Rand Paul takes America back to basics in cause all can support

by

DC Larson              

"There is a consistent, profound consensus among the American people as to the many directions our society must pursue. To be sure, there are consistent and profound differences as well, but the former outweigh the latter and should not be subordinated to them." 

- Ralph Nader, Unstoppable (2014)

To my knowledge, the legendary consumer activist and former presidential aspirant has not officially endorsed any current candidacy. But his insistence that citizens across the ideological spectrum can join to advance common interests is one worth considering in the context of the Rand Paul effort.

(Full disclosure: I was in 2004 the Iowa Coordinator for Nader's independent political campaign, and in 2008 accepted the responsibility of serving as an Iowa Nader elector. I am today an independent and not connected to any candidate.)

One major area where voters of varying stripes can find common cause is preservation of traditional constitutional rights. Throughout U.S. history, these have served to bolster not only individuals but popular movements like the antiwar, women's suffrage, and civil rights one.

Some today misrepresent the "Take Back America" call as urging national return to discriminatory thinking and codes long since rightly discarded.

But to me, and doubtless to many others, "Take Back America" means to remember and restore the national ideals and Constitutional guarantees that have for centuries defined our country and helped make it great. These have in recent years been eroded.

Examples spring: The First Amendment's promise of free speech is now stifled by laws punishing expression. The right to bear arms enunciated in the Second Amendment has been chipped away at by innumerable governmental restrictions. 

Rand Paul is alone among major presidential nomination candidates in standing as a strong advocate for the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of law-abiding citizens' rights to be left alone by the government. To live in liberty, without the shadow of Big Brother surveillance. (Democrat Bernie Sanders has also spoken on this issue, though less often and less vigorously than Paul.)

As a U.S. senator, Rand Paul has a long history of advocating for citizens' Constitutional rights. For years, he stood against those who pushed for Patriot Act and National Security Agency indiscriminate, warrantless spying on all citizens.

Most recently, Sen. Paul conducted a marathon senate floor filibuster against government surveillance that illustrated his genuine passion for liberty and set him far above his fellows. Broadcast by CSPAN, his action was inspirational in an era too often unappreciative of long-standing Constitutional safeguards and eager to discard them in favor of supposed security.

Advocacy of traditional freedoms and guarantees should unite Americans across lines of political partisanship. It's bigger than parties. And we all have a stake in the fight.

Rand Paul merits recognition and support for tirelessly championing traditional civic values and Constitutional rights and liberties that, if eroded, would be all but impossible to restore.

His cause is ours, also. 

Waterloo's DC Larson is a science fiction novelist, blogger, and freelance journalist. Previously on the staffs of Rockabilly and Pin Up America magazines, he has contributed writings to Daily Caller, Counterpunch, Huffington Post, American Thinker, Independent Political Report, and Opednews.com,, among others. Newspaper credits include USA Today and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He served as Iowa Coordinator for Ralph Nader's 2004 presidential campaign.