This was an historic day. One man stood against a powerful TV newsman, his show and all its researchers, and triumphed. Watch it and here’s the transcript.

Tim Russert is known as an hard questioner, by establishment standards, but even when he is actually being tough—as with Rudy Giuliani—the guest gets some softballs, and plenty of time to answer the hardballs.

Ron Paul got no softballs, and little time, as Russert asked him question after question after questions, fed to him by his staff, with only a few moments for Ron. Yet he swatted the arrows away.

Originally, Russert had announced that Ron would be on for an hour. Then just before airtime, he said 16 minutes. Yet Ron was on for more than twice that, with no commercial breaks. Obviously the director knew hot television when he saw it. He also knew that this show marked a ratings-high for Meet the Press, at least in the Russert era.There were many highlights. Here are a few: Russert’s pretend-incredulity at Ron’s opposition to empire. The US has been occupying Korea since Ron was in high school. But what about a North Korean invasion of South Korea? As Ron pointed out, the US has prevented a rapprochement between the two Koreas. Like all empires, it divides to rule.

But what if Iran invades Israel? What if Iran invades Mars, Ron responded. Iran is a poor country with no offensive military power; Israel is a rich country with hundreds of thermonuclear weapons and long-distance bombers and missiles. And yes, Ron wants to cut off all foreign aid to Israel, and the Arabs and everyone else—none of it is constitutional–and allow Israel and other countries to run their own affairs. Indeed, Israel’s independence is compromised by US foreign aid and the control enforced. Russert then denied that any elements of the Israeli government have wanted the US to bomb Iran but Ron is right, of course.

Russert tried to accuse Ron of being a big spender(!) over the earmark question. But this is like accusing him of the same crime for getting a poor constituent food stamps. He does not vote for food stamps, but he is a representative.

Earmarks do not increase public-works spending, which he votes against. But they do allocate it—away from the executive dictatorship, and to the legislature. This is in accord with the Constitution. More here.

I also liked Russert’s claim that Ron’s desire to amend the constitution to eliminate the abuse of birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. Amending the constitution, Ron explained, is constitutional!

Russert was astonished that Ron, like Barry Goldwater, opposeds the 1964 civil rights act. It’s a federal powergrab that has nothing to do with equal rights, he said, but rther an attack on privte property rights that has led to a day when the feds can tell a restaurant owner whether a man can smoke a cigar or not.

And what about Lincoln and his war? It wasn’t necessary to kill 650,000 people to free the slaves, said Ron. We could have done it peacefully, like other countries, and kept the original republic of the founders, rather than replacing it with a centralized leviathan. Imagine Lincoln as a campaign issue? Actually, of course, it is the issue of aggressive war and executive aggrandizement.

Then there was Ron’s calm explanation of the US move towards fascism. Really, has there been as eloquent and courageous a libertarian public figure in American or any other country’s history? I don’t believe so.

Russert avoided the Fed and the dropping dollar and the economic crisis, as well as Iraq–subjects the elites don’t want Ron raising. Still, Russert was not as vicious—despite all the misquotes and distortions and ancient history—and here’s why. It turns that Russert’s son, like the children of many of the elite, and far more of the middle and working classes—is a Ron Paul Revolutionary. Tim, better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.