My father spent most of his adult life trying to make a difference politically. He ran for office countless times. He wrote countless letters. He was illegally removed from the ballot in 2008 and tried to sue in federal court, but his case was dismissed on ridiculous grounds. He descended into depression and only came out of it when he got up and walked away from that life. He left New Mexico and bought a house with no pipes and no furnace for $9000 in Springfield IL, and lived a simple life pursuing his passions on a daily basis. When I was cleaning up his things after he died last year I found a letter he was writing to a close friend saying that he loved his new life, calling it a writer's paradise and comparing his house to Thoreau's cabin on Walden Pond.

My father told me - "you never know if you're living in a democracy unless you see your name on the ballot". Did you see Dr. Paul's name on any ballots at the convention this week? Even when he received ACTUAL VOTES they would not even say his name into the microphone. Search for #honestmistake on youtube. You know all this already. This is not a democratic process. And if we're not living in a democracy, what is the point of wasting time and money on a farcical democratic "solution"?

I know that a lot of you will disagree with me. Perhaps you will say that we have made inroads with the Republicans and that liberty candidates will carry the torch going forward. If they try, I hope it works out for them. But I know it won't. Thinking that we can somehow play by their rules to take away their power is as ridiculous as hoping that Obama will wake up one day, realize he is a tyrant, revoke his executive orders, bring the troops home, and allow alternative currencies like gold and silver to circulate alongside debt-free US notes.