Ron Paul Photo-Op With Stormfront Founder EDIT: kkk member added!

[Alonzo]

An LGF reader emailed this photograph, showing Ron Paul at the Values Voters Presidential Debate in Fort Lauderdale on September 17, 2007. Immediately to Paul’s left: Don Black, the owner of neo-Nazi hate site Stormfront. If anyone knows who the creepy guy in the hat is, please post a comment.

Update: it’s Derek Black, Don’s son.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/pictures/20071220RonPaulDonBlack.jpg

UPDATE at 12/20/07 5:17:22 pm:

Here’s another picture from the same event, showing Ron Paul signing an autograph for Derek Black:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/pictures/20071220RonPaulStormfront02.jpg

UPDATE at 12/20/07 9:48:41 pm:

And if you’re wondering where these photos came from, here’s the source: Stormfront (http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php/ron-paul-revolution-live-blimpvision-388512p326.html). (Google redirect page.) They were apparently taken by Stormfront member Jamie Kelso (http://kelso.stormfront.org/Kelsoimages/), with a Canon PowerShot SD1000 camera.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=28353&only

A little info on Don Black

Don Black is an American white nationalist. He is the founder and current webmaster of "Stormfront" internet forum.[1] He was the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and a member of the American Nazi Party in the 1970s.[2][3] He was convicted in 1981 for attempted armed overthrow of the Dominican government in violation of the U.S. Neutrality Act.[4][5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Black_(nationalist)

Also, an enhanded version of the first photo I found on the lone star times website:

http://lonestartimes.com/images/2007/12/rp-and-db.jpg

http://lonestartimes.com/2007/12/20/

EDIT:
Then there's this:

A Michigan leader and member of the Knight's Party faction of the Ku Klux Klan is involved in Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's Michigan campaign according to a recent article published at DailyKos.com. The Klan member--Randy Gray--was listed as campaign coordinator for the city of Midland.

Pictures from Ron Paul's Michigan website show Gray with Paul:

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/photos/011708-kkk_paul-01.jpg

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/photos/011708-kkk_paul-02.jpg

Gray--who posts on the racist website Stormfront.org--recently described his campaign activities on behalf of Paul:

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/photos/011708-kkk_paul-03.jpg

According the post, Gray has gone door-to-door, organized rallies, and attended meetings. Similarly, the post makes quite clear Gray's connections to the Ku Klux Klan, with it listing the airtimes for the "This is the Klan" program that he airs on Midland public access television as well as a reference to Michigan-based "Pastor" James Wickstrom. Wickstrom is a Christian Identity (a white supremacist religion) preacher who has advocated the annihilation of the Jewish people.

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/011708michi.php

I can't believe I didn't find all this stuff months ago!

[Mia]

I have a photo with Ron Paul too - does that mean he endorses everything I believe and my website?

[cronic]

figures the creepy guy in the hats name would have to be Derek..:shame:

[Buck Laser]

figures the creepy guy in the hats name would have to be Derek..:shame:
I dunno, but he sure looks a lot like Paul. :shock:

[Mia]

Unbelievable. He's a polite and personable guy. He signs autographs and books and agrees to be in photos with anyone who asks - and then creeps use this to try and smear him.

I should really just laugh instead of getting upset.

This is the worst thing people can put on him - can't find any REAL dirt like on every other candidate.

[Mia]

I personally watched black people wait for hours in line to shake his hand and have copies of his book signed by him.

Weird. Most blacks don't get behind racist leaders.

[Alonzo]

Then there's this:

A Michigan leader and member of the Knight's Party faction of the Ku Klux Klan is involved in Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul's Michigan campaign according to a recent article published at DailyKos.com. The Klan member--Randy Gray--was listed as campaign coordinator for the city of Midland.

Pictures from Ron Paul's Michigan website show Gray with Paul:

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/photos/011708-kkk_paul-01.jpg

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/photos/011708-kkk_paul-02.jpg

Gray--who posts on the racist website Stormfront.org--recently described his campaign activities on behalf of Paul:

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/photos/011708-kkk_paul-03.jpg

According the post, Gray has gone door-to-door, organized rallies, and attended meetings. Similarly, the post makes quite clear Gray's connections to the Ku Klux Klan, with it listing the airtimes for the "This is the Klan" program that he airs on Midland public access television as well as a reference to Michigan-based "Pastor" James Wickstrom. Wickstrom is a Christian Identity (a white supremacist religion) preacher who has advocated the annihilation of the Jewish people.

http://www.mediamouse.org/features/011708michi.php

I can't believe I didn't find all this stuff months ago!

