The (new) American Revolution

I vividly remember the sense of pride and excitement I felt as a six year old tourist a few miles across the river in the cradle of our nation, Philadelphia, PA.  My dad, a naturalized citizen, could never say enough about how great this country was and enjoyed taking us over to visit the historical landmarks that bless the city.  He loved talking about freedom, justice, and all the other buzzwords that eventually lost their meaning for me as I witnessed pandering sociopaths use them crassly throughout my maturing life.  I recall looking at a glass encased original copy of the declaration of independence that he actually had the privilege of holding and framing in his job as a local carpenter, an experience that brought him a sense of career pride matched only by his handling of an original copy of the Constitution and Babe Ruth’s uniform in Cooperstown a few years later.  I remember walking through Independence Hall and, even at that age, being overwhelmed by its historical gravity.Living in the area, I have passed those hallowed halls many times since those early years and like most things experienced on a frequent basis, its awe inspiring grip on me faded to complacency.  It merely became a cool looking backdrop to the restaurant and nightlife area in which it resides.  Last Sunday, however, I woke up with a sense of that old pride and historical significance I relished in my youth. I was driving through our area’s first major rainstorm in quite some time to visit this enlightenment shrine once again. But this time, freedom, liberty, self reliance, and all the other fancy terms were not just pinned up behind glass frames or printed on Visitor Center tickets.  These words, these ideas, these birthrights were living and breathing some 236 years later and I and many, many others, had the privilege and responsibility to be a part of it.  The champion of liberty, the seed of the new American intellectual revolution, Dr. Ron Paul was coming to Independence Mall to stoke its flames.The rain storm that harshly greeted me that morning was pretty impressive.  There was some flooding, especially on the main road to the city approaching the Ben Franklin Bridge.  I hydroplaned more than once into other lanes at times where luckily there were no other vehicles to turn it into a tragedy.  As I approached the toll booth, a man in a Lexus nearly ran me into a jersey barrier. After the toll, visibility on the bridge became a significant challenge as I ascended the massive structure.  The symbolism of the dicey ride over was too much not to appreciate and humorously question if the mainstream media now controlled the weather.  The rain soaked day brought with it a crisp cold air that made the prospect of spending it outside that much worse.  But then I realized what a good empirical test of the revolution this uncomfortable storm would be.  Much of my interaction with fellow Paul supporters occurs over the faceless internet where it’s easy to tweet and facebook about a cause. Today’s required some physical action; people had to walk the walk.  They had to give up a portion of their weekend to stand in a cold, pouring rain to get a possible glimpse of Paul only to hear a speech they handily know by heart.  I wondered if it would happen.  I myself must admit that between the horrible weather and some other obligations later in the day, skipping the rally certainly crossed my mind.  Would the revolution show up to Philly today?My first turn off the bridge put me at a traffic light few blocks from the event.  The car next to me raced through the light as it changed.  As the two women put me in their rearview their Ron Paul Revolution window sticker gave me the first sign of today’s test results.  I missed a turn as I neared the rally area and was forced to drive in the other direction away from the mall.  Every block I drove, End the Fed ponchos littered the corner. It appeared that supporters from the tri state area weren’t missing their chance to participate in such an important and exciting event for their spokesman’s campaign.  I finally parked and started walking towards the mall.  As I turned the corner onto 6^th St I got my first view of the actual rally.  The people had certainly come or were lost because Independence Mall was packed.  It was hard to tell just how many people because a sea of umbrellas kept them from view but reports have the estimated number ranging from 3500-4300. The Independence Visitor Center flanked the stage area and as I walked past it to wrestle a spot on the rapidly crowding lawn I noticed its entrance displayed the revolutionary words of the Declaration of Independence. This line, as it always does, gave me a chill… “…it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”Those words conceived at least initially by Thomas Jefferson (historical accounts suggest that Jefferson’s original text was more radical) are a powerful statement on the philosophical attitude that drew so many of us here today. As I appreciated the profoundness of the venue I turned around and noticed the view of Independence Hall in the background stage left.   It was like seeing it for the first time.Despite what you may have read from more traditional media, the crowd was incredibly diverse and not just ethnically (although that was also the case).  The age and styles of the Paul faithful were so varied that honestly stereotyping them would be quite a challenge. There were young hipster types that I thought took a wrong turn out of some trendy neighborhood, families that looked like they just got out of a Phillies game, old guys that looked like they escaped from a hospital, transvestites (yup, at least one), Orthodox Jewish men, ladies that looked like my Aunt, etc.  