Ron Paul Ups The Ante And Claims Sexual Harassment Shouldn’t Be Illegal

[PeaceNikki]

http://www.politicususa.com/en/ron-paul-sexual-harassment

On Fox News Sunday Ron Paul upped the ante on his opposition to sexual harassment laws by claiming that there should be no federal laws against sexual harassment.

Here is the video:

There should be no federal laws against sexual harassment. This is what voters are getting if they vote for Ron Paul. Rep. Paul has been moving up in Iowa, because this extremist message appeals to the very very conservative caucus goers. Democrats who are tempted to support Paul need to realize that no matter how tempting his foreign policy is, Ron Paul makes George W. Bush look like an enlightened an open minded thinker.

In a year when many in the Republican base are desperately searching for an extremist candidate, Ron Paul represents a kind of ideological purity and simplicity that for them is as addictive as crack.

[LiberalAndProud]

1. Keep talking, RP.

Please keep talking.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

2. I did not hear him say that.

His point appeared to be that telling an offensive joke in the workplace shouldn't be a federal offense.

[PeaceNikki]

6. then you weren't listening.

[Spazito]

7. He said that unless someone is physically assaulting 'you' like rape or something...

this should be handled in the home. In the HOME?

The man is scum, racist, homophobic, misogynist, antisemitic scum.

[maddezmom]

10. do you agree with him? here is a full quote

On Fox News Sunday this morning, host Chris Wallace asked Paul, now a top contender in the Republican presidential race, whether he still agreed with those statements.

On the sexual harassment issue, Paul distinguished between verbal and physical harassment but said neither one warranted a federal law to prevent it.

“If it’s just because somebody told a joke to somebody who was offended, they don’t have a right to go to the federal government and have a policeman come in and put penalties on those individuals,” Paul said of verbal harassment. “They have to say maybe this is not a very good environment. They have the right to work there or not work there.”

Paul continued: “Because people are insulted by rude behavior, I don’t think we should make a federal case about it. I don’t think we need federal laws to deal with that. People should deal with that at home.”

Paul said a federal law against harassment also is not needed for physical violence, because there are already laws prohibiting assault and rape.

http://www.boston.com/Boston/politicalintelligence/2012/01/ron-paul-says-victim-sex-harassment-bears-some-responsibility-for-resolution/HqSpi3UTJ3Z1UnowlOTczO/index.html

[freshstart]

18. I don't think Ron Paul understands the law.

I didn't hear anything that pertains to quid pro quo:
Quid pro quo literally means something for something. Quid pro quo sexual harassment
occurs when a person in an authoritative position places a person subordinate to him in a
compromising position. In other words, a supervisor conditions a raise, a promotion, or a
favorable work assignment on the employee succumbing to sexual advances.

If this happens, the employee is supposed to quit according to him? He obviously doesn't understand workplaces.

Notice "the weasel" in the title, it is always the media's fault to the cult of Ron Paul.

[killbotfactory]

50. 'If this happens, the employee is supposed to quit according to him?"

Yes, this is pretty much standard right-wing libertarian ideology.

If you're employer does something you don't like, you are free to leave.
If a business behaves in a manner you don't like, you are free to not use their products or services.
If a business violates your rights (enshrined in a contract you freely entered into) somehow, you are free to challenge them and their army of lawyers in a court of law.

[mwb970]

55. And if you hate the country you live in, you can leave.

So why are all the right-wingers still here?

[-lookingintoit]

84. too much

i am not a right -winger. i do think the sexual harassment charges are out of control. I am not sure what he meant by at home. if by that he meant at the business in a person to person way he is right. A women who is an adult should handle these jokes or bad moves by telling you. The sexual harassment charge has alot of power and business do not want any part of it. if this charge is brought by a women chances are you will be gone. It happened to me over a heated argument. No bad jokes or bad moves just lies by an indignant child- women. I got no say at all. I sued but it was a big local company. the case was thrown out.That is too much power.
the training films on this are 20 years out of date. they are based on a time when women first started working in companies. They should update them by showing a women handling the situaton in an upfront way. " Joe the joke sucked, it was in bad taste. Don't touch me either." Women have been working a long time now. handle this stuff like adults. I would rather be told by the women than a male supervisor fearing the whole thing

[PeaceNikki]

85. huh. You know the onus lies on the inappropriate joke teller.

