Ron Paul statement on the Bill Johnson campaign, and more
Since I'm the resident thought-tormented Ron Paul fan on staff, I've taken a special interest in the Paul supporters who are objecting to the attention we've paid to the white-supremacist past of Paul-connected judicial candidate Bill Johnson.
Thanks, everybody, for commenting. Some clarifications are in order:
Commenter "Tracey," declares that Johnson is not the author of the so-called Pace Amendment. This is incorrect. Johnson confirmed in a phone call with our own Robert Greene that he is indeed the author of the Pace amendment and of the "James O. Pace" book Amendment to the Constitution.
Commenter "blakmira" calls us "lower than scum" for the "smear" on Paul in our editorial about the Johnson campaign, which noted that Johnson had affiliated himself with the Paul-for-president campaign; apparently our mentioning that was clear evidence of counter-rEVOLutionary tendencies. In any event, Paul himself appears to be taking the matter seriously enough that he has renounced his end of the affiliation. Here is an email we just received from Paul's congressional chief of staff Tom Lizardo:
Over the past several weeks, I have also been involved in assisting Dr Paul with the consideration of candidates who are seeking his endorsement for their campaigns. We have gone through the process of setting up a method by which candidates are to be considered for such endorsements. During that period, we have also received and reviewed requests from dozens of candidates.
Although Bill Johnson's name ended up on the endorsement list, he did not go through this process. In light of this fact, and in light of the revelations regarding his past statements and associations, Dr Paul has retracted the endorsement and hopes that, in the future, the process that has been put into place will mitigate the likelihood of similar errors.
Several commenters claim that they know Bill Johnson and he couldn't possibly be a racist. We make no judgments on what Johnson believes in his heart, only on what he has publicly advocated. But Paul, whose attentiveness to such matters has not always been impressive, deserves credit for taking quick action in this case. The claim by another commenter that Johnson is part Japanese is also incorrect, though Johnson does speak fluent Japanese as a by-product of his LDS mission in the land of the Rising Sun. We can confirm that "Turning Japanese" by the Vapours remains one of the finest works of rock orientalism ever recorded.
Finally, a commenter at dailypaul.com claims that our staffer is the same Robert Greene who writes self-help books on "How to crush your competitor," "How to secure the corner office," "How to take over your supervisor's position" and "The 48 Laws of Power." I can confirm that Greene is not that person and that if he ever wrote a self-help book it would be about how you can become a better person by scrupulously reading the fine print of voter information packets in obscure municipal elections. Nor is he the Robert Greene who denounced Shakespeare in his "Greene's Groatsworth of Wit, bought with a million of Repentaunce." Moreover, Robert Greene confirms that he is a Stratfordian in good standing, though if pressed he would put Pericles, Prince of Tyre in the "disputed authorship" category.
Hope that clears things up.
LA Times thanks for you're continuing coverage of the Ron Paul Revolution, but I still will not buy your worthless rag. I just can't past your globalist agenda boy's! Keep trying to link the honorable Dr. Paul to racism, but at least you boys print something. Just ignore him. He doesn't exist. Stick to the MSM playbook.
Posted by: Joe | May 07, 2008 at 08:32 PM
As a Nevada State Delegate, I can attest to the fact that there are persons and people out there that are overjoyed with the Ron Paul Revolution, and are trying to use us to further their own personal agendas, as well as vendettas.
I am glad that the Paul campaign is fine tuning its procedure and have been concerned about the hyper emotional Paul faction getting hypersensitive to any negative journalism, even that which is warranted and even expected of the media.
The L.A. Times has specifically been noted personally by me and our revolutionary faction as truly fair, genuinely unbiased, and generally pro-Paul.
Your professional shines in that, even through outrageous and unwarranted attacks upon your organization you are able to address the confusion itself and not taint Ron Paul the man.
A sincerest thanks from me and those of us from Nevada. Thank you for pointing out Mr Johnson and I hope we can work to torpedo his campaign together. We are very hungry for Paul candidates so its very easy for the desperate ones of us to cling to anyone who claims anything against the establishment.
