Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Opinion

'If you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek," says the mysterious figure in the Guy Fawkes mask, "then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot."

Then the Big-Brother-style screen goes blank and he disappears back into the totalitarian England envisioned so vividly by V for Vendetta.

The fifth of November, of course, marks the date in 1605 on which Fawkes' plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament was thwarted. I found the film's symbolism ponderous and over-the-top; nevertheless, its popularity underscores just how alive and well the spirit of Guy Fawkes is today.

The most audacious attempt in recent memory to cash in on Fawke's anti-establishment cachet came on Monday, when Texas Congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raised $4.2 million for his primary campaign. Paul smashed the record for the most money donated online to a political campaign in a 24-hour period and also enjoyed the highest-grossing day for any Republican candidate thus far.

His astounding success resulted from a fundraising effort best described as "money-bombing." It works basically like this: Grass-roots organizers get a large number of people to pledge to donate on a specific day for maximum impact. Thus, a Web site sprung up a few weeks ago instructing Paul supporters to each give $100 to the campaign on Guy Fawkes Day 2007.

Initially, organizers hoped that 100,000 people would take part, for a total of $10 million. However, the final numbers - 38,000 donors contributing just over $100 on average - are still staggering for a candidate who, according to the conventional wisdom, has no chance at winning the nomination.

What's striking is how well Paul's message meshes with the rhetoric of V for Vendetta. All politicians must shape or be shaped by a campaign narrative. Hillary is capable but cold; Obama is intelligent but lacks experience; Giuliani is, well, 9/11.

Paul has now irrevocably positioned himself as the revolutionary candidate, a contemporary Guy Fawkes. If all goes as planned, he will ride a wave of anti-establishment support into Washington where his libertarian policies will "blow up" the entrenched ruling class. In short, a central motif of his campaign is political terror. As journalist and Penn professor Al Filreis blogged this past Tuesday:

"I'm fascinated. Terrorism as libertarianism. It makes some sense (and always has made sense as a matter of domestic politics [think Oklahoma City])."

Few would argue that Paul's beliefs are insufficiently drastic for this analogy to work. Immediate withdrawal from Iraq, the abolition of the IRS and a return to the gold standard are key planks in his platform. Paul consistently claims, with some merit, that he is nothing more than a throwback to the non-interventionist, small-government ideals of the founders.

Given the gargantuan scope of government today, however, Paul is as radical as they come. And this explains his appeal to the libertarian right, which, as Filreis notes, "has been driven nuts by all the Big Government entailed in the neo-cons' response to 9/11."

To extend Filreis' initial point, Timothy McVeigh destroyed the Murrah Federal Building with a truck full of ammonium nitrate; Ron Paul would eliminate every agency inside and sell it to private investors.

Congressman Paul will hold a rally on Independence Mall in Philadelphia this Saturday. The setting makes for a local, comfortable symbolism. There will be talk of life, of liberty, of the pursuit of happiness. His supporters, myself included, will cheer the undeniable power of this 70-year-old obstetrician.

As College sophomore Michelle Potter puts it: "I was transformed from being completely disillusioned with politics to finding a candidate that I could truly support."

But the rest of America will take little notice. They hear the tired narratives and formulaic phrases, and they yawn. Jefferson's Declaration has lost its power; we have forgotten how radical it actually is.

What can capture the imagination is terror, the image of Guy Fawkes holding the fuse or V wielding his twin knives. Restraint in a time of absurdity is no virtue. If Ron Paul wishes to be relevant on the next fifth of November, he would do well to remember the lessons of Monday's success. Otherwise, he will be forgotten.

---

Stephen Krewson is a College sophomore from Schenectady, NY. Her e-mail address is krewson@dailypennsylvanian.com. The Parthian Shot appears on Thursdays.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools