The New Hampshire results are in. While Ron Paul finished respectfully in fifth place, as he did in Iowa, it is time to face facts. It was nice that he only had 2000 less votes than the slick financed Giuliani and that he beat him in Iowa and the empty suit Thompson in New Hampshire. It sends a clear point that his message was resonating and that people need to take notice. But it cannot end here. Sure Dr. Paul can move on to the other primaries but the truth is that New Hampshire represented his best opportunity to score a win and the machine pushed him back into fifth place. There was the barring him from the Fox debate, a subversion of democracy. There was the spate of smear tactics used against him, trying to tie him to all sorts of sordid racism which while soundly debunked, still took their toll. It is time for the principled Paul to decide if his party is worth more than his country. It is time for an independent run for the White House. There are several reasons why Dr. Paul should seriously consider this option.

First, the country is ripe for change. The country wants change so desperately and it has become the hot sound bite for this election season with all the candidates jumping on the change bandwagon. The problem is that they misunderstand that THEY are what America is seeking a change from. Having Hillary and Obama speak about change when they are so engrained in the DC politics as usual arena is laughable on its face. They both were on Judicial Watch’s top ten most corrupt list this year. While I like the populist rhetoric from John Edwards, he also does not appear devoid of the machine that drives this country. The gang of five on the GOP side clearly do not represent change as they usually just fight over who can blow the world up quicker. No, there were only two men with a message of true change; Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich has already ruled out an independent run, choosing his party loyalties over what he knows is right. In his defense, you cannot make a serious run at the White House as an independent without money and Kucinich simply does not generate the kind of fundraising that Paul does.

Which bring us to reason number two. Dr. Paul should run as an independent because of the fundraising he has been able to accomplish and the nature of that fundraising. He has raised more money than any other GOP candidate without having to take corporate or lobbying money. Simply put, he is not owned. The nature of that money is all a true grassroots effort, indicating that the message is what people are responding to. Can that translate into the dollars needed for a general election? I do not truly know. I do think that once people see the choices as being “worse than Bush” (Giuliani), “Bush Light” (Hillary) and “True Change” (Ron Paul), you might be surprised at the support electorally and financially Paul could generate in that scenario. Plus I believe the dynamic that will play out will be that the other two candidates will have to spend the majority of their money bashing each other while all Paul will have to do is spread his message.

This brings us to reason number three. Dr. Paul should run because his message is right for America at this point in history. I am no true fan of the libertarian view of politics but this country is in bad shape folks and if we do not start turning it around now, it may end up being too late. There are three main planks to the Paul platform that all Americans should be able to rally around. First, he would end all wars immediately and bring home all troops. Furthermore, he would cease the usage of the military as foreign policy. America has had enough of politicians throwing platitudes at the troops, while they send them to their deaths in their next breath. They are starting to see it for what it is; beyond hypocrisy. America has had enough of candidates who run on a humble foreign policy and then as soon as they have any reason, no matter how thin, start wars all over again. As an extra add bonus to this plank, Dr. Paul understands that the branches of government need to be balanced and he will reverse the expansion of the Executive Branch power we have seen under Bush. Are you confident that Rudy or even Hillary will be willing to cede power back to Congress? The second plank in the Dr. Paul platform is the restoration of our civil liberties which have been eroded for the past 20 years. Paul is one of the only congresspersons to not vote for the Patriot Act, and will repeal such corrosive and illegal laws. He will not allow the illegal wiretapping or data mining of American citizens. As an extra bonus to this plank, we will see torture as policy cease to exist. Our reputation across the globe could be restored. Perhaps Hillary would stop torture, but certainly not anyone on the GOP side. Will a President Hillary restore all lost civil liberties? I have my doubts. The third plank in the Ron Paul platform is to pay attention to our currency. The dollar is bobsledding to collapse at this point. You cannot run a 10 trillion dollar deficit and promise universal healthcare. It simply will not happen. You have to pay down the debt first and restore the power of the dollar. If it collapses we will face an economic 9-11 which will overshadow the Great Depression. As an extra bonus in this plank, Paul understands that the federal income tax is illegal. It was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. He understands that the Federal Reserve is not part of the government and that simply printing money is worthless and is at the heart of the devaluation of our currency. If you think this sounds bizarre, I urge you to see the documentary “Freedom to Fascism” for a better understanding of the federal income tax.

