TNR Rebrands Ron Paul
Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET
APPALLING Ron (Photo: Getty Images)
The New Republic's website is humbly suggesting on this day of the New Hampshire primary that Ron Paul is probably a hate-filled bigot. Writer James Kirchick provides an exhaustive survey of bizarre and offensive passages gleaned from newsletters put out by Paul throughout his political career, which at times seem more like T. Herman Zweibel broadcasting a spectacular array of fuddy-duddy worldviews on gays, Jews, and blacks.
"Am I the only one sick of hearing about the 'rights' of AIDS carriers?" one excerpt reads. Another laments the aftermath of the Chicago Bulls winning the NBA championship in 1992: "Blacks poured into the streets of Chicago in celebration. How to celebrate? How else? They broke the windows of stores to loot." Yet another notes an encounter with a reporter from a gay magazine "who certainly had an axe to grind, and that's not easy with a limp wrist."