You do it

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This shouldn’t really come as a surprise to people, since his father is also an extremist, but Rand Paul holds very extreme views about the federal government.  The issue he is being grilled about has nothing to do with him being a racist, but his extreme views of property rights of individuals and the ability of the federal government to regulate.

I think the thing that really turned me off from conservatism (or pure libertarianism) in the past was the ideological purity it required, even when faced with really ridiculous applications of the ideology.  For example, it’s really “sophisticated” to wax poetic about fundamental property rights and federal government overreach when speaking abstractly, but when it comes down to deciding whether de facto segregation in virtually all aspects of life should be banned by the federal government, this shouldn’t be an argument.

Government should be about balance, not about philosophical purity.  If America had been made by purely strict constructionists, there would still be 13 states and I would be speaking French or Spanish.  Pragmatism should have just as much merit as ideology, and when they compete, a decision has to be made.  The different decisions that are made will define a center-right or center-left politician.  Rand Paul is neither of these things.

Kudos to Maddow for exposing this.

A great watch. Unbelievable how sensational mainstream media (FOX) made a complete lie. Keep up the good reporting Fox.

Fox News: Television’s National Enquirer.

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Great stuff Rachel.

This is what happens when you let smart people on television: