Bold, because the funereal tone on this thread is pissing me off.
We are now 8 and 1/2 months until elections. MacCain went from McWho to TheCain in one month - with some help, but...
There is absolutely no telling what events will come the way of this effort between now and then. I can't believe the impatience, although I should know better; instant gratification is the steady Hollywood/Soaps diet, and it shows.
The campaign is not to blame, tho that boat has been infiltrated from the get go. I tried to explain at least six months ago, that if "we" wait for them, we are toast. It has absolutely nothing to do with Ron Paul's eventual managerial competence as President, as some disrupters were quick to exploit; the two have completely different dynamics. In every message from Ron (except the last) there was at least one line where Ron virtually pleaded with his supporters to take charge. There is nothing else he can do, because the system is set up in a way that handlers have an inordinate amount of control. Even as President, he will depend on us to watch his back. I'm not going to rehash the details; there are a number of (ignored) old posts on that subject.
Point is, Ron Paul is a man - better than most - but he is not walking on water. He is a doctor, legislator and guide; again, more multi-talented than most. He is neither a politician (in the ugly sense) nor a general - he is 'simply' providing a rare and clear focus for those of us who have been battling the beast for decades. The generals are/were among us, but they tend to get shouted down or driven away by a chorus of nannies, party hacks and hangers-on, who are played like fiddles by a small army of agents for the establishment.
All the talk about Republican Party this and 3rd Party that is a joke. A joke for two reasons: one, it is precisely party politics and supposedly conventional electioneering that makes a run outside the established norms virtually impossible; it was never in the cards in my view. Two, how can liberty loving, independent individuals even contemplate to subscribe to group-think, as is required of such a construct.
The only way to overcome the strangle-hold of the establishment on the process, is to overwhelm it. The only way to overwhelm it is through revolution - preferrably a peaceful one. That requires a completely independent effort from all formal constructs; converging interests of millions - millions of individual flavors of liberty.
Bottom line: this is only over if WE quit - Ron will certainly be among the last to do so. Ruling out a 3rd party gets allot of 3rd party hacks turning on the man (yep, 3rd parties have hacks as well). They had high hopes to 'validate' their particular brand of collective on the back of this movement and its focus. And the best option - a truly independent Independent Run - is only possible once the Republican Party 'resigns' from Ron, not the other way around. Walking away now from something started in good faith would be "bad manners" (in the true sense of the term), seen as whining, and strategically stupid, since the establishment is more than ready for such an announcement (Bloomberg et al.). It's why they have been promoting the trap for months.
So, we have a little lull. Since lulls are inevitable, there is nothing wrong with having one now. Lulls help to clear the brain, to lick the wounds and to regain focus. There is every reason to get up again and keep on plugging away. It's not by coincidence that 68% of citizens responded to a recent poll on how best to 'fix' the economy with "Bring the troops home." Now, where the hell did these 'sheep' get such an idea from? 68 percent, not 3 to 9.99 - 68%. How little will it take to tip the scale? 8 and 1/2 months; an eternity to reach critical mass...
