Topic: Ron Paul
American Thinker's New Smear about Racist Ron Paul Thomas Lifson at American Thinker recently published a new blog entry, which attempted to connect Ron Paul with racist ties.by Grizzle Griz
(Centrist)
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Thomas Lifson, editor at AmericanThinker.com recently published a new piece in a series of smears about Ron Paul’s connections to racist groups. Although it does not claim that the latest evidence is the best evidence yet, it specifically eschews past critics’ concerns over the American Thinker’s previous hysteria by alluding that they have finally obtained…well, the best evidence yet.
Lifson cited an article by Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, which cited a post by Bill White, a Commander of the American National Socialist Worker’s Party and a white supremacist. White claimed that Ron Paul had been at some dinners that were originally organized by Pat Buchanan, where several members of white supremacist groups attended. That’s pretty much the long and the short of the alleged facts. Oh…they also met on Wednesdays.
The only provocative part of the post was the tone. White claims that he is exposing Ron Paul’s "extensive involvement in white nationalism". White also states that he is upset that Ron Paul denies any affiliation with white supremacist groups. He says that Ron Paul is a white supremacist of the "Stormfront-type". Finally, White claims that the Ron Paul Campaign is being ridiculous by calling "white racialism" a small ideology.
Given Thomas Lifson’s excitement over the "extensive involvement" issue, one might expect to see more damning facts. Instead, Lifson claimed that Charles Johnson had assembled all the links to the corroborating evidence. I went to Little Green Footballs to find out this supposed dirt on Paul. The first sentence of Johnson’s page reads "Take this one with a grain of salt, please". I will be charitable and assume Lifson missed that statement.
Johnson’s "corroborating evidence" included an expenditure at the Thai restaurant and two links to websites. One of the websites claimed that Paul gave a speech to the Robert Taft club, a club organized by Pat Buchanan and dedicated to oversight of the Republican Party to ensure adherence to libertarian-conservative values. The website called the Robert Taft club an "extremist group" because it is headed by a man with "racist connections", whatever that means.
The other website was the white supremacist forum where Bill White made his claim. The forum was rather interesting. Amazingly, none of the comments from other white supremacists supported White nor did they allude to any similar knowledge of Paul’s "extensive" ties. Almost all of them chastised White for being generally obnoxious. Many claimed that they had seen White in various forums and consider him to be chronically attention-hungry. Perhaps the most inetresting point came from a comment which insisted self-respecting white supremacists don't go to Thai restaurants. I never would have guessed that white supremacy could be so nuanced. (I did not link the forum, because it can be a little shocking in other respects).
This is what it all the corroborating evidence boils down to: 1) White claims that he has been in the same room as Paul at undescribed dinners organized by Pat Buchanan. 2) Those were likely Robert Taft Club meetings. 3) Paul paid for his own dinner. 4) White, an observed attention-mongerer, wants this to be significant without citing anything significant. But here is another wrench in Lifson's gears: Don Black, the leader of Stormfront (the group Ron Paul is supposedly a member of), has recently admitted that while he endorses Paul's campaign, he has never met Paul and he regrets that Paul does not share his white supremacist views.
So which white supremacist is lying? The American Thinker position would have to be that Don Black is lying about the disconnect between himself and Paul and that the two have engaged in a massive conspiracy to defraud the public into believing Paul doesn’t care for Don Black, Bill White, or white supremacy in general. Second, Lifson would have to maintain that, while Black took the all the precautions to maintain Paul's secrecy, he forgot to not endorse Paul. Finally, Lifson would have to hold that Paul has spent the last 20 years in Congress reigning in all of his white supremacist furor, while faking the most libertarian platform in GOP memory, on the off-chance that he may someday become president, whence he can unleash his true socialist white supremacist agenda.
Of course, the more reasonable position is that Bill White is a social pariah in the white supremacy movement who is trying to capitalize on Paul’s fame, that Don Black simply endorsed the 'small government' candidate as white supremacists usually do, and that American Thinker, despite its name, wants Paul to be a racist a little too much.
So here is my take on Charles Johnson and Thomas Lifson: Johnson doesn’t get a complete pass just because he warned readers to take it with a grain of salt. He made an obnoxiously-attenuated connection with no real evidence. I am sure he has been in this game long enough to know that anyone who hates Paul as much as the staff of American Thinker would completely ignore the warning. The "ooohs" and "ahhhs" of his comment section are a testament to the value of hype over substance and Johnson ought to know about that factor.
Thomas Lifson and American Thinker do not get a shred of respect for this. This is the latest episode in American Thinker’s larger campaign to smear Paul with weak and attenuated claims. The fact that he thinks this one will finally silence the critics and the "abusive" Ron Paul supporters (whine), just shows how weak his previous claims were. It is an indictment on the quality of American Thinker as a publication and an indictment on Thomas Lifson’s seething bias. It stems from a broader attitude of dismissal about Ron Paul and his supporters: an attitude which Lifson would surely like to preserve. However, I cannot intelligently predict how the ends could justify Lifson turning himself into a conspiracy theorist.
The Real Reason this is Happening
There is a subtlety at play that readers may not pick up on. There is a major battle over control of the GOP right now. In one corner, there are the old-school libertarian-conservatives. They oppose war, taxes, spending, and any behavioral mandates. In the other corner are the neoconservatives. They espouse similar core principles, but often take to equivocation because they regularly breach them. They have more or less redefined ‘conservative’ to mean anything ‘right wing’ and ironically attempted to mandate their brand of conservatism on the people. Moreover, neoconservatives have coerced original conservatives to vote their way ever since Bush took the White House and they have even resorted to overt threats.
