“Behave yourself and be polite” is how Representative Ron Paul describes his regulatory philosophy about rearing five children. Mr. Paul, a Republican, and his wife of 53 years, Carol, never believed in assigned chores or mandates.

They did not give out allowances, which they viewed as a parental version of a government handout. They did not believe in strict curfews; Mr. Paul says that unintended consequences — like speeding home to beat the clock — can result from excessive meddling from a central authority.

While Mr. Paul’s laissez-faire views produced a family of likeminded thinkers — “We’re all on board,” says the oldest son, Ronnie Paul — they inspired the middle child, Rand, to follow his father’s career path, first into medicine and now politics. If he prevails in November after winning the Republican nomination for a Senate seat in Kentucky last month, he and his father would form a two-man libertarian dynasty.

Father and son are described as each other’s political sounding boards, confidants and support systems. “Dad and Rand spent hours having great philosophical discussions about issues,” said Joy Paul Leblanc, the youngest sibling.

“Everyone always said, ‘If anyone runs for anything, it will be Rand,’ ” the congressman said.

The two Pauls have similar economic ideologies, overlapping organizations and Internet-based fund-raising apparatuses. The elder Mr. Paul, 74, dispensed behind-the-scenes advice during his son’s bid for the Senate seat, in which he upset the favorite, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

In an interview with The NY Times, Dr. Paul, the two-time libertarian presidential candidate, referred to his son’s campaign as “our race.” When his son faced criticism recently over comments that some interpreted as skeptical of federal civil rights laws, the congressman was shaken.

Rand Paul, 47, has described his father as his political hero. But he is quick to emphasize that he has never been dependent on him. “I think my dad has helped me tremendously,” he said in a joint interview with his father for a Kentucky television station this year. “But the only way I win is on my own two feet.”

He decided to go into politics despite his lineage as much as because of it, family members said. “Ron believes that you are not supposed to initiate force on anyone else,” Mrs. Paul said. Her husband promoted self-reliance in his children, and their choices and views flowed from that, she said.

Friends of the family describe a traditional household with early American décor and the frequent aroma of Mrs. Paul’s chocolate chip cookies, if not fish sticks. They have lived since July 4, 1968, in the same middle-class enclave of Lake Jackson, where the streets are named for trees, flowers and fauna (the Pauls live on Blossom). They owned a series of collies (Julie, Kippy and Cricket) and a Maltese (Liberty), and the kids were expected, though not required, to feed the pooches, make their own beds, clear their own dishes from the table and not talk back to their elders.

As a member of Congress, Dr. Paul spent most of his time in Washington, upon returning to Texas he often crisscrossed his sprawling district attending political events. At home, he prized the solitude of his lawnmower. Mrs. Paul was a stay-at-home mom, longtime Girl Scout troop leader and self-described “busybody” who prided herself on knowing exactly what everyone was doing. If a child misbehaved, her husband did not spank or yell. Instead, he gave them written assignments, “He believed in exercising the brain.”

Ron Paul said he was not philosophically opposed to centralized authority, as long as it existed close to home, or within it. “We didn’t say the kids could do anything they wanted,” he said.

“They were a very Brady Bunch-type American family,” said Eric Dondero, a longtime former aide to Ron Paul. “As different as their politics are, their personal life was very normal.”

A strong libertarian bent ran through the Paul brood, and there are no apparent outliers. “Once you learn about the broken monetary policy, there is no other way,” said Ronnie Paul, a retired engineer at Dow Chemical in nearby Freeport. “We believe that stealing from people is not good, whether you’re the government or whether you have a mask on your face.”

Rand particularly absorbed the family ethic of exerting his free will. Though never rebellious, he sometimes bristled at being given too many directions. As a junior in high school, his mother recalled, he got a paper back from a geometry teacher that, while largely correct, was filled with what he considered to be unnecessary red marks. He walked into the principal’s office and asked to be moved into another class. “He and that teacher were not on the same wavelength,” said Mrs. Paul, who added that she and her husband supported Rand’s actions. “Rand was someone who took care of his own problems.”

As a teenager, he studied the Austrian economists that his father revered, as well as the iconic free-market novelist and philosopher, Ayn Rand (she was not the inspiration for Rand’s name, which is short for Randall; he was called Randy growing up).

Rand walked door to door in support of his father’s first Congressional race, in 1974, and while a student at Baylor University, he helped in his father’s unsuccessful Senate race against Phil Gramm in 1984. (When Ron Paul had to be in Washington for a Congressional vote, Rand stepped in for him in a debate against Mr. Gramm — it was his first public speaking appearance). Rand would take it upon himself to organize the other family members on neighborhood walking tours, canvasses and appearances.

“We would all be home for a big Christmas dinner,” his father said. “And Rand would be talking politics. He educated himself on politics in ways that I’ve never even cared about.”

More recently, Rand traveled to several states in 2008 on behalf of his father’s insurgent campaign for the Republican nomination — an enterprise that gained surprising traction at the grass roots and brought in over $35 million in campaign donations.

