The Ron Paul Beacon

Being a member of the Ron Paul for President Boston Meetup group has been a pleasure from the start, but never did I expect that it would yield an opportunity so marvelous as the one I was presented with officially on the morning of September 28th. I heard my cell phone ring around 7:30 AM on Friday as I was scrambling around getting ready for class, nervous because I knew that in less than 12 hours from that exact moment, I could be meeting face to face with my only living political hero - and that’s not me exaggerating by any means! I answered to hear Bob Dwyer, another dedicated member of our group on the other line. As I heard the words, “Congratulations!” my heart skipped a beat. He meant what I only could have dreamed he did - I was going to a private event in Beverly, Massachusetts to meet the one and only Dr. Ron Paul!

As a person tends to when they’re excited, it seems that I’ve gotten ahead of myself. First, I must begin by explaining that due to an innovative thought originally presented to us by one of our members, Scott DiNitto (also a writer here at the Beacon), a few of our members were able to set up a lottery that would allow for one of us to attend the private event that called for a $1000 donation to the campaign. We got the ball rolling on this idea by Tuesday, knowing that we would have to raise $1000 by Thursday in order to speak with the campaign and obtain a ticket. As optimistic as I tend to be, I was not sure that we would be able to muster our forces and raise that amount of money in such a short time. Andrew Johnson and I championed the idea on our mailing list, noting that even if we could not raise $1000, the money we do obtain will go to the campaign - and before the September 30th fundraising deadline! Essentially, it was a win-win situation.

I woke up late on Thursday morning to find that we had more than reached our fundraising goal! To be honest, I was entirely astonished but nonetheless grateful - especially because some individuals who could not even make it up to the North Shore on Friday had donated. It was truly breathtaking to see people coming together so quickly to reach a common goal! As Dr. Paul always says, perhaps it’s because freedom is popular! Regardless, I was stunned. The lottery drawing was to be held Thursday night at 7!

I have to say, as mystical as it may sound, I truly felt as though fate was in my hands Friday morning, because I had come in third in the aforementioned drawing yet it turned out that the two chosen before me could not attend. The 11 hours that remained of Friday before I was to head north for an event I still could not believe I would be attending were totally surreal. Even more unbelievable was the moment I saw Ron Paul walking up the steps, heading right in my direction. My heart was pounding and I was speechless to the extent I feared I would become, unable to competently introduce myself. As eloquent as I had planned to be, in the presence of greatness the first words that came out of my mouth (and in retrospect, I do wish they had been different) were, “You are my idol”. There I was, standing in front of the Good Doctor himself and the words I utter sound more like I’m 12 and Dr. Paul is Justin Timberlake. Nonetheless I will never forget the way he looked at me, inherently stunned that people do, on a daily basis, say such things to him. For those who may have doubted it, I assure you, Ron Paul is a man of such humility that it’s almost wrong. He is so utterly convinced that it’s not him, but the message - that he is simply a spokesperson for this Revolution and that he cannot claim it as his own.

After saying what I did, Dr. Paul thanked me, but in a way where he seemed somewhat outside of himself. When you meet the man face to face, you really do get the impression that he feels he is a representative of something greater, something one man cannot himself possess. His selflessness is part of the reason that he is so inspiring, and his sense of humor makes him that much more compelling. Amidst our initial exchange, I took my Constitution out and showed him that he’d signed it after the Republican Debate at the University of New Hampshire. I went on to explain that because he was being swarmed by his usual mass of fans I recognized that it was either a handshake or getting him to sign the back page of my Constitution between quotes from John Marshall and Benjamin Franklin, right where his name belongs. He observed his signature, laughed, and said, ”Yeah, it looks like I was pretty hurried! And to make up for that, here are two handshakes!” and proceeded to go through the motions of shaking my hand twice. I’ll never forget that little gesture. To me, it totally exemplifies who I believe Dr. Paul is as a person - so utterly genuine, so innately real, humble and loving. It’s as if he wants to reassure all of the people who believe in the message that he speaks on behalf of them, on behalf us collectively as the American People, and certainly not on behalf of himself exclusively by any means - a serious rarity in a Presidential candidate but something our country so desperately needs.

It is quite obvious that Dr. Paul is sacrificing a great deal of his personal life, time with his family, meals, and sleep (the last two explained to me by the wonderful Mrs. Paul) to warn Americans that our freedoms of choice and conscience are under attack and that we must fight back to retain what we may now take for granted. Every move he makes is executed with such grace and each word he says is so unmistakably genuine, humble and most of all, Patriotic. I almost bring a tear to my own eye recalling it, because in meeting him, I can verify that Ron Paul is truly a Statesman of Founding Father stature. I have no doubt that had he been alive during the Revolutionary Era, he would have been present at our Constitutional Convention. Instead, we have been graced with a man of his greatness in our own time, and I truly believe that a continuation of our spectacular American Revolution manifests itself in Dr. Paul and the Patriots that continue to support him with steadfast vigor.

