Reason Writers on TV: Brian Doherty Talks Ron Paul and Iowa on CNN

Reason Staff | 12.21.2011 10:15 PM

Reason Senior Editor Brian Doherty (author of the forthcoming book Ron Paul's Revolution) on CNN's Erin Burnett Show tonight, talking Ron Paul, Iowa, and the already notorious interview walkout, with fellow guests Gloria Borger and John Avlon:

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SIV 13 years ago

Nothing about the old newsletters?
Doktor Kapitalism 13 years ago

Paul's well ahead in Iowa, by RealClearPolitics' reckoning.

http://www.realclearpolitics.c.....-1588.html
1. Rasmussen 13 years ago
  
  Iowa: Romney 25% Paul 20% Gingrich 17%
  
  Come writers and critics who prophecy with your pen,
  And keep your eyes wide; the chance won't come again,
  And don't speak too soon 'cause the wheel's still in spin,
  And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'...
  1. Fluffy 13 years ago
    
    If even Rasmussen's push poll has Paul in second, Paul has a great shot to win.
2. Max 13 years ago
  
  Ron Paul better make it this time because by 2016 he'll probably be dead. Who will be the great libertoid hope then?
  1. Old Mexican 13 years ago
    
    Re: Arf Arf,
    
    Who will be the great libertoid hope then?
    
    Someone you will like, Max:
    
    Your mommy.
  2. Appalachian Australian 13 years ago
    
    Why does Max like the endless killing of innocent women and children abroad?
TexMac 13 years ago

Brian did good.
1. Juice 13 years ago
  
  It looked to me like they had him on to say good things about Paul so that it could be bookended by talking about the newsletters and showing the clip of him walking off again. That's the only reason they had him on it seems. They're playing a little psychology there, I think.
  
  *newletters* -guy defending Ron Paul- *walkoff* -3 talking heads talking about how gracious the interviewer was and what an asshat dipshit Ron Paul is- *thanks, Brian Doherty for being with us*
  1. ben 13 years ago
    
    Interviewer, to any honest soul, was a total douche.
    1. Atanarjuat 13 years ago
      
      No, she was gracious. Gracious!
      1. Atanarjuat 13 years ago
        
        You could tell how gracious she was by the way she was haranguing him even as he was leaving.
2. jj 13 years ago
  
  I agree that Brian did phenomenally. Thanks for being a voice for us.
3. Max 13 years ago
  
  At what? Sticking his head up his fat ass and whistling in the dark?
  1. Spencer 13 years ago
    
    Is MAX going to go further down the insult chain and time goes along and team blue keeps losing?
Juice 13 years ago

"You were very gracious. He was very defensive."
1. Doktor Kapitalism 13 years ago
  
  People get defensive when attacked. Something leftists will never understand...
  1. Heroic Mulatto 13 years ago
    
    People get defensive when attacked.
    
    Especially when they are attacked with innuendo and misleading half-truths.
    1. ben 13 years ago
      
      "You were very gracious. He was very defensive."
      
      That was V for Vendetta style journalism.
Doktor Kapitalism 13 years ago

Gloria Borger could die tomorrow...and the world would be a better place without that kind of hypocrit.

If anyone had applied this sort of scrutiny to anything Obama had ever said, they would have been out for blood.
1. Juice 13 years ago
  
  Remember the dude who was suspended and forced to apologize for saying that Obama was being kind of a dick?
2. Crystal Method 13 years ago
  
  Obama received a month of abuse for the "bitter clingers" comments.
  
  And he is correct.
  1. CalebT 13 years ago
    
    I would argue that the "bitter clingers" comments made by Obama were both a) newly discovered and b) had not been given a explanation; whereas, the Paul newsletter are both a) 20 years old and b) had already received scrutiny as recently as 2008.
    
    But, if the newsletter are the unraveling of Paul's campaign, I would like someone to explain to me how the country was able to get passed the "clingers comments", Reverend Wright, and Bill Ayers with regards to Obama.
    1. Bones 13 years ago
      
      It's good that these things are happening now. Christmas is in 5 days, no one's watching anything about this right now, everyone who is actually looking for IA Caucus news (and that's not many people) are only seeing headlines about Newt and Mitt so Ron can skate under the radar even with this only thing they can attack him with.
      
