Last night, July 9th, 2013, Rachel Maddow opened her eponymously-named MSNBC show with a segment about how Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is a RACIST. I do not endeavor to engage in a debate/dialogue about the veracity of that assertion. I’m not a Rand Paul fan-boy. I don’t plan to vote for Rand Paul in 2016..or anyone for that matter. I honestly don’t know if Rand Paul is racist. I’ve never heard him say something I’ve considered to be racist. I’ve never seen anything Rand Paul has written that I consider racist. I’ve never heard of anything Rand Paul has done that I consider indicates that he’s a racist. But, I must admit, I’ve never looked into Rand Paul’s heart. Nor has Rachel Maddow. Bizarrely, a lack of documented, first-hand evidence of overt racism proved to be a rather insufficient deterrent. Rachel Maddow, from the safety of her military industrial complex funded pedestal of moral ascendancy, proceeded to launch into a 20 minute pageant of specious ebullience that only someone unquestionably free from the association she asserted would feel comfortable forwarding. Rachel Maddow opened up her July 9th, 2013 show with accusations of “racism” because…wait for it…someone Rand Paul was associated with had a Myspace page for their band..that had a disgustingly racist comment and picture. A single Myspace comment, from 2007. Guilt-by-association…by association.

The “association” which made this racist (and sadly common) Myspace occurrence PRESSING, NATIONAL NEWS in 2009, while 2 wars raged, drone bombs slaughtered innocent civilians at an unprecedented rate, a failed/bipartisan War on Drugs continued to target/ravage minorities communities, and the economy teetered on the brink of collapse..wait..sorry, I just got distracted. Back to the pressing, national news for which 20 minutes of prime-time MSNBC is now devoted, in 2013. The random, solitary, racist Myspace comment, posted on a Myspace page in 2007, happened to belong to the 4 members of a band named “Commander”..of which 1 member was a campaign spokesman for a guy running for Senate in Kentucky, Rand Paul. There you have it. Exhibit A. Rand Paul is associated with a guy, who is one of 4 guys in a band..who have a Myspace page..that has a single racist comment on it. Ergo — RACIST.

The Paul campaign commented on this “scandal” while they accepted the resignation of the campaign spokesperson in December 2009:

“The images were not placed there by this employee but by someone posting on the site. These images in no way represent Dr. Paul or his campaign nor do they represent the beliefs of this staff member. These images are reprehensible and have no place in civil discourse.”

Rand Paul himself commented on the “scandal” when this shocking story broke:

“I have never heard a single utterance of racism from this staffer nor do I believe him to have any racist tendencies. However, it is impossible to present the ideas and reforms we need in this country with this controversy present. Therefore I have accepted his resignation.”

I have a confession. I have a Myspace band page. Actually two. Possibly three! I know the password to one of them..I think. I haven’t logged into my Myspace band page in years. I do recall, towards the tail end of my giving even a semblance of a care about Myspace, that my page actually began accepting “Myspace friends” without my consent. They would spam my Myspace wall (is “wall” a facebook thing?) with weird garbage. I left those spam comments there..with the other spam comments. I left them there not because I endorsed them, but because I didn’t read/acknowledge them. It’s MYSPACE. I must confess that I’ve made a number of youtube videos. Some of my videos have garnered hundreds of comments, made by random people who have found my videos. I haven’t deleted a single youtube comment, not because I’ve read and endorse all of them, but because I haven’t read them, and IT’S THE INTERNET. Also, I must confess, I have friends and family. Sometimes they say things with which I don’t agree. Things I find repugnant. Some of my friends/family brag incessantly about voting for a guy who is slaughtering innocent people around the world, with impunity, and perpetuating/bolstering a blatantly racist War on Drugs. I disagree with them to my core, but refuse to censor/disown/disassociate from them, because I was (naively? mistakenly?) under the impression that all humans have redeeming qualities, and FREE SPEECH.

Now I, we, know better. Per Rachel Maddow, thou shall not EVER associate with someone that has said/done/thought OR associated with someone else who has ever said/done/thought or associated with someone who is bad, or “racist.” Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a tick. Rachel Maddow met with President Obama in December of 2012. Doesn’t she know?

Barack Obama attended the church of a racist pastor! (yes, it’s wiki.. but merely for the compendium of links)

Barack Obama supports the blatantly racist war on drugs!

Barack Obama was once “associated” with a terrorist named Bill Ayers, who bombed the NYPD, Capitol Building, and Pentagon!

Barack Obama is slaughtering innocent people with drones!

Barack Obama is targeting civilian first responders with drones!

Barack Obama is force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners at GITMO, a practice the UN calls “torture” ..!!

By Ms. Maddow’s standards, per her association with Barack Obama, she herself is a racist, a terrorist, and a war criminal. Now, let’s check her facebook page.

*GASP*

RACIST! RACISM! How could Rachel Maddow allow this racist filth to exist, in association with her social media page? The fact that it hasn’t been deleted over the past four hours is a CLEAR indication that Ms. Maddow endorses the statement. I, WE, await her public renunciation, and sincere apology. Of course, it won’t matter. What’s done is done. Ms. Maddow is a racist. /sarc

There’s nothing wrong with calling out racist language/behavior when we see it. If I become aware of a business owner who espouses racism, anti-semitism, homophobia or language/behavior I regard to be inspired by ignorance or hate, they lose my business. It’s happened before, and I’m certain (sadly) it will happen again. I cannot abide the concept of “guilt-by-association.” It’s a concept with grave implications, and consequences. It’s being pushed by unquestioning media/political personalities on a trusting, unquestioning public. The concept of “collateral damage” is a prime example of “guilt by association.” When innocent civilians are slaughtered in a drone strike, we’re now conditioned to believe that those innocent people should have been MORE innocent, and been free from proximity/association with the people we’ve lawlessly targeted for assassination. Some of the people furthering this pernicious policy are Ms. Maddow’s welcomed MSNBC contributors/guests.

I don’t know if Rand Paul is racist. Rachel Maddow doesn’t know if Rand Paul is racist. If all we have to guide us in this determination is an agenda, truth becomes irrelevant. If that agenda holds that we’re guilty of what those we associate with are guilty, the ones furthering that agenda must accept that they’ll be held to the same, slimy standard.