???
I think I made it clear in my OP that this is NOT an attempt to smear Dr. Paul as a bigot. I suppose it bears repeating:
"I certainly do not believe that most, or even many, of Dr. Paul's fans are bigots; on the contrary, by and large they seem to be normal, patriotic Americans who are drawn to him by his devotion to the Constitution and his emphatically pro-American and libertarian views.
This is NOT an attempt to smear Ron Paul or his supporters.
That said, I do think it ought to concern those supporters that bigots and neo-Nazis seem to be coming out in force to support Dr. Paul."
I find the hostility here puzzling. The phenomenon is undeniable, and like it or not, it's damaging Paul's image. I would think some, at least, of Dr. Paul's supporters would be concerned about that.
I have no reason whatever to think that Dr. Paul himself is a racist or an antisemite; there is even an organization called "Jews for Ron Paul", and I doubt that that would exist if he had a problem there. Okay?
I really thought my initial post was pretty clear. The problem is that ALL the bigots seem to favor Paul, and NO ONE ELSE--and no one in the Paul camp seems to even WONDER about it.
The comparison with bigots voting for Bush is specious. In the general election that was probably true, but meaningless; there were only two candidates to choose from. That's not what we're dealing with here. There is still a whole field of Republican candidates out there, and none of them seem to be attracting the blowflies like Paul is. If anyone can show me that ONE Republican candidate was endorsed in 1999 by EVERY bigot group, when there were still a number of men running, that would count for something; but it didn't happen. I've been monitoring racist and antisemitic websites for years, and that generally denounce EVERYONE on BOTH sides and refuse to endorse anyone at all.
Maybe it will help if we look at this from another perspective: If you noticed that every single anti-gunner and anti-gun organization on the Internet was supporting one candidate--AND NO ONE ELSE--wouldn't you wonder why? Wouldn't you be just a bit suspicious if that candidate professed to respect gunowners and gun rights--even if his writings and speeches seemed to be solid on those issues?
Can't you see the problem here?
Your remarks strike me as more than a bit bizarre. If you don't even wonder why your candidate is the overwhelming choice of the political equivalent of drooling child molesters, I don't think you're doing a whole lot of critical thinking.
I could understand this if Paul's supporters were at least discussing the phenomenon and expressing some concern and puzzlement--and it would seem PR-wise, if nothing else, to openly reject the ideas of these creeps and disavow their support. Even admitting that "Look, we don't like these guys, but we need all the votes we can get" would be understandable, if a little distasteful. But to not even consider it worth thinking about--well, that just beats me.
What you have offered here is precisely what I said: shrugs and silence.
I find that unacceptable. Maybe it's just me, but I was taught to pay attention to the kind of people you associate with, because if nothing else, it makes people wonder what kind of person YOU are.
If you still want to address the problem of my "smearing" Dr. Paul, or even his rank-and-file supporters, don't bother. You're not paying attention.
I think I made it clear in my OP that this is NOT an attempt to smear Dr. Paul as a bigot. I suppose it bears repeating:
"I certainly do not believe that most, or even many, of Dr. Paul's fans are bigots; on the contrary, by and large they seem to be normal, patriotic Americans who are drawn to him by his devotion to the Constitution and his emphatically pro-American and libertarian views.
This is NOT an attempt to smear Ron Paul or his supporters.
That said, I do think it ought to concern those supporters that bigots and neo-Nazis seem to be coming out in force to support Dr. Paul."
I find the hostility here puzzling. The phenomenon is undeniable, and like it or not, it's damaging Paul's image. I would think some, at least, of Dr. Paul's supporters would be concerned about that.
I have no reason whatever to think that Dr. Paul himself is a racist or an antisemite; there is even an organization called "Jews for Ron Paul", and I doubt that that would exist if he had a problem there. Okay?
I really thought my initial post was pretty clear. The problem is that ALL the bigots seem to favor Paul, and NO ONE ELSE--and no one in the Paul camp seems to even WONDER about it.
The comparison with bigots voting for Bush is specious. In the general election that was probably true, but meaningless; there were only two candidates to choose from. That's not what we're dealing with here. There is still a whole field of Republican candidates out there, and none of them seem to be attracting the blowflies like Paul is. If anyone can show me that ONE Republican candidate was endorsed in 1999 by EVERY bigot group, when there were still a number of men running, that would count for something; but it didn't happen. I've been monitoring racist and antisemitic websites for years, and that generally denounce EVERYONE on BOTH sides and refuse to endorse anyone at all.
Maybe it will help if we look at this from another perspective: If you noticed that every single anti-gunner and anti-gun organization on the Internet was supporting one candidate--AND NO ONE ELSE--wouldn't you wonder why? Wouldn't you be just a bit suspicious if that candidate professed to respect gunowners and gun rights--even if his writings and speeches seemed to be solid on those issues?
Can't you see the problem here?
Your remarks strike me as more than a bit bizarre. If you don't even wonder why your candidate is the overwhelming choice of the political equivalent of drooling child molesters, I don't think you're doing a whole lot of critical thinking.
I could understand this if Paul's supporters were at least discussing the phenomenon and expressing some concern and puzzlement--and it would seem PR-wise, if nothing else, to openly reject the ideas of these creeps and disavow their support. Even admitting that "Look, we don't like these guys, but we need all the votes we can get" would be understandable, if a little distasteful. But to not even consider it worth thinking about--well, that just beats me.
What you have offered here is precisely what I said: shrugs and silence.
I find that unacceptable. Maybe it's just me, but I was taught to pay attention to the kind of people you associate with, because if nothing else, it makes people wonder what kind of person YOU are.
If you still want to address the problem of my "smearing" Dr. Paul, or even his rank-and-file supporters, don't bother. You're not paying attention.