U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) speaks during the ABC News GOP Presidential debate on the campus of Drake University on Dec. 10, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa
*As Ron Paul suddenly tops a new Iowa poll in the GOP presidential race, the libertarian candidate spent most of Tuesday denying that he wrote a series of newsletters that appeared under his name in the 1980s and 1990s that included controversial comments about African-Americans.
In 1992, the Texas congressman published a newsletter called the “Ron Paul Political Report.” That year, the report published a special edition on “racial terrorism,” a favorite theme. It included an observation about the Los Angeles riots, which erupted after a Ventura County jury acquitted four police officers charged with beating Rodney King.
“Order was only restored in L.A.,” the publication opined, “when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.”
Many of the newsletters, which were mostly written in the first person and usually didn’t otherwise carry a byline, were reportedly being held in collections of extreme-right political literature.
The newsletters also included a criticism of Ronald Reagan for legislation creating a federal holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., who is described as a “world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours” and “seduced underage girls and boys.”
“We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day,” one newsletter said of Reagan, according to Kirchick. The newsletters also claimed that AIDS sufferers “enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick,” expressed support for and offered advice to the “local militias now training to defend liberty” shortly before the Oklahoma City bombing, and questioned whether the 1993 World Trade Center bombing “was a setup by the Israeli Mossad.”
Kirchick revisited the newsletters in the Weekly Standard on Tuesday, writing that “Paul’s lucrative and decades-long promotion of bigotry and conspiracy theories, for which he has yet to account fully, and his continuing espousal of extremist views…should make him unwelcome at any respectable forum.”
Kirchick tied the newsletters to Paul’s willingness to appear on the radio program of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has reportedly accused the government of encouraging “homosexuality with chemicals so that people don’t have children.” He noted that Paul seemed open to Jones’ suggestion that the military’s NORTHCOM combatant command is “taking over” the nation.
In 2008, Paul denied his involvement with the newsletters, saying the controversial comments “are not mine and do not represent what I believe or have ever believed.”
“When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine full-time, a newsletter was published under my name that I did not edit. Several writers contributed to the product,” he said. “For over a decade, I have publicly taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name.”
Asked by CBS News and National Journal if the newsletters are fair game on Tuesday in New Hampshire, Paul responded, “I don’t know whether fair is the right word.”
“I mean, it’s politics,” he continued. “Nobody talked about it for 20 years until they found out that the message of liberty was making progress. And everybody knows I didn’t write them, and it’s not my sentiment, so it’s sort of politics as usual.”
In 2008, the Libertarian magazine Reason (citing libertarian activists, some close to Paul) reported that Paul’s chief ghostwriter for the newsletters was one Llewellyn Rockwell, Jr., who was Paul’s congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982 and a longtime Paul confident and adviser. (Rockwell denies this.) Paul and his wife were officers of Ron Paul & Associates, the now-defunct company that published the newsletters, which reportedly earned Ron Paul & Associates nearly one million dollars over one year, according to a 1993 tax document. Paul, his family and Rockwell were listed as four of the company’s 11 employees.
Paul’s campaign chairman, Jesse Benton, told Hotsheet Tuesday that “We take Ron at [his] word that he did not write” the newsletters.
“So have his constituents in Texas,” Benton continued. “We do so because everything he has worked and stood for forty years stands anathema to racism. We know that Dr. Paul stands for Liberty for all Americans.”
NeNe on the Miss Utah Debacle: ‘We All Make Mistakes’ ...
Chad Johnson: ‘I Learned My Lesson’ in Jail (Watch)
Kid Rock Gets his Black Republicans Mixed Up (Watch)
Petition Started to Have Nicci Gilbert Fired from ‘R&B ...
Velous – Jack of All Trades
Wyclef Jean ‘Receptive’ to Working With Amanda Bynes
Meta World Peace and Other Celebs Turn Out for ‘World ...
EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Hart’s Ex Wife, Torrei Hart, Shooting ...
Old azz geezer needs to have a seat with hsi stupid racist remarks.
He reeks ‘racist SOB’ through every pore/fiber of his being. And his son’s no different.
Well the smear attacks have started. Anybody that knows Dr. Paul or has read any of his writings know that all of this is BS. Even a spokesman for the NAACP said that Ron Paul was incapable of being a racist. He sees people as individuals and their actions reflect their merits and morals. The establishment is running scared. And they will stop at no cost to discredit Ron Paul. But he is the only honest man running for POTUS. If you don’t believe me please research him.
And I would like to add this link and you can hear the interview yourself, All this is is a smear attack on him. Look it up. He has stated over and over he did not write anything like what is being said. But check out this link before you pass judgement on him,
eagle, yeah okay…again, if this is the best the GOP has to offer, congrats on you re-election Mr. President
Co-sign! Ron and Rand’s insides show on the outside…they just can’t help themselves. Two natural born, dyed in the wool, to the bone marrow RACISTS. That’s their calling card and what their followers expect and rally behind.
Steph. I think Ron Paul is the best in the race peroid. I am nither Dem or GOP I vote my conscious. And with the last few elections I have had to vote the lesser of 2 evils. See the problem with the country is that we our broke. We have no money. We can’t spend our way back to the great country we have been. Our wars and our entitlements and put us on a crash course of self destruction. Ron Paul is the only one running for president that addresses the clear and present danger to the country as we know it. When the dollar becomes worthless and prices for food goes through the roof, We are going through something this country has never been though before in it’s history. And what i am afraid is something that would make the great depression look like a boom time. Please research Ron Paul before passing judgement.
This goes out to Steph and Melody
If Ron Paul did write these, and was not afraid to do so at the time, shouldn’t there be at least one audio or video clip of him saying anything even remotely similar? If he had no problem writing that, he certainly wouldn’t have a problem saying it. I think that the fact there is no evidence of Ron Paul ever saying anything like that is conclusive proof that these were not his writings and that it was an unfortunate case of him lending his name to other writers. Further, it is important to note that after Ron Paul discovered what was in these newsletters, he immediately changed the staff responsible for writing them. That right there shows that not only did he not write them, but he is adamantly against them (and his speeches and pro-black policies regarding civil liberties prove that as well).
http://www.voteforronpaul2012.com
U.S. Grassroots site coming up please support and like on facebook.
The Right Call is Freedom For All
Vote for Ron Paul 2012! Please Subscribe, Share, Comment, Like, and share the views of this brilliant man.
What bothers me about this situation is that he allowed newsletters to be published in his name and says he never edited them or was aware of how racist they were?! I’m sorry that just doesn’t ring true, and is a reflection of his judgement. His explanation brings more questions then answers.