So you were burned by it and think it's the responsibility of the person on the RECEIVING end of inappropriate behavior? I vehemently disagree and it doesn't matter who YOU would rather be told by when you behave inappropriately. Doing so has consequences.

Women already have enough uphill battles in corporate America and the LAST thing we need is people arguing that it's up to US to 'handle it'.

[proud2BlibKansan]

92. I've been sexually harassed

I didn't find it the least bit humorous.

[freeplessinseattle]

96. the law already is that s/he must tell the person first that it bothers her/him

if he (or she) continues to act in a way that is now known to make another person that uncomfortable, then that right there shows that it isn't innocent joking around, it is intentionally meant to offend and show power over.

[Capitalocracy]

89. Actually, they're trying to take away your right to that last one.

Under the guise of "tort reform" and "frivolous lawsuits" they're working very hard to limit your access to the court system.

[proud2BlibKansan]

90. If I quit, can I choose to stop paying my bills too?

[ThomThom]

60. or go to his house and tell his mother

where does he think they learn this shit

[JHB]

24. Spoken like someone who hasn't had a real job in decades...

...as if most people are in any position to just walk away from their jobs.

Despite his "libertarian" labeling, the only rights he supports are the rights of the most ruthless to push around everyone else.

[freshstart]

28. Very true.

You are right, people aren't in a position to walk away from jobs nowadays and what he is proposing is to leave people who harass in the workplace. For what, to let them do it again to another employee? That doesn't seem good for employees or employers or for business in general. Does this guy even think about what he says? I think not.

He just wants to be the poster boy for "government is bad," when he doesn't even understand government....and how long has he worked for the government? If "government is bad" why didn't he choose to find a new employer rather than work there for all of those years?

[KT2000]

29. yes - as a doctor

he was always the boss in his office.

[joshcryer]

33. It's also a highly privileged view, that only white males* really have the advantage of.

He's not had to endure 99% of the "rude behavior" that he's talking about.

*white straight males, even.

[Scootaloo]

41. ...That's what libertarianism is about, actually

It's like Fascism in sweat pants. Survival of the fittest, death to all else, but have a hit off the bong before you go.

[freshstart]

64. +1!

[usrname]

93. That's the gist of Ron Paul's philosophy

He wants us to return to a totally Darwinian lifestyle where it's eye-for-an-eye. No laws, just deal with inconveniences as you would in the wild: anyway you could. He wants us to go against the original ideas of the UNITED States: join or die. He wants each person to be an individual and self-survival is a virtue in his view of the world, as opposed to community.

I don't really care if he's for or against drugs or for or against foreign wars (he's against the war on drugs and against intervening in other country's problems, both positions I agree with), but he wants citizens to fight for themselves. He doesn't want people to delegate duties and responsibilities to a government. He wants each and everyone of us to perform due diligence on every aspect of our lives and deal with things singularly and not have laws addressing those aspects.

That's the nut-case that I cannot accept.

[JHB]

95. Yes, a view that it is your fault if you are not an expert in everything...

...in order to competently evaluate all possible things you may encounter.

It's not freedom if you have to watch your own back 24/7 or die.

[joshcryer]

32. Thanks for the quote, people aren't going to watch the video before defending him.

Now his words are quotable without having to transcribe.

[DallasNE]

40. Paul Simply Shows His Ignorance

By not understanding that while there is a law against assult there is no law to prevent a supervisor from firing a subordinate for not submitting to unwanted sexual advances. Now if Paul is too dumb to understand this rather simple issue he is far too dumb to handle the more complex issues he would be facing as President. And where was Wallace for not calling him out on his answer.

