The Usually Good Business Insider Slams Rand Paul

[bobbyw24]

Please Comment to Defend Rand

The GOP has a major problem on its hands by the name of Jim Bunning, the lame-duck Senator who is now using all his power to stand up for his principles, obstruct everything, and generally make his party look bad.
But the party brought this problem onto itself, when it pressured Bunning to retire.

Now this lame-duck is freerolling with nothing to lose, building up a cult following in the process.

But after November the nightmare will be over, right?

Not so fast.

For who should be his replacement? That will likely be Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul. And remember, we're talking about the Senate here. In the House, Ron Paul is one of 435 voices -- albet it a very loud one.

Rand -- which is short for Randall, and we assume so-named due to his father's affinity for Ayn Rand, though we're not sure -- will be a Senator with all the rights Bunning has to turn a "no" vote into something much more powerful.

http://www.businessinsider.com/rand-paul-2010-3

[BamaFanNKy]

and we assume so-named due to his father's affinity for Ayn Rand,

Great reporting. Eh, these guys are worried more about "looking bad" than being Principled.

[steined]

It was great to see the use of the word "principals" from a "reporter" or "journalist" instead of "principles". How would he know the difference right?

They also did a great job "researching" the origin of Rand's name: YouTube - Rand Paul on Ayn Rand and his name (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfQ04fmj9oc)

Wow... I wish I had his job. Make shit up, generate typos, have readers correct me, and get paid. Nice work if you can get it.

[jmdrake]

Eh. I took it as a complement. Bunning is standing up for his principles, that's making the GOP nervous, and Rand is expected to do the same but on steroids. In another article Business Insider was practically begging Ron Paul to stop a suspected bailout plan to Greece.

[John Taylor]

Eh. I took it as a complement. Bunning is standing up for his principles, that's making the GOP nervous, and Rand is expected to do the same but on steroids. In another article Business Insider was practically begging Ron Paul to stop a suspected bailout plan to Greece.

I think it's a compliment as well, and it burnishes Rand's outsider, principled, conservative bonafides.

[bobbyw24]

Eh. I took it as a complement. Bunning is standing up for his principles, that's making the GOP nervous, and Rand is expected to do the same but on steroids. In another article Business Insider was practically begging Ron Paul to stop a suspected bailout plan to Greece.

Good view on this

[KramerDSP]

It was great to see the use of the word "principals" from a "reporter" or "journalist" instead of "principles". How would he know the difference right?

They also did a great job "researching" the origin of Rand's name: YouTube - Rand Paul on Ayn Rand and his name (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfQ04fmj9oc)

Wow... I wish I had his job. Make shit up, generate typos, have readers correct me, and get paid. Nice work if you can get it.

I have a favor to ask to anyone who has the time to do this. Could you transcribe the two minutes plus of Rand talking about why he has that for a nickname? I'd then be able to subtitle the video. It'll be a nice link to throw at my friends who will inevitably whine things like "ZOMG Ron Paul named his son Rand?!? ZOMG". Thanks.

[RM918]

I know plenty of guys named Randal and their parents probably never even heard of Ayn Rand.

[Austin]

I have a favor to ask to anyone who has the time to do this. Could you transcribe the two minutes plus of Rand talking about why he has that for a nickname? I'd then be able to subtitle the video. It'll be a nice link to throw at my friends who will inevitably whine things like "ZOMG Ron Paul named his son Rand?!? ZOMG". Thanks.

Here ya go.


Good afternoon, welcome to randpaul2010.com - Now part of me says I should explain the thing about my name: Rand Paul. And part of me has enjoyed so much all the stories and controversy about my name that I've thought "maybe I should just be quiet because then I can continue to see all of these stories on the internet."

Well, my name my mother gave me was Randal, and for many years as a kid I was Randy. And then when I got married, my wife actually shortened my name to Rand; we dropped the 'y'. But the interesting thing is that neither one of us, even though both of us are fans of Ayn Rand, no one really thought that much that everyone would ask us questions about Ayn Rand. And, we did this, I think in the early 90's, and I had a taxpayer group: North Carolina Tax Payers United, that I had started. And we did a press conference and gave out awards to some conservative legislatures in Raleigh. And when we did, we got called by the Durham Sun, and the first question from the first reporter I talked to as an adult doing my own thing, asked me if I was named after Ayn Rand. And so the story has gone on and on, and there are many stories out there on the internet, most all of them apocryphal, some of them saying I have legally changed my name.

No, I just shortened my name. I was always Randal, and really there was no intention by my parents or myself.

But, I am a big fan of Ayn Rand. I have read all of her novels and she actually spurred me on to other books that I was interested in. One of her authors that she liked was, that she turned me on to was Dostoevsky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky). And actually two of my favorite novels are The Brothers Karamazov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Karamazov_%28novel%29) and Crime and Punishment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_and_Punishment). And I really consider them to be two of the greatest novels of all time.

But I did cut my teeth on Ayn Rand in high school and moved onto Dostoevsky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky), read a lot of the different free market, Austrian economists who were sort of fellow travelers with Ayn Rand. One of the ones I was lucky enough to meet through the years is Murray Rothbard. And when he came and spoke to interns in the early 1980s in Washington, I was privileged enough to drive him back to the airport and got to talk to him about things. And Murray Rothbard was actually a close associate of Ayn Rand’s at one time, and then sort of had a parting of ways, like many did over sort of, probably minor and petty differences. But it was interesting to hear his personal stories about knowing Ayn Rand.

I never met Ayn Rand. I think my father may have met her one time but didn't know her closely. I always enjoyed her novels, but no, I was not named after Ayn Rand, although I do have a great deal of respect for her. Thanks for coming randpaul2010.com and I hope you'll come back.