This has the potential of becoming a new recurring thread for us ~ ~ Sooz

Bringing Back the Chain Gang and Other Crazy Legislative Proposals
by Luke Kerr-Dineen Mar 24, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Introducing The Daily Beast’s weekly rundown of the wildest ideas being proposed—or passed—by state lawmakers.

A Direct Shot At Roe v. Wade

North Dakota’s state legislature this week passed what would be the nation’s strictest anti-abortion package, which would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected, which could come as early as six weeks. Arkansas, which currently has the toughest abortion laws in the U.S., bans the procedure after 12 weeks. Republican governor Jack Dalrymple, