Regarding Alex's recent post about Ron Paul, I think Paul's recent actions are more about legacy than about Paul's current political aspirations.

The man will be 76 when the next election comes around and he hasn't come out and said he'll run for president for 2012. Who would elect a 76 year old man when they wouldn't elect the better, 72 year old version in 2008?

And so, instead of continuing to talk about how right he was regarding the economy, he's let others do that and is setting up a legacy of his career in the event he gets elected out of office, or gets too old/weak to run. This involves some tough choices and some odd partnerships; hence, Chuck Baldwin and changing churches. There really aren't many with the common sense of Ron Paul out there in politics, who for years unapologetically shouted at whoever would listen about the virtues of a lean banking system and protecting constitutional freedoms (read: American culture) instead of entitlements. Interestingly, he's done this despite unsubstantiated cries of "racism" from the crowd, who would rather see entitlements protected than basic rights for all - but guarantees for none.

Ron Paul's blog at house.gov/paul is still valuable reading for any American citizen who cares to stay involved in the political process. You get weekly updates from the Congressman himself on relevant issues making their way through Congress.

Who Paul buddies up to today is one thing, but some basic facts about his policies remain:

• He wants an audit of the fed and an overhaul of our banking system with more transparency - not so the average joe gets transparency to our banking system but so that our own leaders can speak intelligently about the state of that banking system.
• He wants to pull back our unnecessary military operations and revamp where we spend our resources abroad.
• He's a medical doctor who knows that gov't intervention in health care would be an absolute disaster.
• He wants the federal government to limit its involvement in our daily lives, and let states run most functions by themselves. He says this not to get people riled up about control conspiracies, but rather because that's what the leaders who built our country envisioned.

It shouldn't matter to most what religion Paul is; in fact, the irrelevance of his religion is part of his political philosophy. I could ask similarly irrelevant questions, such as, do we even know Obama was born in this country, or which God he bows to? Does anyone care? Not really, they just care about the (empty) promises. At least Paul would follow through on his.