MADDOW: How about desegregating lunch counters? Lunch counters. Walgreen's lunch counters, were you in favor of that? Possibly? Because the government got involved?
(CROSSTALK) PAUL: Right. Well, what it gets into is, is that then if you decide that restaurants are publicly owned and not privately owned, then do you say that you should have the right to bring your gun into a restaurant, even though the owner of the restaurant says, well, no, we don't want to have guns in here. The bar says we don't want to have guns in here, because people might drink and start fighting and shoot each other. Does the owner of the restaurant own his restaurant? Or does the government own his restaurant? These are important philosophical debates but not very practical discussion. And I think we can make something out of this -- MADDOW: Well, it's pretty practical to people who were -- had their life nearly beaten out of them trying to desegregate Walgreen's lunch counters despite these esoteric debates about gun ownership. This is not a hypothetical, Dr. Paul. PAUL: Yes, but I -- yes. Well, but I think what you`re doing, Rachel, is you're conflating the issue. MADDOW: No. PAUL: You're saying that somehow this abstract discussion of private property has any bit of condoning for violence. This -- there's nothing in what I'm saying that condones any violence and any kind of violence like that deserves to be put -- people like that deserve to be put in jail. So nobody's condoning any of that. MADDOW: Well, I understand that you're not condoning violence, but the people who were beating for trying to desegregate Woolworth`s lunch counters weren't asking to be beaten. They're asking -- PAUL: Those people should have gone -- (CROSSTALK) MADDOW: -- for private businesses to be desegregated by the government. You're saying those people should have gone to different places? Left them segregated? PAUL: *People who commit -- people who commit violence on other individuals should go to prison and go to jail. And there's nothing we should ever do to condone violence on other individuals.* MADDOW: And should Woolworth lunch counter should have been allowed to stay segregated? Sir, just yes or no. PAUL: *What I think would happen -- what I'm saying is, is that I don't believe in any discrimination. I don't believe in any private property should discriminate either. And I wouldn't attend, wouldn't support, wouldn't go to.* But what you have to answer when you answer this point of view, which is an abstract, obscure conversation from 1964 that you want to bring up. But if you want to answer, you have to say then that you decide the rules for all restaurants and then you decide that you want to allow them to carry weapons into restaurants. MADDOW: I can -- we could have a fight about the Second Amendment. (CROSSTALK) MADDOW: But I think wanting to allow private industry -- private businesses -- PAUL: It's the same fight. It's the same fight. MADDOW: -- to discriminate along the basis of race because of property rights is an extreme view and I think that's going to be the focus nationally on your candidacy now and you're going to have a lot more debates like this. So, I hope you don't hold it against me for bringing it up. I think this is going to be a continuing discussion for a long time, Dr. Paul. PAUL: *Well, I think what you've done is you bring up something that really is not an issue, nothing I've ever spoken about or have any indication that I`m interested in any legislation concerning. So, what you bring up is sort of a red herring or something that you want to pit. It's a political ploy. I mean, it's brought up as an attack weapon from the other side, and that's the way it will be used.* But, you know, I think a lot of times these attacks fall back on themselves, and I don't think it will have any effect because the thing is, *is that every fiber of my being doesn't believe in discrimination, doesn't believe that we should have that in our society. And to imply otherwise is just dishonest.* MADDOW: Dr. Rand Paul, Republican nominee for the United States Senate in Kentucky, where he'll be representing not only his own views about how to live but what kind of laws we should have in America, sir, I enjoy talking with these things about you. I couldn't disagree with you more about this issue, but I do respect you for coming on the show, and for being able to have this civil discussion about it. Thank you. PAUL: Thank you, Rachel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:319380 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
