With friends like these…

If you’re looking for laughs this holiday season, skip the comedies at the local multiplex and simply click on this memo by a former senior aide to Ron Paul. As far as I can determine, Eric Dondero is trying to defend Paul – but, as the old saying goes, with friends like these, who needs enemies?Dondero is upset that “the liberal media” has lately been painting the ascendant Republican presidential candidate as racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic. He asserts that it’s unfair and inaccurate to describe Paul that way just because the newsletters Paul published 20 years ago were racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic. He laments, “The liberal media is ferociously attacking Ron Paul…I’m amused at how off-base they are.”So Dondero – a former senior Paul aide for six years, someone who says “I was with him on the campaign trail more than any other individual” – has now posted a memo on a right-wing website, with the apparent intention of clearing the air, setting the record straight, making the case that his old boss has been grievously misunderstood.But clearly, this guy needs to go back to spin school:1. “Is Ron Paul an Anti-Semite? Absolutely No,” writes Dondero. “He is, however, most certainly Anti-Israel, and Anti-Israeli in general. He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations. His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.”In fact, says Dondero, there was an incident “when Ron finally agreed to a meeting with Houston Jewish Young Republicans…He berated them, and even shouted at one point, over their un-flinching support for Israel. So much so, that the 6 of them walked out of the office. I was left chasing them down the hallway apologizing for my boss.”(Translation: Paul isn’t anti-Semitic, no sir. He just wants to drive the Jews of Israel into the sea.)2. “Is Ron Paul a homophobe? Well, yes and no. He is not all bigoted towards homosexuals. He supports their rights to do whatever they please in their private lives. He is however, personally uncomfortable around homosexuals,” like the time when he visited the home of a prominent supporter who was gay: “We used Jim’s home/office as a ‘base.’ Ron pulled me aside the first time we went there, and specifically instructed me to find an excuse (that would allow) him to (visit) a local fast food restaurant so that he could use the bathroom. He told me very clearly, that although he liked Jim, he did not wish to use his bathroom facilities. I chided him a bit, but he sternly reacted, as he often did to me, Eric, just do what I say. Perhaps ‘sternly’ is an understatement. Ron looked at me directly, and with a very angry look in his eye, and shouted under his breath: ‘Just do what I say NOW.'” And there was the time, at a local barbecue, when Paul encountered another gay supporter named Bobby, “a well-known and rather flamboyant and well-liked gay man…Ron likes Bobby personally, and Bobby was a hardcore campaign supporter. But after (Ron’s) speech, at the Surfside pavilion, Bobby came up to Ron with his hand extended, and according to my fellow staffer, Ron literally swatted his hand away.”Again, let me stress. I would not categorize that as ‘homo-phobic,’ but rather just unsettled by being around gays personally.”(Translation: Paul isn’t anti-gay, no sir. He just thinks they have cooties.)3. Paul has never said “a racist word” about blacks or Hispanics, and he has even hired some. However, “one caveat: He is what I would describe as ‘out of touch’ with both Hispanic and Black culture. Ron is far from being the hippest guy around. He is completely clueless when it comes to Hispanic and Black culture, particularly Mexican-American culture. And he is most certainly intolerant of Spanish and those who speak strictly Spanish in his presence…”(Translation: Paul isn’t anti-black or anti-Hispanic, no sir. He just has no clue about their lives and traditions.)4. “I’d like to express in the strongest terms possible, that the liberal media are focusing in on entirely the wrong aspects regarding controversies on Ron Paul. It’s his foreign policy that’s the problem.”For instance, “he strenuously does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler in WWII. He expressed to me countless times, that ‘saving the Jews,’ was absolutely none of our business.”(Translation: Yep, the Jews again. But remember, Paul is not anti-Semitic, no sir.)And, for instance, “Ron Paul was opposed to the War in Afghanistan, and to any military reaction to the attacks of 9/11. He did not want to vote for the resolution (although he finally did)…He expressed no sympathies whatsoever for those who died on 9/11, and pretty much forbade us staffers from engaging in any sort of memorial expressions…”All told, Dondero concludes, “If Ron Paul should be slammed for anything, it’s not some silly remarks he’s made in the past in his Newsletters. It’s over his simply outrageously horrendous views on foreign policy, Israel, and national security for the United States.”OK, pal, thanks for helping your old boss!——-I talked politics on WHYY’s “Radio Times” for an hour this morning, along with Philadelphia Inquirer foreign affairs columnist Trudy Rubin. The show is archived here, for your holiday week listening pleasure.——-Follow me on Twitter, @dickpolman1