      If he wins IA, NH will show up so quickly, they'll barely have a second to bring it up. And then they'll be on to SC and FL and NV and he'll either be leading, in close second, or completely out of it by then. Their stories will all be about shock and shakeup in the GOP, etc. These things won't show up again until he wins the nomination and then even if the newsletters never existed he'd still be called racist for wanting to end entitlements. The timing of this works in his favor.
      1. SIV 13 years ago
        
        That's about it.
    2. In The Tank 13 years ago
      
      You seem to have forgotten your history. These are the same people who went on a political feeding frenzy over whether Jack Kemp had ever slept with a dude over twenty years before his run in the primaries for President in 1988. These are the same people who in 1992 then completely ignored Clinton's numerous acknowledged past extramarital affairs because that was supposedly old news that wasn't important to anyone.
      
      If Ron Paul were running as a Democrat, we would never hear about the racist newsletters, his anti-Semitic bosom buddies, his Nazi supporters, his open support for Iranian terrorists and Hamas, or his nutty pandering to 9/11 Truthers from any of them.
      
      If Teh 0ne had run as a Republican, we'd have been hearing all about his Islamist roots, his lack of a birth certificate, his invalid Social Security number, his "clingers" comments, his gay affair with domestic terrorist and mass murderer Bill Ayers, the ghost-writing of Dreams From My Father, and his racist Reverend Wright 24/7 right up to the day he went down in flaming defeat against the Thompson/Palin 2008 ticket.
      
      (No, those wouldn't all be true stories. Neither were all the ones they told about Herman Cain. That doesn't mean you suckers wouldn't fall for them, though.)
      1. capitol l 13 years ago
        
        Yeah, you hardly ever heard about those Clinton sex scandals!
        
        /sarcasm
        
        Bob Livingston 13 years ago
        
        Yeah, like it cost that fucker anything. Teflon with fucking bounce back.
        
        In The Tank 13 years ago
        
        ...until after he was elected. Then they were running all kinds of bits about how much they approved of him for getting a hummer and what a jerk Ken Starr was for daring to prosecute their beloved ass-sucking pervert. (They also conveniently neglected to mention Clinton's rimjobs among some of the uglier parts of Ken Starr's report on the subject.)
        
        You suckers bought that one too. I still hear from leftards crowing about the high approval ratings that slimeball got while he was in office. You've earned your current suffering in full for falling for such stupid lies; prepare to watch your current crush get the same treatment Hillary Clinton got in 2008 when their latest crush came along and she happened to be in the way.
CalebT 13 years ago

"Mr. Romney, tell me, did you believe the Mormon Church's pre-1978 doctrine regarding black people?"

Oh?! Borger didn't ask that when Romney was the front-runner? Oh, but I thought that was the kind of scrutiny you get when you're the front-runner.
1. In The Tank 13 years ago
  
  Just hold your water; they're probably saving that one for the general election if he gets nominee.
  
  Either that, or "Romney, when are you going to apologize for molesting a penguin?"
Heroic Mulatto 13 years ago

Everyone needs to just chill.
1. Doktor Kapitalism 13 years ago
  
  Explain to me why Professor Elemental was the first two suggestions. I love chap hop as much as the next guy, but those aren't really so related.
  1. Heroic Mulatto 13 years ago
    
    The guy who plays guitar in that video directed Prof. E's two videos.
    1. Mr. FIFY 13 years ago
      
      I loves me some Professor Elemental.
Banjos 13 years ago

This is just too fucking adorable.
1. PantsFan 13 years ago
  
  You think that's something?
  This is something.
  1. Banjos 13 years ago
    
    Awesome, now I know what I want for Christmas.
  2. mr simple 13 years ago
    
    That's a pet that earns his keep. My cats balk when I ask them to do something easy like make the bed.
Brian Brady 13 years ago

What I enjoyed was Gloria's honesty:

"well, this is what you get. These are the kind of questions you get, when your the REPUBLICAN front-runner..."

