[Vision2020] Fw: On Ron Paul and Racism

Sat Dec 31 14:14:54 PST 2011

I don't know if Ron Paul is a racist, but it does matter to me that my leaders not be regardless of their ability to enact racist policies.

I also know because of the newsletters that I cannot support Ron Paul regardless of if he published them as his words, or someone else published them and said they were his words for two reasons;

1) I would expect someone to issue an immediate contraction of any quote made of them that could be construed as racist, or apologize for it, or offer clarity as to the meaning of their words. 

2) If Ron Paul was unaware of the things that where said in his newsletter and allowed for racist material to go unchecked, that makes him a poor manager and has a lack of attention to important details, either of which make him a poor choice for President over the current one.

I don't think social issues such as abortion and equal rights are trivial as they impact the direct quality of life for millions of Americans. But I do agree that politicians turn them into theatrics to get attention and votes and don't espouse their true beliefs about the subjects. They also do raise highly emotionally charged issues so other less popular items can be passed with less notice by the press and voters.

Donovan Arnold

________________________________
 From: Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com>
To: "vision2020 at moscow.com" <vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 10:37 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] Fw:  On Ron Paul and Racism

I sent this only to Sue, when I meant to send it to the list.

Paul

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com>
To: Sue Hovey <suehovey at moscow.com> 
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] On Ron Paul and Racism

It doesn't negate the evidence.  For what it's worth, he claims that he didn't write those newsletters that were put out in his name.  Like you've shown, a person can be compassionate and still be racist.  Being racist is not a black and white thing, no pun intended.  It's something that can change over a period of years.  I grew up in a casually racist household, and had to unlearn much of that over the years, as did my parents.  It's easy to fall into that trap when you grow up with it and everyone around you thinks the same thing.  As society changed, so did those around me, and so did I.

I've said this many times on the Viz:  I'm not looking for Jesus Christ or Gandhi when I'm looking for a Presidential candidate to vote for.  I want someone who will perform well in the job.

So the question is, assuming he is some kind of die-hard racist from the sixties like he's being portrayed, is he going to deny blacks the right to vote or serve on juries?

Racism, like abortion and gay marriage, are all "theatrical issues".  They are issues that are tossed out to the American public like scraps to hungry dogs for them to fight over.  While they are important in and of themselves, they are really meant to distract us from realizing that we have more power than we think we do.  In my opinion we should concentrate on our civil liberties, and in stopping the steady power buildup for the Executive branch that's been going on for years.  That's far more dangerous to us in the short term than any of these hot button issues are.  Like Sunil said in another post, it's all about priorities.

Paul

________________________________
 From: Sue Hovey <suehovey at moscow.com>
To: Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 10:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] On Ron Paul and Racism

It’s a lovely story, Paul. And a powerful instance of Ron Paul’s 
compassion, but how does it negate the evidence of his racism in those published 
reports?  My Texas grandfather was a racist through and through, yet he 
performed kind and generous acts to the people he belittled, and to whom he 
would have denied the vote, the right to serve on juries (along with women) and 
most especially the right to sit up front in public transportation.   

Sue H.        

From: Paul Rumelhart  
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 10:18 PM 
To: vision2020 at moscow.com  
Subject: [Vision2020] On Ron Paul and Racism 
 Here is a video in response to allegations of racism being leveled at Ron 
Paul.  It was made by "Revolution PAC", a "superPAC" whose sole purpose is 
to get Ron Paul elected. It's entitled "The Compassion of Dr. Ron Paul": 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rv0Z5SNrF4 

If we're going to attack Ron Paul with allegations of racism on the list, I 
thought it might be nice to see what his side has to say. 

Paul

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