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Ron Paul '90s newsletters rant against blacks, gays
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/10/paul.newsletters/
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A series of newsletters in the name of GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul contain several racist remarks -- including one that says order was restored to Los Angeles after the 1992 riots when blacks went "to pick up their welfare checks."
This is a copy of one of the "Ron Paul Political Report" newsletters, which has stirred controversy.
1 of 2 CNN recently obtained the newsletters -- written in the 1990s and one from the late 1980s -- after a report was published about their existence in the New Republic.
None of the newsletters CNN found says who wrote them, but each was published under Paul's name between his stints as a U.S. congressman from Texas.
Paul spokesman Jesse Benton told CNN the material was not written by Paul, and that he finds them "abhorrent." CNN asked the presidential contender for a direct response. He is to appear on CNN's "The Situation Room" Thursday afternoon around 5 p.m. ET.
"I have publicly taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name," Paul said in a written statement.
That's not good enough, says one political veteran.
"These stories may be very old in Ron Paul's life, but they're very new to the American public and they deserve to be totally ventilated," said David Gergen, a CNN senior political analyst. "I must say I don't think there's an excuse in politics to have something go out under your name and say, 'Oh by the way, I didn't write that.'"
Paul, who is not considered a front-runner, has become an Internet phenomenon in the current race, raising tens of millions of dollars from a devoted online base, many of them young people drawn to his libertarian straight talk. See where the money is coming from »
The Situation Room
CNN's Wolf Blitzer interviews Ron Paul about his reaction to the newsletters.
Thursday, 5 p.m. ET
see full schedule »
The controversial newsletters include rants against the Israeli lobby, gays, AIDS victims and Martin Luther King Jr. -- described as a "pro-Communist philanderer." One newsletter, from June 1992, right after the LA riots, says "order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks."
Another says, "The criminals who terrorize our cities -- in riots and on every non-riot day -- are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are. As children, they are trained to hate whites, to believe that white oppression is responsible for all black ills, to 'fight the power,' to steal and loot as much money from the white enemy as possible."
In some excerpts, the reader may be led to believe the words are indeed from Paul, a resident of Lake Jackson, Texas. In the "Ron Paul Political Report" from October 1992, the writer describes carjacking as the "hip-hop thing to do among the urban youth who play unsuspecting whites like pianos."
The author then offers advice from others on how to avoid being carjacked, including "an ex-cop I know," and says, "I frankly don't know what to make of such advice, but even in my little town of Lake Jackson, Texas, I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming."
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Benton says Paul never wrote those words and is "saddened" somebody took advantage of him.
Matt Welch, the editor-in-chief of "Reason" magazine who shares some of Paul's beliefs on big government, says he has never heard the congressman make such comments.
"What I think some people are looking for him to do is to say, 'OK, who wrote that?' I mean, there's 20 years, give or take, worth of newsletters there," Welch said.
Benton maintains that the GOP presidential candidate doesn't know who wrote any of the newsletters. Asked if Paul would try to find out, his spokesman said, "No, what's the point? ... It's time to move on." E-mail to a friend
Ron Paul '90s newsletters rant against blacks, gays
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/10/paul.newsletters/
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A series of newsletters in the name of GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul contain several racist remarks -- including one that says order was restored to Los Angeles after the 1992 riots when blacks went "to pick up their welfare checks."
This is a copy of one of the "Ron Paul Political Report" newsletters, which has stirred controversy.
1 of 2 CNN recently obtained the newsletters -- written in the 1990s and one from the late 1980s -- after a report was published about their existence in the New Republic.
None of the newsletters CNN found says who wrote them, but each was published under Paul's name between his stints as a U.S. congressman from Texas.
Paul spokesman Jesse Benton told CNN the material was not written by Paul, and that he finds them "abhorrent." CNN asked the presidential contender for a direct response. He is to appear on CNN's "The Situation Room" Thursday afternoon around 5 p.m. ET.
"I have publicly taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name," Paul said in a written statement.
That's not good enough, says one political veteran.
"These stories may be very old in Ron Paul's life, but they're very new to the American public and they deserve to be totally ventilated," said David Gergen, a CNN senior political analyst. "I must say I don't think there's an excuse in politics to have something go out under your name and say, 'Oh by the way, I didn't write that.'"
Paul, who is not considered a front-runner, has become an Internet phenomenon in the current race, raising tens of millions of dollars from a devoted online base, many of them young people drawn to his libertarian straight talk. See where the money is coming from »
The Situation Room
CNN's Wolf Blitzer interviews Ron Paul about his reaction to the newsletters.
Thursday, 5 p.m. ET
see full schedule »
The controversial newsletters include rants against the Israeli lobby, gays, AIDS victims and Martin Luther King Jr. -- described as a "pro-Communist philanderer." One newsletter, from June 1992, right after the LA riots, says "order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks."
Another says, "The criminals who terrorize our cities -- in riots and on every non-riot day -- are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are. As children, they are trained to hate whites, to believe that white oppression is responsible for all black ills, to 'fight the power,' to steal and loot as much money from the white enemy as possible."
In some excerpts, the reader may be led to believe the words are indeed from Paul, a resident of Lake Jackson, Texas. In the "Ron Paul Political Report" from October 1992, the writer describes carjacking as the "hip-hop thing to do among the urban youth who play unsuspecting whites like pianos."
The author then offers advice from others on how to avoid being carjacked, including "an ex-cop I know," and says, "I frankly don't know what to make of such advice, but even in my little town of Lake Jackson, Texas, I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming."
Don't Miss
Ron Paul rakes in millions
CNN Election Center 2008
Benton says Paul never wrote those words and is "saddened" somebody took advantage of him.
Matt Welch, the editor-in-chief of "Reason" magazine who shares some of Paul's beliefs on big government, says he has never heard the congressman make such comments.
"What I think some people are looking for him to do is to say, 'OK, who wrote that?' I mean, there's 20 years, give or take, worth of newsletters there," Welch said.
Benton maintains that the GOP presidential candidate doesn't know who wrote any of the newsletters. Asked if Paul would try to find out, his spokesman said, "No, what's the point? ... It's time to move on." E-mail to a friend
