Sources say Ron Paul signed off on racist newsletters

By Muriel Kane/Raw Story

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has consistently denied having written — or even read — the inflammatory racist and anti-gay remarks that went out under his name in newsletters he published in the early 1990s. Although numerous associates agree that Paul does not hold racist views, however, it appears that he may have known more about the racist articles than he has been willing to admit.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that three people with first-hand knowledge of Paul’s operations say “he was deeply involved in the company that produced the newsletters, Ron Paul & Associates, and closely monitored its operations, signing off on articles and speaking to staff members virtually every day.”

“It was his newsletter, and it was under his name, so he always got to see the final product. … He would proof it,’’ former company secretary Renae Hathway told the Post.

According to these sources, the main author of the racist passages was Lew Rockwell, who was then the vice president of Paul’s company.

The Post also details how closely entangled Paul’s political career, his business ventures, and members of his own family were during those years. According to one source, who chose to remain anonymous, Paul and his associates made a deliberate choice in the late 1980s to increase sales of the newsletter by making it more provocative.

“It was playing on a growing racial tension, economic tension, fear of government,’’ the source stated “I’m not saying Ron believed this stuff. It was good copy. Ron Paul is a shrewd businessman.’’

Cato Institute President Ed Crane, who frequently lunched with Paul during this period, similarly told the paper that when the two of them discussed how to increase the circulation of Paul’s newsletters, they agreed that “people who have extreme views” were most likely to respond. Paul told Crane his best response had come when he used a mailing list from the racist and anti-Semitic newspaper, Spotlight.

If that was the strategy, it apparently worked. According to the Post, political disclosure forms show that between 1984 and 1995, Paul went from being up to $765,000 in debt to having a net worth of up to $3.3 million.

A Paul spokesperson contacted by the Post for comment expressed doubt about the assertions made by Crane and the other sources.

New Batch Of Ron Paul Newsletters Just As Racist As The First

By BENJY SARLIN/TPM

A brand new batch of Ron Paul newsletters raises questions for the libertarian Republican — as well as a host of embarrassing fresh passages to go along with such classics as “the coming race war” and “the federal-homosexual cover up on AIDS” from earlier reports.

Ron Paul claims “probably ten sentences out of 10,000 pages” were objectionable in his long-published newsletter series, even as he denies having ever written the content in question (or even having seen most of it). But, asTPM has reported and a new collection of Ron Paul newsletters posted by The New Republic confirms, racism, homophobia, and fringe conspiracy theories seem more like the newsletters’ raison d’etre than a rare aberration. In fact, even short promotional letters for the publication name-checked many of the most toxic passages.

Once again, contempt for African Americans and warnings of a “race war” are central themes in the most recently released materials. One issue warned “every honest American should be armed” to prepare for the coming violence.

“Today, gangs of young blacks bust into a bank lobby firing rounds at the ceiling,” one issue read, continuing: “We don’t think a child of 13 should be held as responsible as a man of 23. That’s true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult, and should be treated as such.”

Another issue from 1993 defended Marge Schott, who used to own the Cincinnati Reds, after she notoriously referred to her players as “million-dollar niggers.”

“Remember the thought crimes from the novels of Orwell and Huxley?” the article reads. “It’s not fiction in America if the case of Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott is any evidence.”

In one 1988 issue, the newsletters suggest Israeli involvement in a terrorist attack in Berlin, foreshadowing a similar suggestion in a previously released issue that Israel may have been behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Gays and especially AIDS victims were frequent targets, with a boatload of junk science cited to back up its hateful claims. Newsletters claimed the federal government was lying about how AIDS was transmitted and suggested it could be passed on through sneezes, breathing, or even contact with mail or delivery packages. An advertised book purported to tell the “the true and horrifying story of the witch-lesbo-feminists who are running America.”

Then there are the usual conspiracy theories: FEMA camps set up to intern Americans, suspicion that Bill and Hillary Clinton murdered their friend Vince Foster, secret societies running the world, etc.

TPM reached out to a Paul spokesman as to whether the candidate stands by his assertion that only eight to ten statements in the newsletters were offensive within a large body of work but did not receive an immediate reply.

Ron Paul blames ‘ghost writers’ for racist newsletters

By Muriel Kane/Raw Story

In an apology for racist newsletters that went out under his name twenty years ago, GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul’s campaign issued a statement on Friday acknowledging that Paul had been guilty of a “lack of oversight” and should have paid more attention to the “ghost writers” who were responsible for the distasteful articles.

According to Reuters, in addition to the newsletter, whose contents have been known and discussed for years, a direct-mail ad for the newsletter has now surfaced that warns about a “coming race war” and a “federal-homosexual cover-up” to play down the impact of AIDS. The ad was sent out over Paul’s signature in 1993, at a time when he was not a member of Congress..

“Dr. Paul did not write that solicitation,” Paul spokesman Jesse Benton wrote in an email on Friday. “It does not reflect his thoughts and is out of step with the message he has espoused for 40 years.”

Paul supporters have slammed the publicity being given to the newsletters and the ad as an attempt to derail his campaign. For outside observers, however, the campaign’s statements appeared to raise as many questions as they answered.

Scholars contacted by Reuters for comment pointed out that even though Paul’s own statements over the years have shown a continuing support for minority rights, his apparent lack of interest in keeping track of what was being published under his name raises questions about his “managerial competence.”

Politics professor Larry Sabato noted, “Ron Paul would have us believe that this newsletter went out under his name and a direct-mail solicitation for it went out under his signature, yet he knew nothing about it. That is not credible. Or is it that Paul can’t control his own staff? … At the very least, more explanation is needed.”