Via a comment on Shadow Democracy
Ron Paul, my former boss, is not an explicit Anti-Semite, but he is most certainly anti-Israel and one could make a strong case - outright anti-Jewish.
During my 6-year stint with him, I served as his only Jewish staffer. He regularly touted me as proof against allegations that he wasn’t an Anti-Semite, even one time ordering me to wear Jewish clothing and attend a press conference of his Democrat opponent who was exposing his links to Anti-Semitic groups. I felt used.
(For the record, Ron did not know I was Jewish until I had already been hired.)
Ron and I finally departed ways, partly because I was ashamed to work for such an explicitly anti-Israel advocate.
If you still doubt his anti-Jewish/anti-Israel views, ask yourself this question:
Why is it that when Ron Paul talks about the evils of taxpayer dollars going overseas for foreign aid, he only singles out Israel as a recipient? Why does he never mention the billions we send each year to Egypt for foreign aide? Turkey, the Palestinians, other Nations? Never a peep out of Paul about those dollars. It’s just always the “Jews.”
Eric Dondero, Fmr. Senior Aide
US Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX)
1997-2003
Dondero also reveals that the infamous 95 percent of black men are criminals quote was actually authored by Lew Rockwell, Ron Paul's congressional chief of staff.
In fairness, the comments about Blacks being “fleet-footed” were written for Ron, though published under his name in his Ron Paul Newsletter, by his Top behind the scenes aide Lew Rockwell.
But the other comments about Israel being the most powerful lobby, were definitely Ron Paul’s words. In fact, I’ve heard him say similar comments on numerous occasions, some far more explicit, to private quasi-Anti-Semitic groups.
Taking into account my previous post, I have to wonder if a certain gay pagan quaker minister named Jim Christian Perry with a possible Jewish grandparent wasn't bullied into putting on "Jewish clothing" and going out to represent the Ron Paul campaign to defend Ron Paul against accusations of bigotry.
Eric commented further on this post describing the news conference
Thanks for asking about the press conference. It was quite an amusing incident actually. It was not only Ron who urged me to do it, but practically the whole campaign staff at the time, including Ron's longtime Campaign Manager and staunch Christian Right Conservative Mark Elam.
I went down to Victoria for the conference. Lefty Morris was waving some papers in the air accusing Ron Paul of being a closet NeoNazi. (This followed, btw, a huge protest weeks ealier in front of the Victoria Holiday Inn of activists waving signs, "Ron Paul is a Nazi...").
Well, I showed up with a yalmurka on my head, and carrying some Jewish insignias. It threw Morris off-kilter. He was watching me the whole time. Towards the end, the Victoria media turned to me and did an interview. It all hit the papers and the local TV station the next day.
Looking back it was quite brillant political theatre for a campaign. It worked.
But now I just feel like I was used.
It's funny that the Austin and Houston media were so viciously against "extremist far-out fringe Anti-Semite" Ron Paul in that 1996 Campaign. Now they are virtually supporting him, or at least completely silent on their former criticisms of him.
Now that Paul has switched to being a liberal, opposing the War, and bashing Bush, he's their best friend.
But back in 1996, they were 100% behind Lefty Morris.
*See more from Eric in the comments section to this post. Eric himself blogs at Libertarian Republican*
Comments
You are talking about a former "FIRED" staffer named Dondero who has claimed to have been everything from a CIA operative to a man that speaks 100 languages. The only language that this idiot doesn't understand is "Your Fired"! TOO FUNNY! Hey, Eric what new language do you claim to speak now? This guy is a way left leaning Libneocon . What a joke!
ReplyDeleteExcellent reporting. I just posted on this and linked to you. Count me as a member of the Sultan army, fighting against the Ron Paul virus.
ReplyDeleteFor Eric Dondero:
ReplyDeleteAccepting forms of payment to write articles that smear another's character is a sign of emotional immaturity. Your character is weak and you are not a mature adult who gives back to society. You are the emotional equivalent of a child. Please refrain from writing until you mature enough to write something that gives back to society.
It is my sincere hope that you one day realize the importance of giving back to society in a positive way. Please use your writing talent in a positive way. Life is short. Make the most of it.
The truth is that Dondero, while working for Congressman Paul, showed up high on blow at some Christian event and was fired for it. He now bounces website to website to trash his former employer.
