Ron Paul: Defender of the United States Constitution

Ron Paul is under attack, and I'm inclined to throw him a life preserver. During the most recent presidential "debate" for the Republican candidates, Rep. Paul indicated that our interventionist foreign policy over the past 50+ years might've led to the horrific events of September 11, 2001. It's a theory the CIA refers to as "blowback", that what we do might blow back into our faces. Predictably, Rudy Giuliani seized on the moment to lecture Paul and label him as "absurd". Paul's comments deserve greater scrutiny than such an ad-hominem attack.

I'm not going so far as to say we caused 9/11. There are plenty of left-wing loonies that spew that filth, and I'm not jumping on that bandwagon. I don't believe we caused 9/11 anymore than I believe that C02 causes global warming. It's all nonsense to me. But Ron Paul is intellectually honest to the core, and he's as pure a defender of our Constitution as there is in the halls of our government today, and if he believes that there might be some blowback, than I'm going to listen and study it for myself.

Paul ticked off a laundry list of reasons why our foreign policy might've helped lead to the events of 9/11. The overthrow of the legitimate, and increasingly democratic, government of Iran, setting up military bases on what Muslims believe is their holy ground, sticking our noses into everything whether or not we have legitimate reason to or not. Now, I believe very strongly in the need for transnational relations. It is to our benefit to have a strong, global economy. However, I believe that protecting our Constitution and American citizens comes first and foremost. As such, I believe Washington's watchword of strong partnerships with everyone, but permanent alliances with none. Ron Paul cautioned us to listen to the Islamofascists and the reasons they have given for attacking American interests around the world, including our homeland. I personally believe it's to facile to say that the deranged have legitimate reasons for doing what they do. It's like saying a pedophile has a legitimate reason for doing what he or she does. Liberals excuse and condone this behavior as the product of illness, and illness it might be, but nonetheless, personal accountability is the bedrock of a self-governing society that we purport to be. As such, the Islamofascists who attacked us on 9/11 are being served a healthy dose of personal accountability around the world by the greatest fighting force ever known to mankind: the US military.

I digress, and back to Ron Paul. We overthrew Iran's government, and look at what we've brought upon ourselves today: a fanatical, homicidal regime hellbent on getting their hands on a nuke to destroy Israel, and the United States. Can we not expect that something that egregious would come back to bite us? We meddle in foreign affairs around the world that have nothing or next-to-nothing to do with us, and we don't expect that the people we piss off might come back to bite us? Are we that arrogant?

Ron Paul consistently votes in favor of the Constitution. He voted against the Iraq war at the beginning as being an unconstitutional exercise of military power. I disagree, but he has stuck by his constitutional convictions from the beginning. Can the 19 other presidential candidates from both parties say the same? Ron Paul believes in the oath he took to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, the same oath that I encouraged everyone to take for themselves in my previous position paper. Would that the other 534 members of Congress did the same thing.

Position Paper 2: The Heirs of Liberty and Our Shared Responsibilities

We are the sons and daughters of liberty. It might sound "cheesy" or "lame" to refer to ourselves as the heirs of a great legacy bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers, but nevertheless it is true. Abraham Lincoln once referred to these United States as the last, best hope of humanity. In his first inaugural, our greatest president George Washington said that "... the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." I've written many times in this forum and others about my deeply held belief in American exceptionalism, and Washington's quote expresses this thought more eloquently than I ever could; the idea that liberty is our birthright and we are its guardians. Each of us.

So what does it all mean? It means that as the heirs of liberty we share responsibilities to ensure that liberty survives, and even thrives. Liberty is assaulted at every front by the forces of darkness and evil. Some are foreign threats and some are, sadly, domestic. I think about what it means to be an American as we near the dawn of another presidential election. Despite the cries of some that we are experiencing an "imperial presidency", there is no doubt that George W. Bush will leave office peacefully on the Constitutionally-mandated date and time. I'll digress and relate a quick story: Someone close to me asked me "But what if he didn't? What if he gathered the military and refused to leave office?" My response reflected my belief in American exceptionalism, that it wouldn't happen here (to which he remarked about how the Germans felt the same way on the eve of the Third Reich), and that even if a president tried to marshall our troops in that way, they would know to refuse the order because they take faithfully the oath uphold, protect and defend our Constitution from all threats, both foreign and domestic.

I think about our Founding Fathers quite a bit these days. The men and women who came together to create our great nation were unquestionably the preeminent political philosophers of any time before, and anytime since. There are many who slander these great men as "dead white men" or nothing more than slave owners. Yes, they were human and were flawed and prone to sin like we all are. But they crafted the greatest Constitution ever known to mankind and gave us the tools to govern ourselves successfully. And for that we should always be grateful to them. Naturally, my thought process then flows to those who have inherited the reins of power. There are good ones to be sure: Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Tom Coburn. There are those who fail miserably when compared to Washington, Jefferson, Madison and the rest: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, Trent Lott, and to some degree George W. Bush. These are the heirs of liberty? What a mess we have created for ourselves.

Our Constitution begins by articulating who ultimately holds power in America: "We the People". We are in control of our fate, not the people who would hijack our destiny in order to acquire and maintain power. It is our shared responsibility as Americans, regardless of party affiliation, to remember and focus on the things that unite us. It is our shared responsibility to protect the American destiny of liberty for our posterity. Regarding the domestic threats we face from Democrats and Republicans that are hostile to the Constitution and individual liberty, it is up to each of us to hold in our hearts the very same oath that our leaders and military soldiers take when they assume office or pick up a rifle in defense of our Constitution. It is up to us to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution from all threats, both foreign and domestic. Yes, it is all up to us, the sons and daughters of liberty.