As a candidate gains in the polls they are scrutinized more and more, and rightly so. Candidates are scrutinized about their present political positions and the positions they held in the past, especially if those positions differ from one another. The candidates personal lives and other beliefs even come under fire. The fact that this happens is very healthy for the process of choosing the candidate who would be best qualified for the job of President.
Recently, Ron Paul has been gaining in the polls so one should expect that some of his political positions and past controversial statements or writings would come under increased scrutiny more so than before. Now he has come under fire for Ron Paul Newsletters which contained inflammatory comments on race in them. Here are a couple of examples from an article posted on Reason:
Dr. Ron Paul, a Republican congressional candidate from Texas, wrote in his political newsletter in 1992 that 95 percent of the black men in Washington, D.C., are “semi-criminal or entirely criminal.”
…we are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers.
“Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks”
In 2008 Ron Paul repudiated the derogatory racist comments.
But there is a mystery behind who actually wrote these derogatory statements. There is no definitive knowledge as to who actually wrote these letters because no person has admitted doing so. But, the fact that Ron Paul’s name was on these letters and the probability that he didn’t have knowledge of what was stated in these letters is likely low concerns me. Some Paul supporters are up in arms that he is being scrutinized just like the other candidates. I think that the content of the Ron Paul Newsletters is fair game for the media. Whether Ron Paul has racist tendencies I am not sure one way or the other. But, I do think certain questions need to be answered with regards to the Ron Paul Letters.
