jct74
05-04-2015, 10:16 AM
Paul on Urban Protests: 'We Need to Understand Where It's Coming From'
The senator takes another stab at explaining the civil unrest.
by David Weigel
May 4, 2015 12:07 PM EDT
He'd taken heat for a dark joke about the civil unrest in Baltimore. He'd generally stayed quiet on the topic, to the surprise of civil libertarians. On Monday, finally, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul used a campaign rally in Michigan to expand his remarks.
"You wonder why people are unhappy in our cities?" he asked an audience in Grand Rapids. "Some aren't doing it right. Some are protesting violently, and there's no excuse for violence, but the thing is, there is an unhappiness. Those of us who don't live in poverty, we need to understand where it's coming from."
Paul's plea for understanding was reminiscent of what he'd said for years, before a radio interview with Laura Ingraham led to accusations of glibness. “I came through the train on Baltimore last night,” Paul had said. “I’m glad the train didn’t stop." By week's end, campaign advisers were assuring reporters and allies that the senator did not mean to minimize what had happened to Freddie Gray, or why citizens had broken curfews to protest.
The old Paul made a triumphant, libertarian return to Grand Rapids. Most of his remarks focused on civil and police issues, from urban unrest to the National Security Agency to civil forfeiture. "I want us to be the party of the entire Bill of Rights," Paul said. "That means the Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment as well." He invoked the 1996 story of Richard Jewell, a security guard whose reputation was shredded–on false pretenses–after he located bombs aimed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
"Think if Richard Jewell had been a black man in the South in the 1920s," said Paul. "White kids do drugs as much as black kids do them, but everybody in prison is black or brown."
...
read more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-04/paul-on-urban-protests-we-need-to-understand-where-it-s-coming-from-
The senator takes another stab at explaining the civil unrest.
by David Weigel
May 4, 2015 12:07 PM EDT
He'd taken heat for a dark joke about the civil unrest in Baltimore. He'd generally stayed quiet on the topic, to the surprise of civil libertarians. On Monday, finally, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul used a campaign rally in Michigan to expand his remarks.
"You wonder why people are unhappy in our cities?" he asked an audience in Grand Rapids. "Some aren't doing it right. Some are protesting violently, and there's no excuse for violence, but the thing is, there is an unhappiness. Those of us who don't live in poverty, we need to understand where it's coming from."
Paul's plea for understanding was reminiscent of what he'd said for years, before a radio interview with Laura Ingraham led to accusations of glibness. “I came through the train on Baltimore last night,” Paul had said. “I’m glad the train didn’t stop." By week's end, campaign advisers were assuring reporters and allies that the senator did not mean to minimize what had happened to Freddie Gray, or why citizens had broken curfews to protest.
The old Paul made a triumphant, libertarian return to Grand Rapids. Most of his remarks focused on civil and police issues, from urban unrest to the National Security Agency to civil forfeiture. "I want us to be the party of the entire Bill of Rights," Paul said. "That means the Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment as well." He invoked the 1996 story of Richard Jewell, a security guard whose reputation was shredded–on false pretenses–after he located bombs aimed at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
"Think if Richard Jewell had been a black man in the South in the 1920s," said Paul. "White kids do drugs as much as black kids do them, but everybody in prison is black or brown."
...
read more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-04/paul-on-urban-protests-we-need-to-understand-where-it-s-coming-from-