Rand Paul: Kentucky Senate 2010 Election BREAKING News

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KY Gov Criticizes Paul's 'Radical Philosophy'

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Kentucky's Democratic governor is criticizing Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul for his comments deriding the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Gov. Steve Beshear described Paul's libertarian leanings Monday as "a fairly radical philosophy." He also bashed Paul for what he termed "unbridled support" of BP in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Paul, the son of former Republican presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, criticized President Barack Obama last week for holding BP accountable for the spill. A Paul campaign spokesman didn't immediately return a phone call. -- AP

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Kentucky's Democratic governor is criticizing Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul for his comments deriding the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Gov. Steve Beshear described Paul's libertarian leanings Monday as "a fairly radical philosophy." He also bashed Paul for what he termed "unbridled support" of BP in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Paul, the son of former Republican presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, criticized President Barack Obama last week for holding BP accountable for the spill.

A Paul campaign spokesman didn't immediately return a phone call.

-- AP

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Posted: 05/24 05:36 PM

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Comments

[GreatTruthsSeeker]

01:44 PM on 05/21/2010

On Wednesday, Paul expressed support for the Civil Rights Act's provisions banning discrimination in public facilities, but he had misgivings about extending the same requirement to private businesses, then or now.

The vast majority of businesses make their profit from public interactions. Most businesses are public facilities in that they acquire money from interactions with the public through their facility. It does not matter who owns them, they are public facilities.

Most people that voted for Paul and will vote for him in the future based on what he has declared are part of the experience of the GOP southern strategy. Racism has been part of their southern strategy for decades, and if it is no longer overtly or covertly practiced as part of their strategy, when did the change happen?

You can debate whether they practice prejudice or racism until the cows come home, but in reality when you speak to your prejudices of how you think government should be, and want to offer a path to separate people or affect a group of people negatively because of your values and beliefs, you are a racist.

Remember, the Republicans voted for him, and they have an amazing track record of not being accurate historians and for not telling the truth when justifying their actions.

I have to wonder what else he has been saying to the Republicans, both on and off the record.

[WSAY]

07:26 PM on 05/21/2010

I believe that what we hear from Rand Paul is much more of an honest representation of what the Republican Party thinks then we normally hear. In other words, Rand Paul is not any different than your average Republican other than the fact that he is being honest about what he thinks. And of course, now that everyone is jumping all over him, he's backing off that as well. All this pounding is turning and Paul from being a honest (at least with regard to what he thinks) politician to a dishonest politician. In other words, Rand Paul is slowly becoming what every other Republican candidate out there is. A liar.

[redsongia]

12:29 PM on 05/21/2010

If he were really pro business, he would be pro the business environment. That means every small business all over our country creates what we call "commerce" and commerce shouldn't be marred with the ugly individual prejudice that individuals get stuck on from time to time, because of their bad life experience, temporary anger and frustration, lack of understanding. These are human failings, which we're all suceptible to, but if you believe in the power of commerce and business to transcend the petty, isolated individual, then the market must not be marred by our lesser nature.

No discrimination in the stream of commerce. It is an important, trancendental idea for all true capitalists. It is big enough to put certain aspects of "private ownership" aside in order to create something bigger than the sum of its parts. It's why people from all over the world come here to do business. It's fundemental to the idea of America.

[WSAY]

11:17 AM on 05/21/2010

While Rand Paul is an interesting sideshow, people need to stop thinking of him as "the story" here. Rand Paul is just a red herring. In fact, liberals and Democrats should not be as critical of him as they are. While I agree that his views are outrageous, he is doing something that liberals and Democrats, like myself, should give him credit for. He is being honest about what the Republican Party, the Tea Party, and conservatives in this country, stand for.