Gloria was honest. Had she just said "front runner", she would have had to answer for how an Illinois State Senator, with two hockey seasons in the US Senate, was elected President, with so little vetting
1. Doktor Kapitalism 13 years ago
  
  Bu bu bu but...he's the Chosen One. by Our TOP. MEN.\
  
  And he's not-white, so he must be perfect!!!@!@@!!1!!!!@22!!!@!1!!~!!1!11!1!
Doktor Kapitalism 13 years ago

Paul could best refute the newsletters by action, such as asking Walter Williams to be his Veep.
1. Billy Dee Williams 13 years ago
  
  ?
  1. Mr. FIFY 13 years ago
    
    Meh. Walter Williams is an Uncle Tom in the eyes of Team Blue, and that move would be seen as cynically as McCain's choice of Palin - not to compare Palin to Williams, who is a brilliant man.
chris 13 years ago

To get passed this, Paul needs to give a big anti-racism speech, and then those who would keep asking those question would look like partisan hacks, as joe boyle insisted we were when Obama took to this strategy. Worked then, who knows?
1. Old Soldier 13 years ago
  
  The newsletters aren't going to cost him anything.
  
  Unfortunately for Paul, this will.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pbSCT2SE6U
  
  Stupid crap like calling Bradley Manning a Patriot will perpetuate the image that Paul is an anti-American crank.
  
  If RP had competent campaign management, he would be spinning on this thing right now.
  1. Lost_In_Translation 13 years ago
    
    Would someone please get a basket of puppies for Paul. For the love of god!
  2. Juice 13 years ago
    
    It didn't cost him my vote. Hell, saying that in the middle of a presidential run took MAJOR BRASS BALLS.
chris 13 years ago

Nice beard, Mr. D.

Gloria had a pained, 'I hate myself for being such a tool' expression on her face during that entire segment. Kind of felt for the ol' lass.
1. Atanarjuat 13 years ago
  
  I would guess she's mostly just enjoying the exposure.
Ken Shultz 13 years ago

Doherty's better at defending Ron Paul than Ron Paul!

I vote for Doherty.
1. Old Mexican 13 years ago
  
  Re: Ken,
  
  It wasn't much of a defense, K. He was just stating the obvious. At NO point did he jump in to put Mrs. Vulgar in her place, despite the obvious lies she told about who supposedly authored the WTC bombing.
  1. Ken Shultz 13 years ago
    
    How much better did he do than Ron Paul?
Oceanno69 13 years ago

newt makes money off bailouts and that IS news. Something that was wrote 20 years ago under a publication that had Ron Paul's name on it is Top page News for Months. It's like asking Ron Paul OVER and OVER are you going to run as an independent? This kind of hack journalism is not worth the Voting Americans Time! You have wasted enough of my time on your propaganda for years.
anonoped 13 years ago

This is so much more important than the economic Armageddon around the corner.
anonoped 13 years ago

But CNN made money off of filming children being murdered by US soldiers for the last 10 years.

Which is more despicable?
Shake 13 years ago

The Ron Paul "Revolution" is full of lunatics, racists, neo-confederates, Birchers, Truthers, and other far right fringe kooks. There's a mountain of evidence that he panders to these people and shares many (if not most of) their beliefs. Frankly, the newsletters aren't even the main problem with Paul, and that's basically the only thing anybody at Reason has ever criticized him about.

The problem really is the entire Murray Rothbard wing of libertarianism - almost all of them believe this shit and they take their marching orders from scum like Lew Rockwell. Repeating the same trite talking points won't make the crazy go away (nor will it convince the American people that Ron Paul is actually sane).
1. chris 13 years ago
  
  Please continue. Being someone's bogeyman is actually quite fun. You got any babies for me to eat? Will you come down here under your bed and fluff my pillow for me? I wont bite. Tee hee hee.
2. Banjos 13 years ago
  
  Ahhh, is the little cosmotarian upset that we are embarrassing him in front of his socialite friends? Suck my clit, douchey.
  1. Mr. FIFY 13 years ago
    
    Yeah. Every single Paul supporter is just like you described them.
    
    Stupid prick.
  2. Heroic Mulatto 13 years ago
    
    Suck my clit, douchey.
    
    No, no! You're supposed to insult him, not offer him something desirable!
3. Ken Shultz 13 years ago
  
  It's funny, because when I mention to my fellow cosmos, around here, that we should go out of our way to be more sensitive to women, minorities, etc., I typically get a really nasty reaction from them...
  
  ...but somehow if you couch the same argument in terms that bash the Rockwell/Paul nexus? They feel my beat, tap their feet, and start jumping all over my dance floor!
  
  We shouldn't be ripping each other apart. This is the time of year when we should all be getting together... The objectivists, the anarcho-capitalists, the Free State people, the cosmotarians and, yes, even the Paultards!
  
