These facts will necessarily put me in conflict with both the state and the federal government. They will seek to use their power to bully me into submission. And while I will pick my battles carefully, I will not succumb. I will not accept, embrace, or agree to their agenda or its underlying principles.

I am not running this virtual campaign for political power. I am not running this virtual campaign to be able to tell you how to live your life. I am running this virtual campaign because I don't want anyone telling me how to live my life. I value freedom--the freedom to choose my values and pursue them as I judge best. This is a selfish desire, and for it to be a reality, all individuals must be free to do the same. I am not a hypocrite. I do not claim certain rights for myself, but deny them to others. I do not believe that public officials are above the law or anointed with special wisdom.

The inevitable conflict between my administration and the state and federal governments will test the will of both myself and all Houstonians. We will be cast as pariahs. We will be labeled as anti-American. We will be threatened.

America's Founding Fathers endured such trials and tribulations. They were labeled traitors and faced death if captured by the British. But they were men of character and conviction, and such threats and dangers did not deter them. At the risk of being melodramatic, Houston will be like the American colonies in 1776--a lonely bastion of freedom surrounded by hostile and powerful enemies.

Our Founding Fathers did not cower in the face of threats, nor will I. The powers that be would have us lick their boots for the privilege of serving them. We must declare that we serve no one but ourself, that neither Austin or Washington is our master. No man was born to serve another. No man has a right to dispose of the property or life of another.

Each individual has a moral right to live his life in the pursuit of his own values without intervention from others, so long as he respects their mutual rights. Each individual has a moral right to pursue his own happiness. Government's purpose is to protect this right. These were the principles of the American Revolution.

This election is about a fundamental choice: for whom should you live your life? Should you live for others, sacrificing your dreams and money to the demands of City Hall, your neighbors, and the bum on the corner? Or should you live for yourself and your values? Should you grovel at the feet of those who would be your master, or stand proud as free men and women?