[nxylas]

51. I don't think he's dumb, just blinded by ideology

The guy was a doctor, and whilst some doctors are smarter than others, I don't think you can do the job if you're a complete idiot. I think it's more the case that he views the world through an ideological prism and sees things as he thinks they should be, not as they actually are.

[Rozlee]

65. He signed the Personhood Pledge with 14th Amendment Protections

This means he's a complete idiot in my book. The Personhood movement is all about outlawing most forms of artificial birth control including the Pill, the IUD, the morning after pill, all abortions including those that threaten the mother's life and are caused by rape or incest. No chemotherapy would be allowed for pregnant women with malignancies and some of the more fanatical factions of the movement are even against the idea of terminating ectopic pregnancies, which are never salvageable and a life-threatening condition to the mother. This is inexcusable in someone that used to be an OB/GYN. And it tells me that he is in no way a libertarian. No libertarian would advocate a nationwide prohibition on the major forms of birth control that have been used by over 90% of American women. He's an ass crazy extremist and needs to be committed. But, then, being ass crazy seems to be a pre-requisite to being a contender for the Republican presidential nomination these days. God, I need a drink. Preferably, shot glasses stacked to the ceiling.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

66. it'd be interesting to do a study of the OB/GYN profession

to measure the percentage of misogynists in the field.

[spooky3]

70. I don't understand your first sentence.

There very definitely is a body of federal law (plus some at lower levels) that forbids supervisors from firing subordinates who refuse to submit to unwanted sexual advances. That behavior occurs, but it is illegal.

[julian09]

87. It's obvious he would hide the real reason for firing her or passing her by for promotion,

with another reason.

[DallasNE]

98. Right, The Sexual Harrassment Laws

That Paul would abolish. In the context of the question Paul uses the broad brush "rude behavior" to somewhat dodge the question but calling someone an "a$$hole" is outside this context for rude behavior. Paul, in other words, would be just fine with a supervisor telling a subordinate he would "love to kiss those melons" or "why don't I bring a bottle of wine over to your place tonight". That is not an assult, it is an unwanted sexual advance and rebuffing would likely lead to a bad performance review and the fallout from that. Herman Cain gave us a glimpse of how the character in one's private life would become part of the performance review and grounds for dismisal without compensation. If anything the sexual harrassment laws are too weak because they allowed Cain to become a serial harrasser.

[spooky3]

69. One offensive joke does NOT constitute sexual harassment under present law.

Paul is engaging in classic "straw man" argumentation.

SH also is not simply rude behavior. Either he knows this and is demogoguing to the tea partiers, or he is unacceptably ignorant of discrimination law, for a Pres. candidate.

[usrname]

94. That's true

Sexual harassment is fairly well defined. Bad jokes are not, generally, sexual harassment. In order for that to be harassment, it has to go from once in a while to frequent, un-yielding amount of bad jokes, and constant jokes even after told by someone that it's not appropriate. But one or a few bad jokes, and sincere apologies afterwards? That's the end of the incident, no sexual harassment occurred. No way the plaintive would win a court case.

[trumad]

17. That's not what he said---but nice try.

[whathehell]

36. How about telling an offensive racist joke?...Would that be okay with you too?

Because he and Rand don't believe that Civil Rights Legislation should have

been passed, either.

They don't give a flying fuck for anyone but straight white men.

[okieinpain]

54. yeah just wait until some back guy gets accused of

telling sexist joke to a white female. I bet they would expect something to happen.

[whathehell]

58. ???

I'm not sure what you are trying to say here..

[greiner3]

61. "2. I did not hear him say that."

Dude, maybe you should replay the video with the sound turned on.

Just saying.

[Quantess]

80. He did say that.

At about 6:35 for the next 10 or so seconds.

