I think the interesting thing is not the specific full ideology of Ron Paul, which is uber-libertarian (see letter below on pollution.) It is that the right is now worrying about personal liberties from their own Republican Party, and they hate the same war the rest of the population hates, and they suspect Wall Street like the rest of us. I.e. great...

It signifies that the crapulent 'center' (Clinton on one side and Bush on the other) is loosening it's ideological hold. A strong left-wing alternative would be able to galvanize people. Where is it? Kucinich took our Minneapolis southside wards in 2004, but what is that in the scale of things? Mike Gravel? Ah. Edwards voted for the 'bankruptcy' bill, which raises questions about his populism.

Only a separate, long lasting, alternative, in the form of a party, can remake American politics. Neither Paul nor Kucinich can do it...unless they create that party, or those two parties. Are they going to? Not now. I'm voting Green or for Ms. McKinney.

The Federal Reserve is a private bank. They create money out of thin air.

Is that true?

And here I thought we were just getting PayDay Loans from China to pay the $1 trillion dollars for policing the religious in-fighting in Iraq.

Oh wait! I meant to say "war"!

Guy Fawkes was a traitor and a religious terrorist.

Who will Ron Paul supporters vote for when he's not the nominee?

Republican?

Democrat?

Libertarian?

Other?

Will any of his supporters take a shot at my question? I'm curious.

I vote Glenn Greenwald.

It depends. It depends on who we are spoon-fed as our candidates. Perhaps: None Of The Above will apply.

>Okay, now how about a REAL interview?

>I vote Glenn Greenwald.

C'mon, Salon... give it up.

Paul wins the nomination.

I'm prejudiced, I'm a Ron Paul supporter. But this article gives an excellent, honest look at how and why millions of Americans of all political persuasions are finding common ground in the libertarian ideals of Ron Paul.

We are sick of endless war and bloody empire. Sick of seeing our Bill of Rights gutted and destroyed. Sick of seeing an emerging American police state. Sick of state-sanctioned torture and secret gulags. Sick of gigantic, overbearing, tyrannical State power intruding into every aspect of our personal and economic lives.

Sick, in short, of the Republicrat Death Machine.

Sure, Paul supporters may disagree among themselves over privatizing the Post Office and things like that.

But the real political battle in America today is Liberty versus Empire. It's one versus the other.

The Ron Paul Revolution is the opening salvo in this great political battle. And it won't be the last.

We are sick of endless war and bloody empire. Sick of seeing our Bill of Rights gutted and destroyed. Sick of seeing an emerging American police state. Sick of state-sanctioned torture and secret gulags. Sick of gigantic, overbearing, tyrannical State power intruding into every aspect of our personal and economic lives.

To say that Ron Paul is the only candidate that is violently opposed to the Bush policies seems short sighted.

Why not Dennis K or Joe Biden or John Edwards?

This was an excellent story about his amazing grassroots support. Following up with more details and analysis of his policies would be appreciated. We can get the fluff from the mainstream media. Give us the meat we expect from Salon.

Ron will probably be the one candidate who will actually give straight answers. Go ask him.

I don't understand the love for Ron Paul at all. Seriously. There is no reason to vote for him. He will make us "free!!11one" Yeah, but what the hell does that mean? It means he will take away, as other letter writers have mentioned, all of the safety nets that modern society has constructed for its people. A society run by Ron Paul is like 15th century Europe except that it doesn't even distinguish between the worthy and unworthy poor... it lets them all die just the same. Hell, the middle class people will all die just the same. I had $350,000 life-saving surgery for a congenital heart condition when I was 15 months old. Think my middle class parents could have afforded that without my dad's military insurance?

There are many things that need to be fixed about our government. But the answer is clearly not to abolish the whole thing and pray that major corporations hold themselves to a moral standard anywhere near the current ethical requirements for government workers.

