Pawn, as a young child used to celebrate Guy Fawkes night on November 5th, a British holiday commemorating the attempt by Fawks to blow up Whitehall in support of Catholic’s rights. The children in the house make an effigy of Guy Fawkes, and then parade him around the neighborhood, reciting a simple rhyme* and begging “Penny for the Guy, penny for the Guy!” My parents encouraged us to continue this tradition in the US, and we combined it with our annual Unicef fund-raising effort.

Supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) decided to leverage this holiday, and its anti-government theme as a fund raising appeal for their libertarian candidate. Here is what the organizer of this, the largest single-day on-line fund raiser in history had to say about the motivation:

“… this is a country of and by the people…The entire notion of Bush saying he is the decider when 70 or 80 percent of the country wants out of the war is ridiculous. He acts like a dictator.” — Trevor Lyman
ABC News: Victory For Ron Paul: Raises $4.3 Million in 24 Hours

Pawn certainly doesn’t relish a Ron Paul presidency, but likes to see anyone tweak the status quo, and perhaps startle the establishment a bit along the way.

* The version of the rhyme I remember from youth is simply “Please do remember the fifth of November, when poor old Guy Fawkes was reduced to an ember.” Not a very traditional one…