Self Conscious
Joined: 01 Apr 2009
Posts: 322
Location: Sleeping in a box car dreaming of lost starts |
|
 |
|
some interesting things about the news letters and Paul's past.
Why Ron Paul's Racist Newsletters Didn't Hurt Him in Texas
The fact that Texas Rep. Ron Paul once published racist sentiments in his newsletters has been known for quite some time. And yet Paul has managed to keep getting elected in his Houston-area district on the Gulf Coast. A onetime Democratic consultant in Texas, who asked that his name not be used, emails this anecdote from the 1996 general election that returned Paul to Congress after a 12-year hiatus:
At the time I was Lefty Morris' campaign manager, who was the Democrat running against Ron Paul in the general election. Our campaign released the "Ron Paul Political Report" to reporters and later focus grouped some of his writings and affiliations at a restaurant in La Grange, Texas.
At the time, the "Ron Paul Political Report" was listed in an online Neo-Nazi Directory that also included publications by the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Brothers (or something like that).
Of course, we thought we could use this to our advantage. So, in the focus group, we let participants look at the newsletters and told them that Ron Paul's Political Report was listed in the Neo Nazi directory with the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups.
The focus group got really quiet. Then one man pops off, "There's nothing wrong with the Ku Klux Klan."
Another man in the group says, "The Ku Klux Klan has done a lot of good things. For example, if a man wasn't taking care of his family, the Ku Klux Klan would take him down to the town square and tar a feather him."
Next a woman says, "It's the media. They never report the good things that the Ku Klux Klan does."
We had a runaway focus group on our hands. About 10 of the 12 participants were chirping their enthusiasm for the KKK.
I groaned and sunk into my chair in the observation room, staring at the wall. And then, I noticed that the mural on the wall at the Cottonwood Restaurant, where we were conducting the focus groups, had paintings of Texas settlers killing Indians. There were Indians hanging from trees. Settlers slicing Indian throats. Children smiling at the carnage.
It was 1996, but Texas was, well.... still Texas.
This dynamic helps to explain why, when he was first confronted with the contents of the newsletters, Paul didn't denounce them -- he defended them.
Incidentally, the first thing that comes up when you Google "Lefty Morris" these days is another alarming tale from that 1996 campaign: a former Paul staffer's story of the time Paul's campaign manager asked him to pose as an observant Jew to defend Paul from charges of anti-Semitism at a Morris press conference. Paul, for his part, has called that staffer, who in 2008 challenged him for his House seat, "a disgruntled former employee who was fired."
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/why-ron-pauls-racist-newsletters-didnt-hurt-him-in-texas/250427/
JUDGE DENIES CONNALLY SUBPOENA IN TRIAL OF 3 ALLEGED MERCENARIES
New Orleans, June 13 (UPI) - The Federal authorities said today that John Connally, former Governor of Texas, and Representative Ron Paul, Republican of Texas, had no connection with a plot to overthrow the government of a Caribbean island, despite a lawyer's request that they be subpoenaed for the Federal District Court trial of three alleged mercenaries.
Judge Lansing Mitchell yesterday refused to subpoena Mr. Connally and representative Paul for the trial of three men accused of participating in the planning of a coup attempt in Dominica.
The subpoenaes were sought after Michael Perdue of Houston, who has admitted to being the leader of the band of mercenaries, said Mr. Connally and Mr. Paul knew about the group's plans.
Steven D. Black, Michael Norris and Joe Hawkins are scheduled to go on trial Monday. They were among 10 men arrested April 27 near Slidell, La.
