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Ron Paul SuperPAC Ad Pushes Back Against Racism Charge

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As Ron Paul currently fends off the recurring problem of his eponymous racially-charged early-90s newsletters, pro-Paul superPAC RevolutionPAC has released an ad that pushes back against the notion that their candidate is a racist. The ad, entitled “The Compassion of Dr. Ron Paul,” tells the tale of an interracial couple who were refused medical care in the early 70s, until Dr. Paul stepped in. It’s a compelling spot, but the Ron Paul of that anecdote isn’t mutually exclusive with the newsletter guy.

From RevolutionPAC:

James Williams of Matagorda County, Texas recounts a touching true story. Living in a still prejudice Texas In 1972, his wife had a complication with her pregnancy. No doctors would care for her or deliver their bi-racial child. In fact one of the hospital nurses called the police on James.

Dr. Ron Paul was notified and took her in, delivering their stillborn baby. Because of the compassion of Dr. Ron Paul, the Williams’ never received a hospital bill for the delivery.

Ron Paul views every human being as an unique individual, afforded the rights endowed by our creator and codified in the Bill of Rights.


The spot packs an emotional punch, but it ignores one of the more complex facets of race, which is that it is possible for people we love and respect to have (or to have had, or to have tolerated) repugnant views on race. People who think that black people are mostly criminals (or insert stereotype of your choice) have no problem being nice to “one of the good ones.”

Those newsletters have raised a lot of questions. He has made many contradictory statements about the newsletters, but his explanation (he used to think it was preferable to defend the newsletters, rather than admit he hadn’t written them) is reasonable enough if you’re inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. The truth is probably a lot more complicated.

It’s easy to forget that the early 90′s were not a great time for race relations in this country. The Rodney King riots and the O.J. Simpson case exposed the raw nerves that wrap around racial faultlines in this country, and there was a lot more comfort, then, with expressions of racial resentment, usually couched in statistical “reality,” as with this Paul explanation that Dave Weigel dug up:

He also said the comment about black men in the nation’s capital was made while writing about a 1992 study produced by the National Center on Incarceration and Alternatives, a criminal justice think tank based in Virginia.

Citing statistics from the study, Dr. Paul then concluded in his column: Given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.”

“These aren’t my figures,” Dr. Paul said Tuesday. “That is the assumption you can gather from” the report.

Was Dr. Paul making an ignorant argument to cover up the fact that he didn’t write the newsletters, or was he really that ignorant? The answer hardly makes a difference. As the Williams’ story attests, ignorant people can do decent things, and can be otherwise decent people. Racism, ironically, isn’t a black-or-white phenomenon, it’s a spectrum disorder. You can be rightly enraged by “miscegenation” prejudices, yet still be convinced of a black tendency toward criminality. If you’re going to fit every white person who’s ever been scared of black people with a Klan outfit, just give me a few minutes to buy some stock in Linens ‘N Things.

What’s really confounding about Ron Paul, though, is that he also has a profound understanding of the racism embedded in our criminal justice system. A friend of mine forwarded this video to me, in which Paul makes several compelling arguments about race and justice. They can be viewed cynically as an attempt at damage control, but that’s not how it strikes me:


Just as with his ersatz plan for ending slavery, Ron Paul’s heart seems to be in the right place, even if his head isn’t always. His prickly reaction to the latest round of questions on the newsletter controversy seems to indicate that he doesn’t feel like he’s getting the benefit of the doubt, and perhaps he’s right. It’s possible, even likely, that if he came clean about the newsletters, the media and his opponents would simply savage him for his trouble. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t do it. Doing the right thing means facing the music, whether you can dance to it or not.

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  • http://truthstings.com Truth Stings

    Sounds like a real racist there…???  People blindly believe what the MSM tells them.  When you can’t win an intellectual argument, call them racist.

  • http://twitter.com/TemitopeS Temitope S.

    Truth always wins out eventually.

  • http://twitter.com/OWNtheNWO Humanæ Libertas

    ” It’s a compelling spot, but the Ron Paul of that anecdote isn’t mutually exclusive with the newsletter guy.”

    Only because of slanderous pieces of garbage like you Tommy Christopher of New Jersey.