ReplyDeleteanonymous, we can call Ron Paul a disgruntled Republican and refuse to believe anything he says too
ReplyDeleteplease cite any quotes from dondero claiming to be a cia operative or speak 100 languages
all i see on his own site is a statement that he served in the navy
now disinter is claiming that Dondero was a cocaine addict, surely you can prove that too?
because right now it looks like ron paul supporters desperately trying to smear a man who was mistreated by the ron paul campaign
anti-racist, thank you again and good to have allies in the good fight
ReplyDeleteanonymous 2,
ReplyDeletedondero wrote a comment on a blog, he didn't get payment for anything
stop being an idiot
Ron Paul's Nazi Connections:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFZFhU3QalM
I speak "100 languages." Wow!! And I'm a CIA operative to boot. And to add to all this, I'm on the Giuliani payroll.
ReplyDeleteI like the guy at Digg who said that the Dondero critics needed to get their stories straight.
How is it that I could possible have the time in the world to learn 100 languages, be a CIA operative, AND work for the Giuliani campaign behind the scenes.
I'm good, but not that good.
yeah, I was that guy... this seems to be typical for the campaign now, roll out a smear and scream it loudly enough and hope it silences the critics
ReplyDeletecan you elaborate on that news conference you were asked to wear jewish clothes to?
As to the allegations about me being "fired," Ron gave me a $10,000 bonus when I resigned, and ensured that I qualified for a lifetime pension from the US House of Representatives.
ReplyDeleteHe also called me up a few times after I left his staff to just pretty much shoot the shit. I got the impression that he wanted us to be friends, and wanted to tap me for future efforts. (We only live about 10 miles away from each other.)
I listened politely but committed to nothing.
I should also note, that I've used Ron as an Employment reference for the last 3 years. I know for a fact, that one major International Financial Company who I worked for, for 8 months as an Interpreter contacted him. I got the job. It's very hard to get on with this company. So, I'm assuming that Ron must have given me a good reference.
If I was "fired" why would I list Ron Paul on my resume, and give out his number as a reference for my interviews?
Well, I probably won't be doing that any more.
Having had a crush with Ron, I personally can tell you he is a great guy. Charles is his love child by the way
ReplyDeleteSultan Knish,
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking about the press conference. It was quite an amusing incident actually. It was not only Ron who urged me to do it, but practically the whole campaign staff at the time, including Ron's longtime Campaign Manager and staunch Christian Right Conservative Mark Elam.
I went down to Victoria for the conference. Lefty Morris was waving some papers in the air accusing Ron Paul of being a closet NeoNazi. (This followed, btw, a huge protest weeks ealier in front of the Victoria Holiday Inn of activists waving signs, "Ron Paul is a Nazi...").
Well, I showed up with a yalmurka on my head, and carrying some Jewish insignias. It threw Morris off-kilter. He was watching me the whole time. Towards the end, the Victoria media turned to me and did an interview. It all hit the papers and the local TV station the next day.
Looking back it was quite brillant political theatre for a campaign. It worked.
But now I just feel like I was used.
It's funny that the Austin and Houston media were so viciously against "extremist far-out fringe Anti-Semite" Ron Paul in that 1996 Campaign. Now they are virtually supporting him, or at least completely silent on their former criticisms of him.
Now that Paul has switched to being a liberal, opposing the War, and bashing Bush, he's their best friend.
But back in 1996, they were 100% behind Lefty Morris.
thanks eric,
ReplyDeleteseems like the liberal media really do protect their own, plenty of racists have cakewalked through the press as long as they did it on the donkey party line
did the rockwell 95 percent of black men article in the newsletter that you mentioned create any kind of breach with paul or was it just par for the course?
Ron Paul is a loon.
ReplyDeleteAnd to think, in my teens I supported Ross Perot.
I don't recall him being this far out there, though...
- Sodra Djavul
well perot was a long way from paul, unfortunately the result of his candidacy brought clinton to power
ReplyDeletehe wasn't radical himself though, just a matter of the wrong man at the wrong time with unfortunate results
Thanks for revealing that Mr. Perry was apparently not honest about his past. That's disappointing.
ReplyDeleteA few things you may also wish to note:
Dondero, in addition to being fired, is (was?) campaigning against Paul:
http://www.reason.com/blog/show/120230.html
Also, Jeff Greenspan, Paul's western states campaign coordinator is Jewish, and says that other campaign staffers are Jewish. (It's near the end of this interview):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=994507966506934622&q=Jeff+Greenspan&total=6&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
Paul has also defended Israel's right to defend itself, both in the 80's, when Israel hit a nuclear plant in Iraq, and again more recently, when Israel invaded Lebanon in response to the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21840&keywords=ames
"When Israel attacked the nuclear site in Iraq in the early 1980s, you can go back and find out that I was one of the very few that defended Israel, because they were condemned at that time."