[Sparkly]

99. It isn't.

He's clueless.

[kestrel91316]

3. Is he seriously this clueless??

[MH1]

16. short answer: Yes.

this goes beyond clueless into f***wad territory, though.

He's clueless to say this is what he believes.

He's a f***wad to believe it.

[Odin2005]

21. Typical Southern "good ol' boy" who sees nothing wrong with sexual harassment.

[Old and In the Way]

4. Simple solutions for simple folks.

If Ron had his way, we'd need to show our passports crossing statelines...and we'd have so many conflicting laws and statutes, we'd become a functionally incapacitated country.

[Ohio Joe]

5. What an evil fucker

I don't see how anyone can listen to what he says and not be outraged. This fucker is dangerous to everyone.

[undeterred]

9. He can have Herman Cain as his running mate and call it the POA party

Piece of Ass

[PeaceNikki]

12. zing!

And Clarence Thomas as SoS

[1stlady]

11. Ron Paul is a joke

And to think that some so called liberals plan to caucus for him to send a message to Obama. The only message they are sending is that they are idiots.

[edgineered]

13. Unbelievable! His turpitude is one thing - his supporters', must be the same

Yup, keep on destroying yourselves and the RW machinery, we love it!

Now if Santorum (etal) would be gracious enough to say something like - it makes sense that CEOs, bankers, the greedy and the war mongers are destined to be 1%'ers in heaven, the angels, those best serving God, here and in heaven" imo its just a matter of time

then again, this was on faux, so to expect a spike in his support is more probable. SICK SICK SICK

[PeaceNikki]

14. I actually kind of envy the aPaulogists their evidently bottomless stores of denial

and ability to excuse EVERY glaring deficit in their completely twisted Great Leader. That kind of confidence is really pure in its way, even if it IS utterly blinkered and moronic and could get us all killed.

[mwb970]

56. We saw the same blind loyalty for Palin and all the other goofballs.

I've had online discussions with people who were ABSOLUTELY SURE that Herman Cain would be nominated and would easily defeat Obama in a landslide. (This was before he dropped out, of course.) Apparently each horrible republican has an inner cadre of True Believers for whom their candidate cannot do wrong, has never done wrong, and in fact is incapable of doing anything less than perfect. In effect, they treat them like gods and goddesses. Coincidence?

[DallasNE]

100. They Are Actually Stalinist

Like Stalin, voters in the Republican primary in Virginia will be required to sign a loyality oath in order to receive a ballot. Other States will probably follow the Virginia model. There is a nihilists feeding frenzy that only points in the direction of self destruction. The Republican Party is dead and needs more that a rebranding away from the Bush model and going the route of Stalin is not what I am talking about.

[Hepburn]

15. I guess he is hoping to get some for himself?

Talk about mercy fuck...

[WCGreen]

19. Then why wasn't he out there defending his buddy Cain...

[Odin2005]

20. Keep diggin' that whole, Ron!

[noamnety]

22. I'm confused about his afghanistan comments in the clip.

He's talking about how 70% of Americans don't want us there, and it's bankrupting us.

Yet he voted for it. And the reason for voting for an unnecessary war that he says is bankrupting the country - was so his staff wouldn't quit, and so it wouldn't be bad for his political ambitions.

[PeaceNikki]

23. Because he's a (R) and, hence, totally full of shit.

[Terra Alta]

25. How can ANYONE agree with this idiot?

Sexual harassment should be legal? Seriously?

And yet there are people who worship the guy and think he can do no wrong.. send 'em all to the libertarian paradise that is Somalia, I say.

[Matariki]

26. Fine.

As long as women can't get fired for kicking co-workers in the nuts.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

27. I still see liberals supporting this bigot! Sad and pathetic!!

[MineralMan]

37. In reality, you see people who CLAIM to be liberals

supporting him. No genuine liberal or progressive could support that man. It would be impossible.

