Fringe Right-Wing Nuttiness

The last few days have been full of right-wing fringe nuttiness. And looking at it all, I have to feel sorry for the old-time conservatives. It seems like the old voices of reason among conservatives, those who actually had half a brain and thought about what they were saying, like William Buckley and Barry Goldwater have now been replaced by non-thinkers like Michele Bachmann (pictured), Sharron Angle, George Will, Louie Gohmert and other Republican politicians and pundits.

Let me start with Michele Bachmann. The Minnesota representative can't open her mouth without something dumb coming out. She has now decided that she is opposed to a global economy (because it will obviously lead to a one world government according to her). She recently told a radio audience:

"Well, President Obama is trying to bind the United States into a global economy where all of our nations come together in a global economy. I don’t want the United States to be in a global economy where, where our economic future is bound to that of Zimbabwe. I can’t, we can’t necessarily trust the decisions that are being made financially in other countries."

“So I think clearly this is a very bad direction because when you join the economic policy of different nations, it is one short step to joining political unity and then you would have literally, a one world government."

Obviously it has escaped her attention that the United States has been an active participant in the global economy since well before she was born. Many businessmen, workers, farmers and ranchers have depended for years on exporting products to other countries -- meaning they depend on the U.S. being involved in the global economy. In fact, I'm not sure any country in the modern world could go it alone and not be a part of the global economy. I'm sure her corporate friends are wondering what the hell she's talking about on this one.

The we have the teabagger that is trying to unseat Senator Reid in Nevada -- Sharron Angle. Energy policy must be too complicated for her tiny brain, because she wants to keep it very simple. When asked about her energy policy, she said all we need to do is deregulate the "oil and petroleum industry" and the "mining industry". I guess it has never occurred to her that the deaths of 25 miners recently, as well as the ongoing Gulf oil disaster, are the direct result of either the lack of appropriate industry regulation or the industry not following regulations that are in place. I am amazed that she could want either of these industries to be unregulated.

Then she goes from an incredibly simple and unworkable solution to a view that I consider just downright mean. She is opposed to a woman having control over her own body -- even in cases of rape or incest. This is a position that even most Republicans are not mean enough to take. Has she never thought about the torture it could cause many victims of rape and incest to be forced to have the criminal's baby? She thinks allowing an abortion in these limited cases would be to interfere with "god's plan". In other words, she would elevate her own religious beliefs above the psychological and medical welfare of American women.

And of course no coverage of right-wing nuttiness would be complete without something from the Texas contingent. Let me start with one of the worst senators in Washington -- "Box Turtle" John Cornyn. In an uncharacteristic moment of honesty, Cornyn says the Republicans are opposed to the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court "simply because President Obama nominated her." I wonder what his Republican brethren think of his sudden honesty.

But for true Texas nuttiness you have to go to Rep. Louie Gohmert. He's convinced we must protect ourselves from a new muslim plot he has uncovered (even if it would be unconstitutional to do so). He says the muslims are getting women pregnant and sending them to the United States to have the babies. Then they take the baby home to indoctrinate them as radicals, and twenty or thirty years from now they'll send them back to destroy our society. That has to be the stupidest conspiracy theory I've heard in a long time.

And the right-wing nuttiness is not restricted to politicians. Political pundit George Will has shown that he has few functioning brain cells left either. Will has decided that the millions of dollars paid out in unemployment benefits don't stimulate the economy. Let me get this straight. Millions of dollars are given to out-of-work people who must spend all of that money to pay rent or house payments and buy groceries and other necessities, and yet this does nothing to stimulate the economy? Unbelievable!

Let me finish with the morons on the Republican National Committee. They are obviously having trouble finding a rational reason to oppose the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court (and they are not willing to endorse the unusual honesty of Cornyn). They have now decided that she is a "liberal activist" because while at Princeton in 1980 she opposed a military draft. What makes this laughable is that their conservative icon, Ronald Reagan, was also opposed to the proposed military draft at the same time, calling it "slavery" and "morally repugnant to the ideals of a free society." Does that make Reagan a liberal activist?

Do these people ever listen to the crazy things they say? It's very clear that they don't do any fact-checking. I do hope they keep it up though. They could take an election that they should do well in and make a gift of that election to the Democrats. Amazing!