  • Anonymous

    This was a lazily written article.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WH3ZLMM7CUKUHUIMK4TKXW6SQE John

    At least Tommy is providing a somewhat balanced view of all this B.S.  It’s been nothing but slander for the last week when it comes to Ron Paul and the mainstream media.

  • Anonymous

    If “Dr.” Paul hadn’t been a racist, the child would have been delivered alive.

  • Anonymous

    I hope to God this is a joke, else you deserve the politicians you have today!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ed-Howard/1776680009 Ed Howard

    Fact Check: “Ron Paul can’t win” – FALSE
    Short of the economy tanking, carving off chunks of Obama’s support is the only way to win.

    THE YOUTH VOTE
    The youth vote which Obama won by 34% in 2008 is abandoning him. Ron
    Paul has proven strong appeal with the young voters. He is by far the
    best candidate capable of not only appealing to this demographic but energizing it towards defeating Obama. Anyone who thinks the youth vote
    will abandon Obama for one of the other candidates is kidding
    themselves. This is one of Obama’s Achilles heals and ONLY Ron Paul can not only exploit it – but use it against Obama.

    MILITARY
    Most Americans think that with Bin Laden dead, our job is done and we
    should bring the troops home. Obama is vulnerable on this issue against
    Ron Paul. Any other GOP candidate will galvanize these supporters to
    Obama. Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who appeals to these voters
    disenchanted with Obama – carving away votes.

    DRUG WAR
    76% of Americans agree with RP that the federal war on drugs is a
    failure, in fact, only 8% think it has been a success.  89% of the
    people who voted for Obama 4 years ago believe the war on drugs is a
    failure. It is time to end the racist war on drugs. Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who is positioned to cleave off  a chunk of these Obama supporters. Any other GOP candidate will
    galvanize these supporters to Obama.

    POLITICIANS
    A record number of Americans do not trust politicians. Obama is a status
    quo politician, Romney is the poster child of insider politician. Ron
    Paul is the anti-politician and a doctor – and Americans have a high
    level of trust in doctors. Ron Paul is the candidate who can appeal to
    these voters and most effectively take votes from Obama while taking on
    Obamacare. Consistent on opposing mandates and ObaMass-care.

    ENERGIZED ARMY OF SUPPORTERS
    Obama is not going to be defeated by a slick DC Beltway campaign alone.
    It is going to take a nationwide passionate, energized army of
    supporters. Ron Paul has clearly demonstrated that he can energize his
    base of supporters like no other candidate can. You and I both know that
    if Ron Paul isn’t the nominee, this army of energy disappears.  But
    with Paul as the nominee, this army will mushroom.

    FALSE – “Ron Paul Can’t Win”.
    When you look at what it will take to beat Obama (assuming the economy
    doesn’t tank), Ron Paul is the only candidate that can beat Obama.
    Ron Paul’s message isn’t engineered to win a GOP beauty contest – it’s engineered to beat Obama.

  • Journey Man Project

    I believe the quote was taken out of context.  Ron Paul has the impression that big government, isn’t able to do anything effective, he has been consistent on this idea since day one.  

    In this case, he’s attacking the NCIA and the criminal just system.  Stating, that the reports are flawed, that if anyone read them, they could make the same assumption.  

    He read those reports and made a sarcastic statement about them.  The hint here is that he calls the criminal justice system: inefficient and laughable. 

    Why are you looking at Ron Paul as the racist, when clearly, he is stating that the NCIA and criminal justice system is?  Are that ignorant to say they aren’t?

  • Anonymous

    ” People who think that black people are mostly criminals (or insert stereotype of your choice) have no problem being nice to “one of the good ones.”——Tommy Christopher

    This doesn’t apply in this situation, because a nurse had already called the police on this man. Ron Paul showed compassion to a man who had allegedly been harassing the nurse.

  • Anonymous

    To see the GOP play the race card now is embarrassing. This from the same group that toleated Limbaugh for years and recently the tea party phonies.

  • Anonymous

    Ron Paul had no problem working and living in a county filled with racist cracker doctors. There’s no evidence that Paul did anything to end discrimination in his county. In fact, he supports the right of cracker doctors and hospitals to deny treatment based on race. If people die, f u c k ‘em.

  • Henry Wood

    Again I urge Paul and his supporters to stop lying.  Honesty and contrition would work much better.

