Is anyone REALLY surprised? Ron Paul’s Former Secretary Confirms That Paul Proofread His Newsletters

Hat tip goes out to Bruce Cohen of the Stop Ron Paul 2012 group on Facebook.

Ron Paul has served in Congress for 23 years. In today’s electoral
system, 12 successful campaigns for Congress mean two things…yes, the
voters like him, but he is also good at raising the necessary money to
get elected, an exercise that unfortunately requires politicking. Yet
his followers would have you believe that Paul lives in a rarefied world
where he keeps his fingers clean and his morals pure.

If you are still convinced that Paul is above the dirtiest, most
disgusting and pandering kind of politics, perhaps you’d listen to his
former secretary and current follower, Renae Hathway.

During the 90s, Ron Paul’s office released a series of
newsletters, many of which were highly inflammatory and racist, with
quotes such as these:

“If you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be.” – Ron Paul, 1992

“Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the `criminal
justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the
black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.” – Ron
Paul, 1992

“We don’t think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of
23. That’s true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been
raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big,
strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as
such.” – Ron Paul, 1992

“What else do we need to know about the political establishment than
that it refuses to discuss the crimes that terrify Americans on grounds
that doing so is racist? Why isn’t that true of complex embezzling,
which is 100 percent white and Asian?” – Ron Paul, 1992

Paul’s campaign doesn’t deny the existence of the newsletters, just
his involvement. As it turns out, Paul might not have written the
newsletters but according to Hathway, he did read them and in fact, he
proofread them. From the Washington Post:

“It was his newsletter, and it was under his name, so he
always got to see the final product. . . . He would proof it,’’ said
Renae Hathway, a former secretary in Paul’s company and a supporter of the Texas congressman.

The Post also reports that:

It is unclear precisely how much money Paul made from his
newsletters, but during the years he was publishing them, he reduced
his debts and substantially increased his net worth, according to his
congressional and presidential disclosure reports. In 1984, he reported
debt of up to $765,000, most of which was gone by 1995, when he reported
a net worth of up to $3.3 million. Last year, he reported a net worth
up to $5.2 million.

They quoted an anonymous source within Paul’s organization:

A person involved in Paul’s businesses, who spoke on
condition of anonymity to avoid criticizing a former employer, said Paul
and his associates decided in the late 1980s to try to increase sales
by making the newsletters more provocative. They discussed adding controversial material, including racial statements, to help the business, the person said.

“It was playing on a growing racial tension, economic tension, fear
of government,’’ said the person, who supports Paul’s economic policies
but is not backing him for president. “I’m not saying Ron believed this
stuff. It was good copy. Ron Paul is a shrewd businessman.’’

So it’s not clear that Paul actually believes the racist tripe
printed in his newsletter, but he was all about taking responsibility
for it when he was collecting the checks. At worst, he’s racist. At
best, his values are on the auction block, just like the politicians he
holds himself above.