A Response to Vladimir Putin - America is Exceptional

President Putin, America Is Exceptional

By Rand Paul

A recent op-ed by Russian President Vladimir Putin has prompted me to respond. While his position that the Syrian conflict can and should be settled through a political and diplomatic solution is correct, virtually everything else in his writing should be taken to task. So I shall.

I begin with Mr. Putin’s disagreement regarding the exceptionalism of the United States of America. I could not more strongly disagree with him. While he is correct that God created every human being as an equal in His eyes, clearly the results of each of our efforts on this earth, individually and collectively, are not equal.

America’s exceptionalism is rooted in our founding documents and values. From the rights granted by our creator, but guaranteed by our Constitution. We should not shy away from saying so, especially when our actions are in keeping with this exceptional founding, as they were this week in our debate over going to war in Syria. Our constitutional checks and balances were on full display, largely resulting in the at least temporary halting of a rush to war.

Mr. Putin’s second mistake is to focus on the speck in the eye of the United States, while ignoring the plank in his own. He accuses the United States of alarming interventions in foreign countries. While I certainly have my bone to pick with our foreign policy over the last 15 years, the Russian President is the least qualified person I can think of to make this argument with a straight face.

We went to war in Afghanistan because they were harboring those who attacked us on 9/11. Mr. Putin’s cohorts went to war there three decades earlier for no legitimate reason.

The United States until now has resisted arming one side of the Syrian civil war – all the while the other side has been armed by Russia.

The United States has used diplomatic pressure to attempt to resolve the ongoing situation with Iran – Russia has just announced a large arms sale that will escalate tensions in the region.

Being lectured to on foreign intervention by Mr. Putin would be comical if it weren’t such a serious example of a lack of self-awareness.

Nevertheless here we are. Sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my friend, or at least my temporary ally. As Mr. Putin correctly pointed out, the United States and Russia banded together to defeat the menace of the Nazis a generation ago. And both countries certainly face real and present threats from Islamic extremists, both at home and in areas of strategic importance.

American should not act militarily in Syria because it cannot and should not join the same side as Al Qaeda. Russia cannot and should not continue to support militarily the brutal Assad regime.

And so, the dialogue that began this week must go forward, and it must be given a chance to succeed.

The issue of course, is with the participants and the details of the plan. Asking us to “trust them” is clearly not a palatable option, and we cannot act naively simply to bypass war. Any diplomatic solution must involve a clear plan to rid Syria of these weapons, with strong verification and enforcement mechanisms. As Reagan used to put it, Trust but Verify.

So while I welcome the engagement of the Russians, and the dialogue Mr. Putin this week attempted to begin with our country, I remain to be convinced of the details.

And I respond to him directly with the statement that yes, American is indeed exceptional. Our history has proved it so. While we all share the same Creator, we do not all share the same richness of history regarding human rights, freedom and democracy. There has been in the past 200 years a city on the hill that has shone brighter than all others. We will not be ashamed of that. May God allow us to continue to model this example to the world in these difficult times.

Yes, It's Another Commentary About Rand Paul

I'd be delighted to showcase a video featuring another leader talking common sense to the American people. The problem is, I don't see anyone else doing that.

In this video, he takes his turn on the Government Affairs Subcommittee today and turns out to be the only one to call the whole dog and pony show for what it is.

This is a leader saying what needs to be said, and as usual, he stands alone. I'd be happy to showcase someone else if any reader wants to send me a link to a video of someone else taking the lead in the fight to bring sanity back to our government.

In the mean time, Apple did nothing wrong. And thank goodness someone stood up for them.

"My opening comments defending Apple and condemning Congress in today's absurd show trial. Apple deserves a medal, not an inquiry." - Rand Paul

Is America Ready to Dump the Old Left/Right Paradigm? Maybe

By Grant Davies

If you have even the slightest notion that you have been manipulated by the political system and its operatives at any time in your life, you have.

Do you ever find yourself reflexively opposing some idea or proposal because it is a Republican initiative? Or because it is a Democratic initiative?