  • Anonymous

    “A friend of mine forwarded this video to me, in which Paul makes several compelling arguments about race and justice. They can be viewed cynically as an attempt at damage control, but that’s not how it strikes me:”

    Tommy would believe Ron Paul if he said he was a woman whose children had been exposed to Anthony Wiener’s dick.

  • Anonymous

    These comments must be psyops. I can’t believe how far we have fallen as a nation. The Alex Jones show on prisonplanet.tv will try to interview Mr Williams. It brought me to tears. Dr Ron Paul in the most racist place and time in US history worked in his free time in hospitals and never used it for political gain, because he believed in helping people as a doctor and keeping goverment out of healthcare. He walked the walk. The more I learn about the man, the more humbled I am. RevolutionPAC will be airing more videos about Dr Ron Paul because he simply won’t use his incredible human record for political gain.

  • Anonymous

    Come clean about what??? Geez, this was 20yrs ago, how many of you lived through the riots? It was a messed up time, blacks were burning down their own city, dragging completely innocent white motorist ouf their cars and beating them, stealing from small business owners and destroying their property. So, OK, maybe some writer Ron had at the time wrote some stuff in bad taste, trust me, I heard much worse back then.

    I don’t even mind that the media brings this stuff up, it’s just the fact that you guys intentionally print the stuff out of context, you show a few sentences out of thousands of pages of articles and you do everything in your power to only show this in the most negative light. Ron is not racist, trust me, if he was he’d admit it, that man has no problem speaking his mind, if you watched any of the debates you’d know that.

  • Anonymous

    Fact: Ron Paul can’t win.
    Ron Paul’s support comes from democrats and independents primarily.  According to RCP, his average across the spectrum of republicans is currently at 12.2%.

    Fact: no one is going to win an election with 12.2% support.

    Fact: responding to anymore of this nonsense is a waste of time and energy that could be better spent staring at a wall.

  • Anonymous

    Rand Paul got his racism from somewhere, looks like it was from daddy Ron.

  • Anonymous

    Really, guess you must be looking at another Ron Paul than me, any evidence of this? Funny you judge him yet use the term “cracker” in your post, but I guess as usual racial slurs are OK as long they are against whites right?

  • Anonymous

    I’d quit lying if I knew what I was supposed to be lying about?

  • Ben H

    The media can’t defeat us.  Fight back against the smear campaign.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LB253243DPXCDH2ZEQUYUK6IHE TheRightRadical

    “Bombs and drones may break human bones but only ‘insensitive’ words can truly hurt us.”
    William N. Grigg

    http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/

  • Henry Wood

    Just admit that Ron Paul at the very least WAS a racist at one time.  He obviously was, since he defended some of the ugliest parts of his newsletter.  If he/you admit it, you can take a lot of the the sting out of this scandal.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_42KTZIH34XIJ2OU5OWWMGF3AWU julien alien

    Exactly,by saying these things about the think tank’s figures he was poking a bit of fun at them,and at the same time being anti-racist.This is old news to me because it was debunked in 2008.Funny how Tommy Christopher put a larger portion of the writings into print and could not figure that out by himself.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_42KTZIH34XIJ2OU5OWWMGF3AWU julien alien

    What candidate are you espousing?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VK7U6RFTAUIPW2JR2NGPBP2IYA super
  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_42KTZIH34XIJ2OU5OWWMGF3AWU julien alien

    I just typed in Rand Paul racist,read everything there and found no evidence of him being a racist,just like his father.Nice political hit jobs from the opposition,but lacking in evidence and contrary to their actions.

  • Anonymous

    Seeing as how I didn’t know the man at the time how on earth could I admit as to how he was? BTW, would that “racist” time in his life be the same as when he was treating low income minorities for free at his clinic? I’d still like for you to show me where you even read THE ENTIRE article where that “racist” stuff was printed, I’ve read most of them in context and I wouldn’t even call them racist, if he was defending them it was likely from people like you who read them out of context and blew them into something they weren’t. Bottom line tho, he didn’t write them, so no, he is not, nor has he ever been a racist, and neither am I and I don’t appreciate the accussation.

