Ron Paul still standing his ground

When I created TYWKIWDBI five months ago, I included a tribute to Ron Paul in the right sidebar. His presidential candidacy garnered extremely enthusiastic support, primarily from internet-savvy young people weary of the current crop of politicians. In the end, he only garnered about 10-15% of the vote in most states, and so did not become the Republican nominee.

However, he - and his principles - have not gone away. Most of his supporters will vote for Barack Obama in this fall's election, but for the present there is still an effort underway to influence the Republican party's platform and approach to governance. The principles Ron Paul espoused during the campaign were primarily those of a smaller federal government, improved fiscal responsibility (i.e. less spending of money, printing of money), and decreased interference with the affairs of other countries. These "conservative" principles used to be the bailiwick of the Republican party before the "neoconservatives" hijacked the party and started promoting global imperial aspirations and spending like drunken sailors.

In the 5-minute interview above, Dr. Paul is interviewed by Neil Cavuto of the FOX News channel regarding Dr. Paul's plans for the Republican convention, from which he and his supporters will likely be excluded (or at least marginalized) by the party in an effort to show "unity" behind their planned nominee, John McCain. In this video, Dr. Paul continues as the only national politician willing to champion the principles of smaller government, financial restraint, and foreign nonintervention. Bravo for him.