Mr. Paul was loath to guide his five children in any vocational direction, although three of them followed him into careers in medicine. (Rand is an ophthalmologist, who like his father attended Duke University Medical School and is often referred to as Dr. Paul by his staff and supporters; Joy is an obstetrician-gynecologist, and Robert is a family doctor.)

The father was insistent about allowing his children as much autonomy as possible and he believed, for instance, that economic subsidies (like allowances) could foster dependence. He discouraged Rand or any of his siblings from accepting financial aid to attend college, nor would he accept Medicare or Medicare payments from patients, calling it “stolen money” in a 1996 interview with The Austin American-Statesman. (Rand Paul, however, was criticized recently for opposing cuts to Medicare physician payments.)

While Ron Paul supports his son’s Senate campaign, his participation has been noticeably arms-length, owing to a concern that his views might be too outside the mainstream for a general electorate, particularly on foreign policy. He has suggested, for example, that the United States needs to explore Al Qaeda’s motives. “Nobody wants to talk about the motive,” he said last January. “But it’s out there, it’s laid on a platter. Bin Laden writes of it.”

When asked whether anyone told him to keep his distance from Kentucky, the elder Mr. Paul said: “I’ve got a life to lead. I have a job. And when I’m off, I want to be in Texas.”

He added that there are perils for political heirs relying too heavily on their patrons. “It can be very dangerous when somebody thinks they inherit these things,” he said.

Family members say the congressman has been shaken by the recent storm his son has faced over remarks in which he seemed to take issue, on libertarian grounds, with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

At the outset of an interview on Capitol Hill, Mr. Paul placed the controversy — “the agitation,” he called it — off limits. But then he immediately referred to a recent column supportive of his son in the Congressional newspaper, The Hill, and volunteered that he had just telephoned the column’s author, Lanny Davis, a Clinton White House aide, to thank him.

Mr. Davis said, “I heard a father’s concern more than I did any political concern,” and described the conversation as emotional.

Mr. Paul conceded that it is easier to be the candidate under attack than to be a family member of one. “No matter how well you arm yourself, no matter how well you know the system,” he said in the interview, “it really hurts when it’s your son.”

I want to tell you about my Christmas. I was sitting at home watching the news with my family when the news started talking about the health care bill which passed the Senate. I was irate. My wife and kids have put up with my yelling and screaming at the television quite often this year.

I think my wife was tired of hearing it when she said “why don’t you do something about it.” I laughed to myself, there is nothing I can do to fix this mess. I was so disappointed. I started up the computer to look for the next Tea Party Event!

I replied, “Things will be different when I am in charge.”

My daughter then chimed in. “You always tell us if we do not like something change it.”

At about the same time she said this, my email program popped up and there it was, a letter from the Libertarian Party looking for candidates. I thought about it and laughed. Then thought about it some more. I think I found my answer. I can protest at the tea parties, but that does not accomplish anything, they ignore or marginalize those at these events. If I am a candidate, they have to listen to my and my views.

I filled out the form, notarized it and now I am running for the 8th congressional district in the great state of Texas. I have no idea how to do this now, but I am determined to bring commonsense into the election process and the congress of the United States.

I am a working man; I live paycheck to paycheck, so this is going to be a really cheap campaign. I will try to use the Internet and my website to generate votes. I will even go door to door.

My goal is to win, but I will be satisfied if all I accomplish is to get people to think outside of their own little box. From what I have seen so far, nobody ventures out of their box anymore. When we judge our government, we judge our government by what it has done for us. We should be asking what our government has done for the country.

Currently, our congress is answering to the left or to the right. They are both extreme points of view.

The Left wants no religion in government, the right wants a government controlled by religion. I, and the Libertarians want a government that protects both of those views without getting involved.

The Right wants to do nothing about health care (but bitch) and the Left wants health care for all. I and the Libertarians want reduced health care cost. We also want to make the decisions on how to take care of our own bodies and the health of our children.

The Left wants to hand our money to those in need. The Right wants to do nothing and pretend the problem does not exist. I and the Libertarians want to make meaningful change and allow those in need to climb out of there situation. Private charities should be encouraged to make meaningful change (and for the record this does not mean giving blankets to charity).

The Left wants to teach sex in schools. The Right want to teach God and religion. I and the Libertarians want the schools to teach reading, writing and math. Job skills and education.

It is time for us to focus on the issues. Not only does congress need to change, we need to change what we are asking our congress to do. We need to stop evaluating our accomplishments as great steps and take care of the little problems. We need to use standard problem solving to correct root causes, not throw money at something only to make it worse.

I want to inform voters that they do not have to vote for a candidate they do not like or support. They do not have to vote at all. Our votes are the only voice we have to officially tell our congressman he is doing well. Or to replace him. Never waste your vote by sending the wrong message. Do not encourage your congressman to lie to you during the election year because he thinks he has you convinced that he has changed.

My website is www.brucewestforcongress.com If you have a chance, check it out.

