How Rand Paul’s libertarian streak ran afoul of history
Some of you may remember the famous Jesse Helms ad of 1990 in his race against Democrat Harvey Gantt, a black man. It featured a pair of white hands angrily crumpling up a letter, while the announcer explained that the man had just been informed that he didn’t get a job because a less qualified minority did. (The ad was written and produced by Alex Castellanos, now a regular on CNN).
Until this week, when I ran across the political flyer to the right from the 1964 campaign, I didn’t fully appreciate the rich political heritage behind the Helms ad, or why it drew such a strong reaction. In ‘64, in the wake of the signing of the Civil Rights Act by President Johnson, Barry Goldwater and his advisers had decided that their best chance was to play to white Southern resentment by pitting white against black on economic terms. (To be fair, it was an age-old tactic that southern Democrats had been using at the state and local levels for decades to keep themselves in power.)
The text of the flyer is a little blurry, so let me make it clear:
EMPLOYEES
READ THIS:
Did you know that Lyndon Johnson’s Civil Rights Bill can get you fired from your job and give it to a person of another race? No matter what ability you have to do your job … or how much seniority you have on your job … you can lose your job because of Johnson’s Civil Rights Bill. This is your last chance. Vote to put an end to racial favoritism…vote to protect your job…your family…your home.
EMPLOYERS
READ THIS:
This is your last chance to save your freedom to run your own business as you choose!
As I’ve tried to make clear, I believed Senate candidate Rand Paul when he insisted that his (now-retracted) opposition to the Civil Rights Act was based on strict libertarian principles rather than racism. On a purely intellectual level, you can make a valid if unconvincing argument to that effect. But the strong similarity between that position and the clear appeal to racism in the flyer helps explain why the public reacted so strongly to Paul’s argument, however based in principle it might be. Paul was naive to expect any other reaction.
The flyer is also an artifact of a transition point in U.S. politics. In 1960, in a race that was decided by a razor-thin margin nationwide, Democrat John F. Kennedy defeated Republican Richard M. Nixon in Georgia by the overwhelming margin of 62.5 percent to 37.4 percent. Even Kennedy’s Catholicism couldn’t threaten the South’s strong ties to the Democratic Party. (And yes, Catholicism was still an issue back then in the South. My Virginia-born grandmother, I’m told, was not very happy to be introduced to my father’s Catholic bride-to-be.)
Four years later, after LBJ’s signing of the Civil Rights Act and Goldwater’s embrace of the tactics exemplified by the flyer, everything changed and Georgia voted Republican for the first time ever. Again, it wasn’t even close, with Goldwater pulling 54.1 percent to LBJ’s 45.9 percent. The only other states that Goldwater carried that year — in addition to his native Arizona — were South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, none of which had voted Republican since Reconstruction.
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365 comments Add your comment
getalife
May 27th, 2010
10:00 pm
Dadt just passed the house.
Scout
May 27th, 2010
10:01 pm
GUts-R-US :
He is my President but he is not my Commander in Chief. I am not in the military (since 1968) and am not under the UCMJ. Sorry.
Scout
May 27th, 2010
10:03 pm
WestPointGrad1975 :
Sir: Maybe you can help me out with something else. I read (don’t know if it is true or not) that this year’s West Point graduation ceremony was opened to the public for the first time in 100 years. Do you know (can you find out) anything about that??
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
10:03 pm
Some excellent background music for blogging:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAvuxLf80Jo&feature=related
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:06 pm
Bruno
You will note that I put the word pure in quotes for a reason…
And, no, I don’t have 7 generations of Northern ancestors…I have none as a matter of fact and I do not claim to understand the Northern way of thinking. They are as foreign to me as are Mexicans or Moldavians. My observations of them are much as my observations of Mexicans and Moldavians. I just wish that they would return the courtesy.
Guts R Us–
Let me ask you something, seriously, can one not disagree with the current President without it coming down to race? I’ll tangle up one side and down the other with Scout on many of his viewpoints up to and including a walking cane duel at the old folks home, but I don’t see him as basing his dislikes of the President on more than his policies…ask him what he thinks of say Condaleeza Rice or Colin Powell…I don’t know myself…Scout? What do you think of them?
getalife
May 27th, 2010
10:08 pm
I guess the cons just have the immigrants to discriminate against now.
Until they pass amnesty.
Then they turn their hate on each other.
Not con enough.
Paulo977
May 27th, 2010
10:08 pm
Oh Mary
Elizabeth your post does much to clear the South of total bankruptcy of human morality!! There are so many of you here whose voices are stilled because of conventional customs but who I hope will one day be able to rise to the ocassion and vote for JUSTICE!
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the Liar Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
May 27th, 2010
10:13 pm
Geeze, get over Rand Paul…How about 10% unemployment, MILLIONS of gallons of oil in the gulf or the dow uner 10,000. Take your pick and discuss something of importance. Can you say beat a dead horse?
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:14 pm
getalife
We’ll see how it turns out, my fingers are crossed…but I’m not breaking out the champagne just yet…there’s still all that “implementation” fine tuning…the devil’s in the details…
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 27th, 2010
10:16 pm
And you, lacking 7 generations of Northern predecessors before you, simply can’t understand Northern ways…..
Bruno, did you see my post to you the other night about my NJ connection?
I remember once seeing an interview with Willie Mays, when I was a boy. He was discussing this very subject. (Paraphrasing from memory here). He said that in the South, if he wanted to go in a place to eat, it would say “White Only”. He said in some parts of the North, if he wanted to go in a place to eat, there were no signs but he might go in and sit down and in 30 minutes, nobody would acknowledge that he was even there. Which is worse? I don’t know. Neither seems right to me.
Paulo977
May 27th, 2010
10:17 pm
Thank you Bruno ….just beautiful . Indeed, why can’t we?
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
10:20 pm
“Bruno, did you see my post to you the other night about my NJ connection?”
Missed that one, HD. I’m sure it is a tremendous source of pride to you! Jersey folks work hard and kick butt.
I’m sure you fellows know that my comment was tongue in cheek–just applying josef’s way of thinking back onto himself. According to him, my thirty years in the South doesn’t qualify me to speak of things Southern in any way, shape, or form.
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:21 pm
Bruno
And me not being a scientist, I prefaced what I said with “I think” and “in my opinion.” Remember, i AM a Gemini!
Scout
May 27th, 2010
10:21 pm
josef:
At one time I had hoped they would both run for President.
Then Powell betrayed us.
And remember …….. I am not a Republican ……… I am a conservative. I call ‘em like I see ‘em.
“Red and Yellow, Black & White,
They are setting in my sights,
Scout is watching politicians of the world”
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
10:23 pm
“Thank you Bruno ….just beautiful . Indeed, why can’t we?”
I guess it would be too dull, Paulo.
Years back I was complaining to a friend about all the unnecessary melodrama that a girlfriend was putting me through at the time, and his retort was “Drama? I LOVE drama!”. Broke the mood nicely. Now I realize years later that women are simply programmed that way.
godless heathen
May 27th, 2010
10:23 pm
I grew up in rural Georgia and witnessed plenty of racism but there wasn’t much diversity. There were white Protestants and black Protestants. I had cousins out west and all talked about how bad Indians were. I didn’t have anything against Indians, I thought Mingo and Tonto were pretty cool. Then I went out in the world and I heard people saw awful things about Jewish folks and Catholic folks. I didn’t see anything wrong with Jewish or Catholic folks, the ones I met seemed ok to me. And in college I got to know some homosexuals and they seemed to be ok too. I admit that I have prejudices, everyone does, but I try my best to judge individuals by there actions, not their group membership.
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:26 pm
And BRUNO I never said you for all your thirty years couldn’t speak of things Southern in any way, shape or form. All I said is that it’s necessary to know where you’re coming from…you can talk about Jews or Indians, too, but that don’t mean you are going to see it from the same perspective. I’ve lived with a Red man for 35 years, but there are still plenty of things I don’t understand about him and his views just the same as he doesn’t understand plenty of things about my Jewish views…there is a point even with us where the other is an outsider…
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
10:26 pm
Here’s one more for you, Paulo, from the Master himself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj0zGxDxXVM
Background guitar work courtesy of Neil Schon.
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
10:28 pm
“there is a point even with us where the other is an outsider…”
In my case, I’m even an outsider to myself……
Scout
May 27th, 2010
10:29 pm
godless heathen:
You may not understand this fully ………….but to this day I go out of my way to be extra kind, helpful, open a door, etc., etc. to elderly black ladies.
As I kid (we couldn’t afford one) I would often be at a friend’s house and the “maid” would cook us lunch, dinner, etc. I know they weren’t treated or paid that well even then. Also, my wife was practicly raised by their family maid. She was the disciplinarian, made sure the school work was done, made sure she was dressed properly, in bed on time, etc.
We owe them a lot.
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:35 pm
godless
“I admit I have prejudices…”
Would that more of us would say that. It simply means to prejudge and we all fall into that trap, be it for good or for bad or just plain neutral. I have biases. I try not to have bigotries, but that doesn’t mean I’m successful. A Yankee friend of mine once “accused” me of being prejudiced against Northerners. Unmentionable said, “oh, no he’s not. Prejudice requires some forethought. He’s out and out bigoted there. No forethought whatsoever!”
But let me ask this…I’m a Jew…I’m supposed to automatically trust the goyim? I think not. I can very easily understand why a black doesn’t automatically trust me and treats me with prejudice until s/he gets to know me. They’d be a fool not to.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 27th, 2010
10:35 pm
Bruno
Hopefully this will get you to that post.
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/05/22/to-don-blankenship-just-the-cost-of-doing-coal-business/comment-page-5/#comment-309261
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
10:37 pm
Steve Winwood understands, though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K99y0ajhFns&feature=PlayList&p=E244AB3420B60056&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=18
So jo, you gonna make it an all-nighter tonight, tomorrow being your last day at work for the summer?
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:38 pm
Bruno
“In my case, I’m even an outsider to myself……”
And that’s a good thing.
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
10:40 pm
Awesome, HD!
I can’t locate the family tree recently that a relative completed a few years back, but I believe the first date was around 1800. Pennsylvania farmers from Germany.
Scout
May 27th, 2010
10:41 pm
BTW: I’m getting all of my gas at BP now.
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:41 pm
Bruno
I’m beginning to f*g out…tomorrow is the last day of regular schedule (I’ve got a ton of work left to do on my own time)…the all nighters are coming, though! The night crew always gets at its most interesting just as I have to cash it in…
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
10:47 pm
When I begin to f*g out, I smoke a f*g with the f*g next door. Always perks me up.
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:52 pm
Great-great-great grandpappu
Jacob Moser, served in the Revolutionary War entering with Weltner’s German Battalion and leaving as a captain with Harmar’s Sixth German Regiment of the Maryland Troops.
A German speaking regiment…down to my Grandfather’s generation they spoke, read, and were educated in German…funny think, though, they were French in origin and were run out of France by the great whatever grandpappy on Granny’s side, Guillaume de Nogaret, when Jews were fleeced along with the Cathars and Templars and went running to Switzerland…ole Guillaume’s mother was a Jew and his father a Cathar…and, 700 years down the line, in the north hills of Mississippi, the descendent of the one met and married the descendent of the other and lived together for 63 years until death did they part…full circle it is…
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 27th, 2010
10:53 pm
Bruno
I have several connections to the Pennsylvania Germans. They had all left and come south by the post-colonial period and some before. I have 12 direct Revolutionary War ancestors that I know of, 9 or 10 or which are DAR certified. If you count uncles and cousins, I don’t know how many it would be.
Some were the ones I mentioned there, some were Over Mountain Boys, some were part of the Georgia Line and some were South Carolina troops. They were spread out but they’d all found their way south by 1800 or so.
I think basically we’ve been run out of almost everywhere at some time or another.
Guess I better call it a night, too.
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
10:58 pm
Bruno
My mother always called cigarettes f*gs. She wasn’t a smoker, but ever so often she would have a smoke. One night when a bunch of my friends were over she knocked on the door and said, “let me have a f*g and don’t try to tell me y’all don’t have any in there!”
md
May 27th, 2010
10:58 pm
getalife,
What is your take on the immigrants that are denied entry because others have jumped in line in front of them? Why should they take a back seat?
godless heathen
May 27th, 2010
10:59 pm
Scout: We had a maid that came in once a week to iron clothes. I never wanted to ride along when the folks took her home. It me feel bad to see the shack that she lived in. Her daughter was in my class at school, until she got pregnant and followed in her mother’s footsteps.
Josef: The point I tried to make in my previous post (and I think you got it.) was that we don’t like things that are unfamiliar to us. Yea, it’s no wonder that black people think that we are all out to get them. I’ve had several black employees that I could never gain trust from. They weren’t prejudice, they just didn’t like white m_____ f_____s .
josef nix
May 27th, 2010
11:00 pm
Well, g’night…enjoyed it…
Bruno
May 27th, 2010
11:01 pm
Later, guys.
GUts-R-US
May 27th, 2010
11:04 pm
josef,
Given that race is pretty much the topic of the thread, I cannot think of a more appropriate time to “bring it up” with another blogger that has not, based on my observations, explained his dislike of our president in any other terms. Then again, perhaps you have noted my raising this issue at other less appropriate times or that I have broached this issue at an inappropriate time or perhaps there is something else that I am missing. Or not.
RB from Gwinnett
May 27th, 2010
11:10 pm
“How many of you out there in managment had to play the “quota” game with hirings and promotions?”
I have. Quite a few times actually. I’ve been told “you have to make it work” with a black credit manager who was completely pathetic at his job. I’ve been told “if you don’t have any qualified black candidates, you aren’t looking hard enough”. And my favorite, “you’re a white male under 40 and I can fire you any time I want”.
My family came from Scotland in the 30’s and had nothing to do with slavery in this country. I don’t owe the black community anything more than the respect due a fellow man and I’m sick and tired of you liberals calling me a racist simply because I’m white and conservative.
Jay, I don’t recall you bringing up the “guard dogs and fire hoses” ad from worthless Shirley when Reed was running. Maybe that double standard will look good on your resume’ as you drive the AJC out of business with this crap you pass off as journalism.
Scout
May 27th, 2010
11:22 pm
What does Obama mean by accountability?
He holds those under him “accountable” and fires at least some of them for not being so. Then he turns around and says he is ultimately accountable but then he does not resign?
What’s with that? Are you accountable or not ?
Scout
May 27th, 2010
11:23 pm
RB:
Amen !
ken
May 28th, 2010
12:29 am
Senator Byrd KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Scout
May 28th, 2010
1:05 am
Headline: “House Votes to Repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ as Vote Nears in Senate.
House’s 234-194 Vote Follows 16-12 Senate Armed Services Committee Vote to Repeal Law After Pentagon Review.”
A house divided and soon a military divided ……………………..
Michael
May 28th, 2010
1:27 am
SFD,
Maybe you can explain the Atlanta City Council, (may have been Fulton) from about 2 years ago where they said that voting for a White, Republican woman would bring back the dog attacks and firehoses for the Black Community!
Tom Degan
May 28th, 2010
4:31 am
Why would he go on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC program earlier this week and imply that he would not have supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had he been there to vote on it. Did he really believe that there would be any possible political gain by doing something as reckless and as silly as that?
The answer is – Yes he did – and here’s the really sad part: He was probably correct to believe there would be a substantial political payoff in the long run for making such an egregiously ignorant remark. Just take a look around you….
The political landscape of this once-great nation is more tarnished than at any time in the last half century. The right wing media, with FOX Noise in the lead, has created from scratch an industry whose whole purpose is to mine racial fears against the first African American president in American history. For many years – right up until the moment Barack Obama took the oath of office – racism in America was, for the most part, covert. On January 20, 2009 it became – in too many corners of this country to count – overt.
This is what we have become. Rand Paul is merely a nasty reflection of it.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
May 28th, 2010
6:11 am
Aahhh, oceanfront room at the Sheraton in Va Beach, the seas are angry but oil free, tis one of the joys of the productive class.
Just sayin….
larry
May 28th, 2010
6:55 am
@ Tom, I could not figure that out either. Maybe he went on Dr. Maddow’s show because that is where he announced his canidacy and he figured she would treat him with softball questions. But he should have kn own better, especially with what he had said to various media outlets before the interview.
GUts-R-US
May 28th, 2010
7:07 am
I wonder if Scout thought Bush should have ever resigned.
A CONSERVATIVE
May 28th, 2010
7:24 am
JAY………YOU LIBERALS have rewritten the history of the Civil Rights era….IT WAS southern DEMOCRATs who created JIM CROW laws…& force segregation…..YOU ALWAYS LIE ABOUT THIS HISTORY..YOU LIE…YOU LIE
USinUK
May 28th, 2010
7:27 am
oh, my … mr. conservative seems to need to start his day with decaf …
Truth Hurts
May 28th, 2010
7:37 am
By Pro Libertate————–
Melissa Harris-Lacewell, an associate professor at Princeton and self-appointed watchdog of the “radical right,” makes that point with the eager earnestness of someone who assumes that her political opponents aren’t listening.
According to Harris-Lacewell, the 1960s civil rights movement was valuable because it was a tool to expand and consolidate federal power.
That CRA, it should be remembered, was enacted by a government that was in the early stages of its war of aggression against Vietnam — a conflict in which, as Stokely Carmichael aptly put it, “white people [drafted] black people to make war on yellow people [supposedly] to defend land stolen from red people.” The government in charge of enforcing that Act today is slaughtering “people of color” in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and (lest we forget) Detroit, and looking for an excuse to inflict its lethal humanitarianism on Iran and North Korea.
Jason T
May 28th, 2010
7:49 am
Jay
No comment on Sestak? Believe there’s more to the Sestak situation than this Rand Paul “non-issue”.
Jay
May 28th, 2010
7:51 am
I had a whole post on Sestak two posts ago, Jason.
Jason T
May 28th, 2010
7:55 am
Jay
You don’t find it “odd”, that it takes so long for Obama to answer the questions about Sestak’s “allegations”?
matt
May 28th, 2010
8:22 am
Looks like you’ve hit the nonsense button here. Scraping the barrel for something.
It’s like this – Rand believes in the 1st amendment and property rights. He believes that people can decide for themselves as adults, not told what to do as children. This only applies to private, not public.
Things like affirmative action should be attacked, not rand
williebkind
May 28th, 2010
8:28 am
I wonder if Morrus meant by stale thinking that refers ot people who have values and beliefs that does not change. Hmmm in that case I guess I am guilty of stale thinking. I have observed that if you are against affirmative action or just one aspect of it then you are against the entire civil rights bill. Now thats is stale thinking by the progressive liberals–dont you think.
Scout
May 28th, 2010
8:40 am
Jason T:
It’s growing legs ………. be patient !
GUts-R-US :
I thought about him resigning over the 2nd Gulf War “tactical” mess and his stand on immigration. Would you have wanted Cheney?
