Ron Paul: This weekend I got a couple of calls from the media asking me questions about Rick Perry, our governor here in Texas and the statements he made about possible secession. Now, he didn’t call for secession, but he was restating a principle that was long held and at least in the original time of our country, and that is that there was a right to secession.
Actually, after the Civil War, nobody believes there is a so-called right to secession, but it is a very legitimate issue to debate because all of the states that came into the Union before the Civil War believed they have a right to secede and New England in the early part of the 19th century actually considered it, and nobody questioned them about whether they had the right to do it or not.
Since the Civil War, it’s been sort of a dead issue, but he brought it up. It stirred the media and believe me, it really stirred some of the liberal media where they started really screaming about what is going on here. “This is un-American”, I heard one individual say, “This is treasonous to even talk about it.”
Well, they don’t know their history very well because if they think about it, it’s an American tradition. It’s very American to talk about secession. That’s how we came into being. Thirteen colonies seceded from the British and established a new country, so secession is very much an American principle.
What about all the strong endorsements we have given over the past decade or two of those republics that seceded from the Soviet system? We were delighted with this. We never said, “Oh no. Secession is treasonous”.
No. Secession is a good principle. Just think of the benefits that would have come over these last 230-some years if the principle of secession had existed. That means the federal government would always have been restrained, not to overburden the states with too much federalism, too many federal rules and regulations.
But since that was all wiped out with the Civil War, the federal government has grown by leaps and bounds and we have suffered the consequences, and we need to reconsider this. It’s not un-American to think about the possibility of secession. This is something that’s voluntary. We came together voluntarily. A free society means you can dissolve it voluntarily. That was the whole issue was about.
Just remember one of the reasons that Wilson drove us in unnecessarily into World War I. He talked about what we have to give, have every country in the world the benefit of self-determination, a good principle. Of course, I don’t think he really believed that. But self-determination is a good principle. It’s a very American principle, so to me it’s a shame that we can’t discuss this.
You know, it’s interesting that so many of us have been taught for so many years, and as long as I can remember from the first grade on up taking the pledge of allegiance that we have a republic that’s “indivisible” and we have been preached that and preached it. So therefore, there is no contest, no question since the Civil War that we have even the thought that this could happen.
But you know what a lot of people don’t talk about and they really don’t even know about is who wrote the pledge to the flag. The pledge to the flag came from, for instance, Bellamy, an avowed Socialist who wanted to put into concrete in the pledge this principle of being indivisible, and he did it, you know, for the celebration ironically 400 years of the celebration of the landing of Christopher Columbus, so it was in 1892.
I mean, the pledge of allegiance has not been here, you know, all our history. So I think it’s worth of discussion. I think people should discuss this because right now, the American people are sick and tired of it all and I think the time will come when people will consider it much more seriously is when the federal government can no longer deliver. That time will come when the dollar collapses.
No matter what they do and how many promises they have and how many bailouts they have, they can’t do it if the money doesn’t work. So then, the independence of the states will come back and it doesn’t mean that you’ll be un-American to even contemplate what might have to be done once the dollar crashes.
While this video was originally recorded on 4/19/2009, Ron Paul spokeswoman Rachel Mills confirmed earlier today (11/13/2012) that Ron Paul “feels the same now” about secession as he did in this video.
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RP is right, once the Federal sytem fails to deliver thats when secession will be taken seriously.
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RP is right, once the Federal sytem fails to deliver thats when secession will be taken seriously.
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We need our own Ron Paul!!
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We need our own Ron Paul!!
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You want to bring back slavery?
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You want to bring back slavery?
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The federal government = corporations
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The federal government = corporations
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You are a slave, just like me.
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You are a slave, just like me.
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It’s exactly the same thing. You’ve let titles confuse you. The U.S. is not a democracy, it is a fully owned plutocracy.
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It’s exactly the same thing. You’ve let titles confuse you. The U.S. is not a democracy, it is a fully owned plutocracy.
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WHY IS RON PAUL NOT OUR PRESIDENT? dammit.
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WHY IS RON PAUL NOT OUR PRESIDENT? dammit.
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Fuckin SMART.
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Fuckin SMART.
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everytime he talks i feel like i’m 11 yrs old again in history class.The man is a wealth of information.
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everytime he talks i feel like i’m 11 yrs old again in history class.The man is a wealth of information.
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Please don’t do that; you have no right to speak for any other state besides your own!
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Please don’t do that; you have no right to speak for any other state besides your own!
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I signed every single one of the state petition’s today, as soon as I was able to find out where they were., and I’ll do it, again. I am a slave to no government, nor will I be.
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I signed every single one of the state petition’s today, as soon as I was able to find out where they were., and I’ll do it, again. I am a slave to no government, nor will I be.
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Ron Paul should have his own talk show.
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Ron Paul should have his own talk show.
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this is alot of fun. i learned today that the civil war happened because lincoln was a dick and wouldn’t recognize the constitution. i never knew that.
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this is alot of fun. i learned today that the civil war happened because lincoln was a dick and wouldn’t recognize the constitution. i never knew that.
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Texas will be a blue state in the next 4-6 years. I suggest if you are going to secede, you do it now. No hard feelings…just good luck. No good reason to stay where you aren’t happy.
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Texas will be a blue state in the next 4-6 years. I suggest if you are going to secede, you do it now. No hard feelings…just good luck. No good reason to stay where you aren’t happy.
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This is from 2009 correct ?
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This is from 2009 correct ?
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This is our final, peaceful option IMO. If we don’t get the states to cut the umbilical cord feeding the beast that is D.C. we will all be fighting for our lives and that of our family and neighbors.
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.”
Thomas Jefferson
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This is our final, peaceful option IMO. If we don’t get the states to cut the umbilical cord feeding the beast that is D.C. we will all be fighting for our lives and that of our family and neighbors.
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.”
Thomas Jefferson
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I’m all for just about anything that will improve the free market. As it is, I cannot afford my taxes and support myself and family members struggling due to EPA and Fed meddling with businesses and shutting them down. So I have to choose to pay taxes or help family, take a wild guess which I chose.
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Wrongney and his gang cheated him on the primaries down to the final polls…
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To Ron Paul:
Is it possible for one or two people to renounce citizenship of a nation whose policies you do not agree with even though you were born in that country? Well, I am thinking of leaving the United States of America. Yes some of you who still call yourself “Americans” will send hate comments towards me because you believe I am against democracy. Well, to any of you patriots, the Founding Fathers were never democratic.
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