Ron Paul for President, 2008!!

I don't normally write political articles; as a matter of fact, this is the first one. I feel compelled to voice my concerns about the upcoming presidential elections and to back a candidate that I believe strongly in.

I've always considered myself a conservative, more aligned with the Libertarian ideals than the Republicans though. For the past couple of decades, the only conservative voice was with the Republicans, so I became aligned with them. More recently though, the old fashioned conservatism that the Republicans at least somewhat embraced has been replaced with neoconservatism. Take a minute to read the Wikipedia article before you continue.

This "new" conservatism is a far cry from the original ideals of conservatism that are still supported by the Libertarian party; it's really not very conservative at all. I just can't align myself with the neocon policies, especially those of big government and bully foreign policy. Since when is big government and broad executive branch power been considered conservative? Under the rule of the current administration, government spending has skyrocketed, corporate interests have gained tons of political power, and the executive branch has seized more and more authoritarian control. These things seem to be the opposite of conservative values.

These sweeping changes all have been enacted since 9/11, all in the name of "security". The Patriot Act, passed shortly after 9/11 and renewed in 2005, is the main offender that has had bi-partisan support for a long time now, but finally some are starting to stand up and challenge the idea that we are willing to give up our freedoms in exchange for security. I don't know about you, but if the ideals of freedom and small government that were put in place by our founding fathers are being stripped away in the name of security, then the terrorists that attacked us have already won the battle.

I read a great article the other day by Jacob G. Hornberger about the monumental changes taking place in Washington that almost seem emperialistic rather than democratic. It's called Empire or Republic , go check it out. It is very scary to me that the executive branch of government has so much unilateral power. The founding fathers separated the government into 3 branches and enacted checks and balances to prevent this sort of thing from happening. Why have we allowed this to happen? Are we so scared of another terrorist attack that we're willing to give up the ideals that our country was built on? I don't understand it, and I desperately want it to stop.

Empires have never stood the test of time. Here is another great article I ran across the other day that talks about the parallels between the current situation in the U.S. and the Roman Empire long ago. The similarities are striking. To sum up some of these similarities (read the article for details): increasing debt per capita, currency devaluation (Dollar vs. Euro), and a huge trade deficit (definitely a major problem). An overstretched military and poor leadership are also similarities that can be debated.

Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. It seems we may be doomed. The neocons have moved us in the direction of the authoritarian empire, and I fear that we're now on the path to destruction. The Libertarian ideals that our country was founded on have been dismissed, and the new more powerful neocon rule has taken it's place. It's a sad time in U.S. history, but it's not too late to reverse the damage.

The Republican party has ruled for the past decade unchallenged by anyone. The Republican controlled House and Senate were puppets of the Republican administration, blindly passing the legislation that is tearing down our democracy. Now that the Democrats have a congressional and Senate majority, they are challenging the administration on many of these issues. The only problem I have with this is they are Democrats. They still have liberal ideals that they are going to try to push, now that they have more power.

What happened to the Libertarian concepts that the founding fathers embraced? Have people forgotten that this country was founded on the ideas of those that feared a big centralized government and took great measures to prevent the government from gaining too much power? Separation of powers, states' rights, personal freedoms; are these all things of the past? I surely hope not. The current state of the federal government is not what the founding fathers envisioned; it's what they fought against and died to prevent.

Dr. Ron Paul, a true Libertarian, is running for the nomination of the Republican party. Since we now have a two party system, running as a Republican is the only way for a Libertarian to have a chance. He's being shunned by the Republican party leadership because he does not embrace the neocon ideals. He's be phenomenal in the debates, and has a huge internet following. He's the only chance we have to reverse the cycle of neoconservatism and liberalism. We've got to stand up and be counted, because if we don't we may become victims of an authoritarian police state.

Please, vote for Ron Paul in the Republican primaries, and bring back the governing style that the founding fathers created and intended for this great land! SPREAD THE WORD!! Ron Paul 2008 !!