Have you ever talked to anyone who was a Republican because they opposed Democrats? Or a Democrat because they opposed Republicans? Or who voted one way or the other because they were Irish, or Jewish, or black, or white, or their parents always voted that way? Or who liked or hated Obama or Bush because it was the default position of the crowd they hang around with?

Have you ever noticed that you are sick of talking heads on Fox News or MSNBC telling you what to think? Or that the talk radio shows you listen to are only an echo chamber for what you already knew?

Maybe it's time to seek out someone you know who is on the opposite side of the political spectrum from you and chat about what you agree upon. Maybe you will find someone who is as sick as you are of the old left/right paradigm.

Maybe it's time to look for something different. Maybe it's time for someone to step forward and cut through the BS. Maybe it's time for someone who sees what we agree upon and builds upon it instead of pitting us against each other.

Maybe it's time to consider Rand Paul's ideas. Maybe they were your own ideas all along. Maybe your friends are thinking the same thing. Maybe...

Rand Paul Interview

Many of you have may have missed the Fox News Sunday interview with Sen. Rand Paul. (As I did.) Watching it may answer some questions that are being asked about this (now) national figure.

I'm happy to say that this blog has been informing it's readers about Rand Paul since long before most of the country had even heard of him.

In fact, I have had some friends more or less telling me that I should familiarize myself with him. They seem to have forgotten that when I introduced his name to them they had never heard of him themselves. Please don't take that as a complaint or an "I told you so." (Okay, maybe a slight "I told you so.")

It's a good thing, and I sincerely hope that all of you distribute these videos widely to your friends and colleagues, particularly your friends who are Democrats or Independents.

It is my observation that if you are saying or doing something that draws fire from both establishment Republicans and Democrats, like Rand Paul is, you are doing something right.

Arming Our Enemies

By Grant Davies

You don't like us? Your country is coming apart at the seams? Your leader says Jews are the descendants of pigs and monkeys? Your leader claims the holocaust never happened?

Well, we have a way of dealing with you! We hope this isn't too harsh, but we are forced to do it. Get ready, here comes your punishment...

Here's 20 F-16s! And tons of Abrams tanks! That should make it clear that we mean business and don't approve of what you are doing and saying. Think of all the work you are going to have to do now to figure out who to attack. That'll show you! Next time you'll know what to do and what not to do.

Fighting for Our Right to Due Process

By Grant Davies

If we allow the people who really make the laws in this country, the Senate/House conferees, to make a  law in secret that removes our most fundamental right - that of habeas corpus - we will deserve whatever befalls us subsequently.

As a country, we went to sleep and allowed these people to shove Obamacare down the throats of the 3/4 of the American people who responded to the many polls at the time. Now we are stuck with it. At least until it implodes (as it was designed to do) and the debate over changing it to the single payer socialist wet dream begins. But I digress.

So if we sleep through this one, the removal of our right to due process, we might as well turn the clock back to the darkest single day in the history of liberty in America. The day in 1942 when our own government rounded up well over a hundred thousand of our fellow citizens and herded them into concentration camps because they were of Japanese descent. Almost all of their property was taken and never returned. The inadequate apology and the small check the government cut for the few left alive many decades later can never atone for that shame.

Anyone who thinks it can never happen again is foolish. Particularly since these secret conferees and their puppeteers (like the idiot John McCain) have just pulled an "end around" on the 2/3 of the Senators who passed an amendment specifically against such an unconstitutional trampling of our rights just a few weeks ago.

There is one Senator who is fighting with all his might against these forces. (Apologies if there are others who have gotten no attention in the media.) It is Rand Paul of Kentucky. If you value your freedom, I suggest you watch this video. And I suggest you support Senator Paul in his efforts. In this fight Rand Paul is our champion.

From my perspective, this is the single most important issue of the time. Without the right to due process, we have nothing. It has defined who we are as Americans. Compared to the loss of this fundamental right, all other issues before us now shrink to insignificance.

That's my opinion, yours is welcome too.

You have to Balance Your Budget, the Government is not Different

As Ron Paul moves into a statistical tie for the lead in the Iowa polls a few weeks before the caucuses there, his son Rand Paul, US senator from Kentucky, rises on the floor to make a short speech about the balanced budget amendment to the constitution.

