Rand Paul, Rachel Maddow and the issue of not being “mainstream”
Well, Rachel Maddow drew first blood earlier this week on her show as she grilled Republican candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky on his views of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and whether he’d repeal it. Actually its Paul’s democratic opponent Jack Conway that started the campaign of un-truths, however Maddow got the larger audience.
Dr. Paul certainly had everything stacked against him; a topic that is much more complicated than Maddow would ever acknowledge, an American audience where the vast majority has only the most superficial understanding of the law and the issue of trying to make Paul look, in the words of MSNBC host Chris Matthews, “flaky and out of the mainstream”.
Actually, it came as a little bit of a surprise to me as Maddow, who I disagree with most of the time, has historically been a reasonable and fair interviewer of both Paul’s, father and son.
Never did Paul say he wanted to repeal the 46 year old law, but he did make the case for private property rights and how the Civil Rights Act violated that most precious right.
And then it took off, every news outlet was transfixed on this out-of-the-mainstream view by Rand Paul. Accusations of racism were spewed; name calling and other responses came from a variety of people ranging from the White House to Republican leader Mitch McConnell, from liberal talk shows to neocon Todd Schnitt, host of the Tampa-based “Schnitt Show”.
Schnitt went on to even start calling Paul a “truther” and associated accusations. Schnitt, like Glenn Beck, is a DJ who went from spinning Spice Girl records in the 1990’s to a neoconservative mouthpiece nationally.
So what happened to an America where defending one of our most sacred rights, private property rights, turns you into a flake or out of the mainstream?
I guess my question is, is being out of the mainstream such a bad thing? What has the mainstream politician brought us?
Sticking with civil rights, hiring quotas placed on employers is considered mainstream. The Patriot Act and violating the 4th amendment is considered mainstream. Sending our troops all over the globe is now mainstream. Spending outrageously was considered acceptable and mainstream for Republicans during the Bush years, only now do they consider it radical and out-of-the- mainstream.
I’ve watched Dr. Paul, and at least in my view, hem and haw over how to answer these questions. I know he is not, but it reeks of being just another politician. I say to Dr Paul, stick to your guns, don’t waver on principles, after all, it was your principled, constitutional views that Kentuckians voted for and people all over the country admired and respected.
This kind of stuff will continue I’m sure. However, certain issues need to be reevaluated and the peeling back of the layers to see and debate the faults of the plethora of laws and government programs. Certain issues are going to be considered taboo to show any opposition to (social security, Medicare, and EEOC laws to name a few) but we need to look past the superficial talking points of the likes of Chris Matthews and Sean Hannity, which is where so many get their understanding and base their beliefs in.
If I could make a criticism of Rand Paul, it is in foreign policy. Last week I saw him on Bill O’Reilly’s TV show only to be taken back by his neocon-lite statements toward Iran. Is this the politician in him or is it what he really believes. I can’t tell, but he is definitely not his father.
Don’t back down Dr. Paul, the truth cannot be denied and you are now a leader in educating people about the truth.