Wonkette
Remember those Ron Paul newsletters that he published but maybe didn’t personally write — the ones that had all that mean stuff about how all the black people are stupid criminals? The New Republic’s James Kirchick dug up a whole bunch more back issues of the creepy newsletters, which mix every kind of Art Bell paranoia with good old-fashioned attacks on Martin Luther King Jr.
As with the previous batch of interesting theories and thoughts from the RP newsletters, the newly discovered issues are missing helpful clues (such as bylines) that might help today’s concerned voter figure out if Ron Paul himself authored all these racist paranoid gold-loving Israel-obsessed diatribes, or if his friends and supporters actually wrote the material. But nearly every month for thirty years, there has been a newsletter with Ron Paul’s name on the masthead, published by one of Ron Paul’s organizations.
Martin Luther King Jr. earned special ire from Paul’s newsletters, which attacked the civil rights leader frequently, often to justify opposition to the federal holiday named after him. (“What an infamy Ronald Reagan approved it!” one newsletter complained in 1990. “We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.”) In the early 1990s, a newsletter attacked the “X-Rated Martin Luther King” as a “world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours,” “seduced underage girls and boys,” and “made a pass at” fellow civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy. One newsletter ridiculed black activists who wanted to rename New York City after King, suggesting that “Welfaria,” “Zooville,” “Rapetown,” “Dirtburg,” and “Lazyopolis” were better alternatives. The same year, King was described as “a comsymp, if not an actual party member, and the man who replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration.”
Ha ha, “Zooville.”
As usual, Paul’s official campaign spokesman can barely be bothered to come up with a mild non-denial-denial for this crap.
Asked if Dr. Congressman Paul approved this stuff in his monthly newsletters, campaign spokesman Jesse Benton answered: “Most of the incendiary stuff, no.”
The anti-war/hippie embrace of Dr. Congressman Ron Paul is one of the absolute strangest things to ever happen in politics.
Angry White Man [TNR]
Comments
let's follow his defense and say he had nothing to do with his own newsletter. the absolute best thing this says about paulie is that he's a complete dipshit and has the attentiveness of a bucket o'turd.
Mental image: MLK going door to door in the suit Jesus wore in The Big Lebowski...
Dr. Paul is the only non-racist candidate still in the debates. All the others, from Huckabee to Obama favor
1)killing all the brown people overseas for a bunch of bullshit made-up reasons (Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan -Obama's pet project) as part of the "War on Terror"
and
2) throw most all of American blacks in prison for a bunch of bullshit made-up reasons -- the so-called "war on drugs."
most of the "incendiary" stuff is a no, eh? then what parts of it, praytell, did he approve of?
@weaselplasty: I heard John Madden didn't write the code for Madden Football, the lazy fat fuck.
Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! Facts, schmacks.
In 2020 when Anne Marie Cox is at her Senate hearing to be the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the George Pepe Bush administration, she'll claim she never wrote any of that stuff that was in "Wonkette." In fact, she'll claim a dude typed most of that garbage.
@proud-paultard: John Madden probably would have done something if he was informed that the commentators in the game talked about how amazed they were that the black players weren't stealing things from the audience and raping the cheerleaders.
@proud-paultard: No, Paul would kick the War on Drugs to the states. Which only shifts the problem.
Of course, that's neither here not there regarding the batshit crazy things in these newsletters.
all in favor of renaming new york city "killtheshriveledupbigotopolis" please raise your hand.
Ron Paul's racist nutbaggery is news exactly how? It's news the same way that it's "news" that Bourbon Street was packed with drunk LSU fans last night (and probably still now).
PS, You've described Dennis Kucinich's positions exactly.
@proud-paultard: Wait, you're comparing the use of a sportscaster's name/likeness in a sports video game to a Presidential candidate's newsletter that has a masthead that bears his name?
That is a stretch.
The hell with all that. I wanna be Mayor of Lazyopolis. I even set a Good Example.
Is ANYBODY watching the NH results? The Dems are neck-in-neck and Mitt's ahead for the GOP! It may be a longgggg night.
