Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Ron is Wrong

Like many other liberals, I was really impressed by some of Ron Paul's debate footage. The way he took the other candidates to task about the war was thrilling. I thought, hey for a Republican, he's not too bad.

I was wrong.

Even for a Republican, he is really fucking bad. The Sizzler's been keeping me informed on the many, many skeletons in Paul's closet.

Check out this article about his long history of anti-black/semetic/queer biases. After you read it, you may wonder like I did - how the hell is this not headline news??

UPDATE 12/10/08: Well, I finally got my headline!

11 comments:

Samuel John Klein said...

Well, Cenk over on The Young Turks is all over this one.

Sure, TYT is Air America - hardly Time, Newsweek, or the NYT, but still, people are talking.

And on the one or two of the conservative blogs that I can read for more than 30 seconds without having to suppress a gag reflex, they're all dancing and singing "We Told You So!" like you wouldn't believe.

Anonymous said...

It gets even better. Here's Ron Paul's response.

So taking him at his word, that he wasn't aware of the whole sordid, decades-long scenario, then he's the dumbest Congressman in the history of Congress (which is saying something). To quote another blogger's reaction to this "mea culpa":

"Here is what Paul is asking us to believe:

- Not only did he exercise no editorial control over any of the content, despite it being put out in his name, sometimes with his signature on it, for decades, but ...
- He did not then even bother to ask about some of the important political views of the people he was asking to write a political newsletter, in his name, for decades, and ...
- He was never even sent them, or simply threw them away without glancing over the content, for decades, and ...
- It never occurred to him in thirty years that this might be a bad idea.

Basically we have to buy that some associates of Ron Paul, whose political views he was not very familiar with, went to a Congressman and said, "Hey, we want to publish a newsletter under your name," and he said, "Sure, whatever you think will appeal to my constituents, relative strangers I trust," and never changed his mind about this, read it, or heard any feedback about it that would cause him to take a look at it, over a period spanning decades, through what had to be multiple changes in personnel, format, and title.

[...]

This is, frankly, a lie. If it is, somehow, not a lie, it is an act of such monumental idiocy, that, yes, this is a big enough deal that I think it means he is not capable of running the country."

Anonymous said...

One more thought - these aren't skeletons in his closet - this is recent history. He granted an interview to a white supremist website in September, 2007. (I'd rather not do a direct link, but Google "ron paul vdare" and enjoy.) If he didn't know the site was what it was, then that's the stupid argument from above. If he did know, however....

Also: Here's a link to a blog post with a nice summary of his Congressional record and insane belief system with copious links to primary sources.

pcleddy said...

I'd be REALLY careful about who you believe. There is an obvious motivation for the Republicans to unite in a smear campaign on Paul, and the signs are everywhere that they are using their media might to get the job done. That is all.

pcleddy said...

Here is some smear on the editor of the "The New Republic", I am sure there is much more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Peretz#Controversies_and_criticisms

pcleddy said...

Oh, sorry, that was the editor-in-chief, here is the editor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Foer

pcleddy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pcleddy said...

OK, I am on a roll, sorry, last one: http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/007378.html

Btw, I don't like Ron Paul. He is too into the privatization of our society, which I find sick and frightening.

But, man, do I like him more than most Fox News like people. He seems to not be lying when he talks, a big plus for the right.

Anonymous said...

The New Republic has also posted pdfs of some of the newsletters on their site. Hatchet job or no hatchet job, I know of plenty of otherwise rational people who have become Paultards because of his stance on the Iraq issue and are apparently blissfully or willfully ignorant of the unseemly parts of his belief system. If scanned documents aren't enough proof, the Congressional record doesn't lie and neither does an interview with vdare.

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth, this is now on CNN's website. The story states that CNN obtained some of the newsletters.

pcleddy said...

paul seems a masochist for doing this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZXWW4C2kpE

i only caught it because i had to; i was at the gym and my eyes couldnt stop watching, hard as i tried. i love gyms