other massive government spending. TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

The problem, of course, is that the average citizen doesn't see these problems occurring RIGHT NOW. They drove to work ok this morning, work went as usual, no atomic bombs were dropped, and the stock market is recovering from the "blip" of last week. What's all the fuss about?

If someone can come up with a method to shock people out of their slumber before it is too late, then please share with everyone as quickly as possible.

[Zydeco]

Classic example of "secret writing" from Derbyshire.

It's politically impossible for him to say what he really wants -- Ron Paul to be elected and the whole corrupt system to be brought down -- so he writes an essay whose thrust is that it can't happen, though the reader is left thinking, "Well, why not?" -- which is exactly what Derbyshire wants them to think.

[RP08]

Wow. I just came across that article by different means and was going to post a link to it here. Glad someone beat me to the punch. More people to enjoy it.

That was one of the best-written editorials I think I've read.

I'm definitely walking away from that one thinking "Well... why not!?"

[Syren123]

Wow.

1690 words describing how Ron Paul cannot be elected.

Yet I can sum up how he CAN be elected with only one.

Votes.

>"You don’t imagine he’s going to be the 44th POTUS..."

Thanks for telling me what I'm imagining John.

Actually I AM imagining that he WILL be elected the next president.

Derbyshire attempts to marginalize Ron's position on alternative, legalized currencies by reducing it to:

"the gold standard? Come on."

Does he really think his readers are that stupid? My guess is yes.

The article just sounds like more republican apologencia to me, although on a higher and overly intellectual level than you might get from Sean Hannity.

Get on board John. The train is leaving the station. We don't want to leave without you, but we will.

Thank you. That is exactly what I thought about this article. Just his dismissive (and inaccurate) statements about the gold standard were enough to shoot down any redeeming features this article may have had.

There needs to be a shake-out of these stale-thinking dinosaurs. They don't add any forward momentum to the national conversation.

[jjschless]

I wrote him a reply:


--------------------------------------------------------

To preface this letter I present some quotes from people who wanted to accomplish something that many saw as crazy, impossible and would lead to utter failure.

"Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies."
-Thomas Jefferson

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."
-Benjamin Franklin

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."
-George Washington


The Movement to elect Dr. Ron Paul is nothing short of a Revolution. As you stated his willingness to break and dissect the current paradigm of power is tantamount to a declaration of war against those who hold and covet such power. His honesty and integrity is a direct threat to the choice that is our oligopoly, that we call democracy.

Make no mistake that the choices made this election will decide the outcome of this Empire. With all of the powers taken by the executive branch and the precedence for Congressional marginalization set we have a dangerous game laid before us.

Many of the supporters are very intelligent people who will spend the time necessary to understand better the issues, events and legislature undertaken by OUR government in OUR name. How ironic that we who have taken the time to become better informed are ridiculed by those who know near nothing; those who would accept the first opinion uttered by the Mainstream Media. How very shrewd, create a populace who hold in high regard ignorance, cynicism, and doubt. They make very good followers and consumers and they are so easy to scare.

I personally will take the challenge and work toward the Presidency of Dr. Paul. I will do this so that my children and grandchildren will not have to live in a police state. So they will not have to be drafted and sent off to a war that will only fill the pockets of those in the business of war. So they will not have to take up arms and fight the government for the freedoms this country was founded on.

I, Sir, am willing to bare the unfortunate consequences of being on the wrong end of the establishment stick. I am not afraid of failure. Indeed the only fear I have is that our great country will not wake up to the madness in time to stop it peacefully.


James


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Will it accomplish ahything? Eh, I was at work and getting paid to write it. :D