Racism Rand Paul The Daily Banter

If You Stand With Rand, You Also Stand With His Racist Crackpot Buddies

My Thursday column:

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has a racism problem. It’s not the same as Paula Deen’s racism problem. He didn’t try to serve up “Sambo burgers” or hire actors to playing slaves at a wedding. That we know of (kidding… maybe). But a trend is developing in which he bashes face first into one race-based ordeal or another.

You might recall how Rand Paul’s head-banger spokesman, Christopher Hightower, was forced to resign over racist posts on his MySpace page (made slightly worse by the fact that Hightower still had a MySpace page in 2009). You might also recall how during an MSNBC interview with Rachel Maddow, Rand Paul, like his father, questioned the wisdom of the Civil Rights Act, arguing that business owners should to be able to decide for themselves whether they can serve African American customers.

Yesterday, Rand Paul’s new media director, Jack Hunter, was outed as a bit of a racist maniac. In his previous gig as a radio shock jock in the totally-not-crazy state of South Carolina, Hunter would regularly appear as a non-satirical superhero character named the “Southern Avenger,” complete with a mask made from a Dixie flag. He was also a member of the secessionist group known as the League of the South. He also believe John Wilkes Booth’s heart “was in the right place.” Sounds like a classy guy.

It should come as no surprise that Rand Paul surrounds himself with characters like this. [READ ON]