So I Guess Ron Paul IS a Racist.....

A couple days ago I gave Ron Paul the benefit of the doubt: That he was just a extremist fringe libertarian and not a racist.

Then came this (my update to the same post):

UPDATE 12/26/07: Holy crap!! I may have just spoken too soon about Ron Paul and the questions of racism that float around him.

Yersterday, on the question of whether Ron Paul was a racist or just hyper-militantly devoted to an extreme interpretation of property rights (god I hate libertarian nut-balls...) and a moron, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and concluded he was the latter.

Seems I spoke too soon:

From Ron Pauls own political newsletters back in 1991 (and more), and in his own words: (via phenry of Dailykos who links back to supporting documentation)

Regardless of what the media tell us, most white Americans are not going to believe that they are at fault for what blacks have done to cities across America. The professional blacks may have cowed the elites, but good sense survives at the grass roots. Many more are going to have difficultly avoiding the belief that our country is being destroyed by a group of actual and potential terrorists -- and they can be identified by the color of their skin. This conclusion may not be entirely fair, but it is, for many, entirely unavoidable.

Indeed, it is shocking to consider the uniformity of opinion among blacks in this country. Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty, and the end of welfare and affirmative action.... Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the "criminal justice system," I think we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.

If similar in-depth studies were conducted in other major cities, who doubts that similar results would be produced? We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, but it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings, and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers.

Perhaps the L.A. experience should not be surprising. The riots, burning, looting, and murders are only a continuation of 30 years of racial politics.The looting in L.A. was the welfare state without the voting booth. The elite have sent one message to black America for 30 years: you are entitled to something for nothing. That's what blacks got on the streets of L.A. for three days in April. Only they didn't ask their Congressmen to arrange the transfer.

And more:

Texas congressional candidate Ron Paul's 1992 political newsletter highlighted portrayals of blacks as inclined toward crime and lacking sense about top political issues.

Under the headline of "Terrorist Update," for instance, Paul reported on gang crime in Los Angeles and commented, "If you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be."

Paul, a Republican obstetrician from Surfside, said Wednesday he opposes racism and that his written commentaries about blacks came in the context of "current events and statistical reports of the time."

... [I]n the same 1992 edition ... [Paul wrote], "We don't think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That's true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such."

Paul also asserted that "complex embezzling" is conducted exclusively by non-blacks.

"What else do we need to know about the political establishment than that it refuses to discuss the crimes that terrify Americans on grounds that doing so is racist? Why isn't that true of complex embezzling, which is 100 percent white and Asian?" he wrote.

Daaaaaaaamn. I have nothing to say but...he's your candidate Ron Paul bots. Geez, and what about the African-America supporters of Ron Paul...that's just damn shameful to associate with such an ignorant racist.

Just because he manages to sound damn sensible when it comes to Iraq, Iran, and presidential power does not mean we should ignore the batshit craziness he displays on just about everything else.

Wake up Paulbots!! Wake the hell up!!

Now Ron Paul apologists are trying to spin away his past racist comments:

From Free Market News Network (sounds like a Libertarian news network...it figures):

Internet information claiming that presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX) is a racist – and made derogatory comments about African Americans - has been making the rounds within the blogosphere. But sources close to the editorial group that published the newsletter (or newsletters) that supposedly carried the comments claim that Ron Paul never had anything to do with them, and wasn’t even aware of them.

These sources say that editorial operation in question was a fairly large one, and profitable for its time - focused in large part on measures that one could take to generate a lifestyle independent of government influence and intervention.

The publication, or publications, comprised a business venture to which Ron Paul lent his name. Headquarters were “60 miles away” from Ron Paul’s personal Texas offices. At the time that the publications were being disseminated, primarily in the 1980s, Ron Paul was involved in numerous activities including Libertarian politics.
He eventually ran for U.S. president as a Libertarian.

“This was a big operation,” says one source. “And Ron Paul was a busy man. He was doctor, a politician and free-market commentator. A publication had to go out at a certain time and Ron Paul often was not around to oversee the lay out, printing or mailing. Many times he did not participate in the composition, either.”

This source and others add that publications utilized guest writers and editors on a regular basis. Often these guest writers and editors would write a “Ron Paul” column, under which the derogatory comments might have been issued.

Seriously!!!!???? That's his excuse?!

Lets put it together: A Newsletter he formed, that carried his name on the cover and published under his byline and he had no idea about it until afterwards?

So what if his office is 60 miles away: Lets assume it WAS written by someone else under Ron Pauls name. Lets assume he was so busy being a "libertarian politician" that he could not always come to the newsletters office.

There are faxes, UPS and more even in 1991...you mean to tell me that he didn't even bother to review (and then sign off on) a column published under his name, in his newsletter...sorry I don't buy it. He may not have had the time to manage everything but there is usually some time to sign off on something

Says one source, “Ron Paul didn’t know about those comments, or know they were written under his name until much later when they were brought to his attention.

There were several issues that went out with comments that he would not ordinarily make. He was angry when he saw them.” Ron Paul has said that he did not write the comments in question, but, nonetheless, has taken "moral" responsibility for them.

An excerpt from an apparent interview with Texas Monthly as quoted on the blog Everything2.com clarifies the above information as follows: "In spite of calls from Gary Bledsoe, the president of the Texas State Conference of the NAACP, and other civil rights leaders for an apology for such obvious racial typecasting, Paul stood his ground.

He said only that his remarks about Barbara Jordan related to her stands on affirmative action and that his written comments about blacks were in the context of 'current events and statistical reports of the time.'

He denied any racist intent. What made the statements in the publication even more puzzling was that, in four terms as a U. S. congressman and one presidential race, Paul had never uttered anything remotely like this.

"When I ask him why, he pauses for a moment, then says, 'I could never say this in the campaign, but those words weren't really written by me. It wasn't my language at all. Other people help me with my newsletter as I travel around. I think the one on Barbara Jordan was the saddest thing, because Barbara and I served together and actually she was a delightful lady.' ...

"His reasons for keeping this a secret are harder to understand: 'They were never my words, but I had some moral responsibility for them . . . I actually really wanted to try to explain that it doesn't come from me directly, but they campaign aides said that's too confusing. "It appeared in your letter and your name was on that letter and therefore you have to live with it." '

It is a measure of his stubbornness, determination, and ultimately his contrarian nature that, until this surprising volte-face in our interview, he had never shared this secret. It seems, in retrospect, that it would have been far, far easier to have told the truth at the time."

Sooooo, supposedly he didn't know and was disappointed when he learned about them....right.

Sounds...not plausible. But, again, lets say for the sake of argument that he did not write them and that he did feel bad after learning about the comments.

If he really was so mad and disappointed with those comments why no retraction of the remarks? Why no apologies or explanations in subsequent editions of the newsletter? Why?

Probably because he wasn't all too offended by the words (because they were likely his), because most of his readers at the time weren't offended either, and because it wasn't such a big deal until some people started snooping around for his past statements.

This excuse is pathetic.