  • Anonymous

    I really think that the 12.2% number is a bit dated. He has been surging and I myself have changed my mind about him. I consider myself an independent conservative but I registered a republican to have a say in primaries. I don’t care for republicans but like democrats less. I never gave Ron Paul a notice because “he didn’t have a chance” and I believed the lies that he would dismantle the military and legalized drugs as well as being a racist. His surge has caused me to go take an honest look at him and the libertarian party. I will vote Ron Paul and I think there are a lot of us taking an honest look at him of a sudden. Especially the young who are really tired of the crap from the two parties.

  • Anonymous

    Ron Paul is a stupid man. Big government is why rich countries get rich. There has never been a single country which got rich and powerful with a small government. Countries with tiny governments are desperately poor. The man even thinks hurricane relief is wrong. He is a moron.

  • Hank Xavier

    Provide free healthcare to interracial couple in the middle of a culture of prejudice. Must be a racist. 

  • Hank Xavier

    Answers HAVE been provided. You don’t accept them. 

  • Journey Man Project

    You do know that USA is bankrupt?  Just a few months ago we were about to default.

  • http://www.facebook.com/InspireReality Lori-ann Kellett

    Are you serious?  Maybe if the other doctors would have treated this woman, THEN perhaps the baby would not have been born stillborn?  Or – Gee – she was already in distress and having problems so it is most likely that the baby was already stillborn long before Ron Paul stepped up to treat her.  Maybe that is why he didn’t charge them – because it is called Compassion!  It was bad enough they were treated that way much less losing a child and most doctors now-a-days wouldn’t bother with anyone that doesn’t have an insurance card and heaven forbid the person is out of network.  That isn’t how the medical profession is meant to be and has been corrupted by government involvement.  Go Ron Paul 2012!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/InspireReality Lori-ann Kellett

    I don’t think this is really worthy of being called a scandal at all!  How about newt getting fined $300k for ethics violations, how about Perry and Romney having questions about the use of campaign money recently, the list goes on and on on real scandals.  Digging up some garbage from over 20 years ago that Ron Paul has addressed countless times over the years, is truly not worthy of being a scandal however the mass media would like you to think it is because it is pretty much the only thing they have to attempt to smear him with.  Do your research and look at speeches he was doing at the same time that totally conflict with those comments in the newsletters – which comprised less than 1% of the content between 3 newsletters over 20+ year span of time, weren’t written by him, and he has answered to it several times.  Don’t you get rather annoyed at being asked the same question over and over again by the same people?  I know I sure do!

  • http://www.facebook.com/InspireReality Lori-ann Kellett

    If he is such a racist, then I don’t think we’d be hearing things like this:

    “Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder, who has known Ron Paul for 20
    years, unequivocally dismissed charges that the Congressman was a racist
    in light of recent smear attempts, and said the reason for him being
    attacked was that he was a threat to the establishment…
    …”Knowing Ron Paul’s intent, I think he is trying to improve this
    country but I think also, when you talk about the Constitution and you
    constantly criticize the federal government versus state I think a lot
    of folks are going to misconstrue that….so I think it’s very easy for
    folks who want to to take his position out of context and that’s what
    I’m hearing,” said Linder.

    “Knowing Ron Paul and having talked to him, I think he’s a very fair
    guy I just think that a lot of folks do not understand the Libertarian
    platform,” he added.

    Asked directly if Ron Paul was a racist, Linder responded “No I
    don’t,” adding that he had heard Ron Paul speak out about police
    repression of black communities and mandatory minimum sentences on many
    occasions.

    Dr. Paul has also publicly praised Martin Luther King as his hero on many occasions spanning back 20 years.”

  • Anonymous

    Nah, it’s current 
    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-1452.html

    He’s only doing good in Iowa(Maybe New Hampshire?).  I agree with you on political affiliation to some extent(I don’t like republicans, but care for democrats even less and consider myself a conservative and am generally disgusted with the entire political process).  The problem I have with Ron Paul wholly focuses on his foreign policy.  The President doesn’t have as much power over spending as he makes it appear.  The unfortunate reality is that he will have to work with others and he has shown no ability to work with them in the past unless they strictly adhere to his position which is why he has only one bill to his name passed in Congress having been in there for quite some time.

    I’m still convinced he won’t win.  I’ll admit though, I already have my candidate chosen, Rick Perry.  Like him or hate him, he has the best record of any candidate running.

