Like father, like son

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Not a Rand Paul fan. Never was. He never renounced his father’s vicious anti-Israel, anti-semitic rantings. And he showed his colors in, of all places, an interview with Alex Jones. Sheesh.

“Rand Paul: Nuclear Iran Not a Threat to U.S., Israel,” Washington Free Beacon, April 16, 2014
Endorsed Bilderberg conspiracy theories before winning Senate seat

Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) denied that a nuclear Iran would pose a national security threat to the United States or Israel in a 2007 radio interview with talk show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

“Even our own intelligence community consensus opinion now is that they’re not a threat. Like my dad [Rep. Ron Paul] says, [the Iranians] don’t have an Air Force, they don’t have a Navy,” said Paul, according to a recording of the interview. “You know, it’s ridiculous to think they’re a threat to our national security.”

“It’s not even that viable to say they’re a national threat to Israel,” Paul added. “Most people say Israel has 100 nuclear weapons, you know.”

The future senator, who was working on his father’s presidential campaign at the time, also came out against military action, saying Republicans “all want to invade Iran next.”

“I tell people in speeches, I say, you know we’re against the Iraq War, we have been from the beginning,” said Paul. “But you know we’re also against the Iran war—you know the one that hasn’t started yet.”

In a recent Washington Post column, Paul said he does not support containment of a nuclear Iran, but believes it should be an option.

Since joining the Senate he has stopped short of saying that a nuclear Iran would not endanger U.S. and Israeli national security.

Last year, Paul voted in favor of a resolution led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), which recognized “the tremendous threat posed to the United States, the West, and Israel by Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability,” and passed unanimously in the Senate.

The head of Rand Paul’s official PAC told the Free Beacon that Paul has never claimed Iran is not a threat to the U.S. and Israel.

“It has always been Senator Paul’s position that Iran poses a threat,” said Rand PAC head and Paul’s former chief of staff Doug Stafford.

Paul’s past statements on Iran are not the only ones that could pose a problem for him as he tries to reposition himself into the Republican Party’s foreign policy mainstream.

Paul recently came under fire from conservative columnists after Mother Jones unearthed a 2009 speech in which he suggested Vice President Dick Cheney supported the Iraq War because of his past work for defense contractor Halliburton.

The Kentucky senator’s past is littered with similar political landmines, which could provide fodder for opponents and ad-makers if he decides to run for president in 2016.

Paul has also endorsed “One World Government” conspiracy theories, including theories about the Bilderberg Group, a closed-door annual conference that brings together influential political and financial leaders from around the world.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Bilderberg Group is a popular target of extremists and conspiracy theorists who claim it “is a shadowy force seeking to control world events, exerting allegedly dominating powers of international influence to promote a ‘new world order’ under their control.”

In one 2010 interview, anti-Bilderberg activist and independent journalist Luke Rudkowski asked Paul what he knew about the Bilderberg Group.

“Only what I’ve learned from Alex Jones,” said Paul. “I’m not probably the world expert on it, but I think it’s people who get together, who are very wealthy people, who I think manipulate and use government to their own personal advantage.”

Paul said opponents should “combat” and “expose” the Bilderbergs and said the group would benefit financially off of “world government.”

“[The Bilderberg Group] want[s] to make it out like they just want to help humanity and world government would be good for humanity,” said Paul. “Well guess what—world government’s good for their pocketbook. They’re very wealthy and they use government to make more money for themselves, and that’s where you expose them.”

Paul also discussed the Bilderberg conspiracy with Jones in a 2010 interview shortly before he announced his Senate run, saying “we should expose people who are, you know, promoting this globalist agenda for personal gain and for financial gain at the expense of the rest of our country and at the expense of our Republic.”

Paul has neither confirmed nor repudiated these views since joining the Senate. In 2012, Rudkowski again confronted Paul about the Bilderberg Group, but the senator declined to answer.

In the six-minute video, Paul and a staffer try to dodge Rudkowski on Capitol Hill, as he follows them and peppers the senator with questions about the conspiracy theory.

“I know it’s an uncomfortable question, I know you know a lot about the Bilderberg Group” said Rudkowski, holding a video camera inches from Paul’s face. “Rand, the Bilderberg Group is a very serious group.”

Paul did not respond; at several points, a member of his staff intervened to try to wave off the persistent activist.

“You were willing to talk to me before I brought up Bilderberg,” said Rudkowski. “I know you can hear me. Rand, I know you’re trying to ignore me.”

Rand PAC head Doug Stafford dismissed the notion that Paul had ever embraced the Bilderberg conspiracy theory, telling the Free Beacon that Paul has always believed “Build a Burger would be a great name for a fast food chain.”

“And before you ask, no Dr. Paul does not beat his wife,” added Stafford.

