Wash Post Article, "There appears to be a rift in the House of Paul"

[Reason]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/08/ron-paul-rands-his-own-man.html

Ron Paul: Rand's his own man on the 'mosque' issue

By Emi Kolawole
There appears to be a rift in the House of Paul. Republican Rep. Ron Paul has split with his son Rand over the mosque near Ground Zero, formally known as the Cordoba House.
The senior Paul, in a statement released Friday (http://www.ronpaul.com/2010-08-20/ron-paul-sunshine-patriots-stop-your-demagogy-about-the-nyc-mosque/), ripped into opponents of the religious and cultural center. In the statement Paul compares lawmakers to the infamous Emperor Nero, "It looks to me like the politicians are 'fiddling while the economy burns,'" and goes on to blame the neo-conservative movement for fueling the controversy, "They never miss a chance to use hatred toward Muslims to rally support for the ill conceived preventative wars." Paul concludes:



"This is all about hate and Islamaphobia. We now have an epidemic of "sunshine patriots" on both the right and the left who are all for freedom, as long as there's no controversy and nobody is offended. Political demagoguery rules when truth and liberty are ignored." But among those criticized in the senior Paul's statement is his son, Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul, who told TPMDC (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/rand-paul-muslims-should-give-to-911-victims-fund-instead-of-whining-about-cordoba.php) he does not support the construction of the mosque:

"While this is a local matter that should be decided by the people of New York, Dr. Paul does not support a mosque being built two blocks from Ground Zero," Paul spokesperson Gary Howard told TPMDC. "In Dr. Paul's opinion, the Muslim community would better serve the healing process by making a donation to the memorial fund for the victims of September 11th."
Talking Points Memo reports (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/ron-paul-on-cordoba-house-split-rand-is-his-own-man.php) that when Rep. Paul was asked about the apparent disagreement with his son, a spokesman said via e-mail, "Rand Paul is his own man."

[specsaregood]

And there we have the binary choices they want to feed us: support or oppose.
"does not support" != "oppose"

The 3rd option: neither support nor oppose.

[ashura]

And there we have the binary choices they want to feed us: support or oppose.
"does not support" != "oppose"

The 3rd option: neither support nor oppose.

Agreed. The concept of the mosque simultaneously being a bad idea and being absolutely legal completely flies over their heads. At no point has Rand said that the property rights of those behind the mosque should be denied.

[TheDriver]

The so called journalists that make up today's media must have aspired to be soap-opera writers at a young age, judging by their target of attention.

[Deborah K]

Agreed. The concept of the mosque simultaneously being a bad idea and being absolutely legal completely flies over their heads. At no point has Rand said that the property rights of those behind the mosque should be denied.

This.

[Matt Collins]

Would someone please quote what Rand has actually said on the issue?

[Matt Collins]

"Dr. Paul does not support a mosque being built two blocks from Ground Zero" is NOT the same thing as "Dr Paul believes a mosque should be prohibited from being built at GZ".

[Bruno]

Interesting that previously Ron Paul's positions were scoffed at and mocked in the media, and now NOT having his views is.

[Sola_Fide]

"Dr. Paul does not support a mosque being built two blocks from Ground Zero" is NOT the same thing as "Dr Paul believes a mosque should be prohibited from being built at GZ".



^^^exactly.



This is just the MSM trying to manufacture a controversy that doesn't exist between Ron and Rand.

[sailingaway]

They would LIKE for there to be a rift, and are playing it for all it is worth. I frankly like Ron's approach better, leaving any personal feelings out of it because his personal feelings are irrelevant to government action (which should stay out of it). But Rand's position is functionally the same as Ron's. Ron and Rand both pointed out it would have been better if Obama had stayed out of it, because that raised the topic to a level of controversy that was unnecessary. They just used different words.

[K466]

There is NO RIFT worthy of becoming news, but this makes some nice FREE PUBLICITY for the Pauls :D

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Frickin' Washington Compost. Give it up.

[rich34]

Can this get any more ridiculous? They're playing this shit up as if the mosque bullshit is some BIG issue! Our economy will sink overnight if you don't take a stand one way or the other. Pardon my french but the left is using this fucking issue like the right uses abortion. Rand needs to go on the offensive and put the damn pressure on Conway, but we all know the local media will not pick up any of the issues as fervently as they do when they're attacking Rand. Pure bullshit and I'm getting sick of it!

[Deborah K]

excerpt out of Chapter One of my book:


This war is not between Republicans and Democrats, or Liberals and Conservatives, or the left wing and the right wing. The media and the party representatives would love to have you believe that misleading notion. The media likes it because among other things, sordid stories about corrupt politicians create divisiveness, and increase their ratings. The government likes it because it’s such a great distraction from the truth; which is that while you’re looking the other way at the media-created circus shows, the government grows in size, strength, and power.