The Last Ditch

Thank you, Dr. Ron Paul

 

Few men have done their fellow countrymen greater service than Dr. Ron Paul. In making his farewell speech to Congress, he articulated his vision and expressed his hope that, despite all his worst predictions having come true, the next generation will rebuild America. Apart from his repeating the common misconception that the Great Writ of habeas corpus originated with Magna Carta, I can find no fault with what he said.

You can watch the video or, if you find his oratory a little lacking (he's a gynecologist, not a lawyer), you can read his speech here. Either way, I urge you to take the time for, though he would laugh at the idea, this is an important man. 

Violence, or rather the avoidance of it, is at the heart of his thinking;

The immoral use of force is the source of man’s political problems. Sadly, many religious groups, secular organizations, and psychopathic authoritarians endorse government initiated force to change the world. Even when the desired goals are well-intentioned—or especially when well-intentioned—the results are dismal. The good results sought never materialize. The new problems created require even more government force as a solution. The net result is institutionalizing government initiated violence and morally justifying it on humanitarian grounds.

This is the same fundamental reason our government uses force for invading other countries at will, central economic planning at home, and the regulation of personal liberty and habits of our citizens.

It is rather strange, that unless one has a criminal mind and no respect for other people and their property, no one claims it’s permissible to go into one’s neighbor’s house and tell them how to behave, what they can eat, smoke and drink or how to spend their money.

Yet, rarely is it asked why it is morally acceptable that a stranger with a badge and a gun can do the same thing in the name of law and order. 

This is only his final speech in Congress. We shall hear more from him yet. He may even run for Governor of Texas in 2014. But it's not too soon to thank him for all the unsung work he has put in for what - for most of his life - has seemed the lost cause of liberty. I also thank the people of the great state of Texas who have given him the opportunity to defend the US Constitution to Congress (and by extension the principles of liberty it enshrines to the world) for twenty-three years out of the last thirty-six.

h/t Nourishing Obscurity

Why I still love America

Can you imagine a speech of this power delivered with such sincerity by a British politician? They are a seedy, cynical bunch, but Ms Rice (though a practical and effective politician) speaks from the heart. I know no other argument for the Romney candidacy than that she endorses it, but she herself would be the best President America could currently have. By a happy coincidence that very rarely occurs, she would also be the most electable Republican.

I saw her pass by with the Russian foreign minister at my favourite restaurant in Moscow when I lived there. My late wife and I were sitting among her Secret Service guards because the restaurant's staff kindly decided to let us have our usual table even though the place was closed for that meeting. I heard Russian friends speak of her with respect (she speaks their language well and, though she never wavers in advancing America's position, they know she understands Russia's importance in the world). It's in the nature of Russians that they respected her as much for the former as the latter. They despise their weaselly critics, not the sincere ones. This, by the way, is rather a problem for British diplomacy, with its reputation for combining sucking up with backstabbing.

I urge you to watch the whole video. She demolishes President Obama without mentioning him once or directly attacking anything he has said or done. This woman is highly intelligent, streetwise and a fine, impassioned speaker but the reason I love America is that someone of that calibre can be applauded for speaking from the heart in terms like this;

Ours has never been a narrative of grievance and entitlement. We have not believed that I am doing poorly because you are doing well. We have not been envious of one another and jealous of each other’s success. Ours has been a belief in opportunity and a constant battle — long and hard — to extend the benefits of the American dream to all — without regard to circumstances of birth

and this (speaking passionately about education);

Self esteem comes from achievement, not from lax standards and false praise.

I long for the day when I can hear such sentiments expressed sincerely by British politicians. I know of no greater criticism of my own nation that I can only think of two who might ever do it; both of them on the margins of the Conservative Party and with little hope of advancement under its current, deplorable, leadership.

Or perhaps, sadly, there is one greater criticism; that the morals of the British electorate have degenerated so far, that such words would be received badly.

h/t Sean Linnane

Betrayal?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-09/obama-administration-trade-british-nuclear-secrets-with-russia/

I have been unfashionably fond of America since my days reading DC Comics and watching "Rawhide" on TV as a small boy. At university, I coined the word "yankophile" during a debate, noting how odd it was that we have the words "francophile", "russophile" and "sinophile", but no word for the love of our best friends. I love American popular culture (who doesn't?) and I feel more at home in New York than London. I enjoy and admire American literature. The greatest living writers in our language are all American (read this book if you think I am wrong), which gives the lie to the nasty, snobbish sneering of the Guardianisti.

So, as a confirmed yankophile, this was the most difficult story not to blog about during my recent purdah. It's disappointing (though not surprising) to someone who lived in Moscow for years and has Russian friends to find the Kremlin is still obsessing about unlikely exchanges of nuclear nastiness. But it's devastating to learn of what appears to be an un-nervingly wicked betrayal of America's most loyal ally.

I want to believe this story only shows just how un-American Obama is. Time will tell. In the meantime, it certainly accounts for Hilary Clinton's disproportionate reaction to the activities of Wikileaks*. She is a lady with more to hide than we ever imagined. With one nugget of  information, Wikileaks has shaken my faith in America in a way decades of Soviet propaganda (and pernicious Guardian sneers) could not. I wonder how many more such revelations are to come.

*Not blocked by the Great Firewall of China, whereas The Last Ditch now is. Hmm.