We need to be careful about taking the position that we want people like Rand Paul to disappear from sight. That is not true. We want more people like him in the public eye. The people of this country, the US, need to start to understand what the Republican Party, the Tea Party, and conservatives in this country truly stand for. The last thing we as liberals and Democrats need is for people like Rand Paul to keep their mouths shut, or worse, lie about their true positions. We instead need to encourage Republicans to deceive the public about what they truly believe.

For that reason, I applaud Rand Paul. He is a Republican, a Tea Partier, and a conservative, that is telling the American public what the agenda is in the Republican Party. And what we need as Democrats and liberals is more of this kind of thing, not less of it.

[samidean]

11:41 AM on 05/21/2010

I couldn't agree more. We need it out in the open because for far too long the Republicans have wanted to dumb down the electorate. When the truth comes out of who they really are and what they really stand for, they can't run fast enough away from it. They are all so outraged and have to resort to name calling for being outed as who they really are. The more they show their true ways of thinking the more they will implode.

I cringe every time I see one of the Tea Party rallies with their hate filled signs towards our President, but if we force them to hide and not show their true beliefs then they will continue to be able to convince many that they have a just cause. We need to turn over more of those rocks and watch the slime come out into the light.

[PC Contrarian]

12:14 PM on 05/21/2010

The people in KY seem to understand what Rand Paul is actually saying; not what Dem strategists and their friends at MSNBC are spinning:

"Kentucky Senate race gives Republican nominee Rand Paul a post-primary bump, posting a big lead against Democratic state Attorney General Jack Conway.
The numbers: Paul 59%, Conway 34%."

[PC Contrarian]

12:05 PM on 05/21/2010

Every issue has two parts:
Part One - the problem.
Part Two - the proposed solutions.

If we agree on the identification of the problem (Part One), then neither of us can accuse the other of being in denial.
If we don't agree on the best way to solve the problem, then it doesn't automatically mean that one of us is either insincere, stupid, or in this case - racist.

Part One:
Rand Paul, in every statement I've heard from him, agrees with main stream America's definition of discrimination and how it unfortunately existed up to the passage of the civil rights act.

Part Two:
He accepts without question 90% of the civil rights act as the necessary solution to the problem. The one part that he questions is the use of the commerce clause in a way that it hadn't been used before. Not because he supports discrimination, nor because he wants to "enable racists"; but because when the Feds have unlimited power to intervene into private business, it opens up a Pandora's box of unintended consequences. Still he says that he would have voted for it. He sites as an example gun owners insisting they have a right to bring concealed weapons into a bar that has a policy of prohibiting guns around alcohol sales.

Just because someone doesn't immediately embrace every Fed solution to every problem, doesn't make them a racist. Honorable people can have an honest disagreement of how best to solve a problem.

[WSAY]

12:39 PM on 05/21/2010

I understand Rand Paul's ideology. He feels that the federal government shouldn't be able to regulate private business, and that the Constitution applies only to government.

As to your comments, 1) when the Civil Rights Act was passed, this was not using the commerce clause in a way that it hadn't been used before. That is spin on your part. 2) It is absurd to suggest that "the Feds have unlimited power to intervene into private business." They don't, and only fringe elements suggest otherwise. 3) As for Rand Paul's comment about opening up a Pandora's box of unintended consequences, that is just another way of using the logical fallacy of a slippery slope.

Finally, stop with the right wing propaganda. This isn't an issue of embracing every federal solution. This is Rand Paul believing that businesses should be able to exclude blacks if they like. This is an issue of Rand Paul believing that you should be able to refuse to sell your home, or rent your home, to black people.

There is no doubt in my mind that Rand Paul believes that if you choose to have a "whites only" sign on your establishment, that should be legal. If you live in a neighborhood that only allows white people to live there, and if you refuse to sell or rent your home to blacks, that should be legal. If you believe he feels otherwise, you aren't listening. So, with that said, you tell me. Is that racist?

[PC Contrarian]

10:31 AM on 05/21/2010

I'm beginning to accept that most Huffies aren't capable of discussing two parts of an issues at the same time, when one part is a charge of racism.