Besides, even if Paul got elected, what the hell would he do with Congress? Ron Paul's idea of "reform" scares the shit out of me, because it would likely mean the collapse of this nation, but realistically he would be completely ineffective as a president.

Michael Scherer poses the question: What do Ron Paul's followers really want?

Answer: The truth!

First of all, when you have three hours to spend, pour yourself a drink (make a pot of tea...whatever), and watch this video on The Federal Reserve, "The Money Masters". Then you will understand why Ron Paul believes it needs to be deep-sixed and a new monetary policy formulated:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936

It is my understanding that there is no gold in Fort Knox (the Federal Reserve "took" it as payment on interest we owe) and the amount of above ground silver on Earth at this time is about 300 million ounces. That would be a silver dollar for everyone in America. Hardly enough to account for being legal tender or to back up the economy (unless the true value of silver is adjusted to reflect its value. At about $13/oz. now and gold at about $800/oz, silver is totally under-valued, considering there are 20,000 industrial and medical uses for it and there is so little of it).

"The Money Masters" will be a good tutorial for anyone who does not understand that The Federal Reserve" is not part of the Federal government. It is a private corporation listed in the phone book under "Federal Express". We've been and are now being robbed and Ron Paul knows this (and so does "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke).

Of course all the other candidates know it too. But they don't want to discuss it. Why do you suppose the MSM never asks anyone hard questions about the economy, the housing bubble bursting etc.?

As to the abortion issue and Ron Paul....if he truly believes in States rights and the freedom of people to ingest what they choose (homepathic concoctions etc.) then any woman can simply use an herbal remedy for "premenstrual cramps" after missing a period or if she thinks she might have made a "mistake" and her period will start. (Do the research. It's an "off-label use"). Besides, no matter what any laws say, if a woman wants to end a pregnancy she'll figure out a way to do it, and safely I might add. The truth is, with enough intensive education and lots of preventive measures (the pill, condoms etc.), any woman can figure out how to not get pregnant today (with the exception of women in Third World countries...obviously, rape and incest).

The key issue for me with Ron Paul is the fact that he understands there are serious questions about 9/11 that warrant a new investigation. Even many in the MSM said, about a year ago. that a new investigation is warranted. And if we understand that there wouldn't have been a Shock and Awe campaign against Iraq without 9/11 then we have to take the necessary leap in logic to the conclusion that 9/11 DOES need a new investigation. I believe Ron Paul would support this. Here's the MSM link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SPjZjACbRQ&feature=related

Ron Paul is against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Patriot Act, The Military Commissions Act, our use of torture (including "waterboarding"), extraordinary rendition, the loss of habeus corpus, spying on Americans and most certainly he is against "The Homegrown Terrorism" act which should be titled, "The Stifling of Dissent Act of 2007" authored by Rep. Jane Harman. It passed in the House with a vote of 404-6 and Ron Paul was absent. Kucinich voted against it. It's working its way through the Senate Homeland Security Committee now, which is chaired by Lieberman. Obama is on this committee and I'll bet he won't go back for hearings and will vote for it or abstain. As will Biden, Dodd, McCain and Clinton. Cowards all.

And speaking of Kucinich. He and Ron Paul happen to be very good friends. The way the MSM quite obviously tries to marginalize both these strongly Constitutionalist candidates should be enough reason to support either one of them! The corporations don't like them!! Duh.

There are important things I disagree with Ron Paul on. He thinks there is an endless supply of oil for our "Happy Motoring" and has proposed off-shore drilling and in ANWR. Ain't gonna happen in California. What about his states rights then?

At this point in time I am far more concerned about our personal freedoms, the Bill of Rights, maintaining our national soverignty and the Constitution than abortion!

After watching the Money Masters and considering the obvious corporate support of the other candidates, I believe we need to ask ourselves this fundamental question: Who do you TRUST with the United States Constitution? Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, Hillary Clinton or Barack "All options are on the table including the use of nuclear weapons against Iran" Obama? Who do you believe is telling the TRUTH?

Think about it.