When you’re giving Michele Bachmann a run for her money, you’re definitely going off of the rails on the Crazy Train
This past week, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann attempted to solidify her position as the “Craziest Person in Congress” with not one, not two, but THREE different comments. First, she was chased down a hallway by a CNN reporter trying to get her to explain her comment that the Obama’s live a lavish lifestyle that includes someone paid with taxpayer money to walk the First Dog Bo. It is, of course, not true.
Then she made the statement that Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, juvenile diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Parkinson’s disease would all be cured by now if the federal government (of which she is a powerful member) hadn’t “created a cadre of overzealous regulators, excessive taxation and greedy litigators” that has prevented it.
And then she said that Obamacare must be stopped before it “literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens”. Yikes.
But now we have a new contender for the title of “Craziest Member of Congress”: Texas Republican Steve Stockman. Via MSNBC:
Woodruff was following Stockman the day last month the Violence Against Women Act [VAWA] finally passed the House. Stockman, who comes from a redder than red area of east Texas hates the bill. Hates it. Why?
“This is helping the liberals, this is horrible. Unbelievable. What really bothers – it’s called a women’s act, but then they have men dressed up as women, they count that. Change-gender, or whatever. How is that – how is that a woman?”
Here’s what my good friend Katherine Haenschen at the Burnt Orange report had to say:
The reauthorized VAWA — signed into law by President Obama earlier this month — was expanded to include Native Americans, immigrants, and LGBT Americans who are victims of domestic violence. Previously there was no dedicated funds for these communities.That’s why Republicans fought the reauthorization of VAWA: because it included three communities that the GOP evidently doesn’t think worthy of protection against domestic violence.
Stockman is freaking out because he’s too ignorant to understand concepts such as gender expression or identity. His core constituents, the folks who turn out for a mid-summer Republican run-off, will only reward him for such intolerant, bigoted views. Have any other Texas Republicans condemned Stockman’s homophobic views? I’m not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
You heard it from Republican Steve Stockman, folks: passing tougher laws to prosecute perpetrators of violence against women is somehow “helping the liberals.” Personally I’d rather live in a world where stopping violence againts women is a human issue rather than a partisan one, but as long as sub-human life forms like Stockman get elected by Republican run-off voters, I guess that day is still a long way away.
The shift in public opinion on rights for our friends, neighbors and loved ones in the LGBT community is an unstoppable freight train. Young people today, those who will lead our nation in the not-so-distant future, by and large don’t give a damn who you love or what gender you identify with. They recognize that people come in many different flavors but we’re all humans worthy of dignity, being treated with respect, and, most importantly, being accorded the protections and rights that all Americans enjoy. It’s an unstoppable freight train that is about to derail the Crazy Train that people like Michele Bachmann and her new partner in ignorance and insanity, Texan Steve Stockman are driving.
It can’t happen fast enough for me.
[Public domain Crazy Words record image credit: Wikimedia Commons/Freimut Bahlo]
