Pot? Meet Kettle.

I just read a post by Tim Carney entitled “GOP will take off the gloves if Ron Paul wins Iowa”  over at the Washington Examiner that has me scratching my head.  In it, Carney makes argument that if Ron Paul wins the Iowa caucuses, the Republican establishment and the mainstream media will come after him:

If Paul wins, how will the media and the GOP react? Much of the media will ignore him (expect headlines like “Romney Beats out Gingrich for Second Place in Iowa”). Some in the Republican establishment and the conservative media will panic. Others will calmly move to crush him, with the full cooperation of the liberal mainstream media.

This isn’t a new argument for folks to use.  Herman Cain did it yesterday:

“I am as broken hearted as others about having to pull out,” Cain said, “but I couldn’t continue to try and run a race when you have a liberal media and others who did not want to see me succeed and to see us succeed — constantly fighting false accusations.

Christine O’Donnell did the same thing. Even Michele Bachmann has employed this tactic. While I’m never a fan of supporters of candidates, or the candidates themselves making excuses for a future loss, the way Carney says they’ll “crush” Paul seemed rather hypocritical to me. He argues:

But neither his establishment-irritating adherence to principle, nor his hawk-angering foreign policy, will be the focus of the anti-Paul attacks should he carry Iowa. His conservative critics and the mainstream media will imply that he is a racist, a kook, and a conspiracy theorist.

Paul’s indiscretions — such as abiding 9/11 conspiracy theorists and allowing racist material in a newsletter published under his name — will be blown up to paint a scary caricature. His belief in state’s rights and property rights will be distorted into support for Jim Crow and racism.

Really? It’s other folks that will imply racism, call him kook, etc.? Seems to me Ron Paul has already played that card in this election himself:

So Ron Paul can go on national television and imply other candidates are racists… but if it were to happen to him it’s just the GOP establishment and mainstream media out to destroy him? Please. How anyone can even make this argument is beyond me.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Over at NRO, Jonah Goldberg remarks on Tim’s “preemptive defense.” Says Goldberg:

I like and support Paul’s positions on state’s rights and property rights. And I am willing to defend them. Meanwhile, Carney would do a better service to his preferred candidate if he could offer a reassuring defense of Paul’s “abiding” of 9/11 conspiracy theorists and allowing racists to write under his byline. Assuming there is an defense that reassures anyone who is not already converted to the cause.

The good doesn’t always mask the bad, and in Paul’s cause it should not exempt him from scrutiny.

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