P.S.
Everyone remember to buy BP gas !!!
Michael Smith
May 28th, 2010
9:23 am
Bookman wrote:
As I’ve tried to make clear, I believed Senate candidate Rand Paul when he insisted that his (now-retracted) opposition to the Civil Rights Act was based on strict libertarian principles rather than racism. On a purely intellectual level, you can make a valid if unconvincing argument to that effect.
In other words, you cannot logically refute his position, so you choose, instead, to use an appeal to emotion — in this case, it’s smear-by-association. Since Paul’s comments superficial resemble others that you claim are racists, Paul’s, too, must be racist. Analyzed logically, we see that this is nothing more than the fallacy of ad hominem, which has become the left’s sole “argument” these days.
There is a reason why today’s leftists and “progressives” always resort to fallacious arguments.
The reason is that their two cherished ideas — socialism (in some shape, form or fashion) as a domestic policy and pacifism as an international policy — were thoroughly refuted by the events of the 20th century.
Socialism did not bring prosperity to the masses as its advocates claimed it would — rather, in places where it was practiced fully and consistently, it brought mass death by starvation to the masses. See, for instance, the histories of the U.S.S.R., communist China, North Korea, Cuba, etc.
Likewise, pacifism did not bring about world peace as was promised by its advocates — instead, it invited the horrific aggressions of two world wars and one “cold war” which saw the deaths of millions of innocents and the enslavement of still millions more under communism.
Thus, with their two beloved ideas so thoroughly discredited and debunked — but their irrational hatred of capitalism and freedom fully intact — the left is reduced to lame fallacies like ad hominem
Such “arguments“ is all today‘s left has to offer. That’s why a guy like
Bookman will try to milk this dust-up over Rand Paul’s remarks for as many columns as possible. He has no logical arguments FOR his positions, so he is reduced to arguing AGAINST the character of his opponents. It’s a sign of complete intellectual bankruptcy.
norris hall
May 28th, 2010
1:31 pm
Rand Paul hopes to appeal to the angry white voter.
First he states that White Restaurant owners should have the right to refuse to serve black people if they want to.
Now he’s saying we need to repeal the 14th amendment which gave black slaves and their children automatic citizenship at a time 150 years ago when blacks were not considered by many to be non citizens.
Only this time he is applying the law to Mexican children of illegal aliens…most of whom have lived here all their lives are totally American in language, education, culture and dress.
He intends to take citizens and create a subclass of outcasts.
M
May 28th, 2010
3:35 pm
Jay,
You need to brush up on the facts leading up to the Civil Rights Act of ‘64. The Civil Rights Act came at a time when there were deep problems in the south. In many places, blacks were not able to grab a bite to eat merely because of the color of their skin. White business owners were prohibited by local Jim Crow laws from serving blacks.
The Jim Crow laws came about because some white business owners decided they want to be inclusive and serve all individuals regardless of their skin color. In response, the segregationist business owners lobbied for the Jim Crow laws to keep them competitive without having to integrate.
Local and state governments were predominantly responsible for taking the south so long to end segreation. But the Civil Rights Act, while federal, employs the same kind of liberty-depriving and unconstitutional mentality as the Jim Crow laws had done. What was never attempted, and what I believe is best, is to simply remove the laws barring business owners to integrate. It would obviously work, since Jim Crow was necessaryt to help segregationist businesses to compete.
It’s because of idiots like you that I can’t discern between racist and non-racist business owners. I am unable to boycott non-inclusive businesses and reward inclusive businesses. Racism should be out in the open where it belongs as opposed to being swept under the rug. The major problem today stems from Aversive racism is a subtle bi-product of your notion that only government can bring morality to the masses.
Trevor
May 28th, 2010
8:09 pm
Keep it up, keep calling the Tea Party and the Libertarians racist. It will just alienate more independents like I who am sick and tired of being called racist because I don’t buy into Obama’s socialist policies and don’t want to see America go down the drain. And yes massive spending on social programs as well as war will get us there. thanks again progressives! Keep it up!
