…in cocaine and marijuana use (helps explains electing Bush twice, we were all high). This comes as no surprise as we have the most strict anti-drug laws of the 17 countries surveyed. Our pot smoking is two times as high and our coke use is eight times as The Netherlands where these drugs are legal.

Anyone who has studied the effects of prohibitions on cultural behavior would predict this. Just compare alcoholism rates in the States to France where there is no drinking age. As Kerry Howley of Reason rightly points out, when you ban something, you make it taboo. In cultures where booze is part of daily life and isn’t restricted, binge drinking is virtually non-existent as a trend. The same logic holds for less dangerous drugs such as weed and blow. To paraphrase Howley, “Which is sexier, picking up your coke from the pharmacy along with your Paxal or snorting it off some girl’s a** in a nightclub?”

We also have the largest prison population in the world, more than half of which is non-violent drug offenders.

Richard Spencer over at Taki’s Mag regarding Kent Snyder’s role as the “Architect of the Revolution.”

I am happy to report that since coming on board, we have added several exciting speakers and musicians to the line-up for BOTH of the big shows we have in production. Since negotiations are ongoing with as yet unsigned talent, I must keep those names to myself for now, but keep an eye on the Campaign for Liberty website. We will be rolling out more details about this two-day celebration of liberty scheduled for September 1st and 2nd, including a website and a contest to choose a name and theme. (Jeff Frazee has just added an update here)

I have received many e-mails asking about what we plan to do and what we seek to accomplish. Here is the Campaign for Liberty’s working mission statement for St. Paul:

A great spot with Ron Paul on Fox Business news. He makes it clear that the Federal Reserve is responsible for the massive malinvestment that has caused the recent recession, and that real capitalism would create real growth, instead of the current and predicable, bubble and bust cycle:

Justine Lam, former e-campaign director for Ron Paul 2008 writes:

After speaking with Joe Becker, who is in touch with Kent’s family, I’ve started this site to help raise money to pay for Kent Snyder’s medical expenses. He didn’t have medical insurance due to a pre-existing condition. His family really needs our help to pay off the expenses which total more than $400 K.

I know that most of you already have given a lot of funding towards the presidential campaign, and to Campaign for Liberty. Kent’s family really needs our help, and it’d really be appreciated if you can give whatever you can afford.

Please consider contributing to the chip-in to help cover Kent’s medical expenses.  You can do so, as well as read furter reflections on Kent, at http://www.KentSnyder.com.

For those interested, you can listen to the podcast of my interview this morning with Kurt Wallace.

Use this link to listen to it in your browser, or click here to download the entire mp3.

As evident by everyone who has written about Kent since his passing (Don, Jonathan, Matt, Joe Becker, Dr. Paul), he will be missed by many.

As someone fortunate to spend considerable time with Kent over a four month period during the height of the Ron Paul campaign, I was struck by how genuine, kind, thoughtful, dedicated, and dignified Kent Snyder was.  His door was always open to everyone who worked on the campaign.  He was both an inspirational and a calming force, both a great leader and a wonderful listener.

Many know that Kent was instrumental persuading Dr. Paul to form an exploratory committee.  But it is also important to realize that Kent was pivotal in the creation of the successor organization, the Campaign for Liberty. While he won’t be around to see the Campaign for Liberty bear fruit, I hope that it will be come a living memorial to the political value that Kent held highest: liberty.

When we weren’t discussing campaign business I used to talk regularly with Kent about golf (something we both enjoyed), and we would talk about playing a round together after the campaign came to an end.  I never would have guessed that the round would never take place.  Even when he became ill and was hospitalized, I assumed Kent’s inner strength would prevail. Sadly, despite that strength, I was wrong. Looking back, I don’t doubt that his tireless dedication to the campaign he made possible played a role in his passing.

Kent Snyder was a truly special person. May he rest in peace.

Below are details of the memorial service and a scholarship that has been set up in his name:

…..Click here to read more

I wish that my inaugural entry here didn’t have to concern something so tragic, but I wanted to also post a few thoughts on Kent’s passing.

I had the opportunity and pleasure to know Kent for almost three years, starting when I joined Dr. Paul’s congressional office staff as a staff assistant in September, 2005, and Kent was still working as Executive Director of the Liberty Committee. Most of my interaction with him during those initial days centered on helping him get Dr. Paul’s office ready for luncheon meetings of the Liberty Caucus and occasionally taking material to other offices to get more Members of Congress to come. As time passed, I had the chance to talk to him quite a bit, and I have many good memories from that time. (Including Kent’s obsession with the movie V for Vendetta. When it first came out, it was all Kent could talk about, and he repeatedly asked me and everyone else in the office if we had seen it until we finally did!)

About seven months after Kent left the Liberty Committee and took on the job of Campaign Chairman for Dr. Paul’s presidential run, I started talking to him about coming on to work for the campaign as a writer. Coming directly under Kent’s employ presented me with the chance to see up close his tremendous work ethic, as well as his deep commitment to everything having to do with Ron Paul. Debates about the campaign strategy used will rage on for years, but I can tell you that Kent was 100% dedicated to Dr. Paul and his opportunity to win the White House.

My work on the campaign also frequently brought me into encounters with Kent’s editing pen. For him, it was always about the story. From that belief came the “Discover and Imagine” series, where we showcased exactly how Dr. Paul had valiantly stood for individual liberty and responsibility in Congress despite severe opposition. It’s already been noted elsewhere that he had written his M.A. thesis on Dr. Paul, and he hoped to one day use that along with the “Discover, Imagine” material to write a book on Congressman Paul and his record. Kent was at heart, I believe, a writer - he saw everything in stories, and was always curious and seeking to expand his knowledge. His mentoring on writing was invaluable to me, and I doubt I will ever write anything again without utilizing the principles he taught me.

It has also been repeatedly stated in the past few days how Kent was a calm in the storm, and no matter what situation I brought to him (and no matter how much that situation was worrying me at the time), he had a reasoned, logical answer developed from a rational approach. I will miss his friendship deeply. The Revolution will miss his involvement tremendously. Although our victories will be slightly bittersweet because Kent and others who have gone before will not be there to see them, it is their work, leadership, and dedication that brought us to where we are now, and it is only appropriate that we finish the fight for them.