So let me dumb down the discussion to your level.
Let's assume that you are all correct that Rand Paul is either a closet racist or a blatant racist.
OK?

Now, let's assume that we also reject his questioning of unlimited intervention of the Feds into private business.
Follow me?

Now, how many of you are willing to denounce the Black Miss America Pageant as racist;
because it discriminates against other races? Shouldn't they be required to be inclusive under the civil rights act?

[ObamaIsTheOne]

10:32 AM on 05/21/2010

Black people can't be racist.

[Patriot86]

10:42 AM on 05/21/2010

Red herring argument...whether Paul is racist or not...I think he is but that is an opinion...he defends the right of racist to discriminate...it is a big deal when he may- if elected- craft policy.

[PC Contrarian]

10:49 AM on 05/21/2010

"A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue."

If the issue is fed gov't intervention into a business to prevent discrimination, how is my question a diversion? It merely seeks consistent application; and brings out the point Rand Paul was making about unintended consequences.

[PC Contrarian]

10:52 AM on 05/21/2010

My post eliminates the need to discuss whether or not Rand Paul is a racist..
Your inability to let it go, proves my point.

[ObamaIsTheOne]

10:12 AM on 05/21/2010

All Tea Baggers are racists!

[PC Contrarian]

10:40 AM on 05/21/2010

Just the white ones, unless the are Dems.

[WSAY]

11:10 AM on 05/21/2010

In other words, you are an idiot.

[From the Raft]

10:00 AM on 05/21/2010

Get real people: If you were a junior "eye doctor" in a city with only 70,000 eyes you'd be looking for a second career too!

[ObamaIsTheOne]

10:03 AM on 05/21/2010

He probably only treats white patients.

[owiseone]

10:17 AM on 05/21/2010

He's an opportunist with a rich Texan politician Daddy. He's not a Kentuckian at all. He simply decided Kentucky was ripe for his backward ideals and set up shop there.

[Patriot86]

09:59 AM on 05/21/2010

Please see my earlier post about Boston being so ahead of their time...It is not true. Paul is completely clueless about history obviously if he uses Boston as an example of desegregating back in the 1800's . It never happened.Black kids lived in black neighborhoods and went to school in segregated schools just as in the South.

[ObamaIsTheOne]

10:04 AM on 05/21/2010

Paul is completely clueless and a racist...but I repeat myself.

[Patriot86]

10:21 AM on 05/21/2010

Yes he is both of those things...modern racism hides behind states rights, property rights and free speech. Of course we can still see them for what they are

[BUSTERtheCAT]

09:51 AM on 05/21/2010

Leave Rand Atlas alone he once bought a black car, and i believe he sat inside it.

[IWantTofu]

09:50 AM on 05/21/2010

He is not a racist. He is a racist enabler. He will defend to his death the right for anyone to discriminate, and he apparently doesn't believe in the government's legitimate role in enforcing peoples rights under the constitution.

[ObamaIsTheOne]

09:52 AM on 05/21/2010

No, he's definitely a racist.

He doesn't support Obama.

[BannedFromCommenting]

09:55 AM on 05/21/2010

Ah, the TROLL account. As evidenced by opening account in May, on THIS site, and bashing Obama

[IWantTofu]

09:57 AM on 05/21/2010

While there are many who don't support Obama because they are racists, there are also other reasons for not supporting him.

Stupidity for one.

[NewDogHere]

09:46 AM on 05/21/2010

Now, here's a racist for you....

"It is easy to control the minds of a people. All one has to do is change history by lying about the past. This is exactly what has happened with the legacy of former Democratic U.S. Senator Al Gore, Sr. of Tennessee - the father of our current vice president - and his mythical "support" of civil rights.

