Okay, yesterday was a little crazy. Let’s just get right down to it.
Rand Paul’s campaign manager, David Adams, tossed aside national concerns about Paul’s stance on supporting a business or individual’s right to discriminate on the basis of race as liberal blog fodder.
In an attempt to do damage control, right-leaning Rasmussen released polling data collected before Paul’s appearance on Rachel Maddow showing him with a massive lead against Jack Conway.
Then Rand Paul started attacking us as the “loony left.” Jack Conway stirred to life. John Yarmuth released a powerful statement.
By early afternoon both Jim DeMint and Mitch McConnell were in damage control mode. DeMint went so far as to say he planned on having a conversation with Paul about his statements.
Then comes late afternoon. I uncovered a 2002 letter to the editor written by Rand Paul that proved he’d long been on the record in support of the right of individuals and businesses to openly discriminate against people – and violate their basic human rights.
More than 100 national and international media outlets jumped on board, linking us left and right. The story was exploding. Joe Sonka appeared on the Ed Schultz radio show to discuss the mess he uncovered just prior to election day:
DNC Chairman Tim Kaine appeared on The Ed Schultz Show (television) to discuss the letter I uncovered. Keith Olbermann emailed me, I nearly had a coronary, then he mentioned us on his show:
Then Ron Paul came to his lesser known son’s defense. I won’t harp on him too much, except to remind you that he and his son may have something to explain. Remember, it’s Ron Paul himself who says that anything less than full disclosure is unacceptable.
He failed to disclose ownership of Alchemy, LLC during 2006 (Warning: External PDF Link) and during 2008 (Warning: External PDF Link). His failure to file appropriate disclosures is as bad as the Charlie Rangel mess. Especially since they both serve on the House Ways & Means Committee. It’s interesting that Paul seems to have the same problem and voted for Rangel to retain his gavel.
And to update my original story, it appears that payback of the family loan is reported as personal debt by Rand but not reported as personal by Ron or Ronnie. The terms and current balance, as reported by Rand, match almost to the penny of the annual gift tax exclusion. Which brings other big questions: was that an estate tax dodge by Rand’s in-laws through a complex process to avoid gift taxes at best? At worst, a possible illegal gift of real estate to a sitting congressman in an amount well in excess of the annual statutory limit? Was this loan real or just a sham note? Lots of explaining to do.
Finally, the Democratic National Committee released a recap video of the scandalous news cycle:
And that was that. The entire world exploded. And what Liberty Christ himself said was a loony left issue? Turned into Civil Rights Egg egg all over his face. Which was most apparent during his appearance on Good Morning America this A.M.:
“Honeymoon period”?? This is about what makes us a civil society and Rand Paul wants to crack jokes. There you have it. No, he’s not working to repeal the Civil Rights Act. But he’s still trying to explain his views that individuals and businesses should be able to discriminate. He said it in 2002. He said it in 2010. There’s no changing that.
Peep some of the national press: Washington Post, More Washington Post, Political Wire, MyDD, CNN, Politico, The Nation, Daily Kos, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Courier-Journal, Memorandum, Little Green Footballs, Washington Monthly, Yahoo! News, Political Inaction, Tagg Lines, Jed Report, Reid Report, Stinque, & Ethiopian Review. Thanks for letting me pump up my own ego for a minute and for this re-hash of the news.
Oh, Daniel Mongiardo’s pals have decided it’s a good idea to endorse/support Rand Paul.
(No, Jack Conway didn’t make any national television appearances last night and waited until 20 hours into the mess to capitalize on the fundraising front. Not hating, just saying.)
12 responses so far ↓
1 Belknap Banquo // May 21, 2010 at 12:31 pm
DNC talking points? Come on, Rand, as the boys at the pool hall say, if you don’t know the game don’t play the game. BTW With your internet and national fund raising base, look to Obama’s model to raise a bazillion dollars a couple hundred bucks at a time. Goose and gander..it’s like 9 ball.
2 Rod // May 21, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Ok, so when are you guys gonna demand Robert Byrd’s resignation who fillabustered the bill in 1964 to try and stop it? The fact is this has virtually nothing to do with Rand Paul or Civil Rights and everything to do with the fact that Conway and the DNC feel compelled to bring out the Wayback Machine to talk about 1964 …and if that ends you’ll be talking about 1864 or 1492 because the present is sooooo bad with deficts as far as the eye can see, a healthcare program like Castor Oil that Conway fully supports and 65 percent of KY voters want repealed, and a sitting President that KY can’t stand.
3 G-townReader // May 21, 2010 at 1:17 pm
The scary thing is – the rabid Republican faction and many others will vote for ANYONE that they have been told is utterly & completely anti-Pres. Obama. -ANYONE who professes to be against the mere fact that our President is breathing. -ANYONE who wants to “throw the baby out with the bath water” on ANY issue that they perceive the Pres. to have even the most remote connection to. I get these vitriolic “viral” e-mails daily, most from tunnel-visioned Republican family members, but, surprisingly, some from formerly-committed Dems. The “inconvenient truths” & contradictions don’t factor into their anti-Obama zeal whatsoever.
(Long before I was old enough to vote, my dad guided me on the wisdom of voting for the PERSON, not the Party.)
4 Steve Magruder // May 21, 2010 at 1:17 pm
And for the latest, now Rand Paul is saying it’s un-American to criticize a British corporation for destroying an American ecosystem.
5 AttentionWhore // May 21, 2010 at 1:21 pm
I think this is playing right into Randy hands, sorry.
6 Belknap Banquo // May 21, 2010 at 1:50 pm
G-Town Reader, I’m OK with our President breathing.
7 THOUGHT TO PONDER // May 21, 2010 at 2:23 pm
If Rand Paul doesn’t think the government should weigh in on discrimination in a privately owned restaurant does he believe the health code should apply to the same business, or fair wage/child labor laws, laws against the employment of illegal aliens, consumer protection laws that prevent cheating customers? If he doesn’t believe any of those laws apply, he has real trouble, if he does, how does he explain giving bigotry special status?
8 TallGuy // May 21, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Why don’t we discuss the elephant in the room? Take 4th Street Live, a great place designed to get major suburban dollars to flow into urban Louisville. What’s the first thing that happens: Young black and some white kids roaming the place with no money and certainly not dressed appropriate for leaving the house. So, rules have to be drawn up. You cannot enter if you look like you’re in a gang (scares paying customers), you must wear your ball cap the right way or not at all, you must pull your pants up and use a belt like normal people, etc. Come on – why do people (media) only, only concentrate on “gotcha” comments without acknowledging what they believe also, like the above. Does anybody want to have dinner at 4th Street Live with their family with a roving gang-looking group (black or white) lurking around, half of them with pants down to their ankles with their hand holding them up by the crotch? Give me a fucking break.
9 Richard Day // May 21, 2010 at 3:35 pm
On Morning Joe, David Gregory indicated Paul would be on Meet the Press Sunday.
10 Just Asking // May 21, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Should a black restaurant owner be forced to serve members of the Ku Klux Klan? Jusk asking.
11 michael kelley // May 21, 2010 at 3:50 pm
P Rand is a libertarian. Libertarians believe in strict and narrow limits on government involvement. Insuring civil rights is beyond these limits in their view, so Paul is just sticking to his guns. The problem is most Americans do not agree with the libertarian viewpoint. Most voters want at least moderate involvement by government in matters such as discrimination The voter needs to know exactly what they are getting if they vote Paul into office. They need to know just how far outside the mainstream he really is.
12 JR // May 22, 2010 at 11:18 am
I’m a Rand supporter but I must say you have a good site. I wouldn’t even call you out for trying to stoke up the brou-haha. But, I do think you should nail McConnell for being contradictory. He pretends to be a First Amendment banner holder, and insists a la Citizen’s United that speech is money. Given that racist speech is protected (you do defend racists’ free speech right?), and that free speech is only limited in enumerated situations, why not ask questions connected to the right to finance hate speech by corporations? The ideological purism charge since Paul is a constitutionalist libertarian believing in enumerated powers doesn’t make sense in my book coming from the McConnell people. They have taken the First Amendment (he’s a good lawyer-give him credit) and turned it into something incredibly expansive, why isn’t that ideological purism? Why can’t that have even ‘worse’ consequences for racism than Paul’s position?
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