Wake Up.

I have fun writing here, but I've discovered that I need a break from time to time. As a result of this and a few other things, this space has been sleeping for awhile now (around six months, actually). Today I woke up back up and it's largely as a result of catching Ron Paul in tonight's Presidential Debate.

I'm registered Republican and my politics tend to be strongly conservative. That said, I HATE the direction in which the Right has been moving in the time since Reagan and Bush Mk-I. Fringe religious groups and extremists have misappropriated the Republican moniker and systematically transformed what it represents into something that flies in the face of all that conservatism in its most true and classical form has always stood for. These are principles like belief in the power of the individual, small government, and protecting against erosion of privacy and individual freedoms. It's a sad day when the Left often seems more in step with these values. Republican stance on the Patriot Act, gay marriage, separation of church and state, taxation and spending, international affairs and innumerable other issues have signalled the coming death of the party.

What has this done to me? In recent years, I've become increasingly cynical about politics. I'm now generally of the opinion that Republicans and Democrats in the government are essentially the same. They have superficially opposing viewpoints for the sole purpose of maintaining the two-party system. It's in the interest of each party to lock the independent thinkers with the big ideas out of the game and instead keep a single powerful antagonist to galvanize their foot soldiers (the voters). This pretty much ensures an ebb and flow of power in which both major groups will get to control the ball with some regularity. At the highest levels of politics, there is no real distinction between the parties. There are only players and non-players. Without the support and cooperation of the players on both sides of the aisle, you have exactly ZERO chance of getting anywhere in our political system. Like many people, being offered no reasonable candidates to choose from in the past two Presidential elections, I've felt disenfranchised and less engaged in the ongoing political discussion. It's hard to stay enthusiastic when the only choice you're consistently given is between the lesser of two evils. From there, it's a surprisingly short slide from disillusionment to bitterness to apathy.

Today something changed. I watched the GOP Presidential debate on a lark mostly, expecting the same generic posturing and tired rhetoric that you usually get...and there was still plenty of that, of course. But I also got to hear Ron Paul speak for the first time and his ideas and perspective resonated with me in a way that was completely unexpected and I felt myself getting excited again. Here was a guy not overwhelmed with the fear, paranoia and hype of living in a "post-9/11 world" (just typing that term out makes me want to fucking puke), not obsessed with shoving his faith down your throat, not swept up in the new wave of American colonialism and nationalism, and NOT willing to change his mind because all the other guys on the stage disagree with him. He presented as a man who was honest, brave, humble, thoughtful and empathetic...which, not coincidentally, are the qualities that he says our country needs to exemplify. And the ideas he articulated encapsulated the style of classic conservative values that made conservatism relevant in the first place.

Okay, so I'm on board now. This is something I can get behind. Oh, the fit isn't perfect, mind you. I disagree with him in a couple of notable areas, but the most important things are there. The problem now is his electability. Obviously, this guy is a crazy-huge longshot for 2008. Great. Still, get this...In the online world of polls, blogs and forums, Ron Paul has consistently outperformed the rest of the field. Fox News and other media sources have tried to discredit these results and talk him down in their reports, but clearly he has established some elevated mindshare with the more tech-savvy interweb users out there. This is heartening. Why?

BECAUSE I WANT MY PARTY BACK, GODDAMMIT!

I suppose you'd like to know how this all pertains to you, right? Well, I'm awake again and I want you to wake up too, if you weren't already. I'm asking you to read up on Mr. Paul and his track-record. Watch him speak. Listen to what he has to say. If the ideas he discusses resonate with you the same way they did with me, please tell other people about him, as many as possible. If not, then read up on the other candidates and spread the word about the one that strikes a chord with you, but whatever you do, don't just blindly accept whatever two candidates the establishment tries to force down your throat. Can't we do better than Bush versus Gore? Or Bush versus Kerry? Or, for God's sake, Giuliani versus Clinton? The two-party system MUST be destroyed. Our minds and souls and future depend on it.

I believe this is finally becoming attainable. We live in the dawn of the Internet age. Traditional media are becoming less and less relevant. It's getting harder and harder for any individual or group to control the flow of information and ideas. This is a call. Wake up. Wake up the neighbors and the kids too, while you're at it. Now is the time. Kill your TV. Spread the word. The Internet is ON.

Love to all. It's good to be back.



Official Ron Paul campaign website:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/


Video clips from 1st and 2nd GOP debates:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hfa7vT02lA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8h2oLpzB4I