Early Voting

Voted early today, with little enthusiasm. Just for the record, I wrote in Ron Paul, and otherwise voted a straight libertarian ticket. Sad. Very sad. Among the four presidential and VP personalities, I cannot say that I'd even like to be in the same room with any of them. They are all so repulsive. Even Bob Barr makes me cringe. I can't fathom any one of them running the country. Here's an old post from a former site, back when I voted in the primary. Can't say I've changed my opinion much, only grown more hopeless:

Primary day approaches here where I live. At one time I looked forward to elections with anticipation. I would watch online as each district was decided, rooting for my noble Republican party, who would lead the nation into the next era of American greatness by pursuing their policies of liberty, rule of law, lower taxes, and all the other ideals that have made America great. And, I so thought, will certainly make her great again, just as soon as my guys get in office and those policies are pursued. Like that time eight years ago, when it happened...and then... Not anymore. I will vote in the Republican primary, but not with enthusiasm. And truthfully, the only thing bringing me to the polls (or is it only a single poll, in the case of an individual?) is Ron Paul. Otherwise, I would probably just skip the primary and vote a straight Libertarian ticket during the general election. Even so, I can't say that I think Ron Paul is the greatest candidate ever to run for office. I've seen him speak in the debates, and wasn't impressed. Most of his supporters, the "Pauliacs," evidently think he is some kind of god. Their standards for deism are pretty low, I would have to say. Still, despite his lack of charisma and eloquence, from a pure policy standpoint it doesn't get much better. He supports the right ideas, if occasionally for the wrong reasons, and his voting record is superb (99% of his votes are "no" votes I'm told, earning him the nickname "Dr. No," which sounds about right for the legislative ideas produced by the apes running Washington). So what gives? Don't I support those ideas anymore? Okay, okay, so its not big news that Republicans hate their party these days. It's old hat. But with me, I think the dissatisfaction with our Dear Leader(s) runs a bit deeper. I don't think I can vote a red ticket ever again. The Republicans have had almost eight years of control at the national level, and I have to say that the last eight years have convinced me that Republican politicians don't believe a thing they say. The only thing they seem to believe in is re-election by any means necessary, which I can only hope will lead to quite the opposite. If anything, over the last eight years these guys have worked tirelessly to do exactly, precisely the opposite of what their party is supposed to stand for. No amount of professing belief in limited government, free-markets, yada yada, is ever going to convince me again that these liars believe in these things. Actions speak louder than words. I've seen what they've done with my own eyes, I know what they believe, and I'm not voting for that, ever again. Some people criticize Ron Paul for opposing the war. While I'd like to see the war won, I'm not so sure it's going to happen, but not because our enemies are so strong. They're not; they're a bunch of backwards, petty clowns in the desert with AK's, which they can't even produce on their own, considering they have virtually no economies to speak of. They are pathetic, not so much in the purely condescending sense of the word used these days, but in the true, classical sense, empathy included. Why the West is so afraid of the Islamic menace baffles me. I'm afraid we can't win simply because the West has bought so far into non-judgementalism and multiculturalism that it can't make good decisions about warfare and state-building, and furthermore wouldn't have the stomach to enforce such measures if it knew what they were. It's not impossible to reform such populations. It's been done before. Some might argue, perhaps with some legitimacy, that the end is not worth the means. That's a good debate, perhaps for another time. But regardless, I don't think the US will do it because it can't, not anymore, so there's no point in having the debate. It's over before it begins. Still, I have a hard time being outright anti-war. I hold it against Ron Paul, just a bit, because I consider the arguments he makes against it to be illegitimate. If he made others, I could forgive him. But I would submit that despite this shortcoming, he's still far and away the best candidate. Losing the war won't destroy America. Illegal immigration, expanding socialistic tendencies of the US government, and increasing limits on our essential liberties will. He's the only candidate who opposes all three without question or hesitation. So he gets my vote, plain and simple. Too bad he won't get the votes of others. Too bad he won't win. Which gets to a larger question. I'm voting for Ron Paul this election because I'll probably never see the chance to vote for such a caliber of politician ever again, even such as he is. If America doesn't vote for him, preferring such candidates as she does, does she not deserve to lose out in the long run? As much as we might complain, I think we deserve our government and our lying politicians. We're bringing it all on ourselves...