Dean Barnett captured the Ron Paul phenomenon best with this analysis, appropriately titled "The 'Don't Tase Me, Bro' Candidate." But now the New Republic's Jamie Kirchick has finally found the documents that prove what most of us knew all along: Dr. Paul isn't just kooky, he's deranged. (You may not be able to get through to the TNR server, probably because it's been spiked by Drudge traffic though I don't discount the possibility that the Ron Paul blimp has met its fate in some kind of kamikaze mission against the TNR offices.) Kirchick found the documents at the University of Kansas and the Wisconsin Historical Society, and while they often contain no bylines, they are published in Ron Paul's name, and frequently written in the first person:

[W]hoever actually wrote them, the newsletters I saw all had one thing in common: They were published under a banner containing Paul's name, and the articles (except for one special edition of a newsletter that contained the byline of another writer) seem designed to create the impression that they were written by him--and reflected his views. What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing--but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics.

I won't reproduce the quotes here, but there is no plausible explanation that might insulate Paul from the fallout. Kirchick and others attacked Paul a few months back over his failure to return a $500 check from a prominent white supremacist. At the time, Paul had explained that he couldn't possibly screen ever donor. Of course he couldn't, but the media had screened this one for him, and he refused to give back the money anyway. Now we know why. He's been speaking in code to the dregs of American society this whole time. And he had no intention of alienating his base of support.

Update: Eh...unfortunately, this is probably not the end of Ron Paul, so perhaps a bad title choice for this post. Ron Paul responds here:"When I was out of Congress and practicing medicine full-time, a newsletter was published under my name that I did not edit. Several writers contributed to the product. For over a decade, I have publically [sic] taken moral responsibility for not paying closer attention to what went out under my name." Not paying closer attention? It's a little more than that. He surrounded himself with people of the worst character. That alone should disqualify him as a serious candidate in the minds of most.