  • Charles Ulysses Feney

    The neocon media is terrified at the swelling Ron Paul support among blacks.
    CNN Poll: Ron Paul Most Popular Republican Amongst Non-Whites
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fyRVa4lzRo__________________________
    Ron Paul Will Free The Slaves!Are you aware of the ugly drug facts?12 times more American drug convicts are blacks.It’s a great plot. you see,To destroy the black familyAnd feed their men off to corporate wolf packs.There they labor in prison industriesTwo bucks a day is cheaper than Chinese!Today’s opium warsOpen modern doorsTo continue the elite’s slavery disease!Ron Paul knows that his policies can saveThis latest version of the American slaveThat prison – industrial thugsLure into prison with drugs,Then drown in a prison labor tsunami wave!_____________________Charles Ulysses Feney

  • Anonymous

    Don’t be fooled by the mainstream media’s disingenuous disinformation campaign to marginalize Ron Paul’s pro-peace, pro-Constitution message.

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/soHAOVZzXtA?rel=0

    Do the votes in the Iowa Caucuses matter?

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/ej5_rZof7MA?rel=0

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/0fyRVa4lzRo?rel=0

    What do grass-roots African-Americans really think about the “vicious racist” Ron Paul?

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/WhxJ1XUGLR0?rel=0

    What do active duty service men and women really think about the “isolationist appeaser” Ron Paul?

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/dAVoYciURoU?rel=0

    What do veterans really think about the “uncaring and uncompassionate” Ron Paul?

    http://www.youtube.com/embed/f_qBSow4FrE?rel=0

    What do women really think about the “hateful misogynist” Ron Paul?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1190134026 Barry Dalton

    If true, it is a genuine act of compassion that should be lauded.

    It doesn’t, however, give him a blank check to then write racist articles in order to generate revenue from a fringe hate group.

  • Anonymous

     Iowa is where the focus is now, if he wins or does well there his popularity may surge in the other states then. His foreign policy concerns me a bit but I am for not being the worlds peace keeper at our expense both financial and with our young peoples lives. I like the stand to not go to war unless someone is threatening us directly. I also believe he is the most likely to really work at shrinking government and returning issues to the states. I also like Perry but believe his chances are too slim now and he may have an excellent record but he seems to be making some pretty big fumbles. I would be thrilled at Perry or Paul becoming President.

  • http://www.libertariannews.org/ Michael Suede

    They expect Paul to throw someone under the bus like every other politician does.  They don’t understand why he hasn’t done so yet, so they keep whining about it like children. 

  • Anonymous

    Many people supporting Ron Paul are naive about what libertarianism really means on a practical level.

    Sure, libertarianism means very small/limited government.

    But when you have that, it means that the government doesn’t take a stand on issues like discrimination.   

    Likewise, the isolationist foreign policy espoused by many libertarians means that extremist dictators could slaughter their own citizens or threaten their neighbors without any intervention.

    Even though I am a liberal who tends to be skeptical of military force, I think libertarian foreign policy is too isolationist and disengaged.

    While limited government and isolationist foreign policy sounds appealing on many levels, it means that the government essentially becomes amoral.

  • Anonymous

    “racist articles in order to generate revenue from a fringe hate group.
    “WTF? This is ridiculous. Your making things up!

  • http://www.facebook.com/edingsteve Steve Messi

    I guess they never taught you about the American revolution to begin with. Or worse, you don’t know much about Soviet Union or Nazi Germany; they believed in big government too. Small government, freer and prosperous individuals; big government, rich and powerful insiders and enslaved masses.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VK7U6RFTAUIPW2JR2NGPBP2IYA super

    what answers?  The same type of non answers Obama gave regarding his long-time association with the unrepentant
    terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, the race-baiting preacher
    Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and other radicals.” Just because its occurred
    20+ years ago doesn’t change those facts for Obama and neither does it for Ron paul. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7RQ3BYT543OCYDUVW4U4NJVM5Y Mary

    Freedom of speech and activism to spread the message of liberty is a double-edg­ed sword for Ron Paul. Those old newsletter­s are the baggage that results from his failure to police every word that goes out in the name of spreading the message of liberty. But if he doesn’t encourage veryone who basically agrees with him to go out and spread the word, the message dies. I don’t see any major corporatio­ns throwing money at a campaign for liberty, do you? It’s a conundrum. It’s a difficult message to sell, and it can’t be done in a sound bite or a 30-second debate question.

