Rand Paul and his family have brushed off the racist moniker for years, it seems, so I’ve been surprised to see Rand act like it’s a big deal to be called out these days.

A good example comes from a January 9, 2007 article from the Bowling Green Daily News about Ron Paul’s presidential campaign in New Hampshire:

He also brushes off the allegations leveled in an article just published by the liberal-leaning newsmagazine The New Republic, titled “Angry White Man: The Bigoted Past of Ron Paul.”

James Kirchick, an assistant editor at the magazine, quotes from a series of little-known newsletters which Paul circulated largely among Libertarian groups. He quotes issues ranging from 1978 through 1995 which advocate secession from the United States, sneer at African Americans as hopelessly lazy and violent, frequently denounce the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., allege that homosexuals were deliberately trying to spread AIDS, flirt with anti-Semitism, approve the growth of a heavily-armed ‘militia’ movement and recite classic conspiracy theories.

Few of the articles bore authors? names, though all of them ran under Ron Paul?s name on the masthead, according to Kirchick.

Rand Paul says that he?s never heard his father, in public or private, disparage anyone for their color, religion or sexual orientation. He said his father admires King and frequently quotes his admonition to judge people on character rather than color.

“He didn?t write the stuff that was written in his newsletter,” Rand Paul said.

Rand Paul criticized Kirchick for not contacting Ron Paul himself for the story.

Kirchick says he talked to Paul spokesman Jesse Benton, who replied that Paul often didn’t even see most of the newsletters and had little knowledge of what was going out under his name.

So I’m left wondering why anyone is surprised that the topic of race is such a hot button issue with the Pauls.

In the same 2007 article, Rand Paul had some interesting things to say about Fox News:

Rand Paul said he wasn’t involved in several reported incidents in which crowds of Ron Paul supporters acted aggressively toward backers of other candidates and anchor Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel. “The demonstrations were spontaneous, like the 1789 Paris mob, marching to Versailles,” he said.

He added, however, that anger directed against Fox News personnel was deserved, so long as it was nonviolent.” Fox excluded Ron Paul from its recent televised forum before the Republican primary, a decision which Rand Paul says may have cost his father a couple of percentage points.

“We’re not alone in really questioning Fox?s credibility,” he said. “The Democrats won?t even debate on Fox anymore, since they don?t consider Fox to be an objective news network.”

I find this bit about Fox interesting because he’s seemingly in love with the network these days and is suddenly bashing MSNBC every chance he gets.