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/14/us/judge-denies-connally-subpoena-in-trial-of-3-alleged-mercenaries.html
Here's a little more about this coup: http://newsone.com/1805245/ron-paul-was-implicated-in-attempted-white-supremacist-island-invasion/ |
Fri May 25, 2012 4:11 pm |
|
|
desert penguin
Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 1096
|
He was easy to love in the debates. |
|
Sat May 26, 2012 3:13 am |
|
|
MCGF
Joined: 22 Feb 2010
Posts: 368
|
none of the dems even PRETEND to be anti-war or anti-imperialist, so yes, it's a big fucking deal when someone with major media coverage is staunchly anti-war... because in 2012 there is literally NO ONE ELSE.
all the "dirt" on Ron Paul involves the actions of people tenuously connected to him... it's bullshit. Find me one clip of Ron Paul actually saying something racist or antisemitic.
but all of this was covered earlier in this thread, and the republican nomination fight is over. The big question that remains is if Rand Paul will run for president in 2016 should Romney lose this time around (and how much of his dad's policies will he retain and how much will he discard). |
|
Sat May 26, 2012 12:05 pm |
|
|
Dr Sagacious
Joined: 01 Mar 2009
Posts: 1841
Location: Redford |
I don't know. What I do know is that I would absolutely love to headbutt Rand Paul through a brick wall. |
|
Sat May 26, 2012 1:57 pm |
|
|
AdamBomb
Joined: 05 Mar 2004
Posts: 3136
Location: Louisiana |
|
|
|
MCGF wrote:
none of the dems even PRETEND to be anti-war or anti-imperialist, so yes, it's a big fucking deal when someone with major media coverage is staunchly anti-war... because in 2012 there is literally NO ONE ELSE.
all the "dirt" on Ron Paul involves the actions of people tenuously connected to him... it's bullshit. Find me one clip of Ron Paul actually saying something racist or antisemitic.
but all of this was covered earlier in this thread, and the republican nomination fight is over. The big question that remains is if Rand Paul will run for president in 2016 should Romney lose this time around (and how much of his dad's policies will he retain and how much will he discard).
Its like this.
He wants smaller government and wants federally run welfare to go away (and let states handle it). He wants to end affirmative action (says its actually racist to identify individuals by race). Democrats hate him.
He wants to end all foreign conflicts and shut down all foreign bases (and thus make the military smaller). Supports stem cell research. He wants to legalize drugs. Republicans hate him.
He wants to end the fed (repubs and dems hate him).
So its conceivable that both parties don't want his discussions in any debates and have the resources and motive to fund smear campaigns. Television channels deliberately did not air his debate footage. Now that he's gone, everyone can discuss gay marriage (which the pres. has little power over anyway), birth control health insurance coverage and obama/romney dog ethics which all effect a small part of the population, but most of the population has opinions on. No one has to get out of their comfort zones and discuss the real shit that is making things miserable here. We'll talk about Obama's birth certificate and Romney's days as a high school bully. No stances or promises have to be made. Like him or not, the dude had real concrete opinions on pretty much every issue, which obviously doesn't work well politically. Go ahead and hate the dude, but appreciate the fact that he brought up real issues all the time.
Personally, I am for gay marriage, but way way higher up on the list, I want job opportunities for me and my family and gas prices to go down (things that directly affect me every day). The healthcare system directly ruins lives of people who are already hurt and sick. I also care about my safety when I go to a foreign country and how Americans are perceived there. If we manufacture nothing here, we have nothing tangible to value our economy on. This is real shit that directly affects me. |
|
Sat May 26, 2012 7:08 pm |
|
|
Jesse
Joined: 02 Jul 2002
Posts: 6166
Location: privileged homeless |
MCGF wrote:
all the "dirt" on Ron Paul involves the actions of people tenuously connected to him... it's bullshit. Find me one clip of Ron Paul actually saying something racist or antisemitic.
How tenuous is the connection of words attributed to him in THE RON PAUL REPORT??
Find me one clip of George W Bush blowing the brains out of an Afghani citizen every day for ten years... if not, I guess he's not responsible. Tenuous connections. |
|
Sun May 27, 2012 6:55 pm |
|
|
Plum Puddin'
Joined: 26 May 2008
Posts: 1644
Location: Get off my lawn. |
.
 |
|
Sun May 27, 2012 11:10 pm |
|
|
 
|
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
All times are GMT - 6 Hours. The time now is Sun May 19, 2013 12:59 pm
|
|
|
|
| |
