Gone but not forgotten (on the bestseller list)

With Ron Paul's The Revolution number one on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list and number six on Amazon.com's overall bestseller list, I'd say the congressman from Texas isn't going away any time soon. Paul's libertarian-conservative presidential effort may not have caught fire, but he seems to be leaving a political movement in his wake as his legacy. Hopefully, it's a political movement that will help to swell the ranks, coffers and batteries of enthusiasm of the larger libertarian movement.

And that's all for the good.

Given a choice this year between an autocratic militarist who voices overt disdain for America's tradition of skepticism toward government on the one hand, and an economically pink elitist who thinks the federal government just can't spend enough, the best thing that could possibly come out of this year's presidential campaign (unless twin meteors wipe out the two major-party conventions) is a Paul-energized mass movement for small government and personal freedom.

Will it be purist libertarian? Who gives a shit? It'll inevitably be better than the overwhelming state-worship that's stinking up the rest of mainstream American politics.

I'm enjoying this year's chaotic election season, but I'm not looking forward to next inauguration day. It'd be nice to think that the give and take of the current political circus just might pave the way for positive future developments.