    But if intelligen­t people don’t listen and think and respond to this message, we will find that our rights will continue to erode and our economy will only get worse. The whole premise of waiting for the economy to recover because the middle class will buy enough on credit to bring back jobs is bogus now. The middle class has been decimated and credit isn’t available. Our jobs have gone overseas.

  • Brewzer

    Hey, I replied to your comment on the other thread! Let me know if you got it.

  • http://games-survival.com Justplaythegame

    No point explaining this to Tommy.. He wouldn’t know a good honest man if one walked up to him and punched him right in the mouth…… And hopefully someday.. one will..

    I must assume that statement is the way Tommy lives his life. First hand knowledge Tommy?

     

  • shonangreg

    I agree that Ron Paul deserves plaudits for his principles and his forthrightness, the newsletters will always be a severe blot on his name, though. You just don’t let people publish things in your name without suffering the consequences of such irresponsibility. Ron Paul may not be racist; he is detached and tone-deaf when it comes to personal responsibility, though.

    And what is this, “libertarians can’t be racist” claim? That is like saying Republicans can’t fail in business and Democrats can’t look the other way when they encounter someone in need. What difference does it make if the racist Ron Paul supporters aren’t true libertarians? Racists and homo-haters, etc. will join in Ron’s cause, supporting him and calling themselves “libertarian”. Paul can’t just make them or their influence disappear by saying they are not true libertarians.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000273883636 John Campanella

    Libertarians can’t be racist because libertarianism is the belief of individual liberty. It is philosophically opposed to collectivism, from which racism derives.

    Libertarian racist is a contradiction in terms.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000273883636 John Campanella

    When Paul haters aren’t busy marinating in ignorance they are claiming how non-intervention is isolationism. Explaining how free trade and self defense is not isolationism, you say that sanctions and installing dictators is what isolates.

    “Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul is not a racist and is being smeared as one because he is a clear threat to the political establishment” – Nelson Linder, Austin president of the NAACP.”

    http://www.therightperspective.org/2011/12/24/ron-paul-no-racist-naacp-austin-president/

    Covering their ears while chanting ‘la-la, isolationist, I can’t hear you’ you remember to expect the same amount of intellect when responding to charges of racism: ZERO.

    Ron Paul owes his economic philosophy (Austrian Economics) to Jewish scholars like Ludwig Von Mises and praises MLK for his libertarian principle of non-aggression. As a doctor, he treated patients of all colors for free:

    http://www.humblelibertarian.com/2011/12/video-in-1972-ron-paul-helped-mixed.html

    Either there is such a thing as a racist man with Jewish heroes OR corporate owned media is recycling smears in order to stop a man who’s very presence condemns the sellout politicians who own them.

    They know that as President, the troops would be home day ONE, along with non-violent drug offenders which, sadly, many of whom are minorities. They know that if Paul is President, the party is OVER.

    I suggest you do some honest research before you are fooled into empowering another fraud.

  • shonangreg

    A libertarian is not at liberty to have dysfunctional, antiquated beliefs? That seems to to be an internal contradiction itself.

    Racism doesn’t make much sense from a conservative or a liberal perspective either. Racism results in mypoic, incestuous societies, but that doesn’t mean it exists.

    I’ve seen black guys say the same thing about it being impossible for black people to be racist. Their rationale was that being racist requires power over another race. Since blacks don’t have this in America, they can’t be racist. The problem is everyone has power in the moment. So a black guy can look down on a white guy and cut him out of his society in the moment. It may be a small thing, but he can be racist.

    So, I still don’t see the justification for Ron Paul saying libertarians can’t be racist. It sounds naive.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000273883636 John Campanella

    You have it backwards.

    “Many people supporting Ron Paul are naive about what libertarianism really means on a practical level.”

    Libertarians believe that the federal government has a legitimate duty to protect individual rights and maintain national defense.

    This is a far cry from forcing Americans to pay for the security of some countries while installing dictators in others and using government coercion to force property owners into serving people they do not wish to serve.

    Libertarianism promotes competitive markets, meaning no individual or corporation can infringe upon the rights of individuals.

    If a racist property owner physically harms someone, then the government has the legitimate duty to protect that individual from harm.

    This action is legitimate because the individual harmed has a right to his or her life.

    Any action taken to force the property owner to serve those they do not wish to serve, discriminatory or not, is illegitimate because that individual has no right to what was justly acquired by another individual.

