New Republic Writer: Ron Paul Called MLK a "Gay Pedophile"

On Tucker Carlson's show 45 minutes ago, The New Republic's Jamie Kirchick alleged that Ron Paul called Martin Luther King a "gay pedophile," and stuffed 20 years' worth of "Ron Paul" newsletters full of "racist, anti-semitic, homophobic invective."

Kirchick, whose story for TNR (along with screen-shots of the newsletters themselves) are scheduled to go up at midnight EDT "tomorrow afternoon," said that Paul "called black people animals," and spoke at a "pro-secessionist conference." In teeing up the segment, Carlson, who was skeptical about some of Kirchick's claims, reported that the Paul campaign has apologized for the content of the newsletters to both Kirchick and Carlson.

More to come from here after the gong strikes midnight.

reason on Paul here. Dave Weigel talked about Paul's newsletter racism back in July. Nick Gillespie and I tried to make sense of the rEVOLution for the Washington Post late last year. Brian Doherty covered the Paul campaign from the beginning, asked if Paul was good for libertarians in July, and wrote our current cover story.

UPDATE: Video here.

Comments

Elemenope | January 7, 2008, 7:42pm | #

It's pile-on time.

Paul, Obama, Huckabee...all outsiders in the establishment sense, and all doing "better than they oughta", terrifying many. Can't wait for the real dirt to start flying; all my newfound hope and faith for humanity in general and my fellow Americans in particular was never going to last, anyways.

Lost_In_Translation | January 7, 2008, 7:42pm | #

They keep digging and finding the same old, worn out stories, always ready to fling, just in case this time it sticks. Soon we should be back around to Ron Paul's a KKK member because he didn't give back the $500 donation from Black. After that, we should expect another round of how he's a hyporcite for putting earmarks in the bills he vetos and so on and so forth.

Lost_In_Translation | January 7, 2008, 7:44pm | #

The only problem about flinging mud at Paul is that when you reach down to grab the juicy, gotcha dirtball story, the best you can find is a dust bunny under a borrowed couch.

alan | January 7, 2008, 7:45pm | #

Can't wait for the real dirt to start flying; all my newfound hope and faith for humanity in general and my fellow Americans in particular was never going to last, anyways.

Ah, Jeez. I agree Elempope. Sobriety was okay while it lasted, but I'm going back to the bottle, and I'll likely pick up a few other habits depending on November.

Tempus fugit | January 7, 2008, 7:50pm | #

Midnight EDT? So it will go up at 11 p.m.?

zig zag man | January 7, 2008, 7:56pm | #

Wake me up when Dr. Paul is caught:

1) in a bathroom stall taking a wide stance,

2) with a dead girl,

3) or in bed with a live boy.

That is all.

Condoleeza Rice | January 7, 2008, 7:57pm | #

God dammit I knew this guy was a racist, I just had this feeling about him. I don't know how I could have bought into all of his disgusting verbal rhetoric that praises MLK. I am sickened.

Rhys | January 7, 2008, 7:57pm | #

wow, the media is scarry. I'm starting to see visions of Hitler in them, not Paul.

Michael Cathcart | January 7, 2008, 7:58pm | #

The fact that the Paul campaign has yet to respond to this, makes me worried that this will be a big story tomorrow. Tucker Carlson did a horrible job refuting the claims of this neocon publication, and didn't have anyone from the campaign to refute the claims.

THE CAMPAIGN MUST RESPOND NOW!!!

joe | January 7, 2008, 8:00pm | #

Does anybody except me care whether or not this is true?

David E. Gallaher | January 7, 2008, 8:02pm | #

She who hath mud to fling, sinless or not... let 'er first cast!

Be not the first the mud to fling, nor the last to cast some!

Cast mud! There is no shortage of it! God will make more.

When a the smear hit a your ear like a bigga pizza pie, that's more a fun!

Ain't politics grand!

Ruthless

Theophanes | January 7, 2008, 8:06pm | #

I went to Yale with Jamie Kirchick. To think he's had the nerve to call himself a "libertarian" before. He's one of those delightful people who automatically equates all criticism of Israel with antisemitism. I think all of this crap comes out of his cognitive dissonance from being a homosexual supporter of the oppressive, anti-gay, Republican Party. Heaven help him if I run into him at a reunion or the Harvard-Yale game...

drawnasunder | January 7, 2008, 8:06pm | #

I care. I like Paul and would consider voting because he's running.

If he's proven a racist, then I wouldn't vote for him, nor root for his campaign. He'd be an embarassment. If he's written outright racists rants, he will have done a huge disservice to the cause...

tina | January 7, 2008, 8:07pm | #

hey Joe, we supporters already know the background on this story, and it is not true. These are based on something a ghostwriter wrote, not Paul himself. This same old thing has come up over and over again, and every time these people are proven wrong. However, although he didn't write it, like a real man, he has taken responsibility for it because it was his newsletter

Jennifer | January 7, 2008, 8:08pm | #

PROVE IT! Until then, I believe nothing because people HAVE to make stuff up just to make him look bad. Wah, ok, wah, go cry about it, then show me some proof!

Brian Sorgatz | January 7, 2008, 8:09pm | #

Has Parade confirmed the story? That's what I want to know.

nejamai | January 7, 2008, 8:09pm | #

Blah blah blah.

This garbage was refuted LONG ago.

gay pedophile? Did some 14 year old write that?

Lost_In_Translation | January 7, 2008, 8:10pm | #

I would like Paul to explain it again since I'm sure there are people that have seen this for the first time. Never heard the statement "MLK was a gay pedophile". I think that might be an out and out lie of ever what the ghost written paper said.

joe | January 7, 2008, 8:11pm | #

tina,

I've been following Paul pretty closely, and this is new to me.

This particular charge is quite something else than the maybe-ghostwritten "newsletters" that he allowed to be published under his name.

PC | January 7, 2008, 8:11pm | #

Guess they take issue to stuff like this:

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc289/LSUfanFR/?action=view¤t=Helms.jpg

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1923902/posts

Stonestorm | January 7, 2008, 8:12pm | #

This excerpt from Wikipedia demonstrates how the same thing happened in to Ron Paul in 1996.

"Paul's Democratic opponent in the fall election, trial lawyer Charles "Lefty" Morris, lost in a close margin, despite assistance from the AFL-CIO. Paul's large contributor base outraised Morris two-to-one, giving the third-highest amount of individual contributions received by any House member (behind Gingrich and Bob Dornan).[53] It became the third time Paul had been elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.[10]

Morris ran numerous attacks, including publicizing issues of the Ron Paul Survival Report (published by Paul since 1985) that included derogatory comments concerning race and other politicians.[54][55] Alluding to a 1992 study finding that "of black men in Washington ... about 85 percent are arrested at some point in their lives",[56][57] the newsletter proposed assuming that "95% of the black males in Washington DC are semi-criminal or entirely criminal", and stated that "the criminals who terrorize our cities ... largely are" young black males, who commit crimes "all out of proportion to their numbers".[58][59]

In 2001, Paul took "moral responsibility" for the comments printed in his newsletter under his name, telling Texas Monthly magazine that the comments were written by an unnamed ghostwriter and did not represent his views. He said newsletter remarks referring to U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan (calling her a "fraud" and a "half-educated victimologist") were "the saddest thing, because Barbara and I served together and actually she was a delightful lady."[60] The magazine defended Paul's decision to protect the writer's confidence in 1996, concluding, "In four terms as a U.S. congressman and one presidential race, Paul had never uttered anything remotely like this."[35] In 2007, with the quotes resurfacing, New York Times Magazine writer Christopher Caldwell concurred that Paul denied the allegations "quite believably, since the style diverges widely from his own,"[10] but added that Paul's "response to the accusations was not transparent."[10]"

Peter | January 7, 2008, 8:15pm | #

I'm probably going to get pilloried for this, but setting Slavery aside, is there anything wrong with the concept, or "right" to secede per se. I mean, if the secession issue wasn't sullied with racism by the fact that the last most successful secession was over slavery, among other things, it would seem to me the perfect cause celebre for liberals to take up ... rebelling against the powers that be and starting a new society. No, it seems to me the same onus of the sort when Ronald Reagan talked about states' rights in the south and got shit for it.

