Posted on 12/29/2011 3:03:02 PM PST by markomalley
Ron Paul said Thursday that he accepts "some responsibility" for controversial newsletters played up by his opponents for the GOP presidential nomination, but downplayed the importance of the issue to voters.
"These were sentences that were put in, I think it was a total of eight or 10 sentences and it was bad stuff — it, it wasn't a reflection of my views at all," said Paul in response to a caller's question on WHO's Jan Mickelson radio show in Iowa. "I think it was terrible. It was tragic and I had some responsibility because the [letter went out under my name]."
The content of the newsletters, published in the 1980s and 1990s under Paul's name, has gained attention again in recent weeks and drawn criticism from opponents.
Jon Huntsman’s presidential campaign released a new video Thursday attacking Paul for the publications, and Newt Gingrich slammed the Texas congressman last week for what he called "really nasty" content. Paul's campaign has gained increasing scrutiny as his standing in polls of the GOP field has steadily risen in Iowa. Paul and GOP rival Mitt Romney have been at the top of polls of likely Iowa caucus-goers less than a week away from the Jan. 3 contest.
The presidential contender repeated his claim that he was unaware of the material until many years after publication, and has since disavowed the articles. The newsletters, mainly a forum for essays on Paul's brand of libertarianism, once referred to Martin Luther King Jr. as "the world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours" and who "seduced underage girls and boys." In another article, the author writes that "given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal."
The newsletters have long been an issue for Paul. In 2008, the congressman explained that he did not know who had written the offending essays and that they did not represent his views.
He told listeners Thursday that he acted as a publisher rather than an editor of the newsletters.
"If you think about publishers of newspapers every once an a while they get some pretty chunky stuff in their newspapers and they have to say 'this is not the sentiment and position of that newspaper' and this is certainly the case ... this is probably 10 sentences out for 10,000 pages for all I know," Paul said.
The issue gained attention again in the current primary race when it appeared as if Paul had walked out of a CNN interview when he was pressed on his knowledge of the offending articles.
"I didn't write them, I didn't read them at the time, and I disavow them. That is the answer," Paul said in the CNN interview last week.
An uncut video of the interview later surfaced that shows a somewhat less contentious interaction between Paul and the interviewer.
Paul said he believes the issue has resurfaced because opponents are "desperate" to find information to disparage his campaign, but he said he doesn't think it will hurt him politically.
Ron Paul is a liar.
His base is, and always has been, the anti-semitic loonies of the left and the right.
He made money pandering to the kooks, spreading the conspiracy stories they so desperately want to hear.
“...but he said he doesn’t think it will hurt him politically.”
No, not with you koolaid drinking cult but rational mainstream Americans are seeing his racism and crackpot views on display. Just think what the Obama Chicago thugs would do with them. Those vile newsletters are tainting the entire GOP already.
Ron Paul is a liar, an incompetent, or both.
In any case, Ron Paul is not mentally fit to be the president.
And yet another reason not to vote Paul.
I’m willing to forgo minor indiscretions many years ago in exchange for unparalleled dedication to smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and Constitutional principles. You know. The really “kooky” stuff.
We don’t need a broken record flibberty gibbet in the White House. We need a strong, dedicated man with effective ideas and the determination to restore America’s respect in the world, jobs for her people, and severely restrict government’s intrusion into0 our lives! Draft Herman Cain back into the race!
Some?
What has happened to this message board? What has happened to constitutional conservatism and limited government?
There are three candidates remaining in this race who believe in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Those candidates are Michele Bachmann (my candidate), Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. The other candidates are people of the government, by the government, and for the government. I am not voting for Ron Paul but I will not attack him either. I disagree with his bottom line on foreign policy (which is interpreted by the mainstream media as a racist agenda) but I agree with him in principle (which is that America needs to be isolationist for a time until we get our economic house in order).
The attacks on Paul have degraded into that leftist mechanism to silence those who oppose them — the label of “racist”. Lately we are hearing Paul labeled with the standard leftist smear of “dumb”. Paul is man who believes that the federal government has powers that it should not have but should belong exclusively to the states and private sector to retain that power. The federal government grows in power and so it grows in cost and expands its influence. Ron Paul believes in limited government and would abolish entire federal departments to diminish the size and cost of government. The Federal Reserve needs to be abolished and the collusion between big-government neo-cons, big government leftists, big-banking, and big-corporation needs to be broken. Only a Tea Party majority in the House and Senate in combination with a constitutional limited-government conservative in the White House would break that fascist collusion.
Right now, that fascist big-government-corporate-banking mechanism is why Romney and Gingrich are promoted by the mainstream media including FOX News and why Bachmann, Santorum, and Paul are marginalized. As such, I will look beyond my disagreements with Dr. Paul to the bigger picture. Although I am fully supporting Michele Bachmann, I will defend Ron Paul.
Does he mean per paragraph or per page?
No website not named Stormfront personifies Ron Paul's base better than ZeroHedge.com (RP has been officially endorsed by the site). Here's one of many discussions from ZH concerning "those f*ck*ng Jew f*cks":
Nakba Violence Escalates As Many Dead On Isreal Borders With Syria, Lebanon And Gaza (EXTREME LANGUAGE WARNING)
Yes, what’s the murder of a few Jooos, when you can make the trains run on time?
Maybe we can get all their money. I hear they hoard silver in their houses. And gold.
“The attacks on Paul have degraded into that leftist mechanism “
Um, no.
I love Paul’s fiscal and governmental stances.
The sad thing is he’s ALSO a anti-semitic kook and an isolationist of convenience -— isollationism only when it can kill Joooooos.
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