Guy Fawkes, the 5th of November, Ron Paul & $4.2 Million

Noteworthy Ron Paul news:

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, aided by an extraordinary outpouring of Internet support Monday, hauled in more than $4.2 million in nearly 24 hours.

Paul, the Texas congressman with a libertarian tilt and an out-of-Iraq pitch, entered heady fundraising territory with a surge of Web-based giving tied to the commemoration of Guy Fawkes Day.

Fawkes was a British mercenary who failed in his attempt to kill King James I on Nov. 5, 1605. He also was the model for the protagonist in the movie "V for Vendetta." Paul backers motivated donors on the Internet with mashed-up clips of the film on the online video site YouTube as well as the Guy Fawkes Day refrain: "Remember, remember the 5th of November." - Associated Press

Who's giving from among the 21,000 new donors, according to USA Today?

• The "Old Right," [such as] Robert Taft and Barry Goldwater Republicans.
• Gun-rights supporters (... Paul [is] "probably the strongest supporter of Second Amendment rights in the Congress").
• Progressives who want to end the Iraq war and are "sick of what they're getting from the Democrats."
• Social conservatives who oppose abortion.

This coming from Ron Paul spokesman Jesse Benton. Notice that last contingent?

The article also states that Ron Paul is "an outspoken opponent of abortion and the war in Iraq, and wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service."

A clarification from the Ron Paul camp in the NYT:

Mr. Paul did not support blowing up government buildings. “He wants to demolish things like the Department of Education,” Mr. Benton said, “but we can do that very peacefully, in a constructive manner.”

For my part, I feel it's almost obligatory as the AmericanPapist to laud the Ron Paul campaign's choice to embrace a famous papist plot as a spur to their own endeavours, but sadly certain inescapable historical particulars make such a reckless blanket endorsement from me far from laudable.

If you want a more intellectual treatment of this particular question, however, Catholics for Ron Paul has several excellent posts on the topic. See? This is why CFRP is such a useful endeavor. Praise and encouragement to all my fellow contributors. And let's continue to honestly discuss Ron Paul and the merits of his candidacy and platform.