By Denise Clay
Michele Bachmann, who is also one of the current front-runners for the Republican Presidential Nomination (much to the chagrin of most Republicans) believes that the settlement finally being given to Black Farmers for the discrimination they suffered at the hands of the USDA amounts to fraud and should be given to flood victims in Mississippi.
Allen West believes that anyone who supports President Barack Obama is “threat to the gene pool” and has also written a threatening letter to a fellow congressperson.
And Herman Cain seems to have an unnatural obsession with Muslims. He believes that anyone who wants to build a mosque is not only espousing Sharia Law (what is it with Republicans and Sharia law?) but is trying to negate the separation of Church and State. Thus, in one of those moves that sends my friend the First Amendment straight to the bar, he calls for folks to have the right to block the building of mosques in their neighborhoods. Granted, no other religion has to go through stuff like this, but like I said, homeboy has an unnatural obsession with Muslims.
So without further ado, I now present “Bringing the Crazy, Part II: The Really?! Edition.”
We’ll start with a dude so Islamophobic that he makes Rick Santorum look tolerant, Cain, who raised a couple of million dollars this election cycle isn’t bringing much heat in Republican Presidential Nomination polls, but he’s saying all the stuff that Tea Party-ers (and other ignorant folks) seem to want to hear.
Over the weekend in an interview with Fox News’ Chris “My father is probably so disappointed” Wallace, Cain said all the usual Tea Party stuff like ‘We don’t need to raise the debt ceiling!” and “We don’t need for rich folks to pay their fair share (or any) taxes.” But since his repertoire includes such bon mots as “I know that all Muslims are terrorists and I’m not comfortable with them being in my cabinet,” “Muslims believe in Sharia Law,” and other stuff that would indicate that while he doesn’t really know any Muslims, he has no problem saying really stupid crap about them, I wasn’t surprised to hear him say that the government should be able to ban mosques from being built.
This coming from a dude who says that we need to read the Constitution. Funny, but if you read the Constitution, it says that you can’t ban anyone from building a religious institution anywhere they want to.
And you want to be president? Really?
But while Cain is offensive to those of us who understand the First Amendment, he’s not as head-scratching as Allen West.
For those of you who don’t know who West is, and really, unless you’re a political wonk like me you don’t know, he’s a Congressman from Florida who was swept into office during the 2010 Contract on America wave. He’s, and this should be no surprise to you, another Tea Party favorite who should really be kept away from live microphones whenever possible.
Why? Because occasionally stuff that comes from guys who don’t realize that not even Kid of Kid and Play is wearing the high-top fade anymore comes out of his mouth. As part of a blog posting regarding the economy, he blends his opinion on tax policy (namely that he’s a believer in Trickle-Down Economics) with some fallacies about President Obama’s tax policies and ends on the following note:
“I must confess, when I see anyone with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool.”
Now I’m not one of those people who believe that if you’re black you have to support President Obama. Everyone’s entitled to their own way of thinking and with supporting whom they wish politically. It’s a free country and it’s a beautiful thing to have the choice of voting between at least two black men for the nation’s highest office.
But if I don’t think the same way you do I’m a threat to the gene pool? Really?
As if that wasn’t enough, West took exception to a speech that fellow Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (who is also chair of the Democratic National Committee) made regarding his support for a House budget proposal that probably won’t make it through the Senate and would probably be vetoed if it ever made its way to President Obama’s desk.
Wasserman Schultz said that she couldn’t believe that a Congressman from South Florida, where I’m guessing every doctor accepts Medicaid and Medicare, would support a plan that cuts these programs in favor of cutting taxes to folks who can afford to buy mansions on South Beach and ride around in private jets.
(She didn’t say the South Beach and private jets part. That was me.)
Now that’s not news really. It would be news if West didn’t take exception to what Wasserman Schultz said considering the fact that she’s a Democrat and he’s a Republican. But despite the fact that she didn’t mention him by name, West decided to take it personally…
“Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!,” West wrote. “Understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior,” West continued. “You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!”
Just because I’m curious to know, I wonder in what ways the Congresswoman has proven to West, a former Military Man, that she is not a lady. Did she let her skirt ride up in public? Did she drink him under the table? Or, does her position as head of the DNC, and the gene pool tarnishing connected to it in West’s mind, cause him consternation?
But the winner and still champ in the Presidential Olympics of Crazy is, my favorite reason to stay away from the water in Minnesota, Michelle Bachmann.
That’s because she wants to deny Black Farmers something they should have gotten when they asked for it the first time: money to maintain their farms.
According to LaBachmann, who is currently at the top or near the top in the GOP Presidential Polls, giving these farmers the money that they won in the lawsuit filed in the Pigford case (a case that was led by a farmer from North Carolina, resolved in favor of the plaintiffs in 1999, and held up until President Obama said ‘give these dudes their $1.2 billion and stop fooling around’) amounts to…
Well, I’ll just let her say it…
“When money is diverted to inefficient projects, like the Pigford project, where there seems to be proof-positive of fraud, we can’t afford $2 billion in potentially fraudulent claims when that money can be used to benefit the people along the Mississippi River and the Missouri River.”
Now I’ll admit that this doesn’t top LaBachmann’s assertion that Black kids were better off during slavery, but i’m wondering where she gets this crap. I mean, you’re running for president. If this is your idea of courting the Black Vote, I would have to say it’s failing miserably. It’s also showing that you either (a) slept through or (b) were daydreaming about the day that you’d meet a chubby man in an industrial strength closet and marry him (oops! Did I say that?!) during history class.
‘Cause you sure didn’t pay attention!
I wonder how many Republicans are going to be asking themselves come November, “How did we get here?” when it comes to all three of these folks.
Well I can answer that question for you.
In 2010, you all made a deal with the Devil to get the House of Representatives. You asked him to get your power back and you didn’t care how, or with whom, he did it.
But here’s the thing about making a deal with the Devil. You don’t know who he’s going to use to fulfill your need and you don’t know what the payment plan is going to look like in the end.
Folks like Cain, West and Bachmann are the kind of folks he chose to use to get the Republican Brand back on top. The good news is, it worked. The bad news is, these folks are as crazy as Junebugs and have all but assured that you’re going to not only lose the House again, but that while the President is still gonna be a Black guy, he’s not gonna be one of yours.
In other words, the Devil has taken his money off of the top…and has left you with lint in your pockets…
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