Ron Paul's Racist Quotes

Ron has some issues. Credibility seems to be the most pressing at this time.

Actions speak louder than words. Paul's legislative record over the years has always been in order to benefit the free *individual*, regardless of race, sexual preferance, or religious creed. His actions have been very anti-racist, which should automatically make people wonder about the newsletters in question.

Regardless, these admittedly distasteful words - if truly written by Dr. Paul (which I don't believe), are still HARMLESS.

The true racists are those who vote to perpetuate the drug war, the welfare/warfare state, and the continued separation of the races into priveledged or non-priveledged groups instead of equal individuals.These are the types of people who no internet journalist is calling out for their actual involvement in wrongdoing being done toward various races.

Perhaps people need to reconsider their targets. That is, if their agenda is actually to expose racists, rather than smear a political movement and politician.....

Oh thank God, Shank's awake. I never said that Ron Paul SAID these things. They appeared in his newsletters. Repeatedly and over an extended period of time. In my OPINION, the analysis of those newsletters and the number of credible sources that cite them overwhelmingly proves that the newsletters say what has been reported. You are not, I submit, going to deny that much.

Ron Paul denies that he approved the content of those newsletters because he was busy doctoring. I don't BELIEVE him. I am persuaded that his campaign supported those messages when the audience was one that liked that kind of rhetoric and then backed away from those messages when he wanted to reach a broader audience. You are entitled to your opinion as to whether he stood behind the "substance" of those articles. I am entitled to mine.

I watched at least three different programs that dissected Ron Paul's newsletters including the one in which Wolf Blitzer discussed them but expressed shock that the Ron Paul he knew did not appear to be the kind of man who would hold such opinions. Here are some excerpts from the wikipedia article that comport with my own recollection of the analysis at the time, though there are other sources. The Paul campaign issued a number of denials, but IMHO they were evasive and danced around the central issues:

"On January 8, the day of the New Hampshire primary, The New Republic published a story by James Kirchick quoting from selected newsletters published under Paul's name. The publications had various names bannering "Ron Paul" prominently in the title, such as The Ron Paul Survival Report. Kirchick said that the writings showed "an obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry", and were imaginably "saturated in racism", charges echoed by Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog.

Kirchick noted that one article referred to African-American rioters as "barbarians" and suggested that the Los Angeles riots of 1992 only stopped when it came time for "blacks to pick up their welfare checks". Other issues gave tactical advice to local militia groups and advanced various conspiracy theories...

Reason magazine contributing editor Matt Welch found numerous references to the newsletters in news coverage of the 1996 race, many showing a defense of the newsletters by Paul and his campaign."

Does Current TV have a leftist slant or what?

Ron Paul Responds To New Republic Story

"The quotations in The New Republic article are not mine and do not represent what I believe or have ever believed. I have never uttered such words and denounce such small-minded thoughts.

"In fact, I have always agreed with Martin Luther King, Jr. that we should only be concerned with the content of a person's character, not the color of their skin. As I stated on the floor of the U.S. House on April 20, 1999: 'I rise in great respect for the courage and high ideals of Rosa Parks who stood steadfastly for the rights of individuals against unjust laws and oppressive governmental policies.'

"This story is old news and has been rehashed for over a decade. It's once again being resurrected for obvious political reasons on the day of the New Hampshire primary.

"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. For over a decade, I have publically taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/08/ron-paul-responds-to-new-_n_80513.html

Is the guy in the video supposed to be reporting on this story? Couldn't stand listening to his voice it was so full of HIS opinion. yuck:(

I'd rather hear this story from a more professional news source. Otherwise I'll continue to feel that Ron Paul is good guy, and the idea that he is racist is bullshit.

Should we hold all politicians to the same standard? How should Senator Robert Byrd be dealt with?

A good example of how our country is lacking education and information on important matters like diversity, tolerance, and respect. Ron paul is an independent but his views very much republican. I still feel he has some good information to provide to the public but at the same time he should not be able to participate in our political system. If it is proven that those letters were his he should apologized. The world is changing and the true is coming out even if it means that we have to make a lot of changes to our views and our political figures. Lets respect others view and choices like that when is our turn we get the same respect....:D

Interesting comment from the CNN article:

"I am a Black American Veteran and I do not believe that Ron Paul wrote that statement; the first year that he was my Congressman he made a lasting impression on me because he is a true Patriot. I have talked to him at Town Hall meeting and He called me the night the War started, racist don't. Call black men far their opinion of why we had to go to war, or anything else. I agree with Duke, ("Ron Paul issued a statement about this months ago. This is a rehash hit-piece by CNN. No surprise. Your network disgusts me more and more everyday".)
The people that know Ron Paul will tell you, that this report by the New Republic is a none starter with them. I think all black men 70 years old can recognize a racist after talking to them for one second. As a black man, I have been waiting to vote for a true Patriot like Ron Paul all my life."

I fully expected the Ron Paul apologists to spring into action ASAP. The referenced comments appeared in newsletter after newsletter. To think that they did not have Paul's approval is hopelessly naive. Paul chased after one base in his past and then began moving to the center when -- to his great surprise -- some of his views began to get a little traction in the heartland. How lovely that he "found God" after 9/11. That doesn't change this racist thug's past. If you think he has changed...fine. But please don't whitewash (pun intended) his ugly history.

