Rand Paul comes out against the public accommodations provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act:
I think it’s a bad business decision to exclude anybody from your restaurant—but, at the same time, I do believe in private ownership.
Of course, that logic would apply equally well to private employment discrimination, or private discrimination in rental housing.
Actually, I believe Paul when he says he’s not a racist. (His father, and some of his voters, not so much.) But Paul is a completely consistent libertarian: consistent to, and past, the point of lunacy. Let’s hear all the Republican politicians who are so happy to align themselves with the Tea Party explain whether they agree with Rand Paul about allowing private discrimination on the basis of race, religion, and disability. It’s not an incomprehensible position, but it is - or ought to be - well outside the mainstream of public discourse.
Footnote Paul also thinks that Sarah Palin is “absolutely” qualified to be President. Sorry, but I think he’s absolutely out of his mind. And so do most voters.
The civil rights stuff is at the end of the tape.