From [gays-for-ron.blogspot.com]
I first met Jamie at a holiday party held by the venerable libertarian magazine Reason just a few weeks ago. When Jamie saw my "Ron Paul 2008" button, he snickered and said, "Oh, Ron Paul... I've been reading up on him. Have you read the stuff that guy's written? Nasty stuff! Racist, anti-semitic, homophobic!"
I emailed Jamie the next day to engage him further and to ask just what he found so offensive. His response:
Hi Berin,
Thanks for writing; and I'm glad you enjoyed by [sic] piece in the Boston Globe. I'll try and make the [DC Log Cabin Republicans] party tonight, though [LCR President] Patrick Sammon isn't particularly happy with me after I wrote this piece [attacking LCR for not endorsing Giuliani, whom Kirchick calls "the most pro-gay Republican White House contender in history"]
[www.advocate.com]
Anyways, I don't think Ron Paul is a homophobe; I'm just cynical and enjoy getting supporters of political candidates riled up. If you were a Giuliani guy I'd have called him a fascist. But I must say, the Ron Paul supporters are the most enthusiastic of the bunch! [Emphasis added.]
Best,
Jamie
When I responded to ask him when his article might come out so I could read more, he answered: "Patience, my friend :-)"
Patience, indeed.
Let me not mince words. Jamie is a muckraker, a charlatan, and a hypocrite.
@Dr. Spaceman: That's why I specified the only one still (kinda) in the debates. Kucinich isn't a bought-and-paid-for scumbag either, which is why the big media work to marginalize him.
wow, i just read the article, damn, this posting doesn't do justice to ron paul's totally out of hand racism. i assumed he was a racist, but not to that level. WAKE UP PAULTARDS!!! this shit is no joke!
Who's running Ron Paul's campaign? Soylent Green isn't people and Paultards don't speak for Ron Paul! K-razy.
@saltmine: That's actually one of Kirk Herbstreit's lines in NCAA 2008
Yeah, if all the black players in Madden '08 wore thick-lipped "mouth protectors" and carried watermelons instead of footballs, and were shown raping cheerleaders on the sidelines in between plays, you might have a case.
Also, John Madden has a better chance of being elected than RP.
Hey, can I coach the Rapetown Jigaboos? That'd be cool.
@dickcheneysblacksister: Is there a website with up to date reporting anywhere? I'm not seeing it. I'm at work in CA :(
@proud-paultard:
I promise I'll think about the candidate's indirect racism if you explain the direct racism in the newsletters.
@proud-paultard: You stopped quoting before you got to "His bottom-feeding journalism dishonors The New Republic's history as a bastion of high-minded political discourse." That was the funniest part!
Here in Zooville (some of you might have heard it called Zoo York), we are proud of our various locales such as Dirtburg, Lazyopolis, and Welfaria. Apparently Paulturd is confused about Rapetown, which is found on the east coast of Texas. Bureauctopia is still located just north of Virginia, and from time to time I advocate building a wall around it. Scumbagia has no fixed location, but can be found wherever two or more Republicans gather together. Well, Paulturd doesn't need to worry about the location of Purgatory, 'cause when his time is up he is going straight to Hell.
@southernbitch: What you've got to realize is, thirty years ago, calling someone a "no account welfare cheatin' coon" wasn't NEARLY as incendiary as it is today.
@Publican: I guess I assumed "Rapetown" was Hyannisport
why are these shrill-voiced little white boys so threatened by the Brothers?
Hey, I've lived in Rapetown and it's a perfectly nice city. We even had a cross-dressing mayor one time! What was his name again...? Ghoulie-something...
In the battle between Ron Paul supporters and Jamie Kirchick, there are no good guys.
With luck they will finish each other off. Here's to mutually assured destruction.
@proud-paultard: You're right, Madden is a lazy, fat fuck. Anyway, who are you going to support when Dr. Racist McGoldstandard drops out?
Or are you going to take your little blimpie and go home?
@peace with honor: Entrance polling conducted before the NH primary revealed that most Paultards list their second preference as Strawberry Sweetcake.
