Presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul said the Baltimore protests about a lack of fathers and lack of morals. How about when an upper middle class white kid from a broken home goes on a shooting rampage and kills innocent people? Will Paul blame that on a lack of father and morals? No. They blame that on mental illness.

What happened in Baltimore last night was inexcusable and disgraceful but is that what it will take to get meaningful police reform in this country? As President Obama said, this is a “slow-rolling crisis” that is tied to the economic standards in inner city communities.

Talking Points Memo: “I came through the train on Baltimore (sic) last night, I’m glad the train didn’t stop,” he said, laughing, during an interview with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham.

Railing against what he repeatedly called “thuggery and thievery” in the streets of Baltimore, Paul told Ingraham that talking about “root causes” was not appropriate in the middle of a riot.

“The police have to do what they have to do, and I am very sympathetic to the plight of the police in this,” he said.

As far as root causes, Paul listed some ideas of his own.

“There are so many things we can talk about,” the senator said, “the breakdown of the family structure, the lack of fathers, the lack of a moral code in our society.”

He added that “this isn’t just a racial thing.”

Here’s the audio of Rand Paul’s comments on Baltimore protests from Media Matters:

This was cross-posted from The Hinterland Gazette.