Paul has previously struggled to distance himself from controversial associates and elements of his father’s political movement.

Last summer, the Washington Free Beacon reported that one of Paul’s close aides and book coauthor spent over a decade working as a pro-secessionist radio host known as the Southern Avenger.

The aide, Jack Hunter, who also coauthored Paul’s 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington, wore a confederate flag luchador mask and published commentary praising the assassin of Abraham Lincoln.

Hunter, who has renounced these views, resigned from Paul’s office shortly after the controversy broke.

Earlier this week, Mother Jones reported on a 2009 speech in which Paul suggests Cheney supported the Iraq War because of his work for Halliburton, and called the Sept. 11 attacks “an excuse for a war they already wanted in Iraq.”

“Dick Cheney then goes to work for Halliburton. Makes hundreds of millions of dollars, their CEO,” said Paul in the speech at Western Kentucky University. “Next thing you know, he’s back in government and it’s a good idea to go into Iraq.”

Mother Jones also reported that Paul blasted the Bush administration for using enhanced interrogation techniques against War on Terror detainees in a 2009 interview with AntiWar.com.

Last August, Paul floated the theory that the chemical weapons attack in Syria was a false flag attack by the Syrian opposition, citing a column by Pat Buchanan that made a similar argument.

“To whose benefit is this? All of this redounds back to this is to the benefit of the rebels because now it’s bringing other people in on their side. So there is a great incentive for this to actually have been launched by rebels, not the Syrian army,” said Paul.

Paul’s father, 2012 presidential candidate Ron Paul, has routinely faced problems with controversial associations.

In 2011, the New Republic reported on the elder Paul’s newsletters, which included racially charged commentary in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Rep. Paul said he was not aware of the content, and that the offending columns were written by an unknown member of his staff.

Last August, Rep. Paul spoke at a conference hosted by a defrocked Catholic leader who denied the Holocaust in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon. Rep. Paul is also a supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former U.S. Army soldier Bradley Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for handing over hundreds of thousands of classified documents to Assange.

The Free Beacon reported in March that several members of the elder Paul’s think tank, the Ron Paul Institute, have worked at public relations outlets for Russia and other repressive regimes.

 

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Comments at Atlas Shrugs are unmoderated. Posts using foul language, as well as abusive, hateful, libelous and genocidal posts, will be deleted if seen. However, if a comment remains on the site, it in no way constitutes an endorsement by Pamela Geller of the sentiments contained therein.

  • TheSnapDude

    Pamela telling the truth!

  • Isabella1709

    Like so much about Rand, but this does truly worry me.

    • keyesforpres

      Rand is a big supporter of amnesty.
      Yes, he voted “no” on the Gang of 8 Bill, but he voted “yes” on cloture, which brought it to the floor for a vote.
      He has said he hopes they (illegals) would vote for him.
      Research, “Rand supports amnesty”.

      • Erudite Mavin

        The Rand Paul Evolution: Rand Paul calls for ‘path to citizenship’ for illegals

        By Rosalind S. Helderman, Published: March 19, 2013

        …Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a conservative tea party icon and possible 2016 presidential contender, endorsed an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws that would allow the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants to obtain legalized status…..

        “Immigration will not occur until conservative
        Republicans, like myself, become part of the solution.

        • Betty4440

          glad I found all this out not that I would vote for ether. the old man Paul made a remark a couple of years back that has stuck with me. about open borders no need for a fence he wants the same as obama open border for Mexico and Canada. have any one else heard this.

          • Erudite Mavin

            Good to see you also who understand where the Pauls really stand on this issue. You may want to share with others who have bought their propaganda.

  • Armaros

    Rand Paul is nobody without Ron Paul.

    Without Ron’s electoral machine (of hackers, spammers and conspiracy nuts) Rand has no chance to even dent the race.

    He needs them and Alex Jones is their virtual assembly where he can pluck them like low hanging fruit.

    People call Ron Paul “that crazy uncle” . Well for Rand he was daddy. He sat with him through countless dinners where they discussed how America should have stayed out of WWII and how things got worse after the Northern Aggression. That we should trade in gold, dismantle the military and privatize the Hudson River.

    There’s an authenticity to Ron Paul. He is nuts. Rand knows that and he tries to re package the ideas of his father in a way that he could appeal to more discerning voters . It is not antisemitism that drives these type of thinkers. They’re just bound to brush up with them in their world of banker conspiracies, fake money and global agendas .
    Libertarians are also lunatics albeit harmless lunatics who do not hate their opponents but merely lecture them about their lack of enlightenment.