@proud-paultard:
Look PP, I am sympathetic, but you are talking about The New Republic here, the employer and tireless defender of pulitizer prize contenders like Scott Beauchamp and Stephen Glass. You can't seriously expect anyone here to question their journalistic integrity.
@ForTheTurnstiles:
Donny: What's a... pederast, Malcom?
Malcom X: Shut the fuck up, Donny.
and
MLK: Let me tell you something, pendejo. You pull any of your crazy shit with us, you flash a piece out on the lanes, I'll take it away from you, stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger 'til it goes "click."
The Dude: Jesus.
MLK: You said it, man. Nobody fucks with the Martin.
@proud-paultard: except Paul personally wrote some of the articles. Sorry, no points this round, but we have some lovely luggage as a consolation prize.
@DWSUWF: *snore* so, the TNR made this up? Weakest. Argument. Evah.
Sorry, although I'm no Paultard, Wonkette sounds totally douchey when its tailing the New Republic on this business. I'm never clear as to whether its Paul's anti-war stance (I like) or his libertarian economics (I hate) that is getting his supporters more excited, but its pretty obvious its not his racism. He's not going to win, and about the 'worst case' scenario is that he'll convince some of his Republican supporters to sit out this election because the candidate will undoubtedly be a warmongerer. The crusaders for racial equality at the New Republic can rest easy.
BTW, did you know John McCain has been sending out Christmas cards in South Carolina telling people that he's more or less covertly a Christian fanatic just like they are? True story.
Paul is guilty of negligence in reviewing his newsletter business, but nothing more. It should be obvious that racism is completely contrary to Paul's steadfast belief in individualist libertarianism. At its core, racism involves viewing people as members of groups instead of as individuals. Paul completely rejects this ugly form of collectivism: "The quotations in *The New Republic* article are not mine and do not represent what I believe or have ever believed. I have never uttered such words and denounce such small-minded thoughts." (Quotation from press release on Paul's website)
Yes, I have a newsletter named after me, with my name all over it, that gets sent out to tens of thousands of people and I have NOTHING AT ALL to do with the insane racist bullshit that gets printed in it.
OK.
I think Astoria is already called Lazyopolis. Coudda sworn it was the name of a Greek diner out there. Really.
@magneticfields:
The point is that most of "new Paultard converts" have no fucking clue the guy spent the past 30 years hanging out with cross-burners.
@FunkyPalmettoBug:
Sooo torn.
Jamie Kirchick is not a reporter, but the slavish clone of racist editor-in-chief Martin Peretz. He is so despised by the magazine's readers that they often refer to him in the comments as "Mini-Marty." I normally wouldn't trust him to accurately convey the time of day.
However, it would seem extremely difficult for all of those incriminating quotes to be taken out of context. So its probably score one for Marty's unholy bioengineered spawn.
@TooFolkGR: For reasons I cannot determine it is called Angelton on this map. Their congressman is some guy named "Ron Paul"
@PolitickerFailed: Not at all, that diner is named "Foodpoisonopolis."
@Publican: okay i cannot read the map.. Angleton....
you know, being a new orlenian, i must say, my fair city is better suited for all of these names than new york ever can claim to be.
@Botswana Meat Commission FC:
I know. It's such a surprise that a guy who wants to abolish the Federal Reserve and go back to the gold standard would have such repugnant ideas on race. Who would have thought it?
@DWSUWF: I was lucky enough to be plagiarized by Stephen Glass back in the day, actually. Good times; quality magazine they have going there.
Who ever said that blacks were real people anyway? It's not in the constitution!
@southernbitch: Racist.
Ron Paul denies any of this is his opinion vigorously:
[www.freemarketnews.com]
Ghost writers in the sky, he says.
@FunkyPalmettoBug: ... except that he didn't. You lose. Try again.
Frankly, I think the race-obsessive stuff was written by Gary North. Have fun googling that nutjob.
Here's another fun game -- of the three allegations in this post re: MLK -- how many are true? I'm guessing North got that stuff from somewhere and didn't just make it up.
