TheStreet.com is doing great reporting on the Secret Service raid against the makers of the Ron Paul Liberty Dollar. Billed as a replacement for our collapsing dollar, the silver coins, which weigh one troy ounce, were sold for each, with being promised to help fund Paul's presidential bid. The gimmick fit in well with Paul's campaign promise to bring back the gold standard of monetary policy in which precious metals would back paper dollars.

Radical Ron. I'm starting to like his movement. If only because it shows that no matter how powerful the powerful get, ideas of secession are still alive, well, and as engrained in our DNA as eye color.

After the raid, the value of the coins skyrocketed from to over 0.  Legally, the Treasury Department lacks a strong case against the manufacturers since the coins were never used as exchangable currency, even if that was the eventual plan. 

Regardless, the traction of the effort to replace our nation's currency really captures for this writer the frustration we are all feeling living within our current 'American' system and that the change we seek may be structural, not political.

bengfisher@gmail.com