    This duty also extends into environmental circumstances – no one, individual or corporation, has the right to pollute anyone else’s land, water or air.

    Anyone who refers to libertarian foreign policy as isolationism do no understand what libertarianism is. I suggest you do some honest research before you lecture libertarians on what libertarianism means.

    I find it remarkable, when reading down comments on articles, I find an overwhelming amount of ignorance on what libertarianism is. There’s no excuse for it, since we have so much information at our fingertips. All it takes is a few minutes, at the most, to read up on what libertarians believe in.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000273883636 John Campanella

    Not exactly. As a doctor, he treated people for free, regardless of race.

    These attacks in the end will matter exactly zero. They have no basis in reality and are only believed by people who would never vote for Ron Paul no matter what. Not because they disagree with his policies but because they have the inability to separate lies from truth.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000273883636 John Campanella

    Coming together and supporting politicians who actually defend our constitutional rights is not a waste of time. Voting for a politician who will continue the same exact policies that brought us this disaster is a waste of time.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000273883636 John Campanella

    He didn’t write them and disavowed them.

  • new by

    I am Irish and went to california, loved it, but thought that blacks get a raw deal. I think if RP was talking about Blacks and saying that they are all criminals he is talking about looking at the histroy of why blacks have criminal records as opposed to whites…I really felt for the blacks in San Francisco…Not is a condescending way, but I thought the USA was this ideal of equality and freedom. I thoguht it was a first world country..But America needs to grow some more. Bush and the neocons have tried to push america forward to be the only super power but I think thats a dangerous move…..playing with fire..

    Anyway RP is not racists just more of an academic, he sees why blacks are criminalised more than whites..The drugs war being the obvious one. Also the White man historically does not want the black man to get power and one way is to give him a criminal record, so no vote…Therefore a black mans best choice is Ron Paul……

  • Anonymous

    In your defense of libertarianism, you’ve gone right to the core of what my problems are with it.

    You said “Any action taken to force the property owner to serve those they do not wish to serve, discriminatory or not, is illegitimate because that individual has no right to what was justly acquired by another individual. ”

    —This is a problem to me.   It is unacceptable that a government should stand by and allow paying customers to be turned away from a business that is open to the public due to the color of their skin (or any other reason).   Sure, you could leave it to “market forces” to counteract discrimination….but to me, that is completely devoid of a moral compass.  There are some things that are just basic human rights and the government should not permit such discrimination to occur. Somethings should not be left to simply majority rule.   Yes, the government should step in to prevent things like theft, etc….but when someone wants to be a legitimate paying customer at your business, there should be nothing to interfere with that.  That customer should have the individual freedom to shop where they see fit and to frequent any public place in a law-abiding fashion.

    The second point you make doesn’t seem to line up with your first argument, so please correct me if I misunderstand.  You said “This duty also extends into environmental circumstances – no one, individual or corporation, has the right to pollute anyone else’s land, water or air.”

    — I agree with you on this…but here’s the problem:  Air and water move around; it’s not possible to reduce this issue to an individual level.  If I dump toxic waste into the creek on my own property, that water will eventually flow onto someone else’s property.  If I burn something, the smoke travels to other places.   In effect, things like air and water are community property and, in my view, the government should have the authority to regulate that.  But many libertarians attack environmental regulations as a governmental overreach. 

    And this sums up my overall issue with many facets of libertarianism (at least as articulated by folks like Ron Paul).  It takes individualism to an extreme level.   As a socially liberal person, I generally like the “live and let live” approach that it takes….but the problem is that sometimes one person’s exercise of freedom can interfere with another person’s exercise of freedom.  We don’t live in isolated bubbles.  Our actions affect other people.   

    For example, if my neighbor burns toxic chemicals in their yard, that interferes with MY right to relax out on my back porch and use my property as I see fit.  

    I don’t have the right to falsely yell “Fire” in a crowded theatre because that negatively affects many other people.

    Based on the public positions that many libertarians have taken, they seem to overlook the purpose of a government in the first place.

    In this country, we have government to create an orderly society and to protect basic freedoms.  AND the government has procedures to mediate disputes between parties, particularly as it relates to personal freedoms.

  • Anonymous

    Ron Paul may not be a racist, but his policies would have the net effect of tacitly allowing discrimination to occur.

