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Yeah, yeah, I know Ron Paul has no chance of getting elected. But a lot of disaffected people had pinned their hopes on his in-their-faces approach to the standard Republican party line during the debates, supporting him without really knowing him (Of course, how many voted for Bush without really understanding what he stood for and look at what a nightmare we got?). Paul’s beliefs may be further away from what even his detractors ever imagined.
According to the author on NPR today, Paul responded that the newsletters with his name on the top were published by others. For a decade. Doesn’t say much for his keeping on top of things being put out as coming from or approved by him. When he was quoted things from them, he disavowed only the ‘worst’ parts. Riiiight… How convenient.
If you are a critic of the Bush administration, chances are that, at some point over the past six months, Ron Paul has said something that appealed to you. Paul describes himself as a libertarian, but, since his presidential campaign took off earlier this year, the Republican congressman has attracted donations and plaudits from across the ideological spectrum.
[…]
They were published under a banner containing Paul’s name, and the articles (except for one special edition of a newsletter that contained the byline of another writer) seem designed to create the impression that they were written by him–and reflected his views. What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing–but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics.
Here’s one editorial about all this that touches on the other side of the argument.
If ron paul does not become president america is doomed
Is Ron Paul A Racist, Homophobic, Conspiracy Nut Wolf In Libertarian Sheep’s Clothing?
Ain’t there a question mark at the end? And Ron Paul is of no threat. Why would anyone bother searing him?
Come on guys, we all know these people trying to smear Ron and trying to put bad PR upon him. All of the allegations are bogus if you research. Made up by the establishment because they fear him.
#30 – Sorry dude, but if a Dem gets in it’ll get worse. If you’re voting Dem, you’ve only voting for how you want it to be worse.
I’m not a big fan of the guy, but this is obviously just a case of a weirdo writing for a magazine carrying his name. You know, kind of like the weirdos writing for this blog carrying Dvorak’s name? Some people still seem to think all of the posts on this website are written by Dvorak himself. How you could fail to see the comparison astounds me.
If only we could get a Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich/Alex Jones ticket. Then we could call the mother ship and get them all beamed up at once.
Why is Alex Jones on the ticket? Ah, er…balance. Hey it makes as much sense as the prisonplanet theory that supremacists and separatists blew up those buildings on 9/11.
Jdeb said,
Come on people, its a hit piece and you all know it.
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Apparently the IDIOTS that run this site don’t know.
Uncle Dave touting an article from the New Republic? Politics does make for strange bed fellows. Pawn.
Uncle Dave you have a choice, take the RED pill i.e. watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQxB5VKWlfg
Or, take the blue pill…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idNiuIGpasU
I love the defense that this is a smear job. Yep everyone is gunning for the 5 th place finisher. He needs to be stop! Forget McCain or Huckabee we need to go after the goofy racist libertarian before his return Gold Standard platform gets to much traction.
Gee Uncle Dave. Did you stick something in that rat nest they call Paulies? Or are they Paulites?
I am always amazed at how some wing nuts can defend their hero from the idiotic things said hero has done.
I my role as standyby pot-stirrer, I’ll mention exactly which of Paul’s takes on the issues resulted in the thoroughly dishonest ‘racist’ slur.
It’s a sad commentary on the level of public discourse in modern America that candidates can be, as Paul has been, intimidated into avoiding discussion of certain issues for fear of a bombardment of vicious ad hominem attacks.
Paul, and mainstream Libertarians, oppose Affirmative Action. They feel, and I agree, that it is evil, destructive, racist discrimination that has long since outlived any usefulness it may’ve ever had.
That’s the reason for the “Paul is a racist” slur. It is a lie. Being against racial discrimination does not make one a racist except by the process of PC doublethink. Colorblind policies and a level playing field are necessary to progress. Discriminating against people of skin color ‘A’ is exactly as bad as discriminating against people of skin color ‘B’. Use all the doubletalk you want, it’s still racism, and you don’t eliminate racism by promoting and continuing it.
• • • •
BTW, I am not a Paulite. I toyed briefly w/ Libertarianism a couple decades ago. It didn’t take long to spot the terminal naïveté of the idea of freeing businesses of regulation. Corporations are already dangerously out of control and manage to escape critical accountability under our current “oppressive” “anti-competitive” levels of govt oversight. The horrors they would visit on the populace without govt intervention are inconceivable. Corporations exist only to serve themselves and lack morals, ethics and scruple. Only fools would let them off the puny leash we have them on now… No, no Mr. Paul for me, thx.
Ron Paul says he is not “racist” well David Duke says he is not “racist”.
How do you define racist?
I think Dr. Paul is aware the Jews have a Racial Supremacist Religion and the rest of us don’t.
The anti-semitism is another matter. And it’s as Texan as pecan pie.
If only the Ron Pauler’s would vote in the same numbers that they do when calling into shows, straw polls, online polls, etc. On primary day, they seem to be MIA.
Why argue about this? Only someone who’s the big candidate nominee from one of the two big money parties will get elected.