The event overall, was quite successful and I will be forever indebted to the many individuals who provided me with such a rare and incredible opportunity. While the highlight was obviously meeting the great Dr. Paul himself, discovering how fantastic, friendly, intelligent and just plain adorable Mrs. Paul is, and meeting other wonderful Patriots such as Michael Nystrom of The Daily Paul helped to make the fundraiser a night I will always look back on quite fondly - especially knowing now of the 5 million we all personally helped the campaign to raise! Also, I would also like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Stacey for pointing out that I was the guest present who had won the Boston Meetup Group lottery. When Ron Paul reffered to me as “the special guest”, I was just utterly stunned, flattered and beyond anything, infinitely appreciative.

I hope that as a people we continue the great American Experiment our Founder’s have bequeathed us. Freedom, as Ron Paul reminds us, is not an antiquated notion, but tyranny and Authoritarian governance on the other hand are age-old methods far more rooted in human history than that of our great Constitutional Republic, which as Americans we must defend. I am aware now, more than ever after having met them, that Dr. and Mrs. Paul are model citizens. Again, I would like to personally thank them, their family, and every member of the Boston Meetup Group who made it possible for me to meet these wonderful, Patriotic individuals.

As citizens of this unique, and still very young Republic, we must always seek to participate in the incessant fight for freedom that characterizes our much heralded American Dream. Our great country was founded upon the ideal of liberty, and through the years many a great American has worked to secure that freedom for each of us. We mustn’t sit back now and surrender our sovereignty to an unconstitutional form of government masquerading as one that is American. The legacy of America’s Founding and the autonomy it offers lives on in both the eloquent and passionate Dr. Paul as well as within ourselves - but it can only continue to flourish if we the people open our eyes and recognize it’s infinite and unwavering importance.

As I was walking home down Hanover Street last night, I cut through the park area near the Old North Church and took a look at the statue of a man we Americans memorialize, perpetually put on a pedestal, but apparently disregard. Are we truly that removed from the message of freedom our Founding Fathers gave their sweat, blood and tears to intergrate into the fabric of our society? Paul Revere’s statue portrays him as heroic - almost mythical - and maybe that in and of itself is the problem.

At what point does history become legend? What length of time must pass for a human mind to simply disregard the mistakes of our forebearers and inevitably repeat them? I fail to understand those who are so quick to ignore the truths that history teaches us - especially the politicians who do it. James Madison, the man posterity has named the Father of our Constitution warned us that “if tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”

Profound, and quite relevant to the contemporary American, no? It’s almost as though Mr. Madison was an oracle. Though a genius, he was not omniscient. The mystery of what he in fact was lies in an all too obvious explanation: James Madison, and all of the great individuals who aided in the founding of America were educated. These men knew their history and understood the complexities of human interaction, two things that apparently, the neo-conservative candidates running for the highest office of what we currently call America either disregard or simply do not understand.

Being present at the Republican debate Wednesday night was truly disheartening to say the absolute least. As a traditional conservative and advocate of limited government, I was sick to my stomach as a reaction to almost every response the candidates (besides Ron Paul, obviously) provided. I was especially displeased with Mitt Romney, who of course, FOX gave the most time to. I had to manifest a great deal of composure to react quietly when Mr. Romney told an enthusiastic, but seemingly ignorant audience that our government has no call to protect civil liberties when it cannot protect life (therefore justifying the Patriot Act among an array of other unconstitutional activities).

The telling James Madison quotation resounded repeatedly in my head as I fully recognized that I was witness to an exact manifestation of his prediciton, as so many before me have seen the roots of tyranny take hold in their lives. Oppression does not bequeath itself upon a society overnight, but rather the gradual erosion of civil liberties strip us of our freedoms of choice and conscience, because we have never met directly with intolerable tyranny in our lifetimes. We must depart from this narrow view of our existences and gather years of history and precedent together to formulate a viable theory of what our futures will in fact come to if “checks and balances” continue to operate within our government as more of a symbol than a legitimate method.

As it stands, both the Republicans and the Democrats as entire parties want the government to have control over more and more aspects of our lives. Whether it’s Romney giving the government the go ahead to do anything in order to “protect life” or Hillary convincing her constituents that it is the duty of our American government to intervene in everything from healthcare to genocide in third world countries despite the inherent inefficiencies of bureaucracy and the fact that government intervention will inevitably worsen the situations.

If principle cannot beat out Establishment in this election, I will be sorely disappointed in the ability of the American people to understand and utilize what voice we are given, but I won’t give up. I’m out on the streets spreading the word about the Ron Paul Revolution because the optimist in me believes that true civic-minded Americans will grasp the importance of the good doctor’s principled message. We mustn’t limit ourselves to our own constricted views of life as we see it in front of us. It’s an age-old cliche, but history repeats itself.