Eugene Robinson: Give Some Answers, Dr. Paul

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/give_some_answers_dr_paul_20100524/

Give Some Answers, Dr. Paul

Posted on May 24, 2010

By Eugene Robinson


Not so fast, everybody. Rand Paul can’t abruptly disavow the extremist views on civil rights that he’s been espousing for years and expect us all to just move along. Was he lying then? Is he lying now? Or has the tea party movement’s newly crowned Mad Hatter changed his mind?

Republican crisis managers wisely didn’t allow Paul to stray within range of the Sunday talk shows, but they can’t keep him hidden away in some Kentucky cave until November. Sooner or later, the Senate candidate is going to have to answer a direct question: Was he being untruthful on the occasions when he said the federal government has no authority to outlaw racial discrimination in private businesses such as restaurants? Or is he being untruthful now in claiming he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

snip//


Now that he is running for the Senate as a card-carrying Republican, Paul is going to have to abandon, or pretend to abandon, many of his loopy beliefs. This won’t be easy, as illustrated by the hemming and hawing he did before finally endorsing the Civil Rights Act. Even then, he suggested that the law was justified only by the prevailing situation in the South. As soon as Paul is allowed out of his cave, someone should ask him whether the landmark legislation properly applies to the rest of the country.

Sarah Palin accused reporters of practicing “gotcha” journalism in seeking to elicit Paul’s views. As we know from the 2008 campaign, Palin’s definition of a “gotcha” interview is one in which actual questions are asked. But think about it: Did anyone imagine the Republican Party could possibly field a candidate who makes Sarah Barracuda sound like the voice of reason?

Republican Chairman Michael Steele wouldn’t have been eligible to move into my neighborhood, either, if Paul’s view had prevailed. On Sunday, Steele ventured that Paul’s philosophy is “misplaced in these times”—but also said he “can’t condemn” it.

That’s pathetic, Chairman Mike. Rand Paul can’t have it both ways. Neither can the GOP, and neither can you.

He's off-base though when he suggests that anything can make "Ms. Bendy Straw" sound reasonable. She's not so much unreasonable, though, as incoherent.

I agree with Eugene's main point, so I guess I'm being picky. :)

some randy pauls have gotten to your thread, babysonsister.

On which Eugene Robinson asks excellent questions.

I love Eugene Robinson - thanks for posting this :hi:.

Paul finally says something they (the RW) can hang their hats on, and everything else is supposed to disappear? Like we (the rest of us) are all supposed to imagine that all those years of self indoctrination will have no effect on his leadership and bill decision making? At the very least Paul's overt impression of the stupidity of the masses should get him squashed like a bug during some real elections.

Key Constituency for Two Hopefuls

http://www.borowitzreport.com/2010/05/22/poll-rand-paul-surges-ahead-of-palin-among-voters-who-describe-themselves-as-morons/

MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report) – In a sign of his increasing prominence in the so-called Tea Party movement, a new poll shows Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul topping former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin among voters who describe themselves as morons.

In the poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, 42% preferred Paul, 36% preferred Palin, and the remaining 22% were unsure what the word “prefer” meant.