Did anyone think it might be good for a government representative to treat these guys with respect now and then, lest we find ourselves with roaming militias?

Lost_In_Translation | January 7, 2008, 8:15pm | #

Just had a funny thought, maybe the reason they're taking so long to respond is they're trying to find out where in the hell Kichick picked it up from and he's not responding to calls from the campaign. That's alot of newsletters to read.

edna | January 7, 2008, 8:16pm | #

he also said that jews were hooknosed userers who drink the blood of christian babies. and that the irish were retarded drunken potato heads.

doesn't anyone besides me care whether or not this is true?

Michael McDonnough | January 7, 2008, 8:18pm | #

Does anyone really accept anything that is said by these neocon hacks as being the truth? They always take a thin layer of truth and cover it with a huge helping of pure BS on their crap sandwich they serve up.

I think people are waking up to this fact. I just hope enough people can wake up fast enough to keep these crazy neocons from leading us all into destruction in their vain attempt to take over the world's oil reserves.

tina | January 7, 2008, 8:20pm | #

Hey Joe,

I'm glad to hear you have been following him, but perhaps you have not been as involved as I and my friends have? I don't know and do not want to make any guesses as to your level of involvement. Many of us, myself included, are pretty hard-core and have learned every single thing we could about his life. My group on myspace heard about this months ago, and several times since then. It has been proven incorrect. Not to mention the fact that if this were true, the chance of it not being discovered previously is pretty low considering he's done 10 terms in congress. Somebody would have drug this out a long time ago, and he wouldn't be a congressman at this point.

Nutter | January 7, 2008, 8:21pm | #

Those newsletter articles are the only thing Dondero has ever written that anyone cares about, and he doesn't even get credit for them.

alan | January 7, 2008, 8:22pm | #

Joe, yes, if there are substantial racial rants that can be attributed to Ron Paul it would definitely make a difference.

However, at this point it seems so Bloom County,Bill the Cat caught in tryst with Jeane Kilpatrick, seems like a parody of the political process. If it is not true, then the New Republic has to be the most pathetic news organization since the 1930's New York Times. If it is true, well say sayonara to our hopes and dreams (not just the presidency race but it would also be a threat to the image of libertarians in general).

MB | January 7, 2008, 8:23pm | #

Man. They're shaking in their boots about Ron Paul. What do they know that we don't?

Certainly he's no racist. Why are they smearing him so hard?

Chris S | January 7, 2008, 8:23pm | #

Ah, the ghostwritten newsletter comes up again. It must be that time of the month. They are going to try and dust off this old chestnut, eh? Sigh.... I've lost track of how many times this has been debunked... They are just trying to make something stick.

cawler | January 7, 2008, 8:24pm | #

This is actually mentioned in this anti-paul youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

asdf | January 7, 2008, 8:25pm | #

Yeah, I agree the media is becoming frightening. They are ruining our ability to think for ourselves.

All these racist smears are just nonsense and disinformation. They were raised and addressed months ago. These statements were written by a staffer who was fired.

Ron Paul supports the US Constitution as the supreme law of the land. If you cannot agree with this, then you don't belong in America.

Edward | January 7, 2008, 8:25pm | #

Oh man I am going to have such a field day with this H&R!!!!

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 8:25pm | #

"I'm probably going to get pilloried for this, but setting Slavery aside, is there anything wrong with the concept, or "right" to secede per se."

In a President? ...probably, yes.

Human | January 7, 2008, 8:26pm | #

This is how it gets done at Fox News
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC-qLjmohe4

Lost_In_Translation | January 7, 2008, 8:27pm | #

Those newsletter articles are the only thing Dondero has ever written that anyone cares about, and he doesn't even get credit for them.

I don't like Dondero anymore than anybody else here, but he wasn't working for Paul in the 70's. he joined in '87.

Stephen The Goldberger | January 7, 2008, 8:27pm | #

Certainly he's no racist. Why are they smearing him so hard?

They aren't, this is just the way the game is played for the big boys.

VM | January 7, 2008, 8:27pm | #

hier is how EDWEIRDOOO is celebrating this news.

[keed keed: apparently, it's Mr. Steven Crane]

Max Engel | January 7, 2008, 8:28pm | #

Call for a retraction of these false allegations

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awarraic | January 7, 2008, 8:31pm | #

Media media media lol, suckers. Ron Paul rocks... He 's got my vote regardless of whatever crap media brings up. Keep trying fox/abc news.

Joshua Holmes | January 7, 2008, 8:32pm | #

Kirchick...said that Paul "called black people animals,"

Huh, I thought Paul didn't believe in evolution.

Eryk Boston | January 7, 2008, 8:33pm | #

Just when their credibility was recovering from the Stephen Glass scandal...

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 8:35pm | #

This is supposed to scare away independents for tomorrow's primary. Refuting this many claims can't be done in 12 hours. January surprise, I guess.

ASSHOLES!

Captain Chaos | January 7, 2008, 8:35pm | #

Could the timing on this be any more transparent? The sad thing is that I think this time it may work.

Theophanes | January 7, 2008, 8:37pm | #

"I'm probably going to get pilloried for this, but setting Slavery aside, is there anything wrong with the concept, or "right" to secede per se."

A pro-secession president would be the sweetest thing ever. You anti-secession posters, what kind of libertarians are you?

joe | January 7, 2008, 8:38pm | #

alan,

There were some pretty deplorable things said about Martin Luther King back in the day. Genuinely disgusting, usually sexually-themed smears that would make your stomach turn.

It is because I've seen quotes and footage of people making "gay pedophile"-level smears about King that I'm not immediately dismissing this.

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 8:39pm | #

I have no doubt that Thomas Jefferson would have favored allowing states to secede.

Stephen The Goldberger | January 7, 2008, 8:39pm | #

A pro-secession president would be the sweetest thing ever. You anti-secession posters, what kind of libertarians are you?

ones who are able to separate theory from practical reality.

joe | January 7, 2008, 8:40pm | #

I've written a lot of nice things about Ron Paul, and how his campaign could exceed expectations and influence American politics.

But if you think anyone at the New Republic is actually scared of Ron Paul winning the New Hampshire primary or the nomination, you've bobbed to the bottom of the kool-aid bowl.

