The Real Racist Candidate

Do you want some “hold music” while I’m finishing up my next article from Fallujah? It should be ready later today, and I’ll give you something else on another topic to consider in the meantime.
In the comments section yesterday I asked readers to please stop throwing the “racist” label at presidential candidates they don’t like. That’s a serious and potentially libelous charge that needs to be backed up with real solid evidence. (Rudy Giuliani and Barack Obama were both unconvincingly called racists by someone or other.)
“This is what a real racist presidential candidate looks like”:http://althouse.blogspot.com/2008/01/bigoted-past-of-ron-paul.html. I didn’t quite buy that particular accusation against Ron Paul, but now I sure do.
UPDATE: “Ron Paul disowns the monstrously racist articles that appeared in his newsletter”:http://www.ronpaul2008.com/press-releases/125/ron-paul-statement-on-the-new-republic-article-regarding-old-newsletters. That’s something, but geez, man. Those kinds of articles certainly would never appear in a newsletter with my name on the top of it. He says he didn’t edit his newsletter. Fine. Did he ever read it?
UPDATE: “Roger L. Simon says what I mean a little more bluntly”:http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2008/01/pauling_the_pau.php: “The only name on those newsletters is Ron Paul, no matter who wrote the actual articles. We all know that most politicians do not write their own speeches, but we certainly hold them to the contents. Why not Paul? And this creepy stuff went on for over ten years. It’s not like one week slipped by.”
UPDATE: “John Podhoretz at Commentary puts it even more bluntly”:http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/jpodhoretz/1818: “Ah, so the Ron Paul Political Report featured articles expressing views a man named Ron Paul found abhorrent, did it? This is reminiscent of the hilarious denunciation by Charles Barkley of his own ghostwritten autobiography. The only difference is that Charles Barkley was a basketball player at the time, while Ron Paul is a sitting member of Congress and a candidate for president of the United States. If he did know about what was published under his name and he’s lying about it now, he’s a blackguard as well as a disgusting public figure. If he didn’t know, he’s a pathetic buffoon who sold his own name to racists and intellectual thugs. Not sure which is better.”