[Alonzo]

I have to conclude one of four things.

One is that Ron Paul is a virulent racist, something which I don't really believe.

Two, that Ron Paul is mildly racist, he believe whites are superior, as a whole, but doesn't discriminate against individual minorities. That's possible.

Three, Ron Paul is simply ignorant of the people he works with and has no idea who's working on his campaign, writing under his name in his newsletter and who he associates with. Unlikely, but possible.

Four is that Ron Paul simply doesn't care if you're racist or not. If you'll work with him he'll accept you, whether you're a civil rights activist or the Grand Wizard of some rural town in the middle of Alabama. That's possible.

[Mia]

I guess if it was significant, it would have been found sooner, but it's not.

Honestly, I've never understood whey White Nationalists love the Libertarian Party so much, and can't stand Stormfront long enough to discover their reasons.

I don't know why adhering to the constitution benefits them so much in their endeavors, but I do know that they feel that it does, and it's not a reflection on Ron Paul or any other Libertarian.

Some say on there NOT to come out for Ron Paul because they KNOW it's bad press for him for them to do so.

And that was one of my reasons for not getting on the RP boat sooner, I figured if Stormfront was for him, that couldn't be a good thing.

But that's a very superficial response. I looked deeper and decided that Stormfront won't make my political decisions for me either way.

[Mia]

I have to conclude one of four things.

One is that Ron Paul is a virulent racist, something which I don't really believe.

Two, that Ron Paul is mildly racist, he believe whites are superior, as a whole, but doesn't discriminate against individual minorities. That's possible.

Three, Ron Paul is simply ignorant of the people he works with and has no idea who's working on his campaign, writing under his name in his newsletter and who he associates with. Unlikely, but possible.

Four is that Ron Paul simply doesn't care if you're racist or not. If you'll work with him he'll accept you, whether you're a civil rights activist or the Grand Wizard of some rural town in the middle of Alabama. That's possible.

I don't pretend to have all the answers.

I would like to say that I do appreciate the range of possibilities you gave here instead of running with 'he's a racist!'

Even though I feel that you think all the possibilities are 'negative'.

I don't give a damn who supports him, all I care about is what and whom HE supports, and it ain't them, imo.

Show me something in his record as Congressman that indicates any policy remotely racist, and that will be significant to me.

The man has ten terms in the House. It's not like we don't have something to look at as to how he acts in an official capacity.

[Buck Laser]

Wait a minute, Mia! Are you saying that white nationalists are OK, but Stormfronters aren't? I thought they were pretty much the same thing. What is it about white nationalists that makes them (maybe) OK?

[Mia]

I'm not saying either is OK, quite the opposite, and I think you're right that Stormfront is the primary website for White Nationalists.

[Alonzo]

It's not Stormfront making my decisions, it's Ron Paul having spent essentially his entire public career being associated with these type of people.

The thing is that Ron Paul just looks innocent. He really does. If this were a trial Paul is on of the few people where the "Does my client look like a racist to you?" might actually work. He doesn't look like a racist, he looks like (and I'm about to offend some people) a cute little old grandpa. I know that's insulting to some people, and is a stereotypical view of old people, but it's true. He's just irresistibly cute and utterly harmless looking, to the point where you almost feel like pinching his cheek! It's all but impossible to look at that face and see a racist.

I'm not trying to be insulting or demeaning, just honest.

[Mia]

He's not a racist. He just isn't. What's racist, he says, is putting people in groups. The real non-racist way is to view everyone as individuals with the same rights.

White Nationalists are more than just racist.

They want a separate white 'homeland'. And SOCIALISM. Hello - the furthest thing from Ron Paul's views.

No freaking way does Ron Paul support any of their agendas!

It just so happens that his defense of free speech protects 'hate groups', as it should.

To defend free speech, one must defend the person who is saying at the top of their lungs the thing you hate the most.

That's America.