William R | January 7, 2008, 8:41pm | #

This is the second time The New Republic has done this. They are getting desperate. He called Tom DiLorenzo a secessionist. DiLorenzo wrote a book very critical of Abe Lincoln.

rho | January 7, 2008, 8:42pm | #

"I'm probably going to get pilloried for this, but setting Slavery aside, is there anything wrong with the concept, or "right" to secede per se."

I have no idea what "speaking at a pro-secessionist conference" means.

If I gave a speech at a reason conference, I'd be speaking at a conference for abortionists and drug-users.

I just wish I knew why Ron Paul gets this grief when he's nothing more than a "gadfly". If this sticks better than the last time, he will be asked nothing else until Super Tuesday.

joe | January 7, 2008, 8:43pm | #

Yeah, the New Republic is so desperate and so out to get Ron Paul that they...um...wrote a sympathetic profile about how he's campaigning in Nevada which was linked to in Hit & Run last week.

Endy | January 7, 2008, 8:43pm | #

Jamie Kirchick is a perfect candidate for treason. What a looser. Ony in a FREE country can someone get away with propaganda and lbogus info.. The sad truth is that it's very easy too BUY a fool like that. And who knows how much jaime is paid. Its don;t take much to bribe a fool

Jeff | January 7, 2008, 8:43pm | #

I'm not so sure if it's the New Republic so much as it's Kirchick. He's an ass through and through. If you do a google search, I'm sure you'll find an article of his where he explains that neocon is actually a code word for jew, and thats why liberals love using the term so much.

joe | January 7, 2008, 8:45pm | #

Anyway, if those newsletters appeared above the byline "Hillary Clinton," there is not a chance in hell anyone would let them slide, no matter how many times she said they were "ghostwritten."

Nutter | January 7, 2008, 8:45pm | #

I don't like Dondero anymore than anybody else here, but he wasn't working for Paul in the 70's. he joined in '87.

Sorry, I thought we were talking about the articles from the 90's that Dondero wrote. That's almost the level of lazy, sloppy commentary that gets job offers from Fox.

kinnath | January 7, 2008, 8:46pm | #

Echoing the comments above, Ron Paul has run for president in the past and has served 10 terms in congress. If there were any demonstrably true facts that showed him to be racist, they would have emerged a long time ago.

SIV | January 7, 2008, 8:46pm | #

Who are all these dorks calling TNR a "neocon" publication?

from wiki:

Politically, the magazine supports modern liberal public policies.

They are quite well known for publishing "fabrications".

Perla | January 7, 2008, 8:47pm | #

Let us not forget that this slandering comes from a staunch Giuliani supporter. If anyone can fudge the facts on someone, while trying to cloak his own misgivings (his father and uncle were in the mob for goodness sakes!) it is Giuliani.

PC | January 7, 2008, 8:47pm | #

Jeff,

Yeah whoever started that "neocon=jew" talking point is a lying ass. Of course I prefer the term "Straussian". I figure we might as well get straight to the point and show the roots of their worldview.

Matt Welch | January 7, 2008, 8:48pm | #

Video is available here.

Bingo | January 7, 2008, 8:49pm | #

I haven't read this discussion yet but I'm already laughing based off the headlines

Tim | January 7, 2008, 8:49pm | #

Is that why Ron Paul called Rosa Parks a hero and was the only one in all of Congress to uphold the Constitution for her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs-0AXWV8so

SIV | January 7, 2008, 8:50pm | #

Anyway, if those newsletters appeared above the byline "Hillary Clinton," there is not a chance in hell anyone would let them slide, no matter how many times she said they were "ghostwritten."


joe

She got away with saying "Barack Obama hasn't done the Spade Work to be President" on TV this morning.

Perla | January 7, 2008, 8:50pm | #

This is a good article to read as a follow-up to this one...Kirchick is a strong Giuliani
supporter.
Ron Paul, Giuliani and Double Standards
by Andrew Sullivan

The Ron-Paul-Is-A-Closet-Nazi meme continues. It seems to me that there are a lot of reasons to oppose Ron Paul. Jamie Kirchick's vision of US foreign policy is one of them. But to say that a single $500 contribution from a neo-Nazi crackpot is somehow "keeping company" with fascists is absurd. Michael Goldfarb asks:

Andrew, are you not troubled at all by the creeps who've signed on to the Paul campaign, or the fact that he is so completely unperturbed by their support that he has yet to distance himself in any way from it? Maybe not--Sullivan's "simple message" to Ron Paul supporters: "You're welcome here." That includes the Nazis, or no?
There are plenty of reasons to be perturbed when loons and hate-mongers support a candidacy. But this game of guilt-by-association can be played endlessly. I tend to place greater emphasis on loons and hate-mongers that candidates actively seek out. Pat Robertson is a loon and an anti-Semite and a vicious homophobe who blamed Americans for 9/11. Giuliani didn't receive some unsolicited money from him; he actually stood on a platform and embraced him. Why one standard for Paul and another for Giuliani? If Obama embraced Louis Farrakhan as a supporter, you think Goldfarb and Kirchick would be silent? They'd have a cow because it's unthinkable. But naked bigotry is more than thinkable in today's GOP: it's integral to it. What's the difference between Farrakhan and Robertson? I can't see any. Maybe Goldfarb and Kirchick can spell it out.

Giuliani also promoted and endorsed a seriously mobbed up man to be head of the DHS; he fully embraces and employs a priest credibly accused of sex abuse of a minor (and refuses to distance himself from him); and actively endorses torture as a foreign policy weapon. Jamie Kirchick actually supports Giuliani for president - but is hyper-ventilating about a $500 check that Paul hasn't even decided what to do with! There you have the massive double-standards on the neocon right.

Here's an idea: when Giuliani disowns his abusing priest, his mafia-consigliere and his anti-Semitic nutcase, Ron Paul should send back the $500. Deal?

joe | January 7, 2008, 8:50pm | #

Sorry, I thought we were talking about the articles from the 90's that Dondero wrote.

No, this seems to be something new, and not the stuff that has so totally been vetted and disproven so we don't have to worry about it at all ok?

Were those newsletters from the 90s really written by Dondero, or are you just joshing?

joe | January 7, 2008, 8:52pm | #

I only wish I was able to express how hard I'm laughing at you, SIV.

Wow, yeah, using the phrase "spade work" is exactly like saying that 85% of the black men in Washington are criminals.

You sure got me there!

Master Debater | January 7, 2008, 8:55pm | #

Round and round we go, the propagandists put on a mighty fine show.

SIV | January 7, 2008, 8:56pm | #

joe,

Yeah but she actually said it.Hillary doesn't say anything without careful deliberation and scripting. That is why she won't be interviewed or take questions from anyone but shills.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 8:57pm | #

If there were a Ken Shultz Newsletter, regardless of whether it were written by me or my associates, the chances of it calling Martin Luther King a gay pedophile, or containing any racist invective whatsoever actually, would be really, really low.

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 8:57pm | #

Just watched the video; this is the same bull as the newsletter articles that have been known about for years. He accuses Jesse Benton of originally saying that the newsletter was written by Paul himself (?!), then changing his story afterward. This is a strange assertion, since Dr Paul himself said he didn't write all of the newsletter back in 1996 and since.

According to Kirchik, he was 'speaking in code' at the pro-secession conference. I tell you, the 9/11 Truthers have nothing on this guy when it comes to conspiracy theorizing.

Bingo | January 7, 2008, 8:58pm | #

Also the fact that this guy looks exactly like me only much gayer and fatter this si the best troll ever okay its too early for vodka but im gonna drink some moore woop

Robertd | January 7, 2008, 9:00pm | #

HAHAHA, he speaks in code!!!!!! GIVE JAMIE A TIN HAT!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

This guy is so outraged and wants blood so bad you can see it in his eyes.

Ron Paul is not a racist,,,Or when he says "We dont get our rights because we belong to groups, we get our rights because we are all individuals" that must be code for, I'll meet you guys at 7pm at the barn, bring the hood and cross to burn,,

WHAT A JOKE!!!!

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:00pm | #

joe,

The examples he gives in the video are already known about. He talks about the slurring of Barbara Jordan, which has been known about for a long time. Obviously, I'm keeping an open mind, but this had better be completely different from the stuff that's already known, or I'm calling shenanigans on TNR.

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:01pm | #

Jamie Kirchik looks like Frank Luntz after the Huckabee diet.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 9:02pm | #

I don't know the man, and I doubt he's a racist. ...but I don't understand how a guy who would run for office could let somebody publish something like that under his name.

...oh well, at least he doesn't want to universalize health care. Is that what I'm supposed to say?

Christine | January 7, 2008, 9:02pm | #

The New Republic
1) Part Owned by Steinhart a pro Israel proponent ( having problems with the Dr. Paul's stance of no longer sending US cash to Israel)
2) Part owned by Can West ( FOX Sportsworld is a subsidiary of theirs)can you say payback for exposing an FOX fraud?
3)Look up Stephen Glass, L Seigel,Shalit,Ackerman,Beauchamp: their former so called "journalists" that have been publically shamed and fired for outright journalistic fabrication, plagerism and more.

We are seeing the "DIRTY TRICKS" like "Swiftboat" (John Kerry) and McCain's "illegitimate" daughter being played here. Those were filthy lies and so are these but because the public wasn't informed of the real truth in time and their chances for election were destroyed just as they are trying to destroy Dr. Paul. Don't fall for it! This Ultra liberal trash rag must be petrified of Dr. Paul's message to try this crap.

Bingo | January 7, 2008, 9:03pm | #

I wanna pinch his cheeks and give him a kiss DO YOU HEAR THAT JAMES KIRCISHCISHCHK! A PINCH AND A KISS

ColbyCo | January 7, 2008, 9:04pm | #

None of this corresponds to the language or tone that Ron Paul uses, or the political views he holds. The mild-mannered decency of Ron Paul is obvious.

Bingo | January 7, 2008, 9:04pm | #

ahhh he speaks in code! yes. In code.

Jerry | January 7, 2008, 9:05pm | #

Saying that all Southern secessionists are racist is prejudice as well. Practice what you preach Mr. James Kirchick.

Alan Moorehead | January 7, 2008, 9:06pm | #

I would consider that Ron has a truely consistent voting record. He does what he says he will do. He is an honest man. He is honorable. I will accept his explanation- if any explanation is required.

Respectfully,
Alan W. Moorehead

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:06pm | #

I was willing - just barely - to give Paul the benefit of the doubt about the couple of newsletters from the 90s. It's within the realm of possibility that a couple of things that directly contradict his personal philosophy could slip out.

But if this goes back to the 1970s - The Ron Paul Newsletter, published by Ron Paul Productions - and there has been a consistent pattern of saying godawful stuff about black people, then that's that. It's like Ken Shultz said at 8:57.

I see too many arguments on this thread along the lines of "Ron Paul can't be a racist, because he's a libertarian." That is blind partisanship, people.

Brandybuck | January 7, 2008, 9:06pm | #

Certainly he's no racist. Why are they smearing him so hard?

They're smearing him because they hate him. He stands for everything they hate: the Constitution, liberty, limited government, non-intervention, etc, etc. They also fear him, fear that even if he doesn't win, he will take votes away from them. He's already trounced Giuliani hard in an actual primary. If he was only polling at 0%, they would be ignoring him.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 9:07pm | #

"The New Republic
1) Part Owned by Steinhart a pro Israel proponent ( having problems with the Dr. Paul's stance of no longer sending US cash to Israel)
2) Part owned by Can West ( FOX Sportsworld is a subsidiary of theirs)can you say payback for exposing an FOX fraud?
3)Look up Stephen Glass, L Seigel,Shalit,Ackerman,Beauchamp: their former so called "journalists" that have been publically shamed and fired for outright journalistic fabrication, plagerism and more."

But did they ever publish anything accusing Martin Luther King of being a gay pedophile?

...and if so, are they running for President?

SIV | January 7, 2008, 9:08pm | #

We are seeing the "DIRTY TRICKS" like "Swiftboat" (John Kerry) and McCain's "illegitimate" daughter being played here.


Christine

The Swiftboat veterans offered unrefuted facts and their personal opinions. There were no "dirty tricks" involved.

Martin Luther King | January 7, 2008, 9:08pm | #

Where dem white boys at?

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:09pm | #

Oh, wingnuts crashing into each other!

Getcha popcorn.

tarran | January 7, 2008, 9:09pm | #

Were those newsletters from the 90s really written by Dondero, or are you just joshing?

Joe

If you mean "the fleet footed black men" newletters - I doubt Dondero wrote them. They were too well put together.

I doubt Eric could have constructed such a sophisticated argument. He is a moron and lacks the mental capacity.

rho | January 7, 2008, 9:10pm | #

I don't know the man, and I doubt he's a racist. ...but I don't understand how a guy who would run for office could let somebody publish something like that under his name.

Get back to us when you're doing this as Congressman. Many things are delegated to staff under the assumption that they won't act a fool. Printing a newsletter is one of those things.

You can't see how it would happen because I'm guessing you've never done anything comparable to being a Congressman. Many people think that things which they don't understand are easy to do.

ColbyCo | January 7, 2008, 9:10pm | #

It's very disappointing that some people's belief in Ron Paul can be undermined so easily - and all because of such an obvious smear-job.

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:11pm | #

joe,

Kirchick responds to Carlson's question of how all this could have gone under the radar till now by saying that it came from when he was out of Congress, and you can get away with more when you're not in Congress.

Dr Paul has been in Congress from 1976-1984 and 1996 to present. So, either Kirchick is wrong about it being from when he wasn't in Congress, or he's wrong about it spanning 20 years. Even assuming he hit the ground running and entered full racist mode in 1984, and stopped on a dime in 1996, that's only 12 years.

Fluffy | January 7, 2008, 9:11pm | #

Ken,

Paul has been in and out of government.

The story as it has been represented to me is that while he was out of government, he was approached and asked if his name could be used to promote a libertarian newsletter, and he said yes. The newsletter was the Ron Paul Report in the way that a video game might be Tony Hawk Pro Skating or John Madden Football. I don't think Hawk or Madden write a lot of code.

Paul should have known better, because let's face it - when dealing with libertarians you never know if they're going to whig out and start putting in articles telling people to drink silver, or telling people to resist enforcement of the tax code with guns and pipe bombs. Heck, if I was one of the writers I'd be likely to put an article in titled "Bill O'Reilly is a Smelly Cunt". I doubt Paul gave a shit until he decided to run for Congress again.

Brandybuck | January 7, 2008, 9:12pm | #

But if this goes back to the 1970s - The Ron Paul Newsletter, published by Ron Paul Productions - and there has been a consistent pattern of saying godawful stuff about black people, then that's that.

Stop believing the bullshit Kirchik is feeding you. There was one newsletter. One. The only pattern in sight is the pattern of his opponents dredging up this one single newsletter every time they get a bowel movement.

Jerry | January 7, 2008, 9:12pm | #

Kirchick: Actually, last week on MSNBC he touted a book called "The Real Lincoln" by a guy named Thomas DiLorenzo, who is a neo-confederate.

Oh, this will get a nifty response from DiLorenzo I'm sure.

Lean like a cholo | January 7, 2008, 9:12pm | #

I thought black people are animals. Just like white people, orientals, and the rest.

Now if he had said black people were fungus, that would be news.

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:13pm | #

You're right, tarran, that certainly doesn't read like Dondero.

And Dondero spends too much time complaining that Paul hasn't hired enough black or Latino staffers.

It doesn't much read like Ron Paul's writing, either.

Best case scenario, he's like an absentee landlord who doesn't know what's going on in his building.

P Brooks | January 7, 2008, 9:14pm | #

I could say I'm surprised Tucker Carlson would let himself be used to put this out; but, I'm not.

Sean | January 7, 2008, 9:15pm | #

Who invented the term 'neoconservative'? I know I read it in Rand. She used it disparagingly of course. Only a Neocon could conclude that it was a secret codeword for "Jew". Being Jewish herself, perhaps Rand was transmitting in code that she was actually a neocon, disagreed with her own philosophy, and was a closet theocratic Hegelian.

Linda Inveninato | January 7, 2008, 9:15pm | #

This story is getting old...been explained over and over.....

Jerry | January 7, 2008, 9:15pm | #

No, Kirchick himself gives the period as 1988 to 1994, when Paul was not in Congress.

Richard Wicks | January 7, 2008, 9:15pm | #

Oh COME ON.

This is supposedly from a circulated newsletter.

As if, for the first time, this is suddenly discovered. The guy ran for president on the Libertarian ticket and would have been creamed then. He's been running for congress for 30 years on and off, and never has this been discovered.

Heck, any of the people he beat when running for congress would have paid big big bucks for these newsletters, but they don't appear until NOW.

Yeah, I believe it. Sure.

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:16pm | #

crimethink,

KIrchick was referring to one specific set of writings with that "out of Congress" remark. He also mentions the newsletter going back to the 1970s.

Brandybuck,

Stop believing the bullshit Kirchik is feeding you. There was one newsletter. One. How do you know? The newsletters - newsletters have editions, you know - haven't been put up on the internet yet.

NH_GOP | January 7, 2008, 9:16pm | #

Who gives a good dog damned!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why do you post such trash?

@#$!#@!@#$!@#$!#@$!@#$!@#$!@#$!#$!#$

Ben | January 7, 2008, 9:17pm | #

He speaks in codes that only us racist libertarians can understand, haha.

Oh man, they must be frightened about New Hampshire tomorrow to spring tripe like this at the 11th hour.

Matt | January 7, 2008, 9:17pm | #

He just taped Leno. He's on a plane heading back to N.H. The timing of this was perfect; however, don't think he doesn't have a response already prepared. It's just a matter of him landing and releasing it.

Andrew | January 7, 2008, 9:17pm | #

This is an old story. Ron Paul had a guy that wrote his newsletters back in the eighties. This guy wrote some of his own personal nastiness in a couple of these letters and Paul fired him. The media has been trying to rehash this for months.

If you have ever heard Ron Paul speak, you know that he doesn't have a racist or discriminatory bone in his body.

The media digs in Pauls closet for dirt. Ron Paul's closet is clean, so they try to pass others words for his. Remember who in politics is honest and who isn't.

Edward | January 7, 2008, 9:18pm | #

Does this story really surprise anyone?

And stop spoofing me, asshats.

Fin Fang Foom | January 7, 2008, 9:18pm | #

I bet there is the stuff that is already known about, one other thing, and then a bunch of stuff saying we shouldn't give aid to Israel. That will be the "code."

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:19pm | #

joe,

Yes, the specific set of writings that use racist language and disparage MLK, etc. Tucker didn't restrict his question to any specific quote.

If some of the racist stuff was published while Dr Paul was in Congress, why is Kirchick using the fact that he was out of Congress as an excuse for why it hadn't been discovered?

In any case, in a few hours, we'll know what he's got.

cicero | January 7, 2008, 9:19pm | #

Even if Ron Paul wrote the article that appeared in his newsletter more than a decade ago, what exactly is racist about what he said. Reading the whole article (http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/g/ftp.py?people/g/gannon.dan/1992/gannon.0793), I don't see anything in it that is racist. I suppose if one were to slice a few sentences out of it and put in a few ..... you could make it look racist. But reading the whole thing I don't see anything racist in it.

January Surprise | January 7, 2008, 9:21pm | #

BREAKING NEWS: John McCain was a member of the Keating Five!

Mike | January 7, 2008, 9:22pm | #

Pure unfounded political attack.

CL | January 7, 2008, 9:22pm | #

"I'm probably going to get pilloried for this, but setting Slavery aside, is there anything wrong with the concept, or "right" to secede per se"

The abolitionists went there (I mean, mentioned the "S" word) first:

http://veryidea.blogspot.com/2007/12/1847-debate-on-abolition-and-disunion.html

Also, here's the state's rights argument for defying the Fugitive Slave Act:

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Massachusetts

Too bad we never learned about these things in school.

CL

Richard Wicks | January 7, 2008, 9:23pm | #

This is trivial, but I wanted to ask.

Did Jim Kirchick sound like he was really nervous, or was it the poor audio quality during the interview?

ColbyCo | January 7, 2008, 9:25pm | #

Ron Paul is taking on every vested interest there is, this kind of smear was only a matter of time.

Nick M. | January 7, 2008, 9:26pm | #

Did Kirchick really say that Paul speaks in code?

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:27pm | #

Too bad we never learned about these things in school.

You mean it wasn't Enlightened, Racially Sensitive North vs. Evil Racist South?

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:28pm | #

Nick M.,

He surely did...it's in the video Matt Welch posted.

Mr. X | January 7, 2008, 9:28pm | #

You know, as a response to an attack alleging that Ron Paul is racist, claiming that "The New Republic is owned by Zionists in bed with Fox" is a pretty weak argument.

Rielle Hunter | January 7, 2008, 9:28pm | #

The charge that John Edwards cheated on his dying wife and knocked me up is dirty politics.

Jackson | January 7, 2008, 9:30pm | #

1. Giuliani is tied statistically with Paul in NH after getting his ass handed to him in Iowa and would have to abandon his '50-State Strategy' if Paul beat him yet again, and could even put his candidacy in jeopardy.