Is this the same Eric Dondero Rittberg (say, why'd you drop the last name, are you an anti-Semite?) who wrote:
ReplyDeleteI've been asked by others if my former boss is an Anti-Semite. My answer is an emphatic NO. I am half Jewish. I am familiar with Anti-Semites. Ron is not one of them.
Just want to know for clarification's sake.
Mr. Dondero was fired, read his comments above on the subject above
ReplyDeletepaul's currently may have someone else jewish on his presidential campaign staff, but we're talking about his congressional presence
kb craig, dondero himself makes the distinction between anti-israel, anti-jewish and anti-semitic in the comment quoted in this same post
ReplyDeleteAs a Turk, I'm generally amused by misconceptions regarding the amount of aid we receive from the US.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it has something to do with the fact that Israel receives cUS$2.5bn per annum (equivalent to about 2% of its GDP) and Egypt only started getting significant aid after Camp David (currently US$1.8bn or about 1.65% of its GDP) whereas Turkey gets US$18mn (or about 0.0045% of its GDP).
Sources:
Aid figures:
http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/cbj/
GDP figures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29
never boring at your blog my dear friend...keep the good words coming...vey...a sweet shabbat shalom...love, marallyn
ReplyDeleteshabbat shalom maralynn
ReplyDeleteBravo as always Sultan..another brilliant expose my friend!
ReplyDeleteSultan, is that the purpose for Paul? To bring another Clinton to power? I mean the guy is weird in the extreme. His policies would never be agreed to by any Congress so his words are meaningless in anything but a dictatorship.
ReplyDeleteA presidency by Paul would be completely impotent as Congress and the Judiciary would battle him non-stop.
Sultan, on the Rockwell comment you ask about, yes, it created quite the headache for the campaign back in 1996. There was a flurry of liberal media attention given to it, particularly by the Austin media, in the summer of the year. It was about a two-week story.
ReplyDeleteIronically, Ron got super pissed off at his old friend Lew during that time for causing him such heartache.
I know it's hard to believe now, but for a while there, Lew became persona non-grata in the Ron Paul team.
He's the Svengali nowadays. But in 1996, Ron pushed him way towards the back of the closet, particularly after the Black men "fleet-footed" comment broke in the local media.
To Lew's credit, if I remember correctly, he did own up to it, and was even quoted in some media at one point saying that those were his word, ghost written for Paul.
But once again, to me the whole "fleet-footed" scandal is a side issue.
The bigger issue is the Texas media, particularly THE AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN and to a lesser extent the Houston Chronicle.
Somebody needs to go back to 1996, and look at all the vicious coverage given to Paul from the Statesmen. There were cartoons and article after article accusing him of being nutball fringe racists with ties to the Texas Republic and other Anarchist groups.
Now, amazingly, there's utter silence about Paul in the Statesman. The Chronicle mentions Ron from time to time, and it's mostly all positive.
Why the switch?
Why has their Number One enemy all of a sudden become their best friend?
Answer: Cause in 1996 he was running as a Bush Conservative Republican.
And in 2007, he's vehemently bashing Bush.
Very clever Kcraig. Now how about finishing the rest of the quote.
ReplyDeleteTo Crasch:
Ron hasn't always been a leftwing pacifist. In fact, back in the 1980s he was quite a typical Reagan-esque Conservative Republican. Yes, a little loopy. Yes, a little obssessed with the gold standard. But still a basic conservative.
As for Jeff Greenspan, it's interesting to note that when the Ron Paul campaign got started last spring, Greenspan strangely took over as the Moderator for the Jewish Libertarians Group on Yahoo. He has since banned everyone and anyone who is even the slightest bit critical of Ron Paul.
Some have questioned as to whether the Ron Paul people purposely put Greenspan there, so as to head off any expected criticisms of him being an Anti-Semite.
I tend to agree. I don't think it was coincidental.
eric, thank you for your answers, it's very interesting because for the first time we're learning what was going on behind the scenes
ReplyDeletewomanhonorthyself, thank you as always for your high praise
by-cracky, I think some of the media supports Ron Paul without having any intention of him becoming President. They just want to see the Republican party weakened by a spoiler candidate.
Others on the far left and the far right, really want to see Ron Paul in power in order to weaken the government, which they think will give them and maybe their terrorist buddies a better shot at America
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