    Ron Paul idolizes Ludwig Mises who was a Jew and an active anti Nazi intellectual in Eastern Europe. He is critical of Israel (and so is perhaps his son who knows not to make it vocal if he indeed felt that way) and believes it cost America to support it. What is reassuring about Ron and Rand in this is that they do not advocate ending foreign aid to Israel because its Israel but because it is foreign aid. Unlike the leftist equivalents of the Pauls, they want no aid to Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus and atheists.

    Libertarianism is utopianism and anybody flirting with utopia cannot be trusted in dealing with the Middle East.

    Rand also knows that and this is why he flew to Israel where he “consulted” with military experts to determine his Iran opinions. Which again are silly but were also expressed by former IDF/Mossad officials and American military experts. Of course they could be playing psy op while Paul embraced these statements to shield his silly views.

    The reason Rand is hard to trust is because of his aggressive posturing currently he is undertaking. He is vocal about Islam persecuting Christians but is against getting involved in the Middle East. He seems to want to build a base out of evangelicals (who usually back 2 candidates per primary race) and his dads tin foil hat army. Mathematically that may actually work. However in practice that marriage may prove hard to match make.

  • Erudite Mavin

    Good to see this commentary exposing Rand Paul.
    Having researched Ron over the years and now Rand,
    Conservatives need to understand, Ron and Rand are not
    Republicans or Conservatives but Libertarians.
    Rand gives token Conservative talking points in a few subject areas but
    one of the major differences that separates Rand from Republicans and Conservatives in general, National Security and Foreign Affairs not to mention
    American response when attacked and war declared on us in WWII.
    The Ron and Rand Paul mantra is blame America first or when we are defending ourselves or allies, we are making others angry and looking for trouble according to
    the Pauls.
    Rand has a side door way of making many of his libertarian points so they
    don’t come across as Radical Left or Neo Nazi as his dad’s comments, but
    yes, like father, like son.
    Earlier was countering Paul cultists on another site. Their comments are of
    those who don’t know or understand history, current events, just the same old
    mindless talking points from the Paul sites and others who are sucked in.
    The Pauls have one major enemy, the Republican Party which Ron spent years disrupting at election time and now Rand doing the same with his focus 2016.
    This mentality along with the rant, both parties are the same, and the purity test
    is what gave us Obama 2008 and 2012 and the Paul Bots psyching up many
    Conservatives in sitting home or voting third party election day.
    You only have to read through Ron Paul’s new org and site to see how Radical left to Neo Nazi he and his associates are along with his obsession against his favorite pejorative, Neo Cons.

  • beargrizly

    Ron Paul very well may be the closest America has ever gotten to Adolf Hitler. But beside his very ugly views there is another problem with him: he is a hypocrite, a liar, a flip flop. He would hide his Neo Nazi face behind Libertarianism and professed love for the Constitution. In order to get in power he would pander to anybody: Black supremacists, Native American supremacists, kids wanting to do whatever they please and smoke marijuana no matter what, guys who think that the Constitution allows them not to pay taxes, gun people, mad dog liberals… Hey, he even was trying to dupe Jews through his Jewish stooges. And I see this insincerity and dishonesty in his son. Rand Paul cleaned up his speeches. But deep down there may be the same old Ron Paul.

  • Wrangler 47

    Actually as a Libertarian Rand Paul’s verbal behavior is somewhat predictable . Matter of fact Libertarians have spoiled many elections, some even recently .No Rand Paul is definitely not anywhere near presidential . In fact only a year ago he was touting his own version of amnesty . His allegiance is questionable , this is why the Democrats & the Media are still giving him a free ride hoping they can do as they’ve done last 2 presidential elections by corrupting the Primary process they know if they don’t beat him they can manipulate him .Rand Paul does shout Conservatism in public but all too often sides with Obama & company quietly in private . For sure, he’s way too volatile , unpredictable & not the least trustworthy .

    • Joe Westphal

      I agree that in general libertarians are a problem, but Rand is not a libertarian. In his book “Tea Party Goes To Washington” he describes himself as a “Constitutional Conservative”. He is very pro-life.

  • HeinrichHimmler

    Oh dear, you couldn’t be much more of a Jewish shill than the libertarian (a totally corrupt Jewish ideology) Rand and his father Pam, yet even with that bunch of sellout frauds you cannot suppress your whiny Jew instincts and not scream “awnti-semwitticc!!!!! HOLOHOAX!!! 6 MILLION!! 6 MILLION!!! JEW HATER!!!!” As for Alex Jones, who’s radio show is COMPLETELY sponsored by Jews, well I don’t know where to start in explaining how much of a Jew-lover that “patriot” is.
    I’m afraid, outside of this forum (where every neocon sickening goyim here would literally not be more of a Jewish shill if they gave ever member of the Knesset oral sex) your whiny Jew screams of the 6 trillion innocent souls or whatever are falling on deaf ears!
    Heil Hitler!!!