2. The GOP is failing miserably in matchups vs. Obama and Clinton, and thus need the votes Paul is pulling to close the gap. The dumb thing about this is many, many Paul voters are supporting Paul for the simple reason that he *isn't* like the rest of the GOP and this giant bump won't materialize in enough numbers for it to be effective against Obama or possibly even Clinton.

As an aside, I wouldn't be surprised if Dondero handed the story to TNR, given his years of close proximity to Paul. Of anyone, I'd think he to be the likeliest to take anything about Paul and twist it into a smear just ripe for the NH primary election where Paul stands to benefit most.

tarran | January 7, 2008, 9:30pm | #

To be honest, joe, I think the newsletter was penned by Gary North or someone in his circle. It's important to note that Gary North was a staffer for Ron Paul did work for him during the early days of Ron Paul's political career.

Gary North is a Christian Reconstructionist, a member of a movement calling for a Christian version of sharia to be imposed throughout the world. he also tends to write apocalyptic articles about coming societal collapse.

Gary North still is associated in Ron Paul's circle, namely his writing on economics are routinely published on lewrockwell.com. Lew Rockwell, of course, was another Ron Paul staffer, and is still close to him. The Mises Institute publishes Ron Paul's books, and Ron Paul is a regular commenter on lewrockwell.com

Mike | January 7, 2008, 9:32pm | #

Romney says Chineese are stupid gooks.

Huckabee's computer littered with child pornography.

McCain say more glass needed and only way to get it is put a nuke in middle eastern sands.

Thompson admits to having downs syndrome.

Guiliani is revealed as closet homosexual.

Paul reveals his attempt to reinstate constitutional powers and restore PERSONAL RIGHTS and FREEDOMS.

Richard Wicks | January 7, 2008, 9:33pm | #

> Mr. X | January 7, 2008, 9:28pm | #
>
> You know, as a response to an attack alleging
> that Ron Paul is racist, claiming that "The New
> Republic is owned by Zionists in bed with Fox"
> is a pretty weak argument.

First, what makes you think there aren't a bunch of shills writing to this as we speak?

Second, I think this is a pretty obvious smear job. Why were the letters found 1 day before the NH primary?

Why aren't the letters available now? If they have them, why can't we see them, now?

Why did it take 20 years to find these? I mean, all the people that lost to Paul when he ran for congress and won would have loved these.

It seems a bit unlikely to say the least. Sad that our nation has been reduced to outright dishonesty. We have a pathetic group of people in power.

Jerry | January 7, 2008, 9:34pm | #

tarran, even North is far removed from other Reconstructionists. I do think North is idiosyncratic, but he couldn't hurt a fly in a million years.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 9:35pm | #

"Get back to us when you're doing this as Congressman. Many things are delegated to staff under the assumption that they won't act a fool. Printing a newsletter is one of those things."

Some mistakes 'll get you fired if you're workin' for me. ...first time! Take racist invective using my name, for instance...

Hillary Clinton | January 7, 2008, 9:35pm | #

Barack Obama is a coke dealing Muslim Manchurian candidate.

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:36pm | #

A lousy run of luck, in which he hired a guy who wrote racist stuff under his name in the 70s, and then another guy who wrote racist stuff under his name in the 80s, and then another guy who wrote racist stuff under his name in the 90s?

I suppose it's possible. But only because I want to be polite.

Warren | January 7, 2008, 9:36pm | #

If this pans out. I will be very upset. Not only will I regret the time and money I've given to the campaign. This will undo all the progress the Paul campaign has made for libertarian politics.

The timing is very suspect. If this is an elaborate ruse, and TNR is making a mountain out of a mole hill, well all I can say is that sort of scummy yellow journalism deserves repercussions.

Jose Ortega y Gasset | January 7, 2008, 9:36pm | #

OK... am I the only one unnerved by James Kirchick's simian appearance? As for the current flap, first, publishing a newsletter is not the same as writing it. How much of this stuff is Ron Paul and how much is just a bunch of idiots publishing crap under Ron Paul's name? Hell, I don't know. I do agree that giving libertarian's a newsletter with yoru name on it is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenaged boys (apologies to O'Rourke). On a positive note, when Kirchick started with the "talking in code" crap, I began thinking that libertarians have not cornered the crazy market.

Mike Huckabee | January 7, 2008, 9:37pm | #

I did not, have gastric bypass surgery, with that woman, Monica Lewinsky.

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:38pm | #

Why did it take 20 years to find these? I mean, all the people that lost to Paul when he ran for congress and won would have loved these.

Where's Paul's district? Cambridge, Massachusetts? San Francisco? Some college town in a midwestern state?

P Brooks | January 7, 2008, 9:40pm | #

all I can say is that sort of scummy yellow journalism deserves repercussions.

If I had a subscription, I would cancel it, by golly.

Jerry | January 7, 2008, 9:40pm | #

joe, 1988-1996. see video.

Jeff Winchell | January 7, 2008, 9:40pm | #

This is so absurd. Look at someone's values, and then decide whether a story has merit. Frankly, after spending so much time with Ron Paul, Tucker should have had more skepticism.

Ron Paul doesn't want to force people to do things.

That's a core value of his.

He applies it so thoroughly, that if someone says something racist, it doesn't matter whether the person donated money to him, or whether the person wrote some articles in a publication that he is associated with. He believes in free speech, FAR MORE than the Republican demagogues.

Tactically speaking, I thought his answer about the racist donating $500 to his campaign was perfect. He said that's $500 less that racist doesn't have to spend on something useful, because Paul said he has no intention on spreading a racist message (just go look at his home page, racism is one of menu items on his main menu of issues).

As for apologizing, yes I'm sure Paul doesn't like some of the stuff other people wrote in that publication he put his name to. He also has no desire to ever gamble or go see a prostitute, but he isn't going to turn gamblers or Nevada brothels away from supporting his campaign.

He's a libertarian. Let people do what they want as long as they don't interfere with other people doing what they want.

As Paul continues to get more donations, and better poll numbers, expect more outrageous comments to come out in the media. And if it's like most media, they won't bother to dig in deeply to understand what it's about.

OTOH, when someone from the media does ask Paul and they have the patience to listen. Invariably there is a logical explanation to the controversy.

But you can't have the attention span of a 2 year old if you want to support Paul.

Mitt Romney | January 7, 2008, 9:41pm | #

Yes, Jesus and Lucifer are brothers.

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:41pm | #

Jose, you are NOT the only one unnerved by Kirchick's appearance.

As far as the idea that a politician cannot possibly talk in code or use dogwhistle politics, do you think the same thing about Pat Buchanon's description of Capitol Hill as "Zionist Occupied Territory?" How about the liberal use of "our traditional way of life" by segregationists in the 50s and 60s? How about the anti-crime ad against Willie Horton?

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:41pm | #

joe,

We're not sure whether it dates back to the 70s and early 80s yet. Kirchick's answers on that topic were contradictory. Again, wait till we have the full story before you start insinuating.

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:42pm | #

Jerry, going back to the 1970s. See video.

Mitt Romney | January 7, 2008, 9:42pm | #

"I am running for president to legalize polygamy througout the nation"

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 9:43pm | #

"You can't see how it would happen because I'm guessing you've never done anything comparable to being a Congressman. Many people think that things which they don't understand are easy to do.

Actually, I'm a self-made guy. Left home at 14, worked my way through a prep school, workin' on farms, unloading trucks. You name it. I've started numerous businesses. Now I'm a developer, gettin' bigger all the time. A lot of the people I used to work for want to come work for me. ...not a bad measure of success.

...but what's any of that got to do with Ron Paul's apparent lapse in judgement?

Sam | January 7, 2008, 9:43pm | #

Are you folks ignorant of the true story here? It was the Reverend Ralph Abernathy who made these claims against MLK in the book he published before he died. The media pretty well ignored Abernathy who was MLK's right hand man. I believe the Paul newsletter was simply discussing what MLK's friend, fellow pastor and close associate said of him...that he was incredibly unfaithful to his wife, had numerous afrairs that even included relations with young men. Do a little research and you will find the book.

Lost_In_Translation | January 7, 2008, 9:44pm | #

If you have any doubts about Ron Paul, watch this video Ron appeals to supporters

Ammonium | January 7, 2008, 9:44pm | #

I thought the person who wrote the racist newsletter was fired right away? Or is this a new racist newsletter? If it is, where can I find it?

Hillary Clinton | January 7, 2008, 9:44pm | #

Vince Foster had it comin'.
Jim McDougal couldn't keep his mouth shut, so we shut it for him.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 9:45pm | #

"OK... am I the only one unnerved by James Kirchick's simian appearance?"

No.

CL | January 7, 2008, 9:45pm | #

"You mean it wasn't Enlightened, Racially Sensitive North vs. Evil Racist South?"

No, it was "Enlightened, Racially Sensistive people would never consider disunion", "Secession is for evil racists", etc. What I really meant was that the two documents I linked to were never mentioned in the public schools I went to even though Wendell Phillips and the Fugitive Slave Act were covered topics. I seem to recall, against the ravages of age and heroic efforts on my part to forget everything I learned in school, that it was a foregone conclusion that Wendell Phillips was a dangerous radical. No reason given (that I remember, of course), but I now surmise that it was his invocation of the "S" word that could have gotten him so labeled.

CL

John McCain | January 7, 2008, 9:45pm | #

When I am President, I, Me, I, ME ME ME, I will blow up the whole world with my new military toys.

Rye-guy | January 7, 2008, 9:45pm | #

Rho's right, Ken, you haven't done anything comparable to being a Congressman. You've actually contributed to American society.

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:46pm | #

joe,

It's not an impossible thing...but it can't be the first assumption, without some other evidence to corroborate it. Occam's Razor and all.

Laura Bush | January 7, 2008, 9:46pm | #

Those STOP signs are really hard to see when you are drunk.

zig zag man | January 7, 2008, 9:46pm | #

"As an aside, I wouldn't be surprised if Dondero handed the story to TNR, given his years of close proximity to Paul. Of anyone, I'd think he to be the likeliest to take anything about Paul and twist it into a smear just ripe for the NH primary election where Paul stands to benefit most."


Dondero is suspiciously absent from this thread.

Mike Huckabee | January 7, 2008, 9:47pm | #

Yes I am a minister, and I also love little boys.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 9:47pm | #

"A lousy run of luck, in which he hired a guy who wrote racist stuff under his name in the 70s, and then another guy who wrote racist stuff under his name in the 80s, and then another guy who wrote racist stuff under his name in the 90s?"

If that's the way it is, then I don't get that either.

...and I'm not sayin' the man's a racist--I seriously doubt he's a racist. ...but I don't understand making the same mistakes over and over again.

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:47pm | #

joe, going back to the 1970s OR from 1988-1996, depending on which one fits the story better. See video.

19th CENTURY LEAFLET | January 7, 2008, 9:48pm | #

"Jefferson is a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia Mulatto father"

Sam | January 7, 2008, 9:48pm | #

Here's the person who really said those things about MLK.

Privacy for the dead? - Ralph Abernathy's autobiography and revelations about Martin Luther King Jr
National Review, Nov 24, 1989
Privacy for the Dead?

ed | January 7, 2008, 9:49pm | #

Does anybody except me care whether or not this is true?

Fred Thompson | January 7, 2008, 9:49pm | #

I only pretend to have a clue, and that is when I am most sarcastic in my attacks on others.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 9:49pm | #

"Does anybody except me care whether or not this is true?"

Yes.

Tim Merritt | January 7, 2008, 9:50pm | #

"Religion, evolution, sexuality, and race are all outside the scope of Federal business and have no place in political discussion except to divide the people”

Mike | January 7, 2008, 9:50pm | #

ed, this is NOT TRUE, and shame on you for buying it.

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:51pm | #

Oh, I know. He was writing in code while he was in Congress, and then let things slide when he left. Then, when he went back into Congress, he started writing in code.

ed | January 7, 2008, 9:52pm | #

I dont buy it. I am for Paul.

Jose Ortega y Gasset | January 7, 2008, 9:53pm | #

Joe and Ken Schultz in agreement with me.... (plunk) Sorry, I was a little disoriented and fell out of my chair.

Kathleen Willey's Cat | January 7, 2008, 9:53pm | #

I wish I could have "put some ice on it" and been OK like Juanita Broderick.

Mike | January 7, 2008, 9:53pm | #

That a boy ed, the truth shall set you free.

bob | January 7, 2008, 9:54pm | #

“fair tax punishes consumption”

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:54pm | #

crimethink,

Occam's razor, when applied to what appeared in The Ron Paul Freedom Report, would not seem to steer us towards the conclusion that Ron Paul was wholly unaware of what appeared therein over the course of 20 years.

So I re-watched the video. "Most of" the worst stuff appeared "when he was out of Congress." Once again, I guess we'll see.

sine | January 7, 2008, 9:55pm | #

Can someone reliable summarize this for us unfortunate ones who are still at work?

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 9:55pm | #

The Ron Paul Survival Report was first published in 1985, and allegations of racism contained in it were used against Dr Paul in the 1996 election. So, I think it's safe to assume that he didn't go on publishing racist invective after that time.

So, we have a maximum of 11 years of material here (unless there were other Ron Paul periodicals before then).

Fin Fang Foom | January 7, 2008, 9:55pm | #

> Mr. X | January 7, 2008, 9:28pm | #
> You know, as a response to an attack alleging > that Ron Paul is racist, claiming that "The
> New Republic is owned by Zionists in bed with > Fox" is a pretty weak argument.

If you were directing this towards my comment, one should note I didn't say that TNR is "owned by Zionists."

However, some people who strongly support Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians view anyone who is against foreign aid to Israel as anti-Semites.

Note that "some people who strongly support Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians view anyone who is against foreign aid to Israel as anti-Semites" is not code for "Jews," rather it means "some people who strongly support Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians view anyone who is against foreign aid to Israel as anti-Semites."

Also, this is obviously a total hatchet job. Even if the article and newsletters reveal that Ron Paul is a frothing Nazi, why is it coming out now? At the beginning of the day of the NH primary? 20 years of analog newsletters seems like a bit much to review such that the proper time for publishing them would be at midnight.