  We should we all hold hands and wish each other a merry fuckin' Christmas.
  1. chris 13 years ago
    
    Amen. Don't ever take any cantankerous grief I give you for dislike. I like you more than half my own family.
  2. Apatheist 13 years ago
    
    Merry Fucking Christmas Ken Schultz.
    
    You cunt.
  3. ben 13 years ago
    
    Sorry, Ken, the only one actually left, as of now, in your Libertarian wheelhouse, is Ron Paul. Either back him and fight for him or go Neocon with Newt/Romney and watch the US get flushed banker/hard into an Iran WW III proxy war with China. On the souls of all I know, you are a Neocon posing as a Libertarian. Fu#@ you!
    1. Apatheist 13 years ago
      
      He's not a neocon he's just a concern troll who gets butthurt very easily.
      1. ben 13 years ago
        
        what is a "concern troll"?
        
        Apatheist 13 years ago
        
        http://www.urbandictionary.com.....cern+troll
        
        Beano 13 years ago
        
        And is it a kissing cousin of the cliche troll?
      2. Ken Shultz 13 years ago
        
        Pointing out that it's strategically foolish for libertarians to say things that alienate women and minorities isn't being easily "but hurt".
        
        If you imagine that being called names is so painful, then maybe you're the one that's overly sensitive. Is that how your world works? Do you keep quiet because people might call you names?
    2. Ken Shultz 13 years ago
      
      "On the souls of all I know, you are a Neocon posing as a Libertarian. Fu#@ you!"
      
      A neocon who damned the Bush Administration to hell for their stupid Reverse Domino Theory?
      
      A neocon who opposed the Iraq War on pragmatic (as well as humanitarian) grounds?
      
      Oh, makes it feel like the good ol' days--when I used to get denounced as a paleoconservative--and a terrorist sympathizing liberal--all in the same thread!
      
      I'm just a pragmatist on foreign policy. I've been denouncing and ridiculing necons around here for eight years...
      
      The souls of all you know are in big trouble.
    3. Lost_In_Translation 13 years ago
      
      ben, you don't know Ken shultz. I sorta of know Ken Schultz. And I'm reasonably certain you're no Ken Schultz.
  4. Lost_In_Translation 13 years ago
    
    We should...but we won't...sigh
    
    *kicks pebble*
4. The Angry RPh 13 years ago
  
  "....they take their marching orders from scum like Lew Rockwell."
  
  That reminds me, has anybody heard from Lew today? I'm due for an update.
5. ben 13 years ago
  
  Such BS, you discredit yourself!
6. LuLu Rockwell 13 years ago
  
  Speak for yourself. We take our marching orders from al-Qaeda!
7. JeremyR 13 years ago
  
  Even if he did - so what, exactly?
  
  That's the crazy thing about attacks like this - the whole premise of libertarianism is that the federal government leaves people alone as much as possible.
  
  How exactly will minorities be harmed by less government intrusion into their lives? By legalizing drugs (which locks up minorities disproportionately).
  
  By letting honest minority member have access to guns (gun control started off as a Jim Crow law, basically)?
  
  I mean, that's why libertarianism is basically the opposite of fascism - it doesn't want to govern the people - it wants them to do it themselves. And it takes away the power from the government so it can't oppress people.
8. Fluffy 13 years ago
  
  I read Rockwell's blog all the time, and it would be just fine with me if Paul shares "most" of Lew's beliefs.
  
  Lew's kind of a prick sometimes, but who ISN'T a prick online?
  
  The Truthers are wrong, but it's not like they're evil. They're no worse than any American who believes in UFO's or angels.
  
  What did the Truthers ever do to anyone? Nothing. But the War Party wants to act like they're Nazi child molesters who shit in wells.
  1. Shake 13 years ago
    
    First of all, I never claimed that a majority of Ron Paul's supporters believe this crap, but many of them do. The point is, the newsletters are just a symptom of the larger problem in that wing of libertarianism, and Reason ignores this because it's inconvenient (and because some of them agree with parts of it, like the anarchism and anti-Americanism).
    
    And regarding the comment about Rockwell, there's a serious cult of personality around the guy (and Rothbard, of course). The cult-followers even love to repeat his talking points and insults ("cosmotarian" and "beltway libertarian" are particular favorites). Just look at the comment threads on here whenever Ron Paul faces any kind of scrutiny or criticism, no matter how mild. Rockwell and his minions also get pissy if Reason doesn't praise Rothbard enough.
    
