Andrew Kirell
Mediaite
7/30/2014
…Paul expressed he felt unfairly treated by MSNBC over this topic:
What I would say to be fair to myself, because I like to be fair to myself, is that I’ve always been in favor of the Civil Rights Act. People need to get over themselves writing all this stuff that I’ve changed my mind on the Civil Rights Act. Have I ever had a philosophical discussion about all aspects of it? Yeah, and I learned my lesson: To come on MSNBC and have a philosophical discussion, the liberals will come out of the woodwork and go crazy and say you’re against the Civil Rights Act, and you’re some terrible racist. And I take great objection to that, because, in Congress, I think there is nobody else trying harder to get people back their voting rights, to get people back and make the criminal justice system fair. So I take great offense to people who want to portray me as something that I’m not.
Melber pressed on: “But when you said, well, here’s where the rules for private businesses are concerning, why not explain that you’ve evolved on that?”
The senator replied that he has been attacked by “half-a-dozen people on your network trying to say I’m opposed to the Civil Rights Act,” while he’s never actually opposed the law. “I’m not willing to engage with people who are misrepresenting my viewpoint on this,” he said. “For people to say that, really, they don’t want to have an honest discussion about it.”…
The complete article, with video, is at Mediaite.
Related: Rand Paul, Cory Booker team up for bipartisan reform of criminal justice system (video)
The political odd couple of Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have introduced new legislation in hopes of reforming the nation’s criminal justice system. They join Judy Woodruff to discuss why former prisoners should be given more opportunity to re-enter the workforce, the chances of this bill becoming law and the benefits of reaching across the aisle.