First, imagine how many people will vote, then imagine going “Jaywalking” with Jay Leno: “Hi, 21 yr. old. Who is Ron Paul?” “Uh, rock band from Seattle?”
Might as well go change that transmission fluid and sort your sock drawer as argue about stuff like this.
This is another slander campaign against one of the most consistent politicians who regardless of the pressure does not waiver from his strong values. He is not a bigot! Uncle Paul- you Sir are no credible journalist- why are you giving into the propaganda that he is not credible then irresponsibly spreading this hogwash – in a blog you have no right publishing such garbage. Then to invoke fiction as fact is poor judgement. What does this statement mean?…………..
“Paul’s beliefs may be further away from what even his detractors ever imagined.” Can you please in the future do some homework. Get a clue. Go back to Journalism school and learn not to print biased articles and present your own material before quoting a propaganda article. The neo-con are unfortunately convincing the masses and manipulating all aspects of our lives and the people are letting this happen. Don’t you have any integrity? If you have any gusto, you would retract this, actually read something on the history on a true patriot – Ron Paul , and fight the battle all Americans with a brain dont seem to relize yet – we are trapped and if we dont fight now, the Self-governing, our independence,we lose our sovereign state – lost , the freedom is lost, the powerful win and the people will lose there right to fight. We truly have reached a critical time.
The newsletter ran throughout the 1990’s, and even earlier. The archives are at the University of Kansas and the University of Wisconsin Historical Society, where they are collected with neo-nazi and and other such literature — long before Paul thought of running for national office.
One sympathetic Paul supporter and UW philosophy prof writes about the fiasco at http://lesterhhunt.blogspot.com/2008/01/ron-paul-and-that-new-republic-piece.html. He notes that the newsletter was produced from the late 1970’s through the 1990’s, and that the offensive lines were penned between 1988 and 1996, when Paul was back in private medical practice. Prof. Hunt brings up some good arguments against Kirchick’s article, but he also brings up the most salient question:
If Paul shut down the newsletter, why did it take him some seven years to do it? If Paul really didn’t agree with what was being written in his name, the person running his newsletter obviously got that position via some proximity to Paul, and Paul let the writing go on like that for some time. At best, it shows a disturbing lack of oversight, at worst, it shows a passive-aggressive agreement with some ideas the majority of the electorate find odious.
But in no sense is it as large a case as Kirchick makes it, and in no sense is it as easily dismissed as the Paulites make it.
The newsletter ran throughout the 1990’s, and even earlier. The archives are at the University of Kansas and the University of Wisconsin Historical Society, where they are collected with neo-nazi and and other such literature — long before Paul thought of running for national office.
One sympathetic Paul supporter and UW philosophy prof writes about the fiasco at http://lesterhhunt.blogspot.com/2008/01/ron-paul-and-that-new-republic-piece.html. He notes that the newsletter was produced from the late 1970’s through the 1990’s, and that the offensive lines were penned between 1988 and 1996, when Paul was back in private medical practice. Kirchick’s article makes it sound like the nastiness went on throughout the life of the newsletter. Prof. Hunt brings up some good arguments against Kirchick’s article, but he also brings up the most salient question:
If Paul shut down the newsletter, why did it take him some seven years to do it? If Paul really didn’t agree with what was being written in his name, the person running his newsletter obviously got that position via some proximity to Paul (he didn’t hire a stranger), and Paul let the writing go on like that for some time. At best, it shows a disturbing lack of oversight, at worst, it shows a passive-aggressive agreement with some ideas the majority of the electorate find odious.
But in no sense is it as large a case as Kirchick makes it, and in no sense is it as easily dismissed as Paul and the Paulites make it.
I didn’t post twice, and last night there was just one post. What gives?
Actual writing by Ron Paul on racism
A nation that once prided itself on a sense of rugged individualism has become uncomfortably obsessed with racial group identities.
The collectivist mindset is at the heart of racism.
Government as an institution is particularly ill-suited to combat bigotry. Bigotry at its essence is a problem of the heart, and we cannot change people’s hearts by passing more laws and regulations.
It is the federal government that most divides us by race, class, religion, and gender. Through its taxes, restrictive regulations, corporate subsidies, racial set-asides, and welfare programs, government plays far too large a role in determining who succeeds and who fails. Government “benevolence” crowds out genuine goodwill by institutionalizing group thinking, thus making each group suspicious that others are receiving more of the government loot. This leads to resentment and hostility among us.
Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans strictly as members of groups rather than as individuals. Racists believe that all individuals who share superficial physical characteristics are alike: as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called “diversity” actually perpetuate racism.
The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence – not skin color, gender, or ethnicity.
In a free society, every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality. This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Racism will endure until we stop thinking in terms of groups and begin thinking in terms of individual liberty.
Ron Paul is a certifiable nut job, as are the people out there who are supporting him in his supposed “crusade”. It’s Ralph Nader all over again, except this time on the Republican side. This “newsletter” has been spouting this hate-filled crap explicitly under his name for over a decade and yet he supposedly knew nothing at all about it? Suuuurrre, Ron. What a load of BS.
The site was slow yesterday but it is fine now. I read your site as always.