Michael
May 28th, 2010
9:21 pm
Truth Hurts,
Is it really your position that it is the Federal Government who are constantly killing people in Detroit and not the gangs? Last I saw the overwhelming video evidence points to the citizens of Detroit as the creators of this violence and not the Feds!
1 Boring Old Man » naive…
May 29th, 2010
9:42 pm
[...] on Saturday 29 May 2010 How Rand Paul’s libertarian streak ran afoul of history Atlanta Journal Constitution by Jay Bookman May 27, [...]
Stickit2theman
May 30th, 2010
1:21 am
Im against private discrimination, but also against affirmative action.
Private discrimination is wrong and should not be allowed.
Affirmative Action makes the faulty assumption that if a business or a college doesn’t have a proportionate amount of each race therefore it must have been the business or school’s fault and that it must be discriminating. Disproportionate is evidence of discrimination but doesn’t show who is discriminating. Minority majority schools(before college) often face discrimination from state budgets and then students dont do as good leading to less chance in college or business. So you might be an employer or be in charge of accepting new students and not discriminate and still get less minorities because the government discriminates against them in its budgeting.
The only real way to address discrimination is to address it throughout our society. The state makes laws all the time and then exempts itself. Even Congressmen have immunity for discrimination for pages and other staff they hire. That should stop and then we should have a law that governments are not allowed to practice racial discrimination in budgeting.
Jim McClarin
May 30th, 2010
9:19 am
It’s important to note that the Civil Rights Act was never on Rand Paul’s horizon as an issue, nor did he bring it up in his interviews. In every case his comments were in response to interviewers.
It was first brought up by a newspaper editorial board during an endorsement interview.
Next his opponent claimed that Rand wanted to overturn the CRA, a position he had never taken.
Next, he was grilled on the subject by an NPR host, followed by repeated questions on the topic on the Rachel Maddow show.
In these interviews Dr. Paul expressed his support for civil rights, saying he would have marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and would denounce any racial discrimination he became aware of in his community or elsewhere. He was clearly aware the interviewers were trying for a “gotcha” quote to discredit him, the tea party movement, and the Republican Party.
Indeed the spin from these interviews is that Paul harbors extremist, racist views,not an intellectual curiosity about the imbalance between property rights and civil rights.
In American politics there is no room for the intellectual examination of orthodoxies because of the way it will be spun by political opponents, including those in the media. This is unfortunate because it reduces political discourse to scripted sound bytes. Don’t we deserve better?
Art Sheppard
May 31st, 2010
12:45 pm
Dr. Rand Paul vs. Dr. Martin L. King
Dr. Rand Paul stands in stark contrast to Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. Paul believes that every person not only has the, “right,” to be racist but they also have the right to inflict their beliefs on anyone they choose. He doesn’t seem to understand that even though we have rights to free speech, we don’t have the right to scream, “Fire!” in a crowded theater. He forgets or chooses to forget that in this country the only people who have suffered under his belief system are people of color. Except for white males, everyone else have had to struggle mightily to achieve their rights. I wonder if Dr. Paul would hold the same views if he (all his life) was considered a second class citizen and kicked out of ethnic restaurants or movie theaters simply because he was white. Dr. King believed that all people are created equal and he dedicated and sacrificed his life championing this cause. I met Dr. King when I was a teenager in a chance one on one meeting while I was demonstrating and picketing for the right to work in a Supermarket that heretofore only hired white teenagers. I’ll never forget the words that Dr. King said to me and I speak of this meeting in my book, “Talking Penny.”
Shame, Dr. Paul, shame.
GI Ct
May 31st, 2010
6:11 pm
Ron Paul as president would do more for black people than Obama. Libertarianism is for all people.
Ron Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8S8N2OG7sU