“I am unalterably opposed to discrimination of any sort”, do you agree or disagree?

When did I mention affirmative action? You say the 1964 Civil Rights Act supports the position of political conservatives, yet the fact of the matter is that political conservatives opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act. What was the ideological orientation of the southern Democratic segregationist politicians? Most of them were politically conservative. (A notable exception was U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, who did all he could to sabatoge the war effort in Vietnam. I like to refer to him as "Senator Half Bright.") What has always been the ideological orientation of the Ku Klux Klan? Yes, they have always been politically conservative. In fact, Jim Crow was set up and defended by political conservatives. A notable exception there was USSC Justice John Marshall Harlan.

I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not a liberal either. I have no political allegiances. On the issue of abortion, I'm pro-life. I support the 2nd Amendment and sympathize with law-abiding gun owners. I'm opposed to marriage licenses being given to homosexual and lesbian couples, if only for the reason that marriage is an exclusive institution. As a nonveteran shall I claim veterans benefits and say that it's not fair that I don't receive them, too? I have no problem with murderers being executed. I'm disgusted with the ACLU representing NAMBLA for free. I even favor the censoring of pornography, which makes me a reactionary (I guess) on this issue. So, politically I can't be pigeonholed. Now that I've identified some of my political positions and surely have angered both sides, probably most of the members of this website who read my comments are going to hate me. But it's fun!

He seemed dumbstruck when asked to defend his position on MSNBC. Like a thief holding stolen goods.

It seems pretty evident that you don't either.

I believe you are rewriting history. Wallace said, "Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." Again, when did I even mention affirmative action? Strange, but many of the older conservatives who came out against affirmative action when it became an issue had had no problem with even the most extreme forms of racial discrimination under Jim Crow. Did any white conservatives ever object to black combat veterans being denied treatment for snakebites simply because of their race? I don't believe so. I ought to know. I grew up under Jim Crow. By the way, is this a form of discrimination that whites historically have ever been subjected to? I will say, though, that I agree with Jeff Greenfield when he said (and I may not be remembering this verbatim), "On the issue of race, hypocrisy spans the political spectrum -- right, left, and middle."

All the more reason Rand Paul deserves credit for finally speaking truth. I think you've mistaken the intent of Brown's postings, he / she knows the Wallace quote but he can't understand that "segregation" and "affirmative action" are 2 sides of the same coin. He thinks he's being funny when he's just being bigoted.

Whatever his reasons he should have been applauded and given a medal. "the war effort" what a crock of ****! It was just another terrorist action.

I'm not arguing the case for or against the FCC. I just brought it up to illustrate the horse-and-buggy case as an example of the monopoly exception criterion to private property rights.

Maybe it was a bad example, I got no argument with you there. I'm sure you can explain the exception better, I was just quoting Judge Bork as I made it abundantly clear.

Hubris on your part to presume my interest in your thread (let alone your pedanticism) except to note: "lighten up".

The same old meme wrapped up in some new toilet paper.

Rand Paul's "truth" was firmly stuck in his craw and he just didn't seem to be able to explain his way around his bigotry.

There is no "monopoly exception" to private property rights. Common carriers are required to accept all customers, without discrimination, because they're common carriers, not because they're monopolies.

Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas might have gotten somewhere in saving us from the Vietnam follies if LBJ wasn't so gung-ho to pass his Civil Rights legislation.

Ordinarily, I'm adverse to participating in a political discourse. If Rand Paul had merely identified his views about blah, blah, blah, I wouldn't have bothered posting. What got me riled up was his comment that he would have marched with Martin Luther King Jr. Oh, yeah, I'm sure of that! Those are nothing more than cheap words from a slick politician. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was not exactly popular. Those who spoke out against Jim Crow, white and black, often suffered persecution. In the early sixties when I was in elementary school, the father of one of my friends was an attorney who represented black plaintiffs in discrimination suits. Sometimes he and his siblings had to be escorted to school by the police because of death threats on their family. I read somewhere that about 80 civil rights workers were murdered during that period. Again, where were the conservatives? Phyllis Schlafly and many other conservative activists clearly sympathized with the segregationists.

Exactly. I thought I'd made that clear, obviously I didn't. My example was a bad one, I've admitted that much already.

You'll have to wait for a while for a reply, Joe, at least until EM get the next missive from the group email gang.

What group e-mail?

I'm not sure how the two are connected. Have you received a tea party memo explaining this?

The problem is that so many of the conservatives who later opposed affirmative action never had any problem with racial segregation or even the most vicious forms of discrimination under Jim Crow. I'm not defending affirmative action. In my earlier posts in this topic, I didn't even mention it. I'm just pointing out the historical hypocrisy of political conservatives on this issue. It's just like political liberals who say that they are personally opposed to abortion but don't want to impose their moral views upon others. (Yes, I'm pro-life.) Regarding these two different issues, both groups are hypocritical.

I agree with you there. My guess is he was trying to defend himself from relentless attacks by the left, but I don't speak for him.

But the fact remains that more Republicans than Democrats voted for Civil Rights legislation when the roll was called. It would never have passed otherwise.

Speaking of "bigoted," many of the white political conservatives I knew as I was growing up were most definitely racially bigoted.

Do you get the impression that Foxfyre has returned with a new username?
(that's the impression I have)