My conspiracy theory is: TNR desperately wants to make sure that someone who supports the war wins the election. This could be HRC or all the Republicans but Paul. If HRC drops out soon, then Paul's criticisms of the war, despite the fact that he no chance of winning, would help to weaken the Republican field in the general election.

joe | January 7, 2008, 9:55pm | #

crimethink,

Oh, I know. He was writing in code while he was in Congress, and then let things slide when he left. Then, when he went back into Congress, he started writing in code.

Uh, no, the newsletter stopped publication entirely when he went back to Congress.

Did somebody say something about twisting the facts to fit the story they wanted?

Ammonium | January 7, 2008, 9:55pm | #

It would be much easier to evaluate these charges with some evidence. Now we've got to wait until tomorrow, after many people in NH have voted, to see the evidence?

Mike | January 7, 2008, 9:56pm | #

Hey bob, Fair tax is a new name and method for the IRS.

tarran | January 7, 2008, 9:57pm | #

Hey, writing the newsletter does not make someone hurtful.

In fact, if you read the newsletter closely, it isn't making a racial point so much as a cultural point, and is entirely consistent with Gary North's other writings. If you ignore the tone, it sound a lot like what Bill Cosby has been saying recently.

With that being said, we know Ron Paul is too trusting. I cite as exhibit A Eric Dondero, who is Ron Paul's Bernie Kerik.

Does this poor judgement disqualify Ron Paul from the presidency? I honestly think that it does. I have strong reservations about his judgement, much as I have a soft spot for the guy.

I think that Ron Paul is a moses; he will see the promised land from afar but will not lead his people into it.

Jose Ortega y Gasset | January 7, 2008, 9:58pm | #

On a more serious note, do libertarians really need any more bad news? Can we find a couple of non-kooks to "stand and deliver"? Paging Thoreau! I can't tell anyone I have libertarian leanings without feeling a little silly. Reading this about Paul, true or not, gives me the inevitable sinking "the other shoe is dropping" sensation.

toddb | January 7, 2008, 9:59pm | #

Politicians suck and Ron Paul is a politician, therefor, etc...so bad stuff is possible.

That being said, I think I will judge him on his decades of consistent behavior and public statements (which can actually be looked up, verified, judged objectively) until more than the hyperbolic and conveniently timed claims of a partisan opponent stand against him.

Rye-Guy | January 7, 2008, 10:00pm | #

The only thing holding me back from voting for Paul is naming his kid Rand. Come on, now. That's like an Apple fanboy (the one who's been able to reproduce) naming his kind Jobs.

Jose Ortega y Gasset | January 7, 2008, 10:00pm | #

SWEET BABY JESUS! Are you telling me there's a connection between Ron Paul and terminal nut job Gary North?

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 10:00pm | #

I doubt they're worried about Paul winning the primary outright, let alone the nomination. This is probably intended to depress independent turnout for Paul, lowering the total number of votes and thus raising the percentage for another candidate, such as Giuliani.

joe | January 7, 2008, 10:01pm | #

Fing Fang Foom,

You are completely correct that TNR makes a habit of accusing people who don't support the Likudnik line of being anti-Semites. Its owner, Martin Peretz, wrote in a story about the dismissal of Lawrence Summers as Harvard's president that it was due to "anti-Jewish animus" among the Harvard faculty. No, really. That actually happened.

And they are certainly not above doing hatchet jobs on anti-Iraq War politicians. But these days, they are down on the war, too.

But so what? So they've got a motive to release these newsletters, and maybe the timing is suspicious? The newsletters are going to say what they say. Bad New Republic does not necessary equal Good Ron Paul.

sickntired | January 7, 2008, 10:01pm | #

Does anyone else see how convenient the timing is on this article's release? They will have this plastered all of the television in NH tomorrow...as a tool to alter the vote. Our media is pathetic.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 10:01pm | #

"Does this poor judgement disqualify Ron Paul from the presidency? I honestly think that it does. I have strong reservations about his judgement, much as I have a soft spot for the guy."

I'm afraid you could be right, and I hope you're wrong.

Right now, I can't think of an explanation for this lapse of judgement that would make it okay with me, but I'm willing to listen to him explain it and I want to believe.

Ken Shultz | January 7, 2008, 10:02pm | #

"Does anyone else see how convenient the timing is on this article's release?"

No question in my mind that they timed this.

joe | January 7, 2008, 10:04pm | #

The New Republic is a Democratic magazine, and they turned against the war a year ago.

They're opposed to everything Rudy Guiliani stands for domestically, and wrote a hit piece about him last week. They were among the first to jump on the Bernie Kerik story.

C | January 7, 2008, 10:06pm | #

Where is the proof this is a big story anyway? A few minutes on Tucker fucking Carlson? geez.

joe | January 7, 2008, 10:06pm | #

A journalist nobody has ever head of, looking to make a name for himself, could do worse than release a sensational story about a politician the day before the NH primary.

As could a magazine whose subscription numbers have been following Tanya Harding's career trajectory.

Jose Ortega y Gasset | January 7, 2008, 10:07pm | #

Oh, now I understand... TNR is the Wicked Witch of the West and Kirchik is a flying monkey.

I hate those monkeys.

As for Gary North, I haven't heard that name since the Y2K nonsense in '98 and '99. I ran into some survivalist types on the Internet who were convinced Y2K was going to be TEOTWAWKI. Gary North was a big cheerleader for the doomsayers... while making a tidy living selling them his newsletter. It's a strange world out there.

Sam | January 7, 2008, 10:07pm | #

This stuff appeared in National Review in 1989 when they reviewed Abernathy's book. This stuff came from Abernathy, not Ron Paul.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n22_v41/ai_8134905

crimethink | January 7, 2008, 10:07pm | #

Matt just changed the original post to say that they're going to post the newsletter material tomorrow afternoon, not at midnight!

So, we're just going to have this accusation hanging in the air for the primary, with no actual data to refute.

Donna | January 7, 2008, 10:07pm | #

Boy, FAUX must be TERRIFIED of Dr. Paul! What drivel. If Ron Paul is doing so poorly as a Presidential candidate...why is this NOISE the ONLY thing FAUX airs?

Because Ron Paul's message has the potential to unseat the corporate machine's that presently RUN this country. Rupert and his ilk stand to lose MUCH!!!!

Dr. Paul doesn't even have to get elected, for that to happen!

The story is trash and we all know it....

rho | January 7, 2008, 10:08pm | #

Now I'm a developer, gettin' bigger all the time. A lot of the people I used to work for want to come work for me. ...not a bad measure of success.

I didn't say anything about success or running a business. You're confirming what I said about how you don't seem to understand what a Congressman does and therefore think it must be easy to do.

A Congressman has thousands of pesky constituents and needs to work closely with a bunch of other folks with the same problems. Add to that that Ron Paul has a solid reputation for getting things done for his constituents--part of the reason why he keeps getting re-elected. On top of that he has to run for his job every two years in a popularity contest--campaigning, fund raising, all kinds of annoying busywork.

Your point about firing the guy who wrote these things was a good one. Which, as I recall, Dr. Paul did. So what's your complaint again?

cicero | January 7, 2008, 10:08pm | #

The timing is definitely suspect. And now TNR is saying they'll release the article tomorrow afternoon. Why? Probably to give Paul less time to respond to it. The Tucker interview and the fact that it's coming out sometime tomorrow is all reporter