re: Ron Paul

Some people I know (both Americans and Arabs) are attracted to Ron Paul because of his pull-the-U.S.-out-of-everywhere foreign policy. OK. But then you have to remember things like this, posted by a Facebook friend:

“Ron Paul argues that the landmark federal legislation that dismantled Jim Crow segregation in the 1960s was a moral evil and a violation of white people’s liberty.”

If ever there were a weak point to libertarianism, the civil rights struggle of the 1960’s exposed it, and this is it.

Sorry, but if you own a public restaurant or other facility, there is no such thing as a “right” to exclude black people from it. That issue has been settled.

There’s still a bit of this attitude lurking beneath the surface in the Republican Party, and in the context of American history and its specific weaknesses and tragedies, it’s one reason why Obama’s family background *is* a good reason to support him. And frankly, I do think it’s helped the national climate. Americans of all races and ethnicities are now potential leaders; it’s no longer an issue. The ridiculous birth certificate “controversy” over Obama was simply a last-ditch effort at political racism clothed in constitutional legalese.