The Speech on YouTube: One, two, three, four, five.

Notes on Ron Paul’s great speech at UT today:

Thanks again Dr. Paul for doing this. (And for autographing my Antiwar.com sign!)

The cops said they estimated 4,000 people were there. It was a awesome crowd. When I showed up the sun was shining and Jimmie Vaughan was playing "Floodin’ Down in Texas."

Of course in Paul’s speech, the lines on the war, for example, "Just come home," got the most applause.

Besides that, Dr. Paul explained a vision for an America run from the bottom up by free people operating within the constraints only of the rights of other individuals. A society where the government’s only job truly is the protection of individual liberty, where the government is not expected to run our personal lives - since we trust in freedom and in each other - or the economy - since they can only "run it into the ground" - and certainly has no mandate to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations since it doesn’t work, we can’t afford it and run by crazy people or not, none of them are a threat to the United States.

A country which, like the Jedi Knights of Old, uses force for defense, never for attack. Where congressmen have so little power, there is nothing for a lobbyist to bribe. It would be a society, Paul says, with no income tax or the need for it. One where the resentments fostered by our seemingly endless culture war fade away since those matters would no longer be determined by the mandatory state and people could resolve them themselves.

A free society. A wealthy society. A live and let live society - and at peace with the rest of the world to boot.

Dr. Paul also promised that if he were the president he would never legislate through executive orders, he would never issue "signing statements" which act as an unconstitutional line-item veto, he would never let the government torture, employ the use of secret courts or secret prisons, employ military law or force in the United States, that he would always protect the great writ, habeas corpus, and each and every protection from government defined in the Constitution and its amendments. And he would never take this nation to war unless it was mandated in an official declaration by the Congress.

I believe him.

He said the Ron Paul Revolution was really just the American Revolution and the Texas Revolution - war of independence from Mexico - continued. These were men who believed that patriotism meant defending liberty. They did. Those revolutions live on today in this movement for liberty and peace.

Speaking of liberty and peace, Dr. Paul also said you can’t have liberty without peace. It is in wartime that the state truly comes into its own and violates individual rights with impunity. Where war is waged against us, war may be necessary to protect liberty, but when we start wars and occupy the world, our liberties become threatened by those sworn to protect them. And you should never sacrifice liberty for security. The trade-off is not worth it, Paul said, because you have to have liberty to provide security in the first place and without liberty, what’s to secure?

Paul also bragged that Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, libertarians and "even a few anarchists" have joined the Revolution.

Oh yeah, and as an aside when talking about how government shouldn’t interfere, Paul mentioned a bit about "what life is all about": Trying your best to strive for virtue and honesty - stuff like that.

It will be my last vote and I will be proud to cast it for Dr. Ron Paul - best congressman ever.