That is essentially what Dr. Paul is running on. This is what he will seek to accomplish in his presidency and he will have plenty of agreement from a democratic congress. When the anti-Paul crowd starts their whining, they will not address these planks because they know this is what America needs and there is little argument over it. Instead, they will complain about other tenets of libertarianism, which Dr. Paul is not running on. Even if he were, he could not get any extreme changes through congress. He would have to move to the center, and he would. They will talk about the wedge issues, such as abortion but that is only a distraction. Dr. Paul is a strict constitutionalist and will never impose his personal beliefs into his policy. They will talk about how he will let corporations run amok (like that is not what is already happening). Yet it is only Dr. Paul that is running against the slide into fascism we are in the middle of. It is only Dr. Paul that does not take corporate donations. The attack is baseless. But you must understand that they need to talk about abortion, fake corporate positions, and racist smears because without them they are forced to talk about the three planks he is actually running on. If they are forced to talk about those three, they lose, period.

Of course the true anti-Paul crowd are actually just part of the machine. They do not want the change America wants because it threatens their power and money. They do not want to end these wars. Heck, John McCain just said he would have gone to war with Iraq without WMD anyway! Some have said if they have to stay there for 100 years, no sweat! How long has Hillary promised again? The rest of the GOP field wants to invade Iran and none of the top Dems can even commit to pulling our troops out of Iraq. The machine behind the anti-Paul movement does not want our civil liberties restored. They like America in a near police state. They created the fake immigration issue and now are using it to generate a National ID Card, something Dr. Paul is vehemently opposed to. Most of the candidates in both parties support some form of this Nazi-like mandatory “papers please” mentality. The machine behind the anti-Paul movement does not want to eliminate the federal reserve of income tax. They do not understand or care about the value of the dollar. They already have made a killing off of the blood of innocents. The entire GOP slate would just continue starting wars and scaring the people into thinking some radicals in a cave will swim the Atlantic and blow us up if we do not first kill 100,000 other people that have nothing to do with it. Never mind that we do not have the money for these wars or that we would probably lose if we invaded Iran. They can be quite brave when it is your sons and daughters blood on the line. On the Dem side you have a game of who can promise more! Universal Pre-K? I will raise you a Universal Healthcare plan! Troops coming home? Nope. Never mind how any of this can be paid for, because it cannot. The truth is that the anti-Paul movement comes from the heart of the machine. It is the core of the two-party system. Remember, the chief responsibility of the two-party system is to ensure that only the two parties remain with total control. That is why they have banded together to push people like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich out. Because their messages threaten the status quo. They threaten the true consolidation of power, which is in both parties. They threaten the true corruption, which is in both parties.

And that brings us to the final reason for Dr. Ron Paul to run as an independent. He is essentially only a republican in name at this point. True, Dr. Paul represents a more traditional form of pure republicanism, but that branch has been severed by the new conservatives. The Neocons have not only hijacked the Republican Party, they have converted it. His views on limited government would prevent him from ever running as a Democrat, which means that he is essentially is an independent already anyway.

I am sorry Dr. Paul but that little (r) next to your name just doesn’t mean what it used to. I understand that you are a loyal person but it is time to face facts. You will not be leaving the Republican Party, they left you. Somewhere deep in your heart you know this already. You are a doctor so you can diagnose. There is a cancer eating away at this country Dr. Paul and you know it. We can speak about the military industrial complex, the slide into fascism, the trilateral commission, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group, the Federal Reserve, war as policy, civil liberties, and the collapse of the dollar all we want but in the end they are merely symptoms of the cancer. The true cancer eroding this country is the two party system and you know it. It plays one side against the other while raping the country. It pretends to have fundamental differences but creates minutia to distract us while the pillaging continues. They point at each other while stuffing their pockets with the people’s money. They deride each other while lining up next to each other at the trough of corporatism. They exist for the sole purpose of ensuring their continued stranglehold on this country. They talk about change but offer up the same tired old candidates, already bought and owned by the machine. They claim the mantle of change but in the end they are still part of the same cancer. You KNOW this sir. Drop the little (r) Dr. Paul. Your country needs you. Your party has already abandoned you. You say that only a doctor can heal this country. Well, get to work Doctor Paul.