Most people who are familiar with Ron Paul are familiar with the accusations of racism involving his newsletter. Today, Ron Paul appeared on CNN and tried to paint himself as the "anti-racist."
In order to prove his case, Ron Paul cites his tasteless Martin Luther King day money bomb, which another poster brought up yesterday.
One question, though: Did Ron Paul remember to ask the King Family Estate before he launched this campaign? If not, then it could be a costly mistake.
Ron Paul just doesn't get it. Watch this video at the 1:50 mark.
The idea of any candidate trying to exploit Martin Luther King Day for personal gain is bad enough as it is. It's a transparent attempt to make the holiday about you, and it shouldn't be about you, it should be about Doctor King, and everything he struggled for. No one candidate should be able to claim to represent the memory of Doctor King, especially not someone with Ron Paul's history, who made a career of opposing the very policies that Martin Luther King fought for. For instance, would Martin Luther King have spoken against the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act? Would Martin Luther King compare Edward and Elaine Browne to himself and to Gandhi? Would Martin Luther King use gun rights as his main platform? Would Martin Luther King oppose awarding a medal to Rosa Parks? I seriously doubt it.
This is a bad idea.
How do you know it is a bad idea? Because even the zealots at the ronpaulforums thought that it was a bad idea. Of course, in their defense, their criticism had nothing to do with the ethics of exploiting MLK, but for entirely different reasons:
LibertyEagle
Moderator
Are you trying to drive away every last Republican? Martin Luther King was a communist.
Look, I totally understand why Americans of color, supported him. But, the reality is that he was a Communist and as such, was not exactly what you call popular, with Republicans. This is a very bad idea.
Gee, why would anyone accuse this group of being racist?
Using your name and reputation to raise money for minority causes might help to boost Ron Paul's reputatation. Using Martin Luther King's name to boost money for yourself, without asking for permission first, only makes things worse. It's like a company that tries to show off how patriotic they are and how much they love America, by selling cheap plastic flags that were made in China for $5 a pop. Ron Paul seems to think that most minorities are too dumb to understand the difference.
But this isn't a general rant against a GOP's hypocrisy and incompetence and general lack of respect towards minorities. No, it's a call to action. Right now, there is no indication that this upcoming money bomb is being sanctioned by the King family, and surely Ron Paul would have mentioned if there was was. Did Ron Paul bother to ask? My suggestion for anyone who finds Ron Paul to be repugnant is to contact the King Family Estate, and ask them how they feel about this news. Ask them if they approve of Ron Paul using Dr. King's name like this, ask them if they endorse Ron Paul's candidacy, and ask them if they will receive any of the funds that get donated to Ron Paul.
If it turns out that Ron Paul doesn't have the approval of the King Family Estate, then the blowback could be costly. It would show that Ron Paul's callous attitudes towards minorities wasn't simply a thing of the past, but something that continues to occur even now, even when he attempts to defend himself from these very allegations.