    Either he doesn’t get that…or he simply doesn’t care.

    If I allow a restaurant owner to decide who he/she will and will not serve, there will inevitably be restaurants who will implement discriminatory policies….which is exactly what we had BEFORE the Civil Rights Act.  

    Sure, you could say “let market forces punish businesses that discriminate.”    But we have ample evidence from our own US history that tells us that would not necessarily work. Before the Civil Rights Act, businesses could certainly choose….and many chose to discriminate (with little backlash in some areas of the country). That’s just plain wrong.  

    “Market forces” might work in places where there are lots of minorities who could raise their collective voices….but what about in places that are heavily dominated by one group or another?

  • Anonymous

    Ron Paul and his son may not be a racist, but their policies would have the net effect of tacitly allowing discrimination to occur.Either he doesn’t get that…or he simply doesn’t care.If I allow a restaurant owner to decide who he/she will and will not serve, there will inevitably be restaurants who will implement discriminatory policies….which is exactly what we had BEFORE the Civil Rights Act.  Sure, you could say “let market forces punish businesses that discriminate.”    But we have ample evidence from our own US history that tells us that would not necessarily work. Before the Civil Rights Act, businesses could certainly choose….and many chose to discriminate (with little backlash in some areas of the country). That’s just plain wrong.  ”Market forces” might work in places where there are lots of minorities who could raise their collective voices….but what about in places that are heavily dominated by one group or another?

  • Anonymous

    Not being from the USA I might be mistaken, but aren’t your civil liberties at the lowest point in your history, Ron Paul want’s to give you them back so you have a choice, are you blind or obstinate.

  • Anonymous

    Yes, I got it brother, thanks. Altosackbuteer and Dustoff are rejoicing that you can’t respond to them anymore, the cowards they are.

  • Brewzer

    Wow, you have to be kidding Alto and Dustoff, but they always seemed so smart and honest.LOL!

    Oh well, hey I want to send you my email address so we can keep in touch.
    JohnsonICDA919@yahoo.com If anyone else gets it, I will spam the hell out of them. When/If you leave a message put Capt. Ahab in the subject box so I know it’s you.

    Later.

  • Anonymous

    Even back in the 1970s, Paul was working the photo ops.

  • Anonymous

    Even back in the 1970′s, Paul was working the photo ops.

  • http://twitter.com/celebs4truth celebs4truth

    Do you truly support the troops? Ron Paul overwhelmingly leads in support from the troops! Support the troops by helping this pro-Ron Paul article go completely viral! Spread it all over the internet and social networks! Denver Conspiracy Examiner’s, “Support the Troops by Supporting Ron Paul”
    http://www.examiner.com/conspiracy-in-denver/support-the-troops-by-supporting-ron-paul

  • http://twitter.com/celebs4truth celebs4truth

    Do you truly support the troops? Ron Paul overwhelmingly leads in support from the troops! Support the troops by helping this pro-Ron Paul article go completely viral! Spread it all over the internet and social networks! Denver Conspiracy Examiner’s, “Support the Troops by Supporting Ron Paul”
    http://www.examiner.com/conspiracy-in-denver/support-the-troops-by-supporting-ron-paul

  • Wyrdless

    There is one newsletter, not a series of them with racist comments in it.

    30 years of public record vs 8 paragraphs he has denied writing for years.  If he was a racist there would be more than one bit of evidence.  Ron Paul treated some poor black people for free as a doctor.

  • Wyrdless

    There is one newsletter, not a series of them with racist comments in it.

    30 years of public record vs 8 paragraphs he has denied writing for years.  If he was a racist there would be more than one bit of evidence.  Ron Paul treated some poor black people for free as a doctor.

  • Anonymous

    Bottom line every white person is a racist.  And so the racist label for every black person.  Only difference is he’s a doctor and he has a code to follow no matter who the patient is.  So not impressed at all with this story.  And by the way just go to any hospital in Texas and white patients there will not and repeat not let a black nurse give them medication or assist them in any way.  Don’t let 1972 fool you.  Racism is alive and well in Texas today.       

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=505100313 Trevor Cason
  • http://twitter.com/ducklowguy Dustin Ducklow

    Hence why Communist china is so rich and it’s people work 30 cents a day making ipods. Moron!!

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