Ron Paul the racist

How this man has any supporters is beyond me. Here are two posts, from both sides of the aisle, on Paul's racism.

As the liberal site Daily Kos shows, Paul would vote against the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which fully enforced the Equal Protection Clause and in essence granted equal rights to people of all races (full voting rights came the next year, in the Voting Rights Act of 1965). Paul's justification for this stance is nothing more than perceived semantics about property rights. And, if he were Abraham Lincoln, he would not fight the Civil War. While Paul is correct in saying that the Civil War did not start as an effort to free slaves, it did become that. Paul--are you sitting down?--recognizes this, and says that slavery would have phased out over time. I'm at a loss for words. Let's move on.

Captain's Quarters, a conservative blog, furthers this argument. Paul blames blacks for crime, and Jews for being power-usurping leeches. It includes several Paul quotes from various sources. Read them all. The last quote on blacks is particularly disgusting and stereotypical--it sounds like something straight out of Jim Crow south, KKK propaganda.

On blacks

"Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action,"Paul wrote [in 1992].

Paul continued that politically sensible blacks are outnumbered "as decent people."

Paul also wrote that although "we are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers."

"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."

On Jews

Stating that lobbying groups who seek special favors and handouts are evil, Paul wrote, "By far the most powerful lobby in Washington of the bad sort is the Israeli government" and that the goal of the Zionist movement is to stifle criticism.

I'll let Captain's Quarters sum all this up: "Anyone who thinks that a man with this in his past can get elected President... is as deluded as Ron Paul. Anyone defending these statements marginalizes himself."

Yup. None of this is new, but it bears mentioning time and time again.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

--Wyndam