Wingnut Watch
At a July 4th barbecue hosted by the Cobb County GOP, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) told attendees that America is "staring down in the deep chasm of socialism and total government control." The Marietta Daily Journal was on hand to record his invocation:
"Father, there are many who want to destroy us from outside this nation," Broun said. "Folks like al-Qaeda and the radical Islamists. But there are folks that want to destroy us from inside, the progressives and the socialists, who want to make this nation a nation that's no longer under you, under God, but a nation that's ruled by man." [Marietta Daily Journal via Political Correction]
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Rep. Akin and Sen. DeMint Do Battle With ‘Secularization’
You're not going to believe this. The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is hell bent on "snuffing out the light of freedom" by "rewriting the history of America." Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) says so, in this documentary for Coral Ridge Ministries. He's fighting a battle, alongside Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), "against those who want to secularize our country." You see, "secularization is the forerunner of socialization" (don't try saying that when drunk). And how can we "maintain a free country" if everybody's socializing? We can't. [Right Wing Watch, 7/5/11]
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Marcus Bachmann: Gays are ‘Barbarians’ Who ‘Need To Be Educated’ And ‘Disciplined’
Michele Bachmann's husband runs a Christian-based counseling center in Minnesota that's been rumored to offer treatment for those seeking a "cure" for their gayness. Here he is, last summer, sharing his views on homosexuality:
"We have to understand: barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps …." [ThinkProgress, 6/29/11]
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Rick Perry: ‘I’m Calling on Americans to Pray and Fast Like Jesus Did’
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has put out a video urging people to join him for the prayer rally he's organizing with right-wing groups in Houston in August. As you'll see, the mulling-it-over presidential candidate is of the view that prayer is needed now more than ever to cure what ails America:
"With the economy in trouble, communities in crisis and people adrift in a sea of moral relativism, we need God's help. That's why I'm calling on Americans to pray and fast like Jesus did and as God called the Israelite to do in the Book of Joel." [Right Wing Watch, 6/29/11]
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Rep. Todd Akin: Liberals Hate God
The other week, NBC created a lot of unnecessary trouble for itself by stupidly omitting the phrase "under God" from a clip of the Pledge of Allegiance in its coverage of the US Open this week. Soon after, Missouri congressman and Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin joined Family Research Council president Tony Perkins to discuss the gaffe. Why would NBC do such a thing? Because – duh! – "at the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God." Did he misspeak? No. When called on his slur, he refused to back down. [Right Wing Watch, 6/28/11]
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Rick Santorum: ‘There Is No Such Thing As Global Warming’
Former Pennsylvania senator and 2012 GOP presidential contender visited with Glenn Beck last week. The conversation turned to energy and climate, and …
BECK: Oil?
SANTORUM: Drill. Drill everywhere.
BECK: Coal?
SANTORUM: Absolutely. Natural gas. We have huge stores. 263 years of oil at the current rate, almost 200 years of gas, and 300 years of coal.
BECK: What about global warming?
SANTORUM: There is no such thing as global warming. It is, in my opinion, there are hundreds of factors that cause the earth to warm and cool, and the trace gas – of which human participation in this trace gas – is . . .
