Ron Paul: freedoms candidate

    In just two weeks, the most important American document ever written will turn 220 years old. The Constitution, drafted on September 17, 1787, will celebrate over 200 years of freedom. But this freedom hasn’t come cheaply. The largest losses, of course, were the heroes lost in the wars both foreign and domestic.
    Unfortunately, some people don’t recognize the importance of this document. Most Americans don’t even take the time to learn their rights and freedoms. In Iraq, voting turnout soars over 80 percent with men and women risking life and limb to vote and boast of their proof of voting, a purple index finger. In the United States, an election is called an overwhelming success if voting turnout cracks 60 percent, while 70 percent would be a political science major’s fantasy.
    One of the major reasons some Americans might be apathetic to voting is that they feel none of the candidates support the Constitution. The republicans have supported suspending the constitutionally supported writ of habeas corpus, the right of a prisoner to a court hearing which can determine if their imprisonment is lawful or not, and democrats constantly try to argue that socialized medicine is a constitutional right. Republican and democratic presidents have both declared wars in an unconstitutional manner. If you want a fun fact, the U.S. hasn’t technically declared war since World War II.
    With the republicans and democrats running crazy, with largely unconstitutional big spending ideas, it is very difficult to be excited about the election next year. Even I found myself trying to figure out who was the lesser of all the evils. That was until I heard about Ron Paul.
    Ron Paul is an obstetrician from Texas who has spent twenty years as a congressman. At 72 years old, Paul has the oldest and best ideas for America. His ideas come from one place, the Constitution. Democrats talk about emotion. Republicans talk about values. Paul talks about the Constitution. Among the most amazing facts about Paul is that in his ten terms as a U.S. Congressman he has never voted to raise taxes, never voted for an unbalanced budget, and never voted to raise congressional pay or to expand the powers of the president.
    Paul is running for the republican nomination, but has views that can unite democrats with him. He voted against the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, and every single Iraq supplementary spending bill for which President Bush has asked. With the nation becoming more worried about the war in Iraq with each passing day, the republicans would be wise to nominate a candidate that has been against the war from the start.
    If you appreciate the Constitution and the freedoms and liberties that it affords us then I strongly recommend looking into Paul as your candidate of choice. With more cash on hand than republican front-runner John McCain, and a vastly growing Internet support base, Paul could be the surprise candidate that this nation needs.
    There’s no question that Americans need to be more involved in the voting process. We, as a nation need to realize that the men and women that we vote for at the local, state and national level have a direct impact on our lives. Most Americans complain that they’re just too busy on election Tuesday that they don’t have the time to vote. But with the full week of early voting that every state has had in effect the last several years this is no longer a viable excuse.
    Other Americans will claim that the Republican and Democratic Parties are so similar it doesn’t really matter who wins, and third party candidates are all but guaranteed to lose so there is no reason voting. Regardless, people should still vote. By voting for a third party candidate you would be putting that party on the map more, and, if all the people that used that excuse took the same action, that party might be able to seriously compete in the future. Alexander Hamilton said that “those who stand for nothing fall for anything.”

     
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Posted by Colonnade Archives on Aug 31 2007. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry