User:Deleuze/Ron Paul
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[edit] Newsletter controversy
Newsletters published under Ron Paul's name from 1978 to 1995 containing racist, homophobic, and pro-militia material have been in issue a number of times.
Alluding to a contemporary scientific study finding that "of black men in Washington... about 85 percent are arrested at some point in their lives"[1][2] one issue proposed that "Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume 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".[3][4]
The issue first arose in 1996 when Paul was campaigning for Congress. His opponent criticized the articles, but Paul won.
During his presidential bid in 2008, the issue was raised again in The New Republic, with the addition of previously unseen newsletters. Paul repudiated the sentiments in an official response and claimed not to know who wrote the articles.
The authorship of the material is unclear; most articles were printed without bylines. Paul has maintained that he did not write the offending sections and does not know who did. He has taken "moral responsibility" for allowing the slurs to be published and denounced the writings. A number of commentators have agreed that Paul most likely did not write the articles but criticized him for his handling of the controversy at the same time.
Reason magazine has identified prominent paleolibertarian activist Lew Rockwell as a likely author. Rockwell served as Paul's congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982,[5] as "Paul's chief ghostwriter". The magazine also cites a 1993 tax document showing that Ron Paul & Associates reported an annual income of $940,000 for that year. The document listed four Ron Paul & Associates employees in Texas (Paul's family and Rockwell) and seven more employees around the country.[6] This now-defunct entity, in which Paul owned a minority stake, was during some periods the publisher of the newsletters; at other times, they were published by the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, a nonprofit Paul founded in 1976.[5]
Newsletters published under Paul's name from 1978 through 1995 first became an issue in his 1996 run for Congress, when opponent Charles Morris ran numerous ads about the newsletters.[7][8] The newsletters, which carried various names over the years—Ron Paul's Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report—,[5] sometimes contained derogatory comments concerning race and other politicians. Paul's campaign replied at the time that the quotes were taken out of context and misleading[5] and rejected Morris' demand to release back issues; Paul went on to win the election.[9]
In 2001, Paul took "moral responsibility" for the comments printed in the newsletters under his name, telling Texas Monthly magazine that the comments were written by unnamed writers 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" whose "race and sex protect her from criticism") were "the saddest thing, because Barbara and I served together and actually she was a delightful lady." 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."[10] 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", but added that Paul's "response to the accusations was not transparent."[9]
In January 2008, James Kirchick of The New Republic revived the controversy by publishing a story detailing the contents of several issues of the newsletters, including images of the actual pages of some of them.[11] His article concluded that Paul was an "angry white man", asserting that the newsletter showed "an obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays", attacked Martin Luther King Jr. and offered "kind words" for David Duke.[5] Other issues gave tactical advice to right-wing militia groups and advanced various conspiracy theories.[12][13] Most of the incendiary items appeared between 1989 and 1994, a period in which Paul was not in office but in medical practice.[6] While the newsletters were published under Paul's name and frequently in the first person with personal interjections,[14] most lacked specific bylines for articles.
Paul disavowed the writings in a response to the New Republic article, saying that the quotations do not represent his beliefs, that he has "never uttered such words and denounce[s] such small-minded thoughts", and that Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks were his personal heroes because they stood for individual rights. He again noted that he accepts "moral responsibility" for not paying closer attention to writings published under his name.[15] In a subsequent interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, he said he did not know who wrote the articles and stated he "[repudiates] everything that is written along those lines." Blitzer told Paul that he was "shocked" by the newsletters, because they did not seem to reflect "the Ron Paul that I've come to know, and the viewers have come to know" over the course of several interviews during the campaign.[16] David Gergen, CNN senior political analyst, commented "I don't think there's an excuse in politics to have something go out under your name and say, 'Oh by the way, I didn't write that'."[16][17]
In the interview with Blitzer, Paul asserted that racism is incompatible with his beliefs and that he sees people as individuals—not as part of collectives. He also dismissed the attack as an attempt to accuse him of racism by proxy, stating that he has collected more money among African-Americans than any other Republican candidate.[16] Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), defended Paul, saying that he has known him for 20 years, saw him as a "free thinker", "very intelligent and very informed", talking about "real issues" that "invite attacks on him", who was "correct in what he's saying", and that knowing his intent, he believes Paul has been misconstrued and taken out of context.[18] Former LA Times editor Andrew Malcolm noted that Paul got second place in the January 19 Nevada Republican caucus despite the recent reports about the newsletters.[19]
The identity of the author of the controversial pieces remains unknown, but Reason magazine identified then prominent paleolibertarian activist Lew Rockwell, who also served as Paul's congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982,[5] as "Paul's chief ghostwriter". The magazine also cites a 1993 tax document showing that Ron Paul & Associates reported an annual income of $940,000 for that year. The document listed four Ron Paul & Associates employees in Texas (Paul's family and Rockwell) and seven more employees around the country.[6] This now-defunct entity, in which Paul owned a minority stake, was during some periods the publisher of the newsletters; at other times, they were published by the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, a nonprofit Paul founded in 1976.[5]
