An open letter to Ron Paul supporters:

First and foremost, let me state that I am one of you. I heard of Ron Paul for the first time in my life in May-June of 2007, and by October of 2007 I dropped my entire life to go out canvassing as a pure volunteer in three states. I have hated and despised politics my entire life, and today on account of Dr Paul having cured my apathy, I am running for high GOP office, with a long range plan taking me to the NC State assembly, and US Congress by around 2020.

I witnessed first-hand the media smear and blackout campaign against Ron Paul. I cannot begin to describe the outright rage and anger I felt over that, nor am I likely to trust ANYBODY in the media for the next decade.

However, I am not writing to tell you how awesome all of you are.

Time and again, I am watching the media and I am seeing our ideas gaining ground in the marketplace of ideas. Glenn Beck is pushing the Second Amendment as a hedge against government tyranny, and bringing guests on his show who recommend arming ourselves against the coming conflagration. Rush Limbaugh went to CPAC with a decent speech about individual liberty. "End The Fed" is becoming forefront on the Republican agenda like it hasn't in nearly 100 years.

No, I haven't forgotten how Glenn Beck called us terrorists. No, I haven't forgotten that Rush Limbaugh endorsed Mitt "Universal Healthcare" Romney. No, I haven't forgotten that those same Republicans now throwing tea parties and chanting "End The Fed!" are the same Republicans who tried to muscle us out of the process in 2008. I haven't forgotten ANY of these things.

But how stupid do we have to be to reject REAL PROGRESS on our agenda?

Time and time again, we Ron Paulers who are working our tails off and our fingers to the bone to make a real difference in America today, get derision from the allegedly 'intellectually pure Paulers' who hate us because we are happy that our ideas are finally gaining ground in the marketplace of ideas.

Are the media and the Republicans suddenly coming around because the GOP was humiliated in 2008? Probably, but why is that a bad thing? Are they merely being opportunistic? Probably, but opportunistic or not, OUR MESSAGE IS BEING HEARD!

Sure, you can say "too little, too late" and I'll agree with you. Wholeheartedly and without reservation. But our efforts to restore the Republic did not end with the 2008 campaign! We ALL wanted the effort to continue into 2009, 2012, and 2016; and now that we are actually reaping victories and successes throughout America, there remains so many of us who want to REJECT those victories because they don't like those people who are (slowly!) coming around to our side.

We didn't get to this place all at once, we got here by incrementalism. We won't restore the Republic all at once either, we will get there the same way we got here - by incrementalism. Sorry, it's just the nature of the beast.

So get off your rear ends, stop complaining that we may be succeeding but you don't personally like the people who are spreading our message to millions of Americans, and GET ACTIVE in pushing our movement and our agenda forward!

If you didn't want us to succeed, then why did you support Ron Paul in the first place?

No, this does not mean that I trust the media. I am not likely to trust ANYBODY in the media any time soon. But for goodness sakes, hearing OUR MESSAGE being delivered be the mainstream media, seeing scores of bloggers and Republicans who taunted us throughout 2007 and 2008 suddenly reversing course, in tears, saying they should have listened to Ron Paul in the first place, this is the sound of encroaching VICTORY people!

No wonder our political views have historically failed to gain ground and acceptance. Whenever someone in a position to help us starts to turn our way; you reject them even more heavily than you did when they opposed us!

Get a grip! Help us continue the fight, or get out of the way. Sitting on the sidelines criticizing every victory is the surest path to defeat.

If you are one of those Ron Paul supporters who do nothing but criticize our every inch of ground gained, (you know who you are!) then do Ron Paul and our nation a favor, and go away. If, on the other hand, you want to help us achieve our victories inch by bloody inch, then we need your help now more than ever before.

Thank you, sincerely.

Glen Bradley

A Rational discussion of the War On Drugs and Republican Policy

I know that anecdotes rarely if ever prove anything, but allow me to share a personal anecdote from my life which demonstrates a major failure of the War on Drugs.

Last year, about a week and a half before the NC State GOP Convention, I was helping a friend move into a third story apartment. I helped carry a dryer up to his apartment.

The next morning, I woke up with an intense pain in my lower back. The next day it got worse. I could feel my muscle groups locking in spasm, and after a quick diagnosis and a significant amount of research, I determined that I had slipped a disc.

By the third day, I could not move across a room without help, or a lot of things to hold on to.

For some background: I am a self employed network and Point Of Sale field service engineer. I was making great progress with my company until I dropped my life in 2007 to volunteer for Ron Paul. Money became very scarce, and I had no health insurance of any kind. I am not complaining - it was my own choice to go traipsing off to three states on a whim and a prayer.

After arriving at my diagnosis, I researched treatments. Intuitively, I thought I'd need a muscle relaxant to end the muscle spasm, and a pain killer to function until it could loosen and I could stretch out my muscles and my spine and heal up. My research on the internet confirmed this.

But I could not go to the drug store to buy 2 weeks of vicodin and a muscle relaxant.

After a week of being crippled with a slipped disk, I had to borrow money from my family to pay a doctor to tell me what I already knew: I had slipped (a light rupture) the L5-S1 disk, and the only difference between his scrip and mine, was that he added a steroid to promote healing.

So I buy the scrip myself, of my own money minus the Prednesone (I didn't want it) and three days layer I am on the podium at the NC State Convention running for RNC National Committeeman.

Were it not for the government regulation of drugs, I could have began proper treatment within 72 hours of the injury. Why must I be penalized for being intelligent and doing my research, into paying $250 dollars begging a signature for what I already knew?

I do know that my situation is not unique; although I was certainly over-affected on account of my financial situation, going a week between a ruptured disk and treatment, only 3 days before the state convention where I had an active role.

So what has the modern policy of drug regulation and prohibition done for me? If America were truly free, then I would have been free to treat myself. I say the failed and counter-productive War On Drugs must end. What say you?