To libertarian-conservatives, Ron Paul is a hero. He stands for uncompromised integrity, unwavering adherence to the core principles of the old GOP, and a refusal to buckle under the threat of new GOP ostracism. More important, Paul’s candidacy has come to symbolize a possible resurgence of Goldwater’s GOP. So much in fact, that he has been endorsed by Goldwater’s progeny.
American Thinker has made it clear which side they take, which is why they don't mind wrapping non-neoconservative Republicans like Pat Buchanan in this obnoxious claim. Yet, they have miscalculated some key facts. When Dan Rather miscalculated neoconservative power by misreporting Bush’s dereliction of duty, he found himself retiring early. But now neoconservatism is an injured animal and libertarian-conservatism just raised $23 Million dollars for a humble country doctor’s presidential bid. Sure, it has been open season on Ron Paul until late, but his support has firmed and it is ready for action. It does not take kindly to Republicans who lie, obscure, and side with white supremacists against honest members of the GOP. Lifson’s complaining about the "abusive" letters from supporters misunderstands normative ideas of political power and refuses to acknowledge this obvious resurgence. Barry Goldwater, who once said, "I think every good Christian ought to kick [Jerry] Falwell right in the ass," has returned in the form of 130,000 donating Ron Paul supporters to kick neoconservatism in its metaphorical ass. They might be pleased to start with American Thinker, but I should not speak for them: I’m sure they will be talking to Lifson himself.
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2007 Grizzle Griz, all rights reserved.
Published: Thursday, December 20, 2007
Last modified: Thursday, December 20, 2007
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Posted By: Scott Stalker
Date: 2007-12-20 19:07:11
As a true patriot I am happy to see this discussion happen. As a supporter of Ron Paul, I feel his message still stands true since I first found him when I was a college student in '96. I find it difficult for me to believe he has been able to hide his "white supremacy" ties for this long, being re-elected time and time again.
To say,"no, I will not use your money to suport free speech because I don't like your point of view", is hypocritical. If he takes money from one spectrum to the other to give more voice to the middle, then I say let freedom ring, and liberty for all. HOPE is RON PAUL.
i was not able to see this article by just typing in 'ron paul' in the google field. instead, the powers that be have used their monies to insure that the anti-paul racism lies are at the top of the google search and we need to counter that by making sure that this rebute is frontpage of the google ron paul search. they're playing their dirty tricks and we must make sure these lying dirtbags are not able to get away with it in this election.
Posted By: Ryan neo-Libertarian
Date: 2007-12-20 20:36:22
yeah, pretty lame attempt. i dont think it has many bad effects. very poorly written and inconclusive. (i saw him at a dinner with supremists??) ok that nice.
The real news is that the media is plugging this stormfront site, that i have never heard of before now. And if they are joining the r[Love]ution against fascism, fine.
What is notable here is that Paul's supporters don't even bother digging through the donor records of the other candidates, because any thinking person will immediately cast aside the association fallacy as a deadend avenue of attack. It simply doesn't pass muster, and makes the presenter look foolish.
You are all correct. If Dr. Paul returned the funds I would have lost respect for him because he went against his own ideals.
We are ALL Americans and ALL of us, legal citizens that is, have the RIGHT to vote and support any candidate no matter what our beliefs.
I consider a White Supremacist to be way less negative to a campaign than the Military Industrial Complex(MIC) people that are supporting the other candidates. White Supremacists just express hate but rarely act on it, The actions of the MIC are responsible for Millions of deaths.
ONLY A Doctor WILL HEAL Our Country,
Freedom4America
PS: Our Group is already running a campaign against NewsWeak magazine, should we now also include American Stinker as well?
Seems "Black & White" to me - Ron Paul must win the next presidential election or it will be more of the same.
The next neocon pres could eye the natural resources here in Canada and say "I don't think those "socialist" Canadians are up to snuff at protecting the water and oil we need for national security, so I'm sending in our boys to help out"
No duh, white supremacists wouldn't hold their meetings in a Thai restaurant!!! Thanks for taking the time to look into it, and to roll out the facts. "Commander" Bill White is considered nutty by everyone who reads his stuff and follows his antics, even the other white nationalists, as you point out. White is basically a one man show with a talent for getting publicity. If there are any "neo-Nazis" in America, they don't have any political movement whatsoever, and this is probably because all the supposed leaders are "Three Dollar Bills".
American Thinker is a totally Jewish owned and operated website that has hijacked the name "American" to bamboozle Whitey--and has mostly so succeeded.
Bill White says it is American Thinker who made the screenshot with the megaphone. I believe him.
Bill is usually right. He was right about the corruptness of the NA leaders after the great Doctor William L. Pierce's passing.
It is truly pathetic how much almost all American Whites are quivering White rabbits in the face of Jew criticisms.
Bill White is not one of them.
http://podblanc.com
For our Canadian friends info, it isn't just the neo-cons who have thought about invading Canada (See comments above). I attach a link to the full text of the 1935 "Crimson" operation - a planned full-scale invasion of Canada on trumped-up "reasons" to gain control of Canadian resources. The fascist American War Machine, once it had exterminated or defeated the Indians and Mexicans, definitely had eyes on its Northern neighbors - and they weren't friendly...
The plan included the use of gas and other chemical weapons and high-explosive bombs against the Canooks, including civilian targets.
Let no one mistake America for the "Good Guys" - then or now - we are not the White Hats - America's noble mythology is, like all other national and religious mythologies, just that - a myth. This myth has persisted in spite of clear evidence to the contrary for hundreds of years.
Of course, the propaganda machine has always been clever and convincing - I should know - I was taken in by it myself for years, and served the Machine faithfully and well...
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2007 Grizzle Griz, all rights reserved.