    • dumhammad

      Eat a bullet for Adolph.

    • H. Schalk

      Pam’s all about life and freedom, things which are clearly very far away from you.
      Now, get you gone! Scuttle back to whatever hole you crawled out of!

      • AdolfEichmann

        Oh but I am for freedom. Freedom from homosexuality, feminism, modern celeb/thug culture, mass-immigration, drug addiction, abortion, neocon interventionism and of course the instigators of all these crimes against the white race, the eternal parasite, the christ-killing cockroaches, aka Pammy and her Jewish race
        Heil Hitler!

        • H. Schalk

          You should seek help. Extreme paranoid hysteria is what motivated the Nazis to carry out their horrendous evil acts.

    • Armaros

      Another closet homo in lederhosen and a trimmed moustache

  • Habibi

    Pamela Geller is American but why does she cares so much Israel?? If she loves Israel so she just has to stay and live in Israel and let the true lovers of the United States, as David Duke, live in peace! Aaaaah yes, I forgot, Pamelape Geller does not care in this country (USA). His foreign policy will lead the United States to the chao.
    Even a former CIA agent wants the United States foreign policy change. I really hope that this appeal be heard and that the United States regains its dignity.

    Have a nice day.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jvqEcAb4f7E

    • aspacia

      David Duke is nuts and no patriot. Where do you live? Oz!

      • Habibi

        @aspacia:disqus,

        ‘David Duke is nuts and no patriot’. This is your only argument. Please, David Duke is more patriotic than Pamelape Geller who only talk about Israel. If she is a blogger who loves the United States and wants to fight for democracy and freedom, why has she fought the democratic election of Mohamed Morsi (peace be upon him)?? Because she perceived this as a threat to Israel, she does not care about peace in the Middle East, Israel is his only care. She should go live in Israel, hoping she receive Al-Qassam missile on the face. LOL!

        PS: I live in France.

        Have a nice day.

        • Mike

          Morsi is a terrorist. When you get slaughtered by them, good riddance to you. Great that you are in France. Do you ever read your own news about the snake pit you live in?

        • aspacia

          Duke denies the Holocaust. Geller is a strong U.S. and Israel supporter as are many patriots like myself.

          I am a Deist and despise bigots, and Duke along with most Muslims is a bigot who denies the facts on the ground.

        • Armaros

          France or one of those savage slums in France worshipping Allah?

        • H. Schalk

          Why did she fight against the election of Morsi? Because Morsi is a Muslim Brotherhood supremacist who after being elected President soon began controlling the press, forced out military chiefs, granted himself sweeping new powers and drafted a new Sharia constitution which essentially destroyed democracy in Egypt in favor of Islamist tyranny.

          Duke is simply a bigot, supremacist and fantasist.

          Pamela Geller is a human rights advocate and freedom fighter. The United States and Israel are natural allies, secular democracies with freedom of speech, press and the equality of all before the law.

  • brockvond

    Paul has also endorsed “One World Government” conspiracy theories…

    It sure seems as if America is being pushed towards One World Government. The socialists require all voices other than their own be silenced. That includes family, religion, and the voices of nationalism, e.g., American exceptionalism.

  • Transpower

    I still think Rand Paul is better than his father. I don’t think he’s anti-Israel; his father was. Let’s give him a chance, please.

  • PhillipNagle

    What do any of us know about the Bilderberg Group except that they are some of the most influential people in the world meeting in secret. Are they there for good or evil? I don’t know, but I am uncomfortable with this sort of organization.

  • Dr. Doomsday

    I suspect Rand is just Ron Lite, or Ron in Lite clothing. He will become a vote stealer for any potential real candidate. And, if like his dad, the followers will be as maniacal as terrorists and won’t listen to reason.

  • Richard

    You are wrong about Rand Paul. You have quoted from something he said in 2007. That is 7 years ago. People change their opinions based on the evidence they see.

    This is what he said right now:

    Rand Paul warns of war on Christianity

    “You won’t hear much about it on the evening news,” warned Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., “but there is a worldwide war on Christianity.”

    The senator chose to highlight the danger of radical Islam in his speech before the Values Voter Summit Friday morning.

    Paul explained the war on Christianity is not making the headlines it should because the “narrative is not convenient” to the establishment media.

    The president tries to gloss over who’s attacking and killing Christians. The media describes the killings as ‘sectarian.’”

    But the truth, said the senator, is war is being waged on Christians “by a fanatical element of Islam.”

    The senator said the killers were a minority of Muslims, but, “unfortunately, that minority number is in the tens of millions…

    These rebels are allies of the Islamic rebels that President Obama is now arming.

    http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/rand-paul-obama-complicit-in-christian-deaths/