He also doesn't want to keep funding Israel the way we do now; that doesn't make HIM an anti-Semite, but anti-Semites are going to like that about him (or any other candidate).

[NortheastCynic]

Two things, the pictures are one of the most pitiful attempts at a smear I've ever seen of any candidate. Ron Paul isn't going to do a background check of every schmuck he takes a picture with. What a joke.

As for the KKK member working for the state campaign. The Paul campaign should take responsibility for not knowing this guy's background and apologize to black voters for his role in the campaign. If he knew the guy was a KKK member then that is unforgivable. That said, I highly doubt Ron Paul personally knows who his Midland County, MI coordinator is. Just as I don't believe any Presidential candidate knows who their <insert random midwest county here> coordinator is, either.

-NC

[Alonzo]

But when the same schmuck is a famous racist and known donor, and the candidate has a history of associating with such people, you have to wonder.

It's not the photo itself, it's that there's everything else AND the photo.

[Mia]

here is why they like him:

* Ron Paul is the strongest opponent of "Hate Crime" Laws.

* Ron Paul is the strongest opponent of Amnesty and "open border" movements.

* Ron Paul wants to end birth-right citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.

* Ron Paul is the strongest opponent of welfare programs that among other things, would redistribute the income of hard-working White families into the hands of lazy non-Whites.

* Ron Paul is the strongest opponent of Globalism and all attempts to create a North American Union.

* Ron Paul is the strongest opponent of military support and foreign aid to countries like Israel.

* Ron Paul is the least likely to support government crackdowns on Pro-White organizations, and the most likely to veto any legislation to that effect.

These idiots don't *get* that there are far more white people on welfare than black, but whatever.

The point is, they don't support him because he's one of them; they feel he is the lesser of evils due to his positions on these things.

[NortheastCynic]

But when the same schmuck is a famous racist and known donor, and the candidate has a history of associating with such people, you have to wonder.

It's not the photo itself, it's that there's everything else AND the photo.No, you really don't. Yes, Paul has a history of accepting money from racists. That is nothing I will defend. But that has nothing to do with the fact that ANYONE can have their picture taken with Dr. Paul at a campaign event. The picture does nothing to further your crusade against, Paul, Zo.

-NC

[Mia]

The picture does nothing to further your crusade against, Paul, Zo.





It sure doesn't :shame:

[Alonzo]

No, you really don't. Yes, Paul has a history of accepting money from racists. That is nothing I will defend. But that has nothing to do with the fact that ANYONE can have their picture taken with Dr. Paul at a campaign event. The picture does nothing to further your crusade against, Paul, Zo.

-NC

I have a crusade now? I'm so proud of me!

But it's not a crusade. I don't wage a "crusade" against someone who isn't a threat. I just oppose his policies and think his background is questionable. Considering libertarianism and Paul are political subjects, I like discussing them.

[NortheastCynic]

How many Ron Paul threads have you started? How many have something to do with either some kind of hypocrisy or racism of his?

Either way, my point remains; the photo does nothing to harm Paul.

-NC

[Alonzo]

No idea. I bounce around in the types of subjects I post.

I think it's been a while since I posted a Paul thread actually.

[NortheastCynic]

That makes sense, given the all-but-death of Paul's campaign.

-NC

[Alonzo]

That makes sense, given the all-but-death of Paul's campaign.

-NC

I'd also like to point out that this thread originated from the thread Mia posted. Pauls racist associations were being discussed and I found this on google.

Also, as I think you responded as I updated my last post:

Today I posted two threads, this one accusing him of racist associations and one mocking the accusation, and I got attacked for both.

[Mia]

You made three. This one (http://democracyforums.com/showthread.php?t=13756) has Barr in the title, but the lead sentence is talking about Paul's 'blunder' in not returning the $500 donation from the Stormfront Admin.

So does that mean, btw, that if a candidate didn't refund YOUR $500 donation (and renounce and reject you publicly), it would mean he/she endorses all of your propaganda on THIS site?

[Alonzo]

Eh, my mistake. I was thinking you posted that thread this originated from. Still, that thread is about Barr, in relation to paul. I didn't intend it to be about Paul.

[Mia]

Then it shouldn't have led off with a criticism of him......

[Mia]

.....