Paul Bearer

Two weeks ago, most of us would have been stumped by the question, "Who is Rand Paul?"

(I would have guessed that he was the compiler of atlases, along with his partner McNally.)

But he's the Teabag Party Republican winner of the Kentucky senatorial primary election, vying for the honor of replacing Jim Bunning, widely regarded as the worst senator in captivity. He's also the son of Ron Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas who describes himself as "America's leading voice for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies." I wanna party with you, cowboy. He's also a man who opposed a resolution saluting the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, widely regarded as one of the great laws given us by Congress, except that Rep. Paul and his son wish to reserve the right of business owners to be racist. Rand says he abhors racial discrimination, but isn't so sure that the government has the right to tell bar owners that they have to allow everyone in their saloons.

And then Rand came up with this quote: "I think it's part of this sort of blame game society in the sense that it's always got to be someone's fault instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen" to remind us that we shouldn't get so doggone mad at BP for spoiling the Gulf of Mexico.

And then he got exhausted. He just won this primary a few days ago, and he cancelled a scheduled appearance on this past Sunday's "Meet The Press" on NBC - just the third person in six decades to cancel on that show - because he's just so tired. And, "MTP" host David Gregory cited additional comments by Mr. Paul that he had decided to cut back on television appearances "to avoid the liberal bias of the media."

Son. You're running for the Senate, you tell us you're not so sure that the Civil Rights Act was fair to rednecks, you're quick to defend oil companies as the "black gold Texas tea" keeps spewing into the Gulf, and you're tired already?

Oh, and did I mention that he's an ophthalmologist? Maybe he could take a few minutes and open up his own eyes. After he catches up on his rest, you understand.