Kn@ppster: Wow, Ron Paul's a Racist
In my former life as a politically-tainted blogger I used to associate with a man by the name of Tom Knapp, whose work I've linked to before. Check the blogroll and the archives for proof. Ours was something of a mutual appreciation society for a hard-headed, obstreperous brand of practical libertarianism. My how things change in 2 years. The obstreperous part is still there, as is the hard-headedness, but the practicality is gone, at least it wasn't there this morning.
This piece, though is a sad testament to just how hyperbolic one can get in taking one thing out of context and blowing it completely out of proportion in a fit of reactionary pique. It pains me to think that Tom spent so little time thinking about the quote (or the entire article for that matter) in the context of Dr. Paul's canon of writings and actions to the contrary. The entire thing is intellectually dishonest and emotionally vapid.
Moreover, in re-reading the comment thread it's clear that Tom wants Dr. Paul to basically issue him a repudiation of the article, something that he has already done in the past, saying on the record that the article was ghost-written but he signed off on it and has to take responsibility for the content regardless. Again, emotionally vapid and terribly self-important.
My thought is, if Tom did so much research to find this article in the first place and he's been pointed toward Dr. Paul's explanation of it, why is it that he still needs reassurance that Dr. Paul isn't a racist? Maybe, it's because Tom Knapp wants to believe what he wants to believe, which is, of course, that Dr. Paul is a racist. It's not like that kind of sanctimonious and willful ignorance isn't common when matters political are under consideration. That's practically the Left's entire mode of discourse. I mean, how else do you convince yourself that socialism works without a healthy heaping of cognitive dissonance with your morning government-mandated soy gruel?
The issue of this article is irrelevant. Dr. Paul may well be a closet racist who hates blacks and spicks. Oh hell, let's throw in Jews as well, for that matter, really get this fire going. It matters not one bit if he continues to act, while in office as an elected official, in ways which are not racist in performing his duty. So, viewed from that perspective, if Dr. Paul is a racist then his voting record in Congress is even that much more impressive, because then he's truly seperated out his personal beliefs from his role as legislator, respecting the law he swore to uphold and defend regardless of his hypothetical bias against certain ethnic groups. In the real world, Dr. Paul's supposed racism is, as well, irrelevant because he's so passionate and right about the really big issues (monetary and foreign policy, the role [if any] of government) that he would render himself without the power to enforce it.
This whole thing is just another example of how the libertarian movement is truly more concerned with self-immolation than bringing about the changes they believe are for the better and why I truly made the right decision to step away from the LP and write about hockey for two years. The political establishment is going to play mean. They are going to smear him if he gets anymore support in the polls. It will happen. They'll do it to libertarians, too. Are we so friggin' insecure that we can't handle a little criticism? If liberty is so worth fighting for aren't we willing to suffer a couple of arrows and bullets, metaphorically, for it? Doesn't that just make the whole thing that much stronger when people see that no matter what gets said, we're still there working at pounding the truth through their wall of self-hatred and willful ignorance? I'm so tired of watching eunuch libertarians scurry away from bad press like cockroaches, when they should be happy anyone's even paying them any attention whatsoever?!
Ta,
p.s. Tom, if you weren't shamelessly plugging for hits you wouldn't have self-dugg this nonsense.
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Posted by: Polly Leonard | 25 March 2008 at 10:41 PM