Brian Gallimore's Blog

Below is a repost of Adrian Murry’s facebook post from earlier today.  For those who don’t know Adrian, he is the leader of the Fort Worth tea party, owner of Painless Performance Products, and author of the book Common Ground America.  I enjoy the things he shares on facebook, appreciate all he does for the cause of liberty, and thought we had a lot in common, until he started supporting Santorum that is!

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COULD I BE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE?

Sometimes I think this whole world
Is one big prison yard
Some of us are prisoners
Some of us are guards

Bob Dylan

Having lost my preferred choice for a presidential candidate on Tuesday, I determined that after a suitable period of mourning and reflection the only viable option was to shake it off and begin the search anew, the presumptive, media-anointed frontrunner not being desirable or acceptable.

Last night, as part of this Quixote-like quest, I ventured into the heretofore unexplored dimension of a Ron Paul rally and was witness to something that can only be described as all parts exhilarating, befuddling, encouraging, depressing, moving, maddening and, ultimately, inspiring. More on all that later.

Over the years I have been to more political rallies, events, forums, roundtables, discussion groups, debates and whatever than I care to remember. While a whole range of adjectives from boring to thrilling could be used to describe these events, I have never before been moved to use contradictory metaphors for the same event. Attending a Ron Paul campaign rally is a singularly unique experience. I have never seen anything like it before. Perhaps phenomenal is the word that comes closest in accuracy, not in the ordinary “awesome” sense, but in the other-worldly, spatiotemporal sense.

A little truth in advertising first: I come from an old school of conservatism, a hodgepodge of Strauss, Kirk, Buckley, Reagan and a smattering of other modern day conservative thinkers who shaped my thinking while coming of age in the midst of a persistent nuclear threat during the so-called Cold War, replete with duck and cover, fallout shelters and a young girl sitting in a meadow picking the petals off a daisy. One is shaped by the world one is raised in and then, if playing the game right, uses those experiences to shape the world for those who will inherit it.

The purpose of this piece is not to analyze Mr. Paul’s specific policies, although my worldview does not coalesce Continue reading →

From a friend’s facebook wall:

Liberal: In Ron Paul’s America there would be no FEMA for Texas tornado victims, no Medicare for the elderly, no federal money for highways, no national standards or dollars for education, and no environmental protections at all. Most folks think those are some pretty good things and don’t take away our Liberty.

Jason: Jim, I think if we are going to continue to survive as a country we have to really change our mind about what government should and should not be doing. I encourage you to at least look at the arguments and citing of sources below.
Folks may think the idea of helping people are good things, which they are. But the automatically accepted idea (by some) that the Federal Government is the best way to handle all of these things is just wrong. No society in history has ever continued to prosper under an overspending, ballooning Federal Government.
FEMA: I had some friends that had some property loss in the recent Tornados in the Dallas area. They haven’t gotten anything from FEMA. Most of them would rather have their taxes reduced by that amount and go through their insurance companies, than pay money into a Federal system that might graciously give you back 0.5% of what you paid into it. Remember the disastrous way that FEMA handled Hurricane Katrina? They actually were turning away donations that were not FEMA sanctioned. I was involved in volunteering at a Katrina shelter in Dallas, TX that had no FEMA handouts. Everything was donated by the state of Texas and the residents. So many people donated items; they actually had to start sending the donations elsewhere. Dr. Paul is right on target… FEMA should go.

Medicare for the Elderly: 95% of the people I talk to that are on Medicare despise it. They are forced into it because if they don’t play along, they won’t get their social security benefits Continue reading →