Skeptic Project

I have abstained from targeting any particular GOP candidate because, quite frankly, I don't think any of them deserve the kind of respect they are after. I continue to maintain outright contempt for the GOP project in terms of social justice, economics, and questions of morality. That said, Ron Paul has increasingly become the object of my ire. He maintains that he is the only "pro-constitution" candidate (a claim built upon a myopic vision of the constitution) and that he is for personal liberty. But time and time again I have seen a never ending wall of inconsistencies emerge even from within his own vision. I disagree with Libertarians because I think their philosophical underpinnings rest on absurdly false axioms, they limit the scope of historical evidence they are willing to accept into a discourse about their positions, and they consistently choose to represent reality as a set of controlled conditions. But I disagree with Ron Paul because he's an idiot.

Ron Paul supporters have been screeching that he is not a racist and that his vote for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1979 proves this. Now, Im not here to call Paul a racist- there are other people who want to engage in this- I just want to highlight the fact that not only is voting for the holiday analogous as arguing "I know black people!" is a defense against racism but that the claim itself is just patently false.

Prior to 1979, Ron Paul voted against the creation of the federal holiday twice. Then, on December 5th, 1979, Ron Paul cast his vote for a bill under consideration as "aye" which actually postponed the bill until 1983, when the holiday was finally voted in. It is also important to note that in November of 1979, Paul actually voted against the holiday . Now, it is entirely possible that he voted against the holiday for the same reason Congressman Gene Taylor did, namely that our present economic situation will allow us the luxury of another $212 million Federal holiday."

Again, whatever Paul's reasons for opposing the institution of MLK Day as a holiday, it is fairly clear that his supporters, or those who have waved the December 5th 1979 vote as proof that Paul is not a racist, have a superficial understanding of legislative procedures at best. The fact remains that Paul is on record as having opposed the holiday earlier that very same year and the this December 5th vote was part of a procedural maneuver to effectively kill the bill as outlined here. I want to reiterate, I am not calling Paul a racist. I maintain the same position as the author of the Atlantic article linked below. What I am interested in is stopping a misrepresentation of the evidence that is available.

Now, of course we have Ron Paul's newsletter which states "Boy, it sure burns me to have a national holiday for Martin Luther King. I voted against this outrage time and time again as a Congressman. What an infamy that Ronald Reagan approved it! We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day." This quote has appeared ubiquitously, but also appears in an Atlantic Piece which covers the very same thing I am discussing here. You can find the article here. So, whether Paul's a racist or not (at best he's horribly irresponsible) the use of this December 5th vote as proof positive that he is not racist needs to end.

Quote from The Real Roxette

I want to reiterate, I am not calling Paul a racist.

Fine, I will: He's fucking racist.

Boom. Done.

EDIT: I will say that I lean towards that notion, but I refrain from calling him racist simply because I don't even bother to concern myself with the majority of his campaign. I actually only just yesterday started reading the newsletters posted under his name (how the fuck does someone not read that shit if its going to represent you?!). I just always marginalized him in my mind because he thinks the gold standard is a good idea and ending any and all government regulations.