Posted by: Alexander Falconi | May 07, 2008 at 08:33 PM
Ron Paul is #1 on the New York Times and Amazon bestseller list! Ron Paul has now received over ONE MILLION votes during this election year.
Viva la revelucion! End the illegal war! Lower my taxes!
(I'll take two out of three...we need to pay the deficit down first anyway)
Posted by: Critical thinker | May 07, 2008 at 08:35 PM
lmao, I really found this amusing. I'm a big supporter of Dr. Paul, but I have to agree that there are some fellow Paulunteers that are pretty out there and so willing to attack. Hey guys, let's calm down with the hate mail, if there's something of substance that needs to be clarified, and you want to be the one correcting the mistake, please be respectful and coherent, especially if the article you're writing about is a clear smear of Dr. Paul.
Posted by: Fabian | May 07, 2008 at 09:11 PM
I actually wasn't aware of the original story, but after some research I'm certainly glad Paul has removed his endorsement for this man. Paul doesn't have a racist bone in his body, but he does have a weakness in being too trusting, especially of those who also believe in Liberty.
He must remember that an endorsement constitutes an advocation of the person's entire canidacy, not just a recognition that they agree with you on some points. He would do well to be careful about who he conveys his credibility to. But, I certainly agree with Paul's ideas -- his message is sorely needed in America today.
Posted by: Paul Best | May 07, 2008 at 09:48 PM
Hey, I'm just happy you are contacting the relevant people and passing on the info. Good to know Paul disassociated himself with the guy.
Posted by: Li | May 07, 2008 at 10:54 PM
Once again, compared to the pandering to the largest most organized racist group in the country by Obama, Hillary, and McCain, this is a tempest in a teapot.
Most of us have never heard of this person Johnson and he doesn't matter, only to the trash talking and dirt digging leftist press who has made it their duty to scour and dig out every Paul supporter and trump up their reputations.
I daresay if this were done for Hillary, Obama, or McCain, one would find far more disturbing connections in the form of the communist criminal George Soros - and that's just on the Republican side.
This country is morally bankrupt and in great part because its journalists have been compromised since the early 1920s and will never be acceptable as the last word in the 'press'.
Posted by: NH | May 07, 2008 at 11:17 PM
what?
Posted by: sean truitt | May 08, 2008 at 02:10 AM
Thank you for the clarification
It is also good to see that Paul has retracted his endorsement of this candidate based upon Johnson's previous statements.
By the way - have you read The Revolution: A Manifesto yet?
It is a masterpiece. For those who have not yet, it is the blue print for this country going forward on economic policy, foreign policy, monetary policy and how to revalue our falling dollar, as well as civil liberties and freedoms. A must read for all who are looking for answers to the the problems that the rest of the candidates are afraid to even talk about.
Tim - Please take the time to read this 167 page book. You will not be disappointed. If you are still convinced in these constitutional remedies, please write a "book review" blog and denouce them with your reasoning.
Posted by: Brian | May 08, 2008 at 05:42 AM
Thanks for clearing this up and posting it. I hope the RP supporters who also support "Bill Johnson" also see this and take it into consideration.
Posted by: Amy | May 08, 2008 at 08:03 AM
It has gotten to the point, unfortunately, where 'racist' is one of those easy to say and difficult to wash off terms thrown at very good people. If you see enough of that, instead of assuming 'where there is smoke there is fire' you start resisting the idea that fire exists anywhere.
This guy may be a problem. I will look into him before I vote. Obviously, we Ron Paul supporters are not supporting racism, and don't want it assoiciated with us. Fortunately for any concerns you may have, I think most of us wouldn't be following Ron Paul to begin with unless we were the kind of people who actually research our votes.
However, we have seen a lot of unfounded charges of racism made against people in Ron Paul's campaign or due to old newsletters written by entirely different people. If media don't want us to immediately assume allegations of racism are nonesense, media might want to be more careful in making those sorts of slurs.
Again, at this point I'll look into this guy's record before voting. Thank you for the information.
Posted by: spinnikerca | May 08, 2008 at 08:36 AM
Yes Tim, and the fact a person was an LDS missionary should tell you how racist he is (not at all)! You say you can't make judgements on what a person believes at heart, fine. What else would be a better proof of his public advocation of liberty and equality through the Ron Paul grassroots people he's worked with?
