And dammit I miss Atlas!
He was a character. Don't assume his actor isn't still here.
is your ron paul avatar stuck there since we can't add avatars right now, or are you still repping Ron Paul?
Mostly lazyness. In another year I'll change it to a Rand Paul 2016 avatar. I've met Rand, but not his father. Really nice guy, and taller than he looks on tv. I've also met Dennis Kucinich, who is also a fine fellow, but is much shorter than he appears on tv.
In fact, I've shaken the hands of several current and former politicos. Not all of them struck me as fine people. Have you ever had the feeling, upon meeting someone for the first time, of this strange sensation that you would be wise to never be in the presence of this person without witnesses? I most certainly have, and most of the time this was when I was meeting either a politican for the first time, or a violent convict. One such person is the current US representative in my own district. He gave me the creeps.
Ron Paul is a fantastic human being and a statesman in the most honourable sense of the word. The sad thing is, is that he is (was) just doing his job. He was performing as everyone who holds similar office SHOULD perform. The reason that he is lauded is because he was virtually the only one in Congress to have done his job properly. The whole world should be full of "Ron Pauls", but alas it is not. At least, those voices are not the loudest.
I've had the pleasure of talking to him and shaking his hand, and have met his son as well (before he became a political figure).
Several years ago, I advised Rand to run for Senate, and I'm certainly glad that he took my advice.
I'll go ahead and take credit for his (future) Presidency too, while I'm at it, just in case!
Like his father says "be careful; you just might win!"....
EDIT: and regarding Atlas - I would like to think that I would immediately recognize such a figure, if he were still here, but I wouldn't mind being wrong, just to have him around! He certainly made his mark here.
