The Liberty Papers

On the eve of the New Hampshire primary a staffer made allegations accusing Ron Paul of consorting and collaborating with racists. The first hint came with this interview on the Tucker Carlson show:

This was followed by an article published today:

Angry White Man: The bigoted past of Ron Paul. by James Kirchick

The thesis of the article is:

the newsletters I saw all had one thing in common: They were published under a banner containing Paul’s name, and the articles (except for one special edition of a newsletter that contained the byline of another writer) seem designed to create the impression that they were written by him–and reflected his views. What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing–but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics.

Excerpts from the newsletter may be found here

Ron Paul’s campaign released a statement disowning much of the racist/homophobic content here:

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – In response to an article published by The New Republic, Ron Paul issued the following statement:
“The quotations in The New Republic article are not mine and do not represent what I believe or have ever believed. I have never uttered such words and denounce such small-minded thoughts.
“In fact, I have always agreed with Martin Luther King, Jr. that we should only be concerned with the content of a person’s character, not the color of their skin. As I stated on the floor of the U.S. House on April 20, 1999: ‘I rise in great respect for the courage and high ideals of Rosa Parks who stood steadfastly for the rights of individuals against unjust laws and oppressive governmental policies.’
“This story is old news and has been rehashed for over a decade. It’s once again being resurrected for obvious political reasons on the day of the New Hampshire primary.
“When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine full-time, a newsletter was published under my name that I did not edit. Several writers contributed to the product. For over a decade, I have publically taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name.”

While it is clear to me that Ron Paul did not write these newsletters, someone close to him did. The writing style is completely different from that of Ron Paul. Moreover, it is clear to me that the author views himself to be in the midst of an apocalyptic culture war. Based on Ron Paul’s easygoing reaction to support from with strippers and marijuana growers, it is clear to me that Ron Paul does not share this view.

The big question is, who wrote these letters? Ron Paul is, either out of shame or friendship, keeping the name(s) a secret. While there is a sort of honor to keeping a confidence regardless of the personal consequences, Ron Paul is risking taking the winds out of the sails of his movement at a critical juncture by doing so. I firmly believe that Ron Paul, while a gentlemen and a man of honor, is yet again the victim of extremely poor judgment of the character of his associates. His employment of Eric Dondero, his long association with Gary North all speak to this.

The time has come for the author of the newsletters, whoever he is, to step forward and take the heat. This author used Ron Paul’s name to advance his cultural agenda rather than Ron Paul’s economic agenda. The time has come for him to take responsibility for his actions and to publicly explain how these articles ended up with Ron Paul’s name on them. If Ron Paul approved of them, then fine, Ron Paul will justifiably suffer the consequences. But if, as I suspect, the author was taking advantage of the good doctor, honor demands that he set the record straight.