The Courage of One's Convictions

I was just thinking about Rand Paul, son of Republican presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul, and current Republican Candidate for the U.S. Senate. I recall his interview with Rachel Maddow the day after he won the Republican primary. Rachel asked Paul if he supported the civil rights laws that forbid workplace and public accommodation discrimination?

Rand is a libertarian. Principled libertarians oppose nearly all government interference with individual liberty in the private sector. Because these laws interfere with the individual liberty of business owners to run their businesses as they please, Paul opposes them.

But saying so in public makes you sound like an extremist.

Rand was between a rock and a hard place – so he weaseled. He insisted that he did not approve of racism or racists. He further insisted that he supports laws that prevent the government from discriminating. For the record, I believe him. But it was obvious from the interview that he did oppose the civil rights laws in so far as they interfered with the prerogatives of private enterprise. And it was equally obvious that he would not admit this clearly and unequivocally to the electorate.

So he squirmed and squirmed and squirmed.

While the squirming was fun to watch, I think it was the worst move possible. Making it crystal clear that you hold a controversial view that you’re not willing to admit and/or defend in public makes you look like an extremist and a weasel. If Paul had (1) said that he unequivocally opposed the civil rights laws that pertain to private businesses; and then (2) unequivocally denounced racism; and then (3) supplied his libertarian rationale for his opposition to the civil rights laws – he would have come off much better. He could have admitted that the lack of such laws had unfortunate consequences, but argued that the market would have taken care of the problem and further argued that surrendering freedom is rarely the best solution to a social problem.

I wouldn’t have agreed with Paul, but I would have respected him. More importantly, he would have respected himself.

Joe H.