Ron Paulian Rhetoric...

Ron Paul rally at Union Station in Kansas City, MO

I had the opportunity to see Ron Paul at a rally in Kansas City tonight at Union Station. One of the things I have noticed about the crowds of people that support Ron Paul in comparison to those that support other candidates is the rhetoric. Even in chants which in most cases tend to be the epitome of mindless agreement have far more substance than in other campaigns. In the re-election of George W. Bush we heard things like "FOUR MORE YEARS" and with Barack Obama, we were subjected to "O-BA-MA" and "YES WE CAN" which were rooted in nothing but demagoguery and campaign propaganda. At best, phrases such as "yes we can" were at least cleverly thought out to be malleable to whichever point of view the person participating in the chant held. 

Take those phrases and contrast them to those such as "END THE FED", "RON PAUL REVOLUTION; GIVE US BACK OUR CONSTITUTION" and "BRING THEM HOME" which are all chants that are substantive and have some actual depth to them and you will see a stark difference. Those chants are also backed with actual knowledge of current events and familiarity with our political system and the Constitution. At other campaigns you might find someone that knows a thing or two about the constitution but beyond rattling off portions of the preamble and a couple amendments, you would be hard-pressed to find people who could explain how the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki and other US citizens was a violation of the Executive powers and how it was a bad moment in our countries history for our civil liberties. I believe it would be equally challenging to receive and explanation of how the Federal Reserve act is a violation of our constitution. 

You can take that even further and contrast the kind of literature that people read at these events. You can count on finding a handful of people at any Romney or Gingrich rally that have either read or at least familiar with the latest book of their candidate but by far, the Ron Paul supporters have more often read several Ron Paul books and did not stop at the literature of their candidate. You will find people familiar with the works of F.A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Andrew Napolitano, Ayn Rand and the list goes on and on. 

In my experience, the knowledge of Ron Paul supporters goes far beyond, media talking points as heard on television and talk radio. It seems that even the group chants heard at a Ron Paul rally cannot be confined to the limits of the herd mentality that it so often accompanies and much transcend that by actually containing a meaningful message! Kudos to Ron Paul supporters for educating yourselves.  I can only hope that as the cause of Liberty trends upward in popularity, that people continue this habit of self-education. It can only bring about better things!