My email: bruceforcongress(AT)yahoo(dot)com

The Glenn Beck’s and Sean Hannity’s of the Republican party have been trying to capture the momentum created by the truly independent outrage of the average American. Big government and big corporations have teamed up on both sides of the aisle and now there are people who want to profit from the backlash.

Our growing discontent sewed it’s seeds under the Bush administration, but America has been off course for much longer than just ten years. The promises of perpetual war and an ever increasing size and scope of government has led to such great things as the “Patriot” Act, warrantless wiretapping, and the loss of more freedom and liberty since Orwell wrote 1984.

Homeland Insecurity

Today snapping a photo on the sidewalk can land you not in jail with a court date and trial of your peers, it goes much further than that. You will be indefinitely detained, questioned and held without recourse, only to be released on your way with no charges or record your encounter whatsoever. Until the next time you try to board a plane when you will find out that photography lands you Homeland Security watch list A.

My own father has been identified to be on one of these list, when he was pulled out of line for an enhanced search. A Caucasian, conservative, tax-paying american, who has never even left the country, and never drove over the speed limit is pulled aside to be put through the full spectrum of interrogation and harassment, because the lists must be “balanced”. Meanwhile an Islamic African national with no passport, luggage, or identification, and who had been identified as extremists by his own family, is waved through security with a wink and a nod. Oops looks like that guy was actually the one who had the bomb.

For a brief moment there was Hope that war in the middle east may be coming to an end, but now we are seeing the beginning of a new war in Yemen, and the civil unrest in Iran is only the beginning. Obama had campaigned on a promise to return freedom and liberty to America, he promised Change from the Bush policies, but today we have seen things only become worse. Full body scans are needed to enter an airport, no one may use the restroom the last hour of the flight, and we are made to fear water bottles, toothpaste, books, and all forms of boxes in general.

We are made to fear the great “Al Qaeda” ghost and pray that our we can be saved from these terrorist by our loving government. Both parties are playing this card to its fullest extent, but those who cannot run a used car exchange program certainly cannot deliver us from evil.

“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

The Two ‘Party’ Party

The champions of the Tea Party movement, posing as conservatives and libertarians, are doing their best to stop the “Obama Socialism Express” but meanwhile boast the greatness of Bush administration. Regular guests and friends on the Sean Hannity show include Karl Rove and Darth Vader himself, Dick Cheaney. The same ones who brought us the Haliburton war’s and backwater “contractor” assassins.

Now people are led to believe that they have a “Plan” for victory.

The neo-cons are trying desperately to reign in those who stray from the two party system. Every day on every program the fox radio broadcasters stress how important it is to keep our beloved 2 party system intact. Without it there will be the complete destruction of American values and morals and the other team will win.

Communism or Fascism; those are you choices, don’t think for a minute that you could have anything different.

The kind of victory they have in mind is quite different from what I have in mind.

Obama’s team of Mao loving communists are just as deadly to the constitution as Bush was. Obama’s team is possibly even more dangerous. Obama is more authoritarian, more ego-centric, and far more persuasive than Bush could ever have dreamed of being. A combination that makes for a Supreme Dictator.

The Train Has Been Derailed

The neo-cons have championed the Tea Party Train and have now derailed it completely. The movement was grown out of the Ron Paul 2008 “Campain For Liberty”. We are the people who wanted neither their “prosperity nor security” at least not in the ways our two parties have proposed to give it to us.

The left promises prosperity by giving us everyone else’s money, and the right promises security by taking away everyone else’s liberty.

We can only have prosperity AND security where there is Freedom and Liberty.

NO REPRESENTATION WITHOUT TAXATION

GOP party organizers are now throwing extravagant “Tea Party” fundraisers, dinners with a pricetag of $1600 dollars per plate.

Many of us who had no money had created a true populist movement that swept across the country. Now in the course of just a few months we have allowed all of that power to be taken from us and given back in to the hands of those who rightfully deserve it. The wealthy elite, who can afford to buy their freedom.

Enemy Of My Enemy

Every Fox News pundit now miraculously has been converted, they now claim to be either “conservative” or “liberterian” but somehow are also for bombing countries that have fewer people than we have cars and may God help you if you speak poorly of Mr. Bush on one of their shows.

Do not confuse the enemy of our enemy for a friend. They will point out with professional accuracy the flaws on the other side of the aisle, in an attempt to bring you back to theirs.

We are now left with only two choices, grow or die. Every living organism exists in only two states, growth or decay. We must increase our size until we outnumber both parties or disband and assimilate back into the two parties and hope and pray we can steer the ship back to sanity.

2010 is here, and the deadline is coming upon us very fast. 11 months to create a real third party movement or be assimilated into your choice of Globalist Commie’s or War Hungry Neo-Con Fascistas.

It’s time to get off your computer, go out of your house, campaign, organize, raise money, grow the party, and make lots of noise. Victory goes to whoever wants it the most, which is why we have allowed our movement to be hijacked.

The theme for 2010 is GROW OR DIE.

“Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth” – George Washington