As our review of what we heard from the right in 2011 comes to an end, here are some last random snippets of nuttiness and extremism. Read more quotes from the far right in 2011 here.
“Right now there are six true conservative Christians on the board, so we have to fight for two votes. In previous years, we had to fight for one vote to get a majority.”
– Barbara Cargill, shortly after her appointment as chair of the Texas State Board of Education, discussing the political landscape of the state board. Fellow Republicans who apparently didn’t meet Cargill’s definition of “conservative Christians” were – no surprise – offended. Houston Chronicle, July 18, 2011
“The latest rumor I hear, and I don’t know if this is true or not, is that he’s used about 25 different Social Security numbers … YouTubes are infallible.”
– Texas State Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, casting doubts on President Obama’s citizenship and citing one of the Internet sources for his doubts. Texas Tribune, February 28, 2011
“Y’all as tempting as it may be, don’t shoot Obama. We need him to go down in history as the WORST president we’ve EVER had! #2012.”
— Lauren E. Pierce, the president of the College Republicans at the University of Texas at Austin, an intern for Americans for Prosperity-Texas and for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s campaign for U.S. Senate, in a message posted on Twitter after Pennsylvania State Police arrested a 21-year-old Idaho man for allegedly firing a semi-automatic rifle at the White House. Texas Tribune, November 16, 2011
“My president’s black, he snorts a lot of crack. Holla. #2012 #Obama.”
– Cassie Wright, who replaced Lauren E. Pierce as president of the UT-Austin branch of the Texas College Republicans, in a Twitter message posted Sunday. Burnt Orange Report, December 19, 2011
“Make no mistake, the final responsibility is ours, and we are warriors. We will bend public education to our awe, or break it all to pieces.”
– Tennessee state Sen. Jim Summeville, a Tea Party Republican, demanding that his state’s legislature pass radical “reforms” targeting public education. NEA Today, April 19, 2011
“[P]lease look into protection for your family. An attempt on you could bring the republic down.”
– Television and radio commentator Glenn Beck, reading a letter he wrote to Sarah Palin after the shooting in Arizona that critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and killed six others. The Hill, January 10, 2011
“All of these monsters (Hitler, Stalin) began by confiscating private arms, then literally soaking the earth with the blood of tens and tens of millions of their own people. Is there any wonder, then, why liberal, socialist, and communist-bent government officials are so bent on destroying America’s Second Amendment right? Now you know the truth.”
– Narration of a video created by Pastor Carl Gallups of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, Fla., asserting in the wake of the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., that gun control leads to genocide. Religion Dispatches, January 11, 2011
“Government does not improve our lives.”
– Texas Eagle Forum President Pat Carlson, explaining why drastic cuts to social services for poor people — even taking Texas out of the Medicaid system — would be fine with her. Texas Tribune, January 26, 2011
“When you talk about rabbis, understand that most — most people who are not Jewish don’t understand that there are the Orthodox rabbis, and then there are the reformed rabbis. Reformed rabbis are generally political in nature. It’s almost like Islam, radicalized Islam in a way, to where it is just — radicalized Islam is less about religion than it is about politics.”
– Glenn Beck, explaining the difference between Reform Judaism and Orthodox Judaism by equating the first with radicalized Islam. Media Matters for America, February 22, 2011 (audio clip from The Glenn Beck Program, Premiere Radio Networks, 2/22/2011)
“I’m not saying God is, you know, causing earthquakes. I’m not not saying that either. Whether you call it Gaia or whether you call it Jesus there’s a message being sent. And that is, ‘Hey, you know that stuff we’re doing? Not really working out real well. Maybe we should stop doing some of it.’ I’m just saying.”
– Glenn Beck, on the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. Huffington Post, March 14, 2011 (Audio clip from The Glenn Beck Program)
“If you want to know why we can’t pass legislation in Texas, it’s because we have 37, no 36, Hispanics in the Legislature. All of the states that have passed legislation have a handful and I mean literally, some of them have NO Hispanic legislators, well, maybe 3 or 5 or something. So that’s, umm, part of our problem and we need to change those numbers. . . . So the problem is these Hispanic legislators . . . is that it’s too close to them and they, umm. . . simply cannot vote their conscience correctly.
– Tea Party speaker Rebecca Forest, complaining at a rally at the Texas Capitol about the difficulty in passing a bill barring so-called “sanctuary cities” (which don’t exist in Texas anyway). (Video also available at the link.) Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance, June 14, 2011.
Typical right-wing myths. I still say the TEAparty is smoking the wrong kind of TEA.
Fruitcakes all—every one. That’s all you need to know.
Happy new year!
Cracked teapots. Happy New Year. I think we’ll see a significant uptick in the collective sanity this year. However, the crazies will be braying louder than ever.
Can someone tell me what “putluck” means? It sounds like something that happens on a golf course.
Ha! Thanks for the catch, Charles.
Has anyone noticed that Donna Bahorich’s mug shot is very nearly a Michele Bachmann doppleganger? I wonder if their is some casting and molding operation where they manufacture these people?
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