I couldn’t believe the sort of people that also braved the elements for a chance to see Ron do his thing live.  I would have never pegged about 50% of the people I saw as Ron Paul supporters.  It was a truly inspiring affirmation of the enormity and success of the cause.  I fought for a view above or through the obstructing umbrellas as the rain and wind picked up. A few preliminary speakers came on with liberty rocker Jordan Page playing Paul hymns in between.  I found his Pink Floyd-Paul parodies a little absurd, but kind of festive. The speakers included a local student leader in the collegiate liberty movement from West Chester University and the former CIA Bin Laden unit leader Michael Scheuer whose speech was very tough to hear as the PA system seemed to be losing some juice in the downpour.    A third speaker, a PA state senator named Mike Folmer, took the stage and was interrupted by an excited Ron Paul who had mistakenly peaked onto the stage for just a few seconds to thunderous applause before running back out to let the senator finish.Finally after almost 3 hours in the rain for me (many more for some others), Ron Paul was formally introduced onto the stage to the delight of many including your dear blogger. “Well it looks like there are no summer soldiers or sunshine patriots today!” Paul exclaimed as he took the mic.   Those lucky enough to have snagged a plastic seat stood up on them while those of us less blessed stalked the grounds for any stragglers.  The PA system continued to struggle especially as the rain picked back up and much of the first few minutes couldn’t be heard.  Finally my stalking paid off and I swiped a seat that a middle aged woman put her foot through moments earlier.  I risked embarrassment and stood on the edges of the chair to get a better view.  From up there I had a clear shot of the stage and much better acoustics.  I picked up as Ron was hitting most of his Foreign Policy staples and as I balanced myself on the compromised chair the first clear words I heard were “Bring the troops home!” I was amazed at the inspiration this speech stirred in a live setting since I had listened to it in one arraignment or another via You Tube almost religiously for the past 5 years. The speech then went on about the absurdity of the national debt and the ridiculously weak balanced budget plans on both sides of the “aisle”.  Ron used some of the remaining time to talk about the internet and its role in expanding the growing awareness to the cause, “…and thank god for the internet!” he exclaimed!  He warned, much like we have( Here and Here and Here) , about the dangers of recent legislation proposed to give the Federal Government more control over the internet.  He used the historical significance of the location to compare the American Revolution to the one we must fight today; battling “the empire and increased tyrannical actions of Washington DC”.He went on to reiterate that although he is trying to win an election and has a real shot at doing so, this campaign is about much more than that; it is an intellectual revolution that is steadily growing and will change the course of history. “It is no longer a restless minority, it is a gigantic movement that is occurring and we have every reason to be optimistic.”   This crowd certainly testified to that.  They are a large sample of the population that has awakened to the reality we face economically, socially, and morally. They fight the establishment on all fronts, not just the government variety.  They indict the media as strongly if not more, exposing the narrow views they provide and the sensational journalism they peddle.  They are revolutionizing its “Establishment” via social media and questioning everything they put out. Some call them contrarian, I like to think of them as suckers for due diligence. Whatever you call them, they are serious and a little rain and bad (or no) press doesn’t scare them.Ron ended his speech in the storm to a “President Paul” roar from the saturated lawn while he debunked the common criticism that our movement doesn’t care about the less fortunate.“We are seeking virtue and excellence, governments do not…… we have logic on our side and we also have the humanitarian instinct on our side. They tell us too often that we don’t care about the poor. If you care about the poor, if you care about prosperity, if you care about peace, the only way you can achieve that is through free markets, sound money, and individual liberty-that is the answer.”  I had somehow managed to stand the whole time on the broken chair and as I struggled to get down while he exited the stage, I noticed a large Ron Paul sign with a quote of his that I always found an inspiring answer to those who don’t understand why I and others I know get so involved in this movement; “Let them not say that we did nothing.”That miserable Sunday was a true affirmation of the movement for me.  The pride and excitement of my young exploration of the American Revolution paled in comparison to the overwhelming revolution I experienced that day.  Liberty is not a cute artifact that will be preserved by hanging it behind glass frames or display cases; it is a meticulous cause that must always be fought.   That day, 3500-4300 regular people joined the rapidly growing mass of Americans that are tired of their liberty being restricted to books and museums.  It’s a never ending struggle and every few years we need a Ron Paul to bring it back out from the display cases.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!