Republican Jackass of the Week

It's Ron Paul's son, Rand Paul.

This extreme rightwing fringe Republican, backed by the Teabaggers, beat his opponent in the Republican Senate primary on Tuesday. He appeared on msnbc's Rachel Maddow Show this week, after publicly criticizing parts of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Paul told Maddow that he agrees with most parts of the Civil Rights Act, except for one (Title II), that made it a crime for private businesses to discriminate against customers on the basis of race. Got that? He's against the part about private businesses not being allowed to discriminate! He also called President Obama "un-American" for criticizing BP, and doesn't necessarily agree with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

After tap dancing frenetically, he claimed that he is personally against discrimination, but is against making it illegal for private businesses to discriminate. Wow. It's 1964 all over again.

This is the interview everyone's talking about. It's worth the 8 minutes to watch. And for the record, Rachel Maddow was waaaaay too patient in allowing Rand Paul to blather on and on without committing himself. If this were a Democrat being interviewed on Fox, the host would have loudly interrupted after 3 seconds screaming, "Yes or no Mr Paul! Are you for or against the Civil Rights Act?"

UPDATE: Rand Paul cancelled his appearance this Sunday morning on NBC's Meet the Press. This makes him only the third guest to panic and back out in the 62 year history of the show.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy