Reminded how grateful I am to him

Tonight, I posted a few critical remarks about the campaign, then read this piece by Scott Horton:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/horton1.html

Like many of the supporters of Dr. Paul, I am a long-time libertarian who voted for him in 1988 when most of you didn't know he existed, but who has always had some key disagreements with him on policy. I don't believe criticism is subversion, and believe strongly that criticism is important when a change can be made and only negative when there is nothing that can be done (I was taught to tell a woman when her slip was showing but not when she had a run in her pantyhose, unless I knew for certain she had a spare in her purse). I'll continue to criticize the campaign when I think it is possible for them to change.

But as recently as April, it never even occurred to me that a campaign with so many libertarian themes could even be a part of the public conversation. Whatever happens from here, a person speaking about a non-interventionist foreign policy, relegalization of drug use, an economy that permits ALL capitalist acts between consenting adults, and money that arises naturally in a free market without central control by a group of officially-authorized counterfeiters, will NOT sound like he or she came from outer space.

I cannot begin to say how grateful I am to Dr. Paul for laying a foundation for future educational campaigns (whether electoral or not) that never existed before. He has especially inspired young people to learn about liberty, and to be willing to fight for it, and that means that victory is inevitable, if not necessarily immediate.

I realize, and accept, that most of you currently believe that a free market cannot handle law enforcement, dispute resolution, and defense from invasion, and that many believe that coercion is needed to control the movement of persons. I hope for friendships that will continue beyond this campaign, with a chance to change minds (and to discuss truly difficult subjects such as abortion, intellectual property laws, pollution, and global warming, whose correct answer from the point of view of life and liberty requires sincere study and respectful debate). And I hope to draw a few of you to join me in doing so in a party smart enough to offer him the nomination, if this one is not. A topic for later.

Just a few months ago, the idea of being disappointed to have 10% of a pro-war party in a state notorious for its support of agricultural welfare stand up for liberty would have been ludicrous. So for a few moments, I want to step back and see how the forest has changed, before I go back to hacking at one of the trees.

God bless you, Dr. Paul. You may well be known someday as the Father of the Second American Revolution or, at least, the Grandfather. God bless you, Dr. Paul.

Now, about my proposal to waterboard his campaign staff every time they talk about immigration ...