Anathema

(A brief aside: I have been listening to 'Holy Grail' by Hunters & Collectors a lot recently; I can't get it out of my head. It's a very good song by an obscure band, so check it out.)

So in the last day or two several of the major news networks have discovered 'Ron Paul Political Reports', supposedly written by the Congressman himself, which are nothing more than bigoted and racist rants. These news organizations are using this to conclusively prove that Ron Paul is nothing but a whack job. Now, I cannot say for sure whether or not these newsletters are indeed his, but it simply does not make sense that Dr. Paul wrote them. Here's why: Racism, and in fact all forms of bigotry, are collectivist ideas. The entire foundation of various prejudicial ideologies is based upon the fact that every member of a certain ethnic, religious, social, etc. group shares certain negative characteristics exclusive to that particular group. In other words, the social group one belongs to matters more than the individual itself.

Now anybody who is familiar with Dr. Paul's beliefs knows how unlikely it is that he would be the writer of a racist rant. He is a strident individualist; thus his opposition to big government and libertarian politics. Ron Paul authoring such a collectivist work would be akin to Ronald Reagan coming out with an essay advocating a tax increase and the formation of a massive and powerful federal government. It's just anathema to their real beliefs.