Ron Paul's Bigoted Newsletter

Over the past few months, I've written in praise of Ron Paul's principled campaign even while disagreeing with its message. I also wrote that Paul ought to return campaign contributions from avowed white separatists not because he's legally obliged to do so but because it's the right thing, because American history is full of legitimate movements that have been hijacked by extremists. And so Labor kicked out the Communists and William F. Buckley and the conservatives ejected the John Birchers and the antisemites. Libertarian leaders, even with their live-and-let-live philosophy, would be wise to do the same. Now comes a stunning piece in The New Republic about Ron Paul's newsletter which contains myriad racist and crackpot articles. District of Columbia representative Eleanor Holmes Norton is called a "black pinko" and the World Trade Center attack is deemed an inside job. The articles are unbylined, giving Paul some plausible deniability. But the articles were undeniably written under his name. At best, Paul is a naif. At worst, something much uglier. Either way, those who are attracted to Paul for his principled stand against the war or his legalize-drugs message or even his dopier theories about the Federal Reserve should read this piece and ask their candidate to explain it.