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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

2012 More Crazy-Ass Ron Paul Newsletters Discovered

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 2:43 PM

The New Republic is making the text ofeven more of the crazy, bigoted Ron Paul newsletters available to the public.

The new passages are packed with rage about the coming race war, (including a piece bylined by Ron Paul titled "Race Terrorism in America") tons of conspiracy theories, (musings about a second bomb and subsequent coverup in Oklahoma City alongside claims that Timothy McVeigh might have been framed, and "evidence" produced in 1987 that FEMA was part of the plot to introduce martial law in the US, among others) and anti-Israel sentiments.

Also, the pieces on AIDS are especially histrionic:

The main story of the March 1987 Investment Letter is headlined, “AIDS – the Government Lies Again.” It attributes to a mysterious “Dr. Arnold” the claim that “AIDS can be transmitted through means other than sexual intercourse and blood transfusion, specifically saliva, tears, sweat, feces and urine.” The newsletter also advocated that “federal laws which force schools to accept students known to carry a fatal, communicable disease, and businesses to employ adult victims as ‘handicapped’” should be repealed. The November 1987 Political Report said that “we must also allow local school boards to ban AIDS carriers from the public schools.”

A March 1988 Political Report entitled “AIDS by Mail?” approvingly cited speculation that AIDS was being transmitted via the U.S Postal Service. The allegations were sourced to Robert Mendelsohn, a self-proclaimed “medical heretic,” who also opposed water fluoridation and immunizations.

(That last bit is especially interesting, because Paul fans are currently opposing water fluoridation in the Seattle area, as I reported back in September.) There's also a proposal that homosexuals not be allowed in close physical contact with heterosexuals—hey, Andrew Sullivan, how do you like him now?—and various celebrations of patriots who refused to pay their taxes, along with claims that the United States government is a "tyranny."

I encourage you to look at these newsletters. Not just because they identify Ron Paul as a fringe candidate, but also because they serve to remind you that crazy conspiracy theories predate the internet. Some of these histrionic the-world-is-ending-right-now pieces from 1987 sound exactly like the histrionic the-world-is-ending-right-now pieces you'll find on Truther websites today. There will always be nutjobs to prop up bigots like Ron Paul, but the internet has made it much easier, at least, to identify the fringes for what they are.

Comments (21) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

We used to call it "High Weirdness" and there were books dedicated to cataloging the crazies you could write to and get pamphlets and stuff sent back to you full of crazy. As entertainment.

Posted by SchmuckyTheCat on January 17, 2012 at 2:53 PM

Stop your relentless main stream media campaign against Ron Paul. If he doesn't when the primary he should run as a third party, everyone will flock to his banner.

Posted by MikeB on January 17, 2012 at 2:58 PM

@2,

And President Obama will thank him on January 20, 2013.

Posted by keshmeshi on January 17, 2012 at 3:04 PM

Typical Sheeple.

It's not just Andrew Sullivan.

Even Glenn Greenwald thinks Ron Paul is more "progressive" than Obama... a'cause Dr. Ron is against the war (all of them, everywhere) and would close Guantanamo...

...right after he shutters the department of education, deports those pesky dark skinned people...

and blows up the moon.

Posted by tkc on January 17, 2012 at 3:10 PM

To quote myself earlier on the subject of Paul:

a stopped clock is still wrong 1,438 minutes each day.

I'm glad Paul wants to end the War on Drugs, I would love him as a legislative ally in that regard. However, if you think this would make me vote for a man who openly courts the concept of nullification into the White House, then you are fucking high.

These newsletters are just gravy, and they confirm that Paul's "principled extremism" isn't as admirable as pundits and his college-aged supporters may think. These writings suggest instead a paranoid mind that is lucky enough to have been coupled with a highly sociable personality.

Posted by Xenos on January 17, 2012 at 3:13 PM

"Ice cream, Mandrake. CHILDRENS' ICE CREAM."

Posted by COMTE

on January 17, 2012 at 3:21 PM

No one who was alive during that time will forget anytime soon the drumbeat of millennial kookery, of which this stuff is a canonical example. Waco, Ruby Ridge, the Montana Freemen, the whole militia movement, Bo Gritz, black UN helicopters, the New World Order, RAHOWA and the revitalized Aryan Nations movement, G. Gordon Liddy ranting about taking out federal agents with headshots on his radio show (because they wear Kevlar vests, you see), The Turner Diaries, Timmy McVeigh -- all of this was a huge undercurrent in American far-right politics in the late eighties and early nineties. Ron Paul was right in the thick of it then, and now he's trying to distance himself from it, but unfortunately for him he wrote it down and printed it.

The sad fact is that Ron Paul is an exemplar of the "paranoid style in American politics", and the most extreme end of that spectrum as well.

Andrew Sullivan doesn't understand all this because he doesn't understand this America at all -- he doesn't know it exists. He wasn't paying attention then. He thinks Ron Paul is just a nice old grandpa with some libertarian ideas that might have gotten a little out of hand here and there but are basically sound. Sullivan also has a massive, grizzly-bear-sized blind spot about race.

Posted by Fnarf

on January 17, 2012 at 3:26 PM

@1 Haven't heard that term in a long time. Ah, the halcyon days of the late 80's....

So, who are these people that think conspiracy theory began w/ the internet? The same people who think Jesus rode a dinosaur?

For every 'progressive' who supports Ron Paul, I give you Charles Manson. His rants weren't too different. He spoke about the coming race war, the US turning into a police state, etc. And he was speaking it to the hippies! The Charles Manson School of paranoia fits perfectly into the leftist mind-set, although it can be easily modified for the nutjob gun-owners as well.

Posted by Some Old Nobodaddy Logged In on January 17, 2012 at 3:35 PM

@8, the Unabomber was probably from the left. Bo Gritz appealed to some elements of the far left, and worked with the Christic Institute and Pacifica Radio when he was campaigning against the first Gulf War. There are quite a few links between extremist left and right. I espect Sgt. Doom will be here any second now to enlighten us about the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderbergs.

Posted by Fnarf

on January 17, 2012 at 3:44 PM

@6 Under no circumstances will a Ron Paul supporter ever drink water, and not without good reason...

Posted by Hernandez

on January 17, 2012 at 3:46 PM

@ 7, my bookstore had half a bookcase stocked with that shit. "Black Helicopters Over America" was a good title. We had a nice selection of JFK conspiracy titles, too. I wonder if that faded as the memory of the movie did, too?

Posted by Matt from Denver on January 17, 2012 at 3:48 PM

@ 1, I remember a book, "High Weirdness By Mail," written by someone affiliated with the Church of the Subgenius - BOB's image was sprinkled throughout the book. I never would have heard of Brainbeau without it.

Posted by Matt from Denver on January 17, 2012 at 3:50 PM

The New Republic writes about a Murray Rothbard and Jared Taylor being keystone figures in the newsletters. Were they self-hating Jews in allowing themselves to be associated with the anti-Israel sentiments?

Posted by dnt trust me on January 17, 2012 at 4:08 PM

@11 Say that Oswald was the lone shooter and most people will start quoting you Oliver Stone's movie.

Posted by sirkowski

on January 17, 2012 at 4:15 PM

highly sociable personality

Really? Ron Paul looks, sounds, and acts like a whiny, little troll man. Okay, so he is capable of speaking in front of a crowd, but he certainly doesn't do it well, and he's pretty obviously incapable of the baby-kissing/ass-kissing aspect of politics, yet another thing that makes his candidacy a non-starter.

Posted by keshmeshi on January 17, 2012 at 5:10 PM

Being anti-Israel (or at least anti-Israeli policy) doesn't necessarily make you a nutjob.

Posted by catsnbanjos on January 17, 2012 at 6:02 PM

@16,

Ron Paul wishes Israel didn't exist. Is that a nutjob enough sentiment for you?

Posted by keshmeshi on January 17, 2012 at 6:41 PM

@10: http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Congr…

Enjoy!

Posted by UAR not logged in on January 17, 2012 at 10:52 PM

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/
Congressman-Ron-Paul-on-Fluoridation
--and-More-Victories-.html

Ach, stupid url issues.

Posted by try dis on January 17, 2012 at 10:53 PM

I was about 10 back in 1960, one summer my dad hired a carpenter to do some repair work around the house. He tried to engage me in a political debate & ended up giving me some mimeographed tracts that would be right at home in the Ron Paul newsletter. Back then it was the Rothschild family behind it all - thats about the only thing that has changed.

Posted by frankdawg on January 18, 2012 at 5:15 AM

Ron Paul has always been a loose cannon. Young'uns like him because he's cool with marijuana. Unfortunately just being cool with marijuana is no reason to even think about electing a conspirator for president. Electing Ron Paul to the presidency will set this country back 100 years.

Posted by Weekilter on January 18, 2012 at 11:28 AM