The Curious Case Of Rand Paul

There is a man in Kentucky named Rand Paul that is running for US Senate. He is a Republican. He is backed by the Teabaggers. He also has such a huge hard on for the rights of private business, that he will risk being labeled racist, bigoted, and anti-civil rights to make a philosophical point. The point being that though the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was correct in criminalizing discrimination in the public sector, it should not have necessarily criminalized discrimination in the private sector. Oh, Rand. You dumb bastard.

The primary issue for Republicans, Teabaggers, Libertarians, and such is allowing for unchecked, unregulated, free range for businesses. This is the centerpiece of American Conservatism. That sounds good for small businesses, at least in theory. But this lazze faire approach for businesses really only benefits corporations.

Rand Paul, being the brand new, “young,” face of the Teabagger conservative Republican movement wants people to know that he is without a doubt a firm believer in the rights of business, that he openly said on numerous occasions that parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were wrong. Once again; oh Rand, you dumb bastard.

Rand does not flat out say that private businesses have the right to discriminate. I want make to make perfectly clear that I do not think Rand Paul to be a racist, or bigot. But he sure does infer that private business have the right to discriminate. And some can make the argument that that is just as bad.

Private businesses do not have and should not have the right to discriminate based on race. Obviously, this is a very important measure of the Civil Rights Act. Private property rights do not come into play as Dr. Paul suggested could be the case.

So how in the world did this come up? I’d like to think that the great state of Kentucky is not so ass backwards that civil right debates are common. Hell, I’ve got a huge city crush on Louisville. It’s an awesome city. I don’t know how this came up. I didn’t even know who in the world Rand Paul was last week. But the two major references for Rand Paul and this Civil Rights debacle, prior to the Rachel Maddow interview was an interview Paul gave to the Louisville Courier Journal and an interview he gave to All Things Considered on NPR.

Two ways this could have gone down. One: Rand Paul brings up civil rights in an attempt to make a point about the rights of business. If this is the case, than Dr. Paul is a complete idiot! It speaks volumes of his inexperience in politics. Maybe he’s a bit of a politico-phile as I and many others are and got too comfortable with a philosophical discussion about Civil Rights and the rights of business. Lord knows I’ve gotten excited about a philosophical discussion on interstate commerce law once. I love interstate commerce law. (Don’t judge me.) In any case, Dr. Paul played this VERY BADLY and in the end, it is his bad. Two: Someone poses the question to Mr. Paul about how he feels about the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If this was the case, than why in the hell was his answer not, “I whole heartedly believe in every aspect of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Discrimination of any kind is wrong then and is wrong now. Next question.” If his answer is not some version of this, than Mr. Paul is a complete idiot and this also speaks volumes of his inexperience as a politician. I’ll say again, it’s his bad.

Listen Rand isn’t a bad guy. He’s just an idiot. The major concern for all of us is Dr. Paul’s views are a microcosm of, not just the Teabagger movement, but of conservatism at large. I’ve said this before. Privatization breeds segregation. This whole debacle with Dr. Paul and civil rights is hard evidence to that. This is the danger of deregulation. Allow big business to run amuck and bad things are sure to happen. We are in a recession and unemployment is over ten percent. Millions of Americans are underemployed. Millions of Americans do not have access to health insurance. All this is because of a three decades plus wave of conservatism that has taken over our country. It is clear that “The Invisible Hand of the Market” does not provide for us. We must provide for ourselves. And this free range for business, anti-tax, small government ideals of conservatism only sinks us in deeper. Now we see that even civil rights is (philosophically) in danger of being privatized. It’s not evil racists that are sinking our society. It’s idiots that think they can benefit by giving more and more power to business, while less and less power is being saved for us.

russ kelly.
(It’s good to be back!)

Rand Paul Sets The Record Straight (randpaul2010.com)
Rand Paul confuses supporters, spurs anger with comments on Civil Rights Act (washingtonpost.com)
Paul’s Views on Civil Rights Cause a Stir (NYtimes.com)
Rand Paul Underscores the Tea Party's Connection to Race (huffingtonpost.com)