@proud-paultard: oh, honey please.
@litotes: Which of Gary North's direct quotes are directly racist?
Dirtburg? Lazyopolis? Screw that! I will always and forever proudly live in Hymietown.
This is an encouraging attack for Ron Paul. Somebody actually sees him as a threat.
We all know the story behind teh fawlty documents. Ron Paul ain't no racist. Hell, he's the only one who showed up at the African American Debate in September!
@proud-paultard: Isn't it more racist to assume she was only talking about the black people in NOLA?
Awsome.
@TooFolkGR: Mmmm, Strawberry Sweetcake--zoftig, the way I like them.
No response from little PP yet. I guess there are no second choices in libertarian nut land.
actually, what i was commenting on is how new orleans is bascially seen from an outsider's perspective. all you ever hear about new orleans is the crime, the poverty, the decay and corrupted officials, but oh god, there are some black guys who sure can play the trumpet and play some damn fine football. that's not how i see my city at all. but fuck you for trying to call me out on something said as a fucking joke drawn from material endorsed on some level by a political candidate you support, jackass.
A piece in the NY Times (?) declared the newsletters that were prolly indeed heavily re-written with a ghostwriter because they were not in Paul's writing style, which I can attest to personally, because his essays from the 80s and 90s are fairly predictable, un-provocative and sometimes just repetitive and, after reading basically the same stuff, boring. Even the word "rapetown" seems like it would be too x-rated for him to write.
of course, that was all lovingly addressed to proud-paultard
I'm not gonna rag on the Paul people, just want them to think about two questions: Did you see him on Meet the Press explaining to Tim Russert that there would have been no need for the Civil War if the North had simply paid the South for their slaves? Also, he would have stayed out of World War 2. That's brilliant thinking.
And please explain why all that money the campaign took in hasn't raised his numbers in New Hampshire or anywhere else. They've been holding at 7-8% and DROPPING in some states.
[www.realclearpolitics.com]
inbred? wha? is someone pokin' fun at my suth'ren heritage?
@southernbitch: Uh... that was a joke. It's carnival, chill out and have some king cake.
@PandoraSpocks: He was talking about World War 1. Is this your typical level of listening/reading comprehension? I'm betting yes.
@wanderingchiller: And are you not making that very assumption about New York? Racist.
1/21 - Never Forget.
@FunkyPalmettoBug: Well, funky - it wasn't actually an argument, more like a snarky comment. It very well may have been the "Weakest. Snark. Evah." but you really should get your terminology right.
If I was making an argument it would be more along the lines of MagneticFields comment. Paul is not a racist. He did not write this crap. He was asleep at the switch. He has taken responsibility for letting this crap go out under his name, which is still inexcusable. He is not going to be President. He is not going to be nominated. I am supporting him anyway because he is applying a much needed cattle prod up the GOP posterior, and I am happy to send him a little more juice.
But it is still amusing to see those who pilloried TNR for Beauchamp and Glass so uncritically accept Kirchack's piece.
If you want to see some real dregs of the earth, check out the comments on the article at TNR. It ranges from "if I don't see the actual article, this not true" (with this reasoning, must be many atheists on the site) to "I now support RP thanks to this!"
@proud-paultard: Uh...no. I wasn't making any assumption. It's pretty clear that the Ron Paul newsletter was making racist comments about New York, since the author suggested Rapetown and Welfaria as alternatives to the black activists' suggestion of renaming it after MLK. Southernbitch on the other hand didn't say anything about race.
Nice try though. And feel free to apologize for calling me a racist whenever you get around to it.
@dxh: Here's the point (and the part where Proud Paultards everywhere stick their fingers in their ears and run away so they can ignore it): it doesn't matter a single solitary shit if the good doctor wrote those articles himself. They were published under his name for decades. If he had tried to put a stop to them, filed a libel suit or done anything like that you're "oh, he didn't write it, not Dr. Paul, he's dreeaaamy" line might hold some water.
He didn't. It doesn't. Some come up with a new one.
@b0yh0wdy: Erm, that was meant to be "So come up with a new one," of course.