Posted by: JackB | May 08, 2008 at 12:20 PM
The bottom line is this county does the opposite of what is in the best interest of the people... Undermining the dollar, unwinnable wars that we went into with false premises, taxes everything we do 5 times. I mean c'mon friends. Do you really think its on accident. I don't anymore because if we followed the constitution non of this would be happening and we would be much better off... If you reject Dr. Paul's ideas you reject the constitution... think about and let's be a free county again...
Posted by: paul | May 08, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Ron Paul is slandered again and again by loose associations to disgusting characters. Never has Dr. Paul uttered or intoned any hatred or ill will towards any race.
Bitter American Empire apologists will fight Paulites to the death. The average ignorant coach potato American does not even care.
Sigh. Too bad blogs pass for news these days. Gossip and uneducated guesses rule the day.
Poor Ron Paul supporters. Shouting his name to a world that has deafened itself with ipods and talk radio.
Posted by: Matthew | May 08, 2008 at 01:40 PM
Why is Robert Greene a Stratfordian? Isn't the evidence overwhelming that Shakespeare was a conspiracy of writings - led by the Earl of Oxford - to continue the libertarian work of the Levelers, kept secret with frontmen (like the illiterate actor Shakespear) because of the huge risk of offending the Ruling Elite? See Joe Sobran, today's "Mencken", on this: http://www.sobran.com/oxfordlibrary.shtml.
Posted by: CFroh | May 08, 2008 at 02:53 PM
I think that its sad for Dr. Paul to part ways with Bill after all that Bill has done for the campaign but everybody has their own opinion.Is Bill, James O. Pace?Yes,he was.25 years later,is Bill a racist?NO.Something changed along the way because it totally shocked us that Bill had this kind of background.This guy is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.We had so many Ron Paul meetups at his house with at least 50 people.Asians,Blacks,Whites, and Mexicans all met up at Bills to be part of the Revolution. L.A. Times reporters have even been to our meetup when they wrote the foot soldiers of Ron Paul story.Did you guys see any racism of any kind???Like Jesus said'Let he without sin throw the first stone". Mr. Alvarado is a Mexican for Bill Johnson and Ron Paul.CASE CLOSED(can we talk about some real issues now?like why do we need the PRIVATE BANK Federal Reserve and why are we letting them send us into another depression?)
Posted by: Mr. Alvarado | May 08, 2008 at 04:46 PM
I'm voting for Bill Johnson. I've met him and certainly didn't get the impression he was racist. Why would a racist live in Japan? That doesn't make any sense.
Posted by: Andy White | May 08, 2008 at 08:52 PM
Teflon Ron, the smears just won't stick.
Posted by: Teflon Ron | May 08, 2008 at 08:57 PM
I know Bill Johnson personally. He is friends with all people of ethnic backgrounds me being one of them PLUS BILL IS PART JAPANESE!!!! Someone is making this crap up and it looks like BIANCO has been MISTAKEN!!! Bill has never written any book PLUS Bill is part Japanese. SO WHAT DOES THAT SAY??? SOMEONE IS SMEARING A GREAT MAN WHO would do a wonderful job as he usually does, a very successful lawyer. Los Angeles needs a man like Bill honest and NOT A RACIST!
Posted by: Lois | May 09, 2008 at 01:53 AM
Mr. Johnson is not a racist, He is one who has friends of different cultures. These are all lies! The man has different ethinc background himself. What does that say? Says someone is lying and sounds to me BIANCO is the Liar, these people do anythig to get into office. What you should do?? Listen to all the posts of good things people are saying about Mr. Johnson. Why?? Because we have either known him or personally his friend.
Posted by: Tracey | May 09, 2008 at 09:36 AM
Thanks for the light and informative piece.
Ron Paul gives a lot of freedom to apprentices, assuming the best in each person, requiring him these days to be be diligent in checking out people and careful in lending his name.
Posted by: Thomas | May 09, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Maybe we need someone to counteract "Mr. Reconquista" Tony Villar! ;-) Would a little "diversity" in the other direction be so bad?
Posted by: AAAANDRE | May 09, 2008 at 11:22 PM