BECK: This could seal the deal for me. Whatever, I got enough. [Think Progress Green] -
Sen. John McCain: Illegals Set Arizona Wildfires
Sen. John McCain is standing by his claim that illegal immigrants started some of the wildfires currently burning in Arizona. “There is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," he said on Saturday. "The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border." Civil rights groups accused McCain of "political opportunism" and "pandering," and McCain's office today clarified he wasn't referring to the largest fire raging in the state – the Wallow fire – but to other, smaller ones. [Politico, 6/20]
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Rep. Louie Gohmert: Obama’s Loyalty is to ‘Islamic States’
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), speaking on the House floor, June 16, 2011:
"… I know the president made the mistake one day of saying he had visited all 57 states, and I'm well aware that there are not 57 states in this country, although there are 57 members of OIC, the Islamic states in the world. … [W]e have an obligation to the 50 American states, not the 57 Muslim, Islamic states. Our oath we took is in this body, in this House. And it's to the people of America. And it's not to the Muslim Brotherhood, who may very well take over Egypt and once they do, they are bent upon setting up a caliphate around the world, including the United States. And this administration will been [sic] complicit in helping people who wants [sic] to destroy our country." [Political Correction, 6/17/11]
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Michele Bachmann’s Jobs Plan: Abolish the EPA
How to turn the U.S. economy around and get America back to work? Why, eliminate the "job-killing" Environmental Protection Agency, of course. [CNN, 6/13/11]
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Rep. Virginia Foxx: Founders Were ‘Right-Wing Radicals’
In a June 14 debate on the House floor, Rep. Virginia Foxx – who incidentally once called the 1998 murder of Matthew Sheppard "a hoax" – offered a fresh take on American history. "Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague from Massachusetts talking about right-wing radicals, because I associate myself with George Washington, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who were right-wing radicals along with the other founders." [Political Correction 6/15/11]
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Cain and Gingrich: Loyalty Tests for Muslims
During last night's GOP prez debate, Herman Cain said he'd ask Muslims seeking jobs in his administration "certain questions … to make sure that we have people committed to the Constitution" (because Muslims might want to "influence court decisions with Sharia law" or "[try] to kill us"). Newt Gingrich piled on: "I'm in favor of saying to people, 'If you're not prepared to be loyal to the United States, you will not serve in my administration, period.' We did this in dealing with the Nazis and we did this in dealing with the Communists." [CNN, 6/14/11]
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Rick Perry: God Took Your Job To Teach You a Lesson
Appearing on televangelist James Robison's Life Today show, Texas Gov. Perry mused that "we're going through these difficult economic times for a purpose, to bring us back to those Biblical principles." He goes on to say that the recession teaches "not [to ask] for Pharoh to give everything to everybody … because at the end of the day, it's slavery. We become slaves to government." [Right Wing Watch, 6/13/11]
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Ryan Fattman: Illegal Immigrants Afraid? Good!
Mass. State Rep. Ryan Fattman, commenting recently on concerns that under a proposed law an illegal immigrant who is raped or beaten might be afraid to report the crime, said: "My thought is that if someone is here illegally, they should be afraid to come forward. If you do it the right way, you don't have to be concerned about these things." [ThinkProgress, 6/9/11]
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Rep. Devin Nunes on ‘Liberal Concentration Camps’
In a Fox News appearance, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) denounced a fish conservation program that involves restricting water to parts of already-parched California, like Nunes' own district in the San Joaquin Valley (and not, as he points out, to places like liberal San Francisco). "This is really about common sense versus real eco-terrorism to some degree …. [W]e have been put into their liberal concentration camp and my constituents in the San Joaquin Valley [are] not going to take their nonsense any more." [Political Correction, 6/9/11]
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Herman Cain: Build a ‘Great Wall’ to Keep Out Illegals
GOP presidential, addressing the Iowa Family Leader: "I just got back from China. Ever heard of the Great Wall of China? It looks pretty sturdy. And that sucker is real high. I think we can build one if we want to! We have put a man on the moon, we can build a fence! Now, my fence might be part Great Wall and part electrical technology …. It will be a twenty foot wall, barbed wire, electrified on the top, and on this side of the fence." [ThinkProgress, 6/8/11]
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Rick Santorum: Climate Change a Liberal Plot
The former Pennsylvania senator and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Rush Limbaugh's show: "[T]he idea that man … is somehow responsible for climate change is … patently absurd. To me this is … really a beautifully concocted scheme, because they know that the earth is gonna cool and warm. It's been on a warming trend so they said, 'Oh, let's take advantage of that and say that we need the government to come in and regulate your life some more because it's getting warmer.' [Talking Points Memo, 6/9/11]
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Michele Bachmann: Obama Released ‘All the Oil’ From the Strategic Reserve
During a June 26, 2011, interview on CBS’ Face the Nation, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann criticized President Obama’s recent decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, telling host Bob Scheiffer, "It’s ironic and sad that the president released all of the oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve because the president doesn’t have an energy policy." If Obama had released all of the oil in the SPR, that would have been an unprecedented act of economy-screwing insanity. He actually ordered the release of 30 million barrels, or about 4 percent of the current holdings in the reserve. Crazy or just unbelievably ill-informed? Your call, America. [Politifact, 6/27/11]
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