Speaking common sense (as he always does), he makes the case for fiscal sanity and the possibility of saving the country from committing monetary suicide. Absent dementia, even people who love big government programs (both on the right and the left) understand that you cannot go on borrowing money to pay for them indefinitely.

If Rand were running for President, he would be my first choice, but it isn't his time yet. So I keep hoping his father will gain the nomination and choose him as his VP candidate. It's a hope that seems far-fetched. But so did his father's chances just a few months ago.

Some would call me crazy, but I think they would win the election against Obama handily. Rand Paul connects with people on a personal level, even as his father's ideas connect in spite of his perceived grouchy demeanor.

No matter what happens in that election, before we can even think about regaining our lost freedoms, we need to avert a catastrophe that will certainly occur if the imbeciles in Washington don't seriously address the inevitable collapse of our monetary system caused by the massive, unsustainable national debt.

The budget deficits are the cause, the debt is the issue, and the spending is the actual problem. We must have balance to survive as a nation, just as your household needs balance for you to survive as a family.

No Citizen Should be Left Behind on This Education Law

Rand Paul isn't running for President, but in my opinion he should be. We need some straight talk and some rational non-Washington thought before perpetuating this arrogant law. Common sense is becoming a lost art.

Ron Paul Announces an Exploratory Committee - Rand Paul Comments on Video

The two best parts about this interview with Senator Rand Paul are where he explains just how healthy and robust Ron Paul is these days, and especially where he just tears Donald Trump to shreds. Absolutely classic. Enjoy:

By Wes Messamore- Guest Commentator
Editor of  The Humble Libertarian

Why Are Republicans Proposing Higher Spending Levels?



Thanks to LibertyWorks for the image

 I know it's April Fools Day, but this is not a joke, at least not on my part. And although you might think the people running our government are fools, it's not just on this day.

It seems the gag is on us. And it's being pulled by the media and anyone else who would have you believe that there are any cuts in federal government spending being proposed by anyone who matters, even those mean old extremist Republicans in congress.

The fantasy would work like this in my life; I propose a budget for myself to spend a lot more next year than I spent last year. Then I re-propose to scale the first proposal back and merely spend somewhat more than last year, and then I call it a "cut" and tell you how much progress I'm making in controlling my spending.

That's the reality of what is happening in congress right now as house Republicans wrestle with senate Democrats over how to pay to keep the government operating for a few more weeks.

The media is talking about cuts that don't exist. These Republicans are not proposing to spend even a tiny bit less than last year, much less several years ago. And this at a time when rational people (Tea Partiers) have sent a clear message to their elected representatives that they want LESS spending, MUCH LESS spending. They don't want scaled back plans, they want actual cuts, large cuts.

Recently I wrote a piece titled The Sixty Four Thousand Dollar Question that pointed out how miniscule a GOP proposed $61 billion budget cut actually is in the context of the total amount of  government spending. I hope you saw the video that accompanied it which demonstrated how to keep these things in perspective. If not, you can just click the link above and see it now.

Now it looks like the Republicans might cave in and settle for half that paltry amount for fear of appearing extremist. It's time to send them a message, if you, like me, think the country (and our children's future) is in imminent danger of swirling the bowl sooner rather than later. Better call them up and inform them that their chance of being the candidate after the next primary elections is swirling around the same bowl if they don't get serious about this quickly.

When President Bill Lewinski left office the budget was about two thousand billion dollars a year. Under President Barak Carter it's about three thousand eight hundred billion dollars a year. And the Republicans are proposing to "cut" it by thirty one billion.  If you paid off your $3800 credit card bill with a minimum payment of  $31 a year, how long before you would be ready for a new shopping spree?

Notwithstanding the oft quoted (but incorrect) national debt figure of fourteen thousand billion dollars and my possibly fuzzy math, you get the idea that it might be a while before you hit WalMart again.

So if the answer to why Republicans are proposing higher spending than last year is because they fear being called extremists by Chuckie Shumer and NPR, then what would a guy like Senator Rand Paul who wants (as a start) to cut five hundred billion the first year be called?

I'd call him a Presidential candidate. And not just on April Fools day.