I thought everybody knew that Ron Paul was a racist (and major league breakfast flake) of the worst sort. How could his supporters possibly NOT have known? These FACTS (they aren't mere allegations since the documentation has been around and publicized for many years now) were raised repeatedly during his recent laughable campaign for President.

Do your research people and dont become lambs in a world of wolves...look into what other people( who dont have a talk show) have to say about Ron Paul

I love the youtube vid of Nelson Linder coming to Ron Paul's defense, Nelson Linder is the President of the Austin chapter of the NAACP for you folks that dont know

This is sad...I dont support all that Ron Paul says but it seems to me that not be politically correct is getting him labled a racist.
Yesterday a video with Ben Stein calling Ron Paul anti-semetic when talking about something that had zero to do with Israel and then today somebody conveniently posts a video of Cenk Uygur's liberal drivel. I'd like to see some sound bites instead of somebody with a liberal slant reading supposed quotes from a paper while spouting off bits and pieces of details in an attempt further a personal agenda.

At least people know where Ron Paul stands...99% of society is racist in some form behind closed doors including myself and I respect everyone in my travels until they disrespect me

The idea that Ron Paul is racist is nothing but utter bullshit used to discredit him. Statists both left and right realize he is a threat, and they know that such character assassination works better than civil discourse to obtain their means.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul68.html

"The overwhelming media response to recent remarks by Senator Trent Lott shows that the nation remains incredibly sensitive about matters of race, despite the outward progress of the last 40 years. A nation that once prided itself on a sense of rugged individualism has become uncomfortably obsessed with racial group identities.

In the aftermath of the Lott debacle, we must not allow the term "states’ rights" to be smeared and distorted into code words for segregationist policies or racism. States’ rights simply means the individual states should retain authority over all matters not expressly delegated to the federal government in Article I of the Constitution. Most of the worst excesses of big government can be traced to a disregard for states’ rights, which means a disregard for the Ninth and Tenth amendments. The real reason liberals hate the concept of states’ right has nothing to do with racism, but rather reflects a hostility toward anything that would act as a limit on the power of the federal government.

Yet it is the federal government more than anything else that divides us along race, class, religion, and gender lines. The federal government, through its taxes, restrictive regulations, corporate subsidies, racial set-asides, and welfare programs, plays far too large a role in determining who succeeds and who fails in our society. This government "benevolence" crowds out genuine goodwill between men by institutionalizing group thinking, thus making each group suspicious that others are receiving more of the government loot. Americans know that factors other than merit in the free market often play a part in the success of some, and this leads to resentment and hostility between us.

Still, the left argues that stringent federal laws are needed to combat racism, always implying of course that southern states are full of bigoted rednecks who would oppress minorities if not for the watchful eye of Washington. They ignore, however, the incredible divisiveness created by their collectivist big-government policies.

Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans only as members of groups and never as individuals. Racists believe that all individual who share superficial physical characteristics are alike; as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called "diversity" actually perpetuate racism. Their intense focus on race is inherently racist, because it views individuals only as members of racial groups.

Conservatives and libertarians should fight back and challenge the myth that collectivist liberals care more about racism. Modern liberalism, however well intentioned, is a byproduct of the same collectivist thinking that characterizes racism. The continued insistence on group thinking only inflames racial tensions.

The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity. In a free market, businesses that discriminate lose customers, goodwill, and valuable employees – while rational businesses flourish by choosing the most qualified employees and selling to all willing buyers. More importantly, in a free society every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality. This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Rather than looking to government to correct what is essentially a sin of the heart, we should understand that reducing racism requires a shift from group thinking to an emphasis on individualism."

"Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans strictly as members of groups rather than individuals. Racists believe that all individuals who share superficial physical characteristics are alike: as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called 'diversity' actually perpetuate racism. Their obsession with racial group identity is inherently racist."
-Ron Paul

I stand corrected.?. I still haven't seen the first issue of this news letter tho, and I'm wondering what TYT's agenda is?

Maybe your absolutely correct on him being a; racist, misogynist, homophobe, and whatever else you were calling him.

Still he was arguing war policy, and Ben Stein comes way out of whatever field to call him a racist?. WTF was that about, even the young Turk guy says he's right about Iraq.

I can clearly see disliking him or not supporting him, but much like everyone else he has a few things he's right about. To simply throw some crap (even if it's crap he started) into a argument that has nothing to do with the aforementioned crap, well that's some crap and doesn't take away from his valid points.

Seriously, I'd love to see the news letter, or clips of Ron Paul saying what this guy is saying Mr. Paul is saying. Because even I think some of these quotes really do sound about insane, insensitive, and/or just wrong....

young turks is my shiznit...however i would hold off on judging anyone before hearing both sides of the story...either way ron paul is not what he's cracked up to be..refounding father my ass.

This was the first I ever heard of the Young Turks, I will most definitely keep my eyes and open for more content from them in the future. Ron Paul is not only a racist but dumb as a brick too. Blaming this on his writer's, what is he just a puppet reading blinding off a piece of paper. His racist and homophobic views don't even make any sort of sense. How did this go on unchecked for 20+ years. Why does America have to be so fucked? I spent my youth serving this country and I am still proud to be an American and a veteran but can't help but feel just a bit of shame when I learn about the stupidity and ignorance of those we vote into office again and again. thanks for the wake up !

How the HELL has Paul remained in office?

It's nice to know that another Currenter listens to The Young Turks. I've been following them since March of this year. Way to pass on the message, Unimatrix.