Now, as people know, I have supported and admired much of what Ron Paul has done, especially his passionate writings and his ways of educating Joe Blow. Yet people also know that I say what is, and I don’t care who I “offend,” who I piss off, or what future “engagements” I might blow by taking people on and standing on principled ground. I am an independent, so I don’t have to kiss anybody’s royal behind, nor do I have to fit into their philosophical framework to be a part of their think tank or website. That’s the way I like it. I let my occupation fund my passion, and therefore I go onward, owing no one in the world of libertarianism. What a wonderful thing.

But Ron Paul has proven what I have always said: all politics is coercion. It’s just one person’s (kinder and gentler) coercion versus the other guy’s brand. Now Ron Paul is not a statist – of course. But he has made his point here, and a lot of libertarians don’t like it.

If you want to see a long string of comments on this video, go to my Facebook page (Karen De Coster) and look at the post and ensuing comments. Very interesting.

I will still admire Paul’s massive body of tremendous work, but I will always call out these moments and bring necessary attention to them. Paul has not only told us, here, that Republican politics own him, but the attitude he conveys is callous, and, what’s with the sniggering?

VDare runs another goofy piece. I still don’t understand the point. Ok, so Ron Paul made statements about the diversity of his supporters, and so the author posts photos of a Salt Lake City rally to make the point that all thirty people in the photo are white. And that means? The author claims that, what, Ron Paul is bullshitting about the make-up of his supporters? Over the last few years, I’ll bet I’ve had a lot more exposure to the Ron Paul band of supporters than the author, and I assure you that it is a very diverse group of people, as Ron Paul has stated. The fact that blacks and Mexicans generally vote Democratic and vote for redistribution is not news. The same can be said for women. And yes, white women. Isn’t that what we are hoping to change?

Maybe he should post a photo of a typical “Oprah” audience.

Blacks, more than anyone, should fear and reject the establishment that has impoverished their communities and their lives. Libertarianism is not a race-based, fruitball theory of black vs. white vs. brown. It is a framework for binding us all in our efforts to free ourselves from the oppressive state and its elitist rulers. Libertarianism is an effort to implement this philosophy across the board. It’s Us vs. Them – with “us” being free people bound by oppressive decrees and “them” referring to the state and its empowered totalitarians.

What the author desires is for Ron Paul to come forth with kooky racial theories that expound on the appetite for plunder and power. And what’s the benefit of stating such a thing? He says: “Ron Paul’s brand of libertarianism is one that avoids tough questions about race and identity.” That is translated into ‘Ron Paul doesn’t obsess on race and identity.’

On one side we battle the leftist politically correct parade that makes a mockery of everything in its path, and then we have these folks who consistently obsess on racial stuff and claim that anyone who isn’t consumed by such matters is a chickenshit who avoids the ‘real’ issues.

On second thought, how about a photo showing us the composition of our congressional body of plunderers, or those in ‘private’ industry who spearhead the socialist corporate state? Hint: mostly white, and overwhelmingly wealthy and privileged, with the power to make laws, influence laws, legalize force, and buy even more power.

I happen to be in Michelle’s congressional district, so I’ve seen her antics over the years.

I do applaud many of her actions recently – but in my opinion, she is a chameleon that needs to be watched closely.

I ‘joined’ the republican party during the last election cycle simply to support Dr. Paul, and I had to sit thru a few speeches by Michelle. At our senate district convention last year, she spewed fear mongering to the max in order to justify and support unconstitutional spying and wire tapping. At our congressional district convention a few weeks later, she simply avoided the subject in order to ‘walk the line’ that all politicians do. On foreign policy, the woman is an imperialist war monger.

Recently, she voted ‘yes’ to the U.S. resolution in support of Israel’s oppression over Palestine.

Even more recently she voted ‘yes’ to the U.S. resolution to support ‘human rights’ in Iran.

She’s also a totalitarian with regard to the ‘war on drugs’. Her history also shows that she’s opposed to voluntary unions between same-sex individuals.

A libertarian she IS NOT.

I support her in much that she does, just like I applaud Glenn Beck for some of the views that he espouses. But neither one has a firm footing or understanding of pure libertarian principles – and both have proven to be more like chameleons than like principled individuals.

Indeed, Michele is not a libertarian and will never be, no matter how much education she accepts from Ron Paul. But she can help us occasionally, when her rebellious roots are rankled. Tom Woods has confirmed with me that she does attend Ron Paul’s educational lunches. So she’s learning from Woods, too. How bad can that be?

Outspoken Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says she’s so worried that information from next year’s national census will be abused that she will refuse to fill out anything more than the number of people in her household.

In an interview Wednesday morning with The Washington Times “America’s Morning News,” Mrs. Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, said the questions have become “very intricate, very personal” and she also fears ACORN, the community organizing group that came under fire for its voter registration efforts last year, will be part of the Census Bureau’s door-to-door information collection efforts.

“I know for my family the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home,” she said. “We won’t be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn’t require any information beyond that.”

Shelly Lowe, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Census Bureau, said Mrs. Bachmann is “misreading” the law.

Now, before you write me and say, “Ms. DeCoster, those Republicans …. where were they when? ….. how can you? …don’t you know that?…”, forget it, don’t write me and say that stuff. Yes I know all that. Yes I know that the Republicrats didn’t give a tinker’s damn about reckless assaults on liberty while their guy was heading up the plunder party. But Michele Bachmann, like a few others in Congress, has received an education in liberty courtesy of the Ron Paul Revolution. And educating (and radicalizing) those who have the power to screw up our lives was a big part of the Revolution’s success. We should be happy for this and we should welcome these pivotal moments. We need to keep on pushing the education process forward. Understand that the election of an arrogant, power-hungry Marxist (who happens to be a Democrat, thereby pissing off the Republicans) is our chance to move in and educate, radicalize, and libertarianize the conservatives, especially those who are seated on the margin.

Look at Ron Paul’s HR 1207 – Audit the Federal Reserve. He started with a handful of sponsors, the list built slowly, and then it picked up steam until over half of the House of Representatives decided to co-sponsor it. Michele Bachmann was an early supporter who has been magnificent on many occasions, and I am hoping that she, and others like her, will continue to move forward on many issues critical to liberty. If we can capitalize on Republican resentment over the Obama regime and their war on freedom and free markets, we need to do it, and as often as we can. Along the way, we should welcome those Republicans who are having a change of heart and supporting Ron Paul’s ideas and his vision.

A last word on Bachmann: she is actually very intelligent, unlike Sarah Palin who is a trained monkey and moved up quickly (and came out of nowhere) thanks to her gender and McCain’s uninspiring, snooze-a-rama campaign. She’s very articulate and pretty, and seems steady and confident. I’d like to see Bachmann continue along her path, learning from Ron Paul and digging some rebel roots. She’s got the fortitude to fight and the desire to win. Let’s watch this lady carefully over the next couple of years. There’s hope. Thanks to Jed for the story tip.