The Dubious Company Rand Paul May Keep

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Kentucky GOP senate nominee Rand Paul took withering heat for knocking the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Paul's kind of, sort of recant further fueled fierce debate over whether he is a homegrown bigot or a principled libertarian. It's worth noting that Paul said much worse about civil rights in a May 2002 letter to the editor in response to the Bowling Green Daily News editorial on enforcing the Federal Fair Housing Act. He rapped the editorial, "Decisions concerning private property and associations should in a free society be unhindered. As a consequence, some associations will discriminate."

As bad as his 2002 letter affirming the right to racially discriminate there's a Paul issue that's even more ominous. That's the dubious company that he may keep. It's an odd ball and dangerous assortment of fringe gun nut, bible spouting home schoolers, global conspiracy theorists and abolish government organizations, all backed by fundamentalist race and gender baiting preachers. The groups are linked directly and indirectly through the unofficial Paul related takebackkentucky website. Here's a list and a short take on some of the choicest organizations in the unofficial Paul network.

(www.amerikanexpose.com). This is a group that believes that the United States uses weather control to assail and control other nations, and that the country is under the direct control of the United Nations - without any real sovereignty of its own. This links to (www.freedomadvocates.org). This is a group which appears to believe that the concept of "sustainable development," (both economic and environmental), are actually plots to deny the "liberties" of the peoples of the world, and exert sinister control of population growth movement of sovereign nations. For a representative sample of their literature see (www.freedomadvocates.org/images/pdf/DDDoA.sml.pdf). The subject of the publication refers to a deliberate "dumbing down" of America in preparation for a "socialist" takeover.

(www.afaky.com).
This site connects directly to the Take Back Kentucky/Kentucky Taxpayers United site. It is ultra-religious and seeks to directly influence the outcome of local and national elections. It provides a storehouse of information about politicians involved with these organizations. (http://www.afaky.com/Show.aspx?id=12&m=19). This is the URL to register for the site (votervoice.net/groups/afaky/register). Also on this page is (http://www.afaky.com/Show.aspx?id=111), which discusses punishments for "Hate Crimes." The American Family Association of Kentucky considers it to be inappropriate to tell ministers that they cannot discriminate against homosexuals or other unchristian individuals.

Next there's (www.chek.org). This is the site of the Christian Home Educators of Kentucky. They have waged a ferocious fight against state mandates and controls on how home schooled children are educated by their parents. The emphasis is on a Christian education, which includes the concepts of dispensationalism (their term), American exceptionalism, and strong opposition to secular institutions.
The list wouldn't be complete without the obligatory links to rightwing gun lobby advocacy groups. The prime gun group listing (gunowners.org) is based in Virginia.

It's one of the most outspoken rightside pro gun groups in the nation.
The link to (www.youdontsay.org) links to all manner of websites. It has links to Jewish extremist sites, sites advocating direct confrontation with progressive groups, vigilante sites, and sites linked directly to vigilantes and militias.
Some organization listed express a genuine fear of what is known as "Real ID Tags." These are proposed radio tracking devices that these organizations fear the federal government will require be worn by all Americans at some point in the future. The language employed by these organizations in describing their fears in this area is something best described as "panic speech."

Then there's (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bible-smack-radio) where the Reverend Matt Singleton holds forth on such enlightened topics as whether the supposedly mythological creatures of the Bible match the fossil record. Singleton also appears to believe that the Catholic Church is on course to take over America.
For the curious here's the complete list of recommended and affiliated groups on the "unofficial" takebackkentucky.net site.

Rolling Thunder(National)
Greasy OnlineGun Owners of America
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
Armed Females of America
Legally Armed
Women Against Gun Control
Citizens committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Second Amendment Foundation
Law Enforcement Alliance of America
NRA-ILA
Second Amendment Committee
Keep and Bear Arms
Kentucky Coalition to Carry Concealed
Save the Guns
Kentuckians for the Right to Bear Arms (KRBA)
Take Back Kentucky
League of Kentucky Property Owners
freedom.org
Jefferson Review
Congressman Ron Paul
Take Back Florida
Sovereignty International, Inc.
Libertarian Party of Kentucky
Meade County Citizens for Better Government
http://www.cpky.org/
Kentucky Motorcycle Assoc. / K.B.A.
Take Back Maryland
These groups are among the most extreme, xenophobic, homophobic and gender and racial hostile groups in the country. Paul has not publicly said that he supports or receives support from any of these groups. He doesn't have too. He's their champion and the takebackkentucky site makes that amply clear.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge (Middle Passage Press).
Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge (Middle Passage Press).
Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson