Walter Williams has an interesting column out today where he addresses the media's recent attacks on Kentucky GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul after his comments on the Civil Rights Act.

Williams basically points out that, if you believe in freedom, you have to tolerate freedom.  That freedom doesn't come from having the government make everything the way you would rather it to be.  He concludes:

One does not have to be a racist to recognize that the federal government has no constitutional authority to prohibit racial or any other kind of discrimination by private parties. Moreover, the true test of one's commitment to freedom of association doesn't come when he permits people to associate in ways he deems appropriate. It comes when he permits people to voluntarily associate in ways he deems offensive.

And, just in case you didn't know, Walter Williams is black.  And full of common sense.

We are all pretty much used to the tactics of the left, and I mean left, not liberal or Democrat. The verbal abuse, the exaggeration, the revision of history, not to mention the occasional criminal damage or assault. You get acclimatized to it after a while and accept it as part of the course. There is one thing that really gets to me though, being the easy going sort of person that I am – the current trend of labeling Republicans / Conservatives / Patriots as extremists.

I differentiate between liberal/Democrat and ‘left’ because the forces that have taken over the Democrat party can hardly be compared to Andrew Jackson, Harry S. Truman or even the relatively recent Bill Clinton. I’m sure the first two of the aforementioned would turn in their graves if they could see what had become of their party, with lies, bullying tactics and a total disrespect and disregard for the Constitution all being  acceptable in their rule book.

I feel a certain sympathy for the centrists in their party now, I know a lot of liberals and they are nice enough people, although a little misguided. They just happened to be born with the extra ‘G’ chromosome (G for gullible), not something they chose.