Little Green Footballs is reporting several stories about Ron Paul's ties to Neo-nazis and white supremacists. The first story was about donations from such groups and Paul's refusal to return the donations. Then, after distancing himself from these groups, some in these groups were feeling betrayed and are now claiming closer connections with Paul.
I guess Paul is for liberty as long as you're are white and Christian. That's not my kind of libertarianism.
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4 comments:
Shawn,
Ron Paul's not a racist or a neo-Nazi. Just because some individuals and groups that are donate to him or claim ties with him, that doesn't mean he shares their views. His explanation for not returning the donation in question ($500 I believe) is that by keeping it he can prevent the guy from spending it to further his perverse ideology. That's a rather refreshing, independent approach to take in my opinion.
While I understand there are important criticisms of Paul, both from the Objectivist and from a more general libertarian point of view, me thinks you are accepting too uncritically certain accusations about him. Quite simply, the connection you posit here is far too weak to attach those viewpoints to him.
Geoffrey,
Thanks for the comment. My post title is probably too flippant, but I am not claiming that Paul is a racist or a neo-Nazi. What I am claiming is that there are a lot of disturbing connections, rumors, allegations regarding Paul and his links to such groups. Also, there are long-standing concerns about racist or anti-semitic comments that Paul has alleged said or written (or have appeared in his newsletters). I don't know the extent to which any of these are accurate, but this on going pattern of allegations raises some serious concerns. It may not mean he's a racist, just that he's got some serious flaws in judgment. But if it is true, as some claim, that Paul meets regularly with neo-nazi and white supremacists groups, then he's crossed a dangerous line beyond poor judgment.
I haven't heard the "meets regularly with" rumor, but I doubt it. It is true that something vaguely racist appeared in a newsletter published in his name a long time ago, but to my knowledge it wasn't written by him and it was published without his prior knowledge. I would be concerned too, if the rumors were true but I think they are mostly if not entirely attempts to discredit someone who is a threat to the establishment.
He is too much of a conservative for me, despite being the most libertarian politician in Washington, so I'm not sure if I'll vote for him; but then if I don't vote for him I probably won't vote in the presidential election at all.
There are far better things to criticize him for though, like his positions on immigration, abortion, and gay marriage. His decentralism/federalism helps a little but not enough for me.
Yes, he's much more of a conservative than a libertarian; as my earlier post analyzing his views argues.
From what I've read he's associated with the Council of Conservative Citizens -- a white supremacist group.
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