Ron Paul's Libertarian Platform (Anthony Gregory)

Anthony Gregory on Ron Paul's speech at the Rally, today's press conference, and the further demise of Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party:

I've dreamed of this: The good leftists and good rightists all agreeing on gutting the empire, dismantling the national security state and ratcheting back the profligate corporatism. Anti-Fed and anti-war, a wonderful, cross-spectrum, short-term American populist program that would do away with the worst of the national leviathan.

And how wonderful that Ron Paul is in the middle, the true moderate. His speech at the rally last week was wonderful: Basically, an overview of a full national libertarian platform: No income tax, no fed, no drug war, no gun control, no monetary fraud, no welfare state, no police state, no torture, no spying, no conscription, no censorship, no fascism and no socialism. And he explained all the classic issues, went into non-aggression, personal responsibility, property rights and the environment. He gave the whole libertarian run-down in an hour, from gold to hemp, from habeas corpus to the problems with the Hamiltonians.

Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party has continued to distance itself from radicalism, from libertarian principle, from a comprehensive platform of fundamental change. It has moved rightward and stateward, while Ron Paul has moved many conservatives, liberals, independents and others toward the libertarian plumbline.