Aaron Maloy's Blog

Ron Paul Disses Minorities, Kerry Healey Hisses at the Gays

Just as I was about to solidify my support for a Republican Presidential candidate, I was hit again with another bomb. After reading  the piles of dirt that was dug up on all the Republican frontrunners, I decided that this primary is not one to take serious, and hence resorted to voting for the candidate who has the most integrity, rather than chances of winning. Ron Paul, I thought, was a progressive Republican. Among many other progressive issues he is staunchly opposed to how the Iraq war is being managed, he supports real social services for women as opposed to just abortion and he is Physician. He even says that he supports equality for gays, just like all the other big tent liberal Republicans who think that the way to be elected to higher office is by pandering to liberals. Turns out Ron Paul should be branded with a swastika instead of a Republican label.

Before announcing his candidacy for President, Mr. Paul. as a US Rep,  maliciously joked about gay men being "limp wristed." I don't find these kinds of comments particulary offensive. There are plenty of annoying and overly floamboyant people in the gay community. But there is more. In a newsletter to his consituents he pleaded for Republicans to rally to gether to "bring back the closet....because homosexuals and the rest of society were better off with social pressure that forced them to hide their identity." In another newsletter he stated that "Homosexuals, if admitted, should be put in a special category and not allowed in close physical contact with heterosexuals." I thought that concentration camps went out of style 50+ years ago. And while Bush the 1st was in office he referred to the white house as "The Pink House" because Bush signed anti-hate crime legislation and "invited homosexual lobbyists to the white house for the ceremony."

So you can imagine how even more confused I was to read about Congressman Paul being one of only two Republican Presidential candidates to show up at brunch co-sponsored by, who else, but the biggest gay GOP lobbyist group, the Log Cabin Republicans. And guess who was there representing Mitt Romney? If you guessed Kerry Healey, you guessed right. Healey, apparently incensed by the millions of dollars that the gay GOP group spent on ads attacking Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire, gave one of their members "the hand." After meeting Healey a man attending the event told her that he was there with the Log Cabin Republicans. When he asked her if she knew of the group she said "I sure do," and immediately exited the room. I'm not taking sides on this one, but I think it's really funny. I wonder who would win in a fight, Kerry Healey or a "limp wristed" member of the gay Log Cabin Club.

Back to Ron Paul. Apparently the Congressman from Texas also in on record villifying Israel, often evoking anti-semetic rhetoric. Great, this digs the knife in even further for me. And of course what is a biggot without the race factor. In 1989 he predicted that "Racial Violence Will Fill Our Cities" because "mostly black welfare recipients will feel justified in stealing from mostly white 'haves.'" Then he talked about "The Coming Race War," in which he stated that "If you live in a major city, and can leave, do so. If not, but you can have a rural retreat, for investment and refuge, buy it." Then later in the 1990's he released wnother newsletter, "Animals Take Over the D.C. Zoo. This is only the first skirmish in the race war of the 1990s," and told readers to combat it by saying "I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming." Several years later when referring to the aftermath of a baseball game he again tried to evoke racial division by stating that "blacks poured into the streets of Chicago in celebration. How to celebrate? How else? They broke the windows of stores to loot." Then he claimed that liberals "want to keep white America from taking action against black crime and welfare," and concluded that "Jury verdicts, basketball games, and even music are enough to set off black rage, it seems."

There is a lesson to be learned here. Don't trust many of these liberal "big tent" Republicans. They may appear to be liberal, progressive, "gay friendly," racially sensitive, smart and so on. But underneath their liberal veils are biggoted hate mongers looking to advanced their political careers. So, for now, I am leaning towards Mike Huckabee. He may be a  slovenly gormandizer who has achieved abdolutely nothing politically, or even privately for that matter, but I think that's the best we can do. Mitt's finished. The conservative base doesn't want a drag queen for President (Guiliani). We don't want a President who will die in office (McCain). And we definitely don't want a racist and anti-semetic liberal who wants to send gays to concentation camps (Paul). So I think we are going to have to settle on Huckabee. That is unless we find him toe-tapping in some highway or airport restroom. Cross your fingers!