The Irrelvancy Tour rolls on

Let's face it: Ron Paul was never a legitimate candidate for President. Even though Paul has stoked a valuable conversation in regards to liberty and the Constitution, he was never going to be able to carry the proverbial ball across the general election goal line because of myriad controversial (bordering on looney) statements regarding foreign policy.

When it was all but official that Paul would not receive the GOP nomination for President last August, he conducted a "farewell tour" to thank his ardent supporters, since he would not even seek another term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In my estimation, Paul effectively sealed his electoral fate in late August when he declared that the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01 would not have occurred if he had been President.




From what I've been able to gather, that little sound bite didn't get a ton of play, so perhaps not nearly as many folks as I thought are even aware of it. On the other hand, it's a distinct possibility that Paul was so irrelevant by that point that people paid as much attention to him as they do the ramblings of his buddy Jesse Ventura.

Fast forward to this past weekend when the news began to surface of the murder of retired Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. Apparently Kyle was attempting to help out a fellow a veteran who was struggling to adjust to civilian life. While at a shooting range in Texas, Eddie Ray Routh shot to death Kyle and Kyle's friend Chad Littlefield.

In less than 48 hours aftr Kyle's death, Paul took to Twitter:

Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) February 4, 2013

If the libertarian wing of the Republican party is ever to have lasting influence in electoral politics, they need to, at this very instant, stop referring to themselves as the "Ron Paul movement." First and foremost because any "movement" transcends one individual. That and you also put the future of the Liberty movement (specifically Paul's son, Sen. Rand Paul, who was unfairly asked to disavow his father's statement) in peril if they're unable to emerge from the shadows of Ron Paul's questionable viewpoints.

What I would love to hear is a libertarian candidate who, while extolling the virtues of the Constitution, actually refers to that phrase in Article I, Section 8, something about "common defense and general welfare of the United States." Hey, it's in there. Look it up.

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