novatownhall blog

Now, in the calm before the five-week storm which will commence when the presidential (and vice presidential) debates begin, after which we will all need to simply choose a side, pin our ears back, and charge, there is still the opportunity to engage in policy arguments here on the GOP side of the fence.

For John McCain, that means the issue which still remains a stickler for much of his constituency is live, and in the past couple days it has become very, very live. Friends, I hate to have to say this, but I think we need to kill it until after the election.

John McCain’s 800-pound gorilla is his record as a boastful supporter of amnesty for illegal aliens. He wrote the “comprehensive reform” bill which was voted down in 2006 and was a supporter of its successor in 2007.

Believe me, I hated McCain for that, and I wanted Tom Tancredo to get the Republican nomination for president. Problem is, Tancredo got 1 percent of the vote in the primaries and McCain won the nomination. McCain has said he “got the message” and will pursue border security prior to comprehensive reform.

On the other side of the fence right now, as I write, is Barack Obama, the Democrat candidate who promises amnesty without strings attached.

Who you gonna choose?

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This new advertisement from the Ron Paul campaign is pretty serious stuff:

While I agree with pretty much everything in the ad, the question will arise “so are you a Paul supporter?”

The answer, at this point, is “not yet.”

I am leaving it as an open question because this is a fluid scenario, candidate-wise. Maybe even more so than most.

Several months ago I explained to a friend that Ron Paul was, in not so many words, “crazy.” A lot has happened in the intervening months. For one, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter have apparently washed out. For two, this cretin named Huckabee is on the verge of capturing the Republican nomination. For three, Lou Dobbs is seeming like the only one of the bunch I would have the slightest interest in taking time off work to support.

But I have an open mind and a practical mind. If someone who seems to have a foot planted on planet Earth ends up winning the GOP nod I will take a close look at that person, and very possibly go to work for that person. As my very wise friend G. Stone reminded me, the next U.S. president may well appoint two Supreme Court justices.

There’s a thought, huh?

So I am not ready to abandon the GOP or all rationality, but I am still keeping my options open – my ideological options. I have this nagging feeling that the solutions to our current most vexing problems – illegal immigration being a key example – lie in REALLY out of the box solutions. Such as, overturning the social order, storming the gates, secession – that whole ball of wax.

Usurpation of authority by our elected officials is an issue that deeply troubled our nation’s founders and has potentially world-changing implications.

If we disagree with those in office, the process dictates we can wait around to vote them out. If, on the other hand, we come to believe our government officials are steadfastly working against our interests, we have a crisis of authority. In such a situation we might not wait around until the next election. We might see the need to advocate for a radical change to our local or state government either from the bottom up or the top down. This, I think, is where something like the Ron Paul candidacy gets its salience.