Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Placing Faith

I didn't watch the Presidential candidates debates, nor do I plan to watch them in the future. I have seen snippets of them, tho. It's virtually impossible to avoid them these days when you visit a libertarian site or blog. Someone is sure to have a link, an embedded video or the like, touting the victories of the the "libertarian" Republican candidate Ron Paul and his opponents.

It's practically a love fest on the part of many folks. Sure, he's less distasteful than Adolf Rudy Giuliani, Tom Tancredo or Floppy McRomney and he says things that many libertarians agree with. In the end, tho I cannot help but think that he wants to rule from the White House throne just as much as the others. Perhaps he would be a more benevolent ruler, (if he had more than a snowflakes chance in Hell of being elected), than the other candidates from the right or left sides of the aisle, but he wishes to be a ruler nonetheless.

I cannot help but envision the Paul Presidency, should it somehow be allowed to occur. It would be one of impotency, for the most part. Congress and the Courts would block everything coming from his executive branch. He would undoubtedly block most things coming from the Congress, but would likely find that he faced a united, bipartisan front from both sides of the Boot On Your Neck Party. His vetoes would be overturned on a regular basis by the powers that be, setting records that would keep the folks at Guinness busy for years. There would certainly be no return to a Constitutional form of government, (no matter what his vociferous followers think), that will never be allowed to transpire.

For the faithful out there Dr. Paul is a candle in the gathering darkness and they are flocking to his light in the hope that something will come of their efforts. Struggling against the darkness is natural, but futile in this case. If it instills some modicum of hope in them, for the short time he is allowed to call himself a Republican candidate, then I wish them the best in their endeavours. While hope is said to spring eternal in the human breast it is also said that we should put not our faith in rulers, regardless of how benevolent they may seem.

It's past time that we began to create our own lights in the gathering darkness. Therein lies our best and brightest hope.

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