[nxylas]

52. I see liberals saying he's right about the war and some civil liberties issues

Wrong about everything else.

[LynneSin]

30. I'd call him scum, but that would be an insult to all the scum on our planet

[joshcryer]

31. This is perfectly in line with his ideology, absolutely no surprise there. And people say the MSM...

...is mischaracterizing and cutting him down. No, this is Ron Paul, people.

[dhill926]

34. well....fuck Ron Paul........

[sarcasmo]

35. Hey Nikki, whistles as you walk by

Ron Paul said it was OK .

[jimlup]

38. This is gold for the general...

If he freaks out the Reptilians and somehow wins their nomination - he is going to come across as a true nut in the General.

Woman all across the country will vote against this naive and morally depraved view.

[DallasNE]

39. Ron Paul Must Think It Is A Job Perk

For a manager to be able to bonk his secretary and fire her if she says no.

I'm sure the Paul bots will say that each State should determine the statute. That just sets up a situation where companies either set up their policy to adhear to the strictist State statute or develop a separate policy for each State that they operate in. Talk about a regulation burden, that is one for sure. Should they decide to go with a single policy could they then fire someone for violating the policy but not violating State law? And isn't that the delemma that States Rights advocates alway face because so many companies operate in all 50 States. I guess Paul doesn't believe in the Commerce Clause either.

[jmowreader]

42. The only thing Ron Paul thinks should be illegal is abortion

Someone REALLY needs to ask him what his position on the laws against armed robbery are.

[joshcryer]

44. Armed robbery is fine.

If said robbery takes place on a private road and you failed to pay the private road maintenance and security enforcement fee.

[joshcryer]

43. Where are the people defending Paul's "swiftboating"? Surely there's an explaination?

[Major Nikon]

45. He's been saying this for years

There is no "upping the ante" with Ron Paul. There's nothing new about him to learn. Everything he's saying now he's been saying for years, if not decades. If someone claimed they were a fan of Ron Paul and are shocked about what he's saying now, they didn't know Ron Paul and they don't understand libertarianism.

[tawadi]

46. It's like a contest to see which candidate can be the worst

[jtuck004]

47. Vote Ron Paul. 'Cause the worlds not mean enough yet. /nt

[fishwax]

48. the crazy never stops with ron paul

This is pretty much exactly in line with the crazy he's been spouting for years.

[Initech]

49. It's official: the GOP hates workers.

First Gingrich with his insanity about repealing child labor laws, now Ron Paul wants to roll back harassment laws. Will it ever end??

[nxylas]

53. How long before they start talking openly about bringing back slavery?

The key word being "openly" - they've been dancing around the topic for ages.

[Botany]

57. What a nasty man.

"You just call the police and say there has been an assault or an attempted rape or
something." as he was chuckling

[getdown]

62. yup

[deacon]

59. Probably won't bother the stoners. n/t

[getdown]

63. Libertarians

self righteous illogical OCD control freaks with a

[AlwaysQuestion]

67. No more funding war? Ooooookay, whatever you say

Ron Paul rubs me the wrong way in any numbr of areas; however, his stance on the war is something that I could not with a clear conscience disagree with him on. Still, I doubt that the military complex (MC)would allow many cuts to the warring endeavour, so his statement is not one he'd likely follow up on------------and he undoubtedly knows the MC would tear him apart--so quite frankly, I don't believe him.

[PeaceNikki]

68. He opposes military intervention in foreign wars, but not out of a sense of decency

or from a position of pacifism. He wants to withdraw from the UN. Including humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, foreign aid would disappear. If you think "unstable" regions are bad now, imagine what they would be like with the double-edged sword of multinational (read: US) corporate interests moving unchecked throughout the developing world AND an absence of monitored unilateral military involvement in those regions. Paul's position isn't one of altruism; it's one of isolationism. Not that I'm an advocate of First World military involvement in foreign problems, but look at what isolationism has netted in the past.

