12/15/2011

Ron Paul's Racism and Anti-Semite Problem

Posted by Brian

Paul's Newsletters, Past Quotes On Race, Jews, Gays May Sink His Presidential Campaign

   Ron Paul is surging in Iowa and New Hampshire, while Newt Gingrich's support looks to have peaked and is now trending downward.  In the "anyone but Romney" campaign, Paul seems to be the the candidate who is the beneficiary of Gingrich's falling numbers.  Paul's consistent drumbeat of "end the fed" and "end the wars" has the candidate appearing to gain some traction.  But outside of those positions, what do the people who are giving Paul a second look really know about the candidate? The media have certainly been mum on doing any real digging on Paul's past, unlike the anal exams given to Gingrich, Herman Cain, and Michelle Bachmann.
   For many, their biggest issue with Paul has to do with his Blame America First foreign policy positions.  According to Paul,  we were responsible for the jihadists crashing planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania. It was our interference in the Middle East, and our alliance with Israel that set them off. It makes me wonder if he had a direct line of communication to Bin Laden's propaganda minister, as this was almost exactly what Al Qaeda was saying.
   He also claims that it is unconstitutional for the President to go to war without Congressional approval. On this, he is dangerously wrong.  As Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, the Constitution "vests the President with the plenary authority, as Commander in Chief and the sole organ of the Nation in its foreign relations, to use military force abroad - especially in response to grave national emergencies created by sudden, unforeseen attacks on the people and territory of the United States".  In Paul's defense, he is probably referring to the 1973 War Power's Resolution. However, that is not the Constitution, and there is still much debate on the constitutionality of the resolution.  The Founding Fathers', in their wisdom, gave sole authority to the executive power of the Presidency to make war against any and all threats. This was essential, as having 435 members of Congress debating the need to go to war would be a politicized process at a time when swift action may be needed.  Congress certainly has the authority to cut funding for war, but that is also looked at through a political lens, and rarely happens.
   The biggest problem for Ron Paul though, may be his past statements, and articles in his newsletters, on race, Israel, and the Jews. On these issues, his achilles may be exposed. He, or the newsletters to which he has attached his name, have made numerous comments that, at the least, can be seen as racially insensitive, if not outright racist, or disparaging to Jews. These include, but are not limited to:


  • “opinion polls consistently show only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions,”
  • “if you have ever been robbed by a black teenaged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be.”
  • In 1991, a Paul-controlled newsletter praised ex-Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. “Duke lost the [Senate] election [in Louisiana], but he scared the blazes out of the Establishment,” it stated.
  • Paul has reportedly called Israel “evil” and has alleged that the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, might have blown up the World Trade Center in 1993.
  • In 1987, an edition of Paul's Investment Letter described Israel as "an aggressive, national socialist state."
   Paul denies ever making these comments, saying that they were written by contributors to his newsletter. However, these are in newsletters which bear his name, and which purportedly reflect his views and policies.  If this many racially insensitive, outright racist, and anti-semitic remarks are made in his newsletter, and he says he has no idea these articles were in there, I have a couple of questions.  How can anyone who is a serious thinker allow their name to be put on a periodical, and which are going to be seen as your views, have little to no oversight of the material being published? Also, if you say, as you do, that you don't have racist or anti-semitic thoughts and views, how can you have so many people around you, for so many years, who apparently do? Why does your campaign draw so much support from anti-semites, Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists, Holocaust Deniers, 9/11 "Truthers" and other paranoid and discredited conspiracists? What are they seeing, or reading in your words and writings which are drawing them into your camp?
   The Paul campaign has also accepted campaign donations, and has refused to return them, from the white supremacist group Stormfront.org, which has ties to white supremacist prison gangs.
   Ron Paul has a lot of things that I agree with from an domestic and economic policy standpoint.  However, he has failed to distance himself from comments made by staffers and supporters who hold some of the most vile views on race, Israel and the Jewish people, and gays.  In fact, in most cases he refuses to even repudiate or take a stand on these statements. His refusal to do so will rightly sink his run for President. Hopefully sooner rather than later.


The Real Ron Paul: Racist, Homophobe and Anti-Semite

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