“A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy.” -Guy Fawkes
According to Reveries, U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, from the 14th district in Texas, raised more than $4 million dollars on Monday to help fund his run for President.
Ron Paul pulled off his fundraising coup by setting up a special web site called ThisNovember5th.com — a reference to Guy Fawkes Day. On the off chance you’ve never heard of Guy Fawkes, he’s “the Roman Catholic, anti-Protestant rebel who on Nov. 5, 1605, tried to assassinate King James I by blowing up the Parliament.”
Ron Paul is careful to note that he is not an advocate of assassination or of “blowing up government buildings.†However, he and his supporters apparently view Guy Fawkes as a metaphor for the kind of patriotism they deem lacking in present-day America. As Ron Paul explains in a ten-minute video posted at ThisNovember5th: “The true patriot challenges the state when the state embarks on enhancing its power at the expense of the individual … The American Republic is in remnant status … The stage is set for our country eventually devolving into a military dictatorship, and few seem to care.”
I prefer the radical concepts forwarded by U.S. Congressmen from Ohio, Dennis Kucinich–like his call for the establishment of a Department of Peace–but Ron Paul’s libertarian message is also appealing. Although, I’m somewhat surprised at his choice of historical figures to hold up as an example. We desperately need to remove the problems, and the people who create them, from our government, but not with violence. I understand that violence would be necessary should we ever “devolve into a military dictatorship,” but we’re not there yet.