So when people this they they agree with Paul on his war stance, I ask... "really?"

Really?

[PeaceNikki]

72. Who the hell are you talking to!?!?

[Dutchmaster]

73. Since I replied to your OP I would think that would be obvious.

Since it isn't, I will confirm that I am talking to you.

[PeaceNikki]

74. I see. And are you have come to defend Paul's honor?

I didn't write the text in the OP, it was copied from the linked article. But I agree, Ron Paul is so crazy and his ideas are so unrealistic, he does make Bush seem sane, relatively speaking.

[Dutchmaster]

76. Sorry I thought that it was your assertion that he was dumber than Bush.

Which he is clearly not.

And no I am not here to defend his "honor", although I concede I do consider him an honorable man, even though i disagree with him on many, many things.

[PeaceNikki]

78. Honorable? Yeesh!! What, specifically about him is "honorable"?

[TBF]

83. "although I do consider him an honorable man"

What attracted you - the misogyny? the racism? the libertarianism?

I'd put Paul, Bush, and Perry on the same platter and get a room temperature IQ at best. And I'm a Texan.

This isn't the website to be glorifying Mr. Paul, just in case you were wondering.

[Spazito]

75. He may be intelligent...or not...

but he IS a racist, homophobic, antisemitic, misogynist POS.

[Spazito]

79. No lies here, only lies coming from supporters of Paul...

to quote one of the Admins here:

"Fuck Ron Paul"

If you haven't read his newsletters, do so. If you have read them and aren't disgusted, well, ..... "Fuck Ron Paul".

[Botany]

81. In one of Paul's own papers in the 1990s somebody wrote:

"as a doctor I can say .... "

But now Dr. Paul is saying he never wrote those things?

Please!

[Quantess]

82. Gross. You first!

[AdHocSolver]

88. Your logic about Ron Paul's critical thinking skills does NOT compute.

While the OP's comment could have been worded better, the sense of what the OP said is perfectly valid.

Having worked for several years in hospitals, I was able to observe the medical business up close and in depth.

From observation, the most important abilities needed to get through medical school are (in no particular order) a photographic memory, ability to function on little sleep, a thick skin, and a high sense of self.

From observation, there are plenty of incompetent ("stupid&quot doctors practicing medicine. The public isn't aware of it because the hospitals and clinics (for which most doctors work) go to great lengths to cover up the medical malpractice that occurs.

For years, the average iatrogenic (doctor caused) disease rate in hospitals was around 25 percent. This means that about one in four patients who went to hospital for treatment acquired an adverse medical condition in the hospital (often, but not limited to a difficult to treat infection acquired because the person went to hospital) that was unrelated to the original problem for which they sought treatment. Articles that I have read over the years merely confirm that this problem hasn't improved any.

While many of us on the nonmedical staff could readily understand why this situation often occurred, the doctors seemed oblivious to even implement what seemed like simple solutions to reduce the occurrences.

Ron Paul exhibits the egotism and superciliousness that I have seen in many doctors over the years. He is not capable of even considering other people's judgment in nonmedical, let alone medical, matters. In that sense, he does lack critical thinking skills.

[tooeyeten]

86. just think

if we follow Paul's logic, we could all get rid of our most unfavorite co-workers with a slip of the tongue, so to speak.

[JerseygirlCT]

91. He really hates women. nt

[Ecumenist]

97. HANDLE IT IN THE HOME? REALLY??!!

So, what he's saying is if someone in the place where I work disrespects me, my husband, (who ain't right to begin with , what with his PTSD, bipolarity and his texan propensity for gun type sorts weapons), he could go in and blow the offending party's head off? RIGHT??!! What the fuck is this idiot talking about.

[Blue_Tires]

101. comic gold like this is why i'm hoping against hope that he's the nominee

[Fire Walk With Me]

102. That would allow CAIN! back into the fray.

I'm a frayed knot.