Are the sins of a prominent politico father being visited on the political ambitions of his son?
Outspoken Libertarian, three-time presidential candidate, and three-term Texas Rep. Ron Paul may be posing daunting problems for his son, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, in his potential bid for the White House.
The Washington Post reported that Russians reveled in Ron Paul's recent comments that the U.S. government is rushing to "repeat government propaganda" on the recent crash of a Malaysian airliner, believed by the United States to have been caused by a Russian missile fired by Ukrainian separatists trained by Russia.
Ron Paul stated on his
website, under the headline, "What The Media Won't Report About Malaysian Airlines MH17," "Of course it is entirely possible that the Obama administration and the U.S. media has it right this time, and Russia or the separatists in eastern Ukraine either purposely or inadvertently shot down this aircraft. The real point is, it's very difficult to get accurate information, so everybody engages in propaganda. At this point, it would be unwise to say the Russians did it, the Ukrainian government did it, or the rebels did it."
Ron Paul went on to say that the media is declining to report early U.S. involvement in regime change in the Ukraine, which set up the current crisis, and that the Ukrainian government uses the same surface-to-air missile that apparently took out the Malaysian flight, which requires sophisticated training he says the separatists do not have.
It's an awkward moment for Kentucky's junior senator's political positioning, and he seems to be backing away from his father's stances. Rand Paul recently told
The Daily Caller that he's "pretty much stopped answering" questions about how his father's stances may differ from his own.
"Over time, people will notice there are distinctions and differences," he said."I've been in the Senate for three years, and I have created a record for myself. And I have my opinions."
A sure indicator of his distancing is that
Free Beacon reported he removed his father's book, "A Foreign Policy of Freedom," and 16 others from his Senate website's suggested reading list recently.
Rand Paul, 51, is currently the unannounced GOP front-runner for the 2016 presidential race, with the best chance of mounting a serious challenge to Hillary Clinton of any Republican contender, according to
"Meet The Press."
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