In a recent speech to the NAACP, Vice President Gore said his father lost his Senate seat because he supported civil rights legislation. Fellow black Americans, let me set history straight. Al Gore, Sr., together with the rest of the southern Democrats, voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Congressional Quarterly reported that, in the House of Representatives, 61% of Democrats (152 for, 96 against) voted for the Civil Rights Act as opposed to 80% of Republicans (138 for, 38 against). In the Senate, 69% of Democrats (46 for, 21 against) voted for the Act while 82% of Republicans did (27 for, 6 against)."

[ObamaIsTheOne]

09:50 AM on 05/21/2010

You are obviously a racist.

[NewDogHere]

10:00 AM on 05/21/2010

And you come up with that how.........

My wife is another race, my child is obviously biracial

In my business over 1/2 of my employees are of a different race

I also write paychecks to 19 taxpayers

Do you do anything but whine?

[BUSTERtheCAT]

09:56 AM on 05/21/2010

G.W. and cheeeny, lied about WAR, lied about TORTURE, lied about WMD's, outted a CIA agent, LIE about corruption, LIED about the mission being over, lied about spying on Americans without a warrant.....NOW thats WAR criminals for ya.

[NewDogHere]

10:01 AM on 05/21/2010

I thought we were talking about racism.....

[WryAwry]

09:46 AM on 05/21/2010

It is to our peril to ignore basic biological realities and the so-called "tribal imperative". Human animals are clannish and exclusionary, and always have been ... to some extent. The instinctive "us vs: them" mindset may be considered to be an evolutionary necessity for survival from an historical perspective; however, inter-species genetic mingling always yields stronger, more robust populations.

Ignorance of empirical data does not make it go away. Ignorance, in general, is self-perpetuating. The only appropriate weapon to combat ignorance is education. It has been said that wisdom can be found in the recognition of our own ignorance.

Here's a bit of prognostication to mull over: if we humans actually survive the incalculable damages to which we subject our little planet, the day will arrive when we will all have essentially the same beautiful warm brown skin color. Isolated pockets of "pure blood" from any part of the color spectrum will be celebrated and admired for being unique, not unlike exotic birds. If we permit ourselves to survive, we can afford ourselves the opportunity to thrive. We are the tribe.

[ObamaIsTheOne]

09:48 AM on 05/21/2010

I agree, we must see people as members of a tribe or collective as opposed to being individuals. Without putting people into groups, we would not be able to have central control over so many people. Central control is key to our future communist utopia.

[ToddO in Texas]

10:03 AM on 05/21/2010

LOL

[quindy]

09:39 AM on 05/21/2010

What is with all these Twitter postings? Do we really need it? No moderator there, and some folks are really spewing.

[BUSTERtheCAT]

09:57 AM on 05/21/2010

FREEDOM

[tangelan]

09:34 AM on 05/21/2010

He sure is whiney. He didn't get his honeymoon. Please! You opened your mouth now that the country is listening and you want to blame the one commentator that has integrity.

[ObamaIsTheOne]

09:37 AM on 05/21/2010

This isn't Faux News you stupid Republican! You won't be getting any softball questions about how great capitalism is on Rachel Maddow's show!

[BUSTERtheCAT]

10:00 AM on 05/21/2010

your all over the place chief, slow down

[tangelan]

05:14 PM on 05/21/2010

Did you mean to respond to my comment? What's wrong with you?

[RJPCambridge]

09:34 AM on 05/21/2010

Nice to know this guy is a liar.

[ObamaIsTheOne]

09:36 AM on 05/21/2010

And a racist! Don't forget that!

[okim5150]

09:54 AM on 05/21/2010

No, at least he says he's not a racist. It's his defense of racists' (that would be other folks, not him) right to discriminate that is the subject here.

[BUSTERtheCAT]

09:48 AM on 05/21/2010

oh he will be lying everyday from this point on, "i love black people"...."the EPA is fantastic" etc,etc,etc,......" i had a friend who was black"

[Blue Pup in PHX]

09:31 AM on 05/21/2010

Trying to put the tooth ppaste back in the tube... good luck with that.