    Finally, criticizing Ron Paul doesn't mean that one supports neoconservatism or socialism or whatever else people like to suggest (this is another favorite meme of the Rothbardians). Despite Ron Paul's massive flaws, I'd rather have him as President than almost every other person running.
9. CrackertyAssCracker 13 years ago
  
  What exactly is "this shit" that I apparently believe, that you are referring too?
Apatheist 13 years ago

James Kirchick: "The movement's obsession with consistency is actually a mark of paranoia."

Not a paraphrase.

http://www.tnr.com/article/pol.....an-bigotry
1. chris 13 years ago
  
  Funny thing. I was reading something of his earlier where he went on about the newsletters going into the subject of the irresponsibility of gays in regards to AIDS risk. Is Kirchick such a young pup that he isn't aware that was the signature theme of Andrew Sullivan's when he made a name for himself as editor-in-chief of the New Republic? The quotes sounded so familiar to me, I bet Sullivan would have a case for libel against Paul!
  1. chris 13 years ago
    
    Copyright infringement not libel. I'm silly drunk on nog.
2. Apatheist 13 years ago
  
  And in the other corner John fucking Kass:
  
  http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....028.column
  
  I've never heard to this guy but this article is an epic beatdown on the republican establishment, the mainstream media and Obama.
  1. Voros McCracken 13 years ago
    
    Kass is the "heir-apparent" of sorts to Mike Royko in Chicago. Royko was certainly left of Kass, but the beat for both was the illumination of what goes on in Chicago's City Hall and both were super-critical of what they saw (obviously).
    
    Needless to say, the local politicians _loathe_ him even more than Royko, because Royko was at least notionally a Democrat (albeit a cynical). Kass isn't.
3. Treg 13 years ago
  
  Yep, everything is coming from a neoliberal The New Republic mag. Its a hit attack by the PC police. Everything out of context. Its appalling. Wiki the definition of racism TNR, learn the meaning.
4. CrackertyAssCracker 13 years ago
  
  That is pretty good. The fact that he is a two faced ahole makes me paranoid. Sorry man, I'd be paranoid even if you weren't a two faced ahole.
Treg 13 years ago

John and Gloria Borger think this is "high level scrutiny"... its SPIN. Its spin because the Newsletter DID NOT SAY THAT. I had to go find it and read it all myself. Gloria and others should be required to READ the whole 4 paragraphs out loud on air and then apologize to Doctor Ron Paul. What a sham. Is CNN now Fox News?
Max 13 years ago

If Ron Paul bashed somebody's head in with a axe, Doherty would assume that the victim actually attacked the axe with his head.
1. A Serious Man 13 years ago
  
  Arf arf arf arf arf arf arf!!!!!
Hollywood 13 years ago

There is much discussion of our decision to title a movie White Men Can't Jump for which we are really, really sorry. The script was passed around so often no one really knows who came up with the racist title. It was twenty years ago, and we've been over this many times. We were paying too much attention to Rosie Perez's titties that we let that one slip by us.
Old Mexican 13 years ago

I wrote the newsletters.
1. Barry Manilow 13 years ago
  
  ...that make the whole world sing!
paco 13 years ago

If you go to CNN.com right now, you'll notice that this article - http://politicalticker.blogs.c.....?hpt=hp_t2 - is the only one on their front page that you can't see responses for. What does that tell you?
A Serious Man 13 years ago

Gloria Bulger = cunt. No way was she being fair during that exchange. Ron Paul gave a perfectly acceptable answer: I didn't write it and I didn't read it because I was busy practicing medicine and just wasn't thinking about it.

She was clearly trying to goade him into admitting that it's reasonable for people think he is a racist and that's just bullshit. It's a sorry excuse for journalism and I'm glad Brian gave such a good defense, even if CNN will ignore it.
RoboCain 13 years ago

"notorious interview walkout"

First he "storms". Now it's "notorious". It's too bad no one ever put together a book where people could look up what words mean.
1. Lost_In_Translation 13 years ago
  
  Maybe its like rapper Notorious B.I.G.
  
  They're just playing ron to the right crowd.
  
  Question: Was the above racist?
  1. Ted S. 13 years ago
    
    Don't you mean the Notorious D.E.A.D.?
Citizen Nothing 13 years ago

Uh -- I told you so. (Sorry)
for once, finally, 13 years ago

whole hearted unapologetic defense of paul without fearing to appear biased.. thank you reason

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