Rand Paul GOP nominee for the Kentucky Senate Seat was on The Rachel Maddow Show last night.
Rachel attempted to pin Dr. Paul on his position in regards to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The nugget is "does the federal government have the authority to outlaw the practice of discrimination in private businesses"
I have read a number of pieces on the interview and Mr. Paul and I found the piece below by Andrew Sullivan to especially good and I recommend it. I have often called myself an pragmatic progressive. There are many issues that I would be considered far left on, however, I accept certain political realities and I am prepared to calculate those realities into my political formulation. One might consider Andrew Sullivan as a pragmatic libertarian.
Andrew Sullivan on Rand Paul on Rachel Maddow
A comment that I came across from a blogger known as Atrios put this way.
Government regulates – and, of course, provides the necessary conditions for the existence of – private business in all kinds of ways. So when people have a particular concern about, say, the Civil Rights Act, as opposed to, say, parking requirements, it’s reasonable to wonder why.
I am not going to suggest Dr. Paul is a racist, he made the point several times that he is not. I think in this matter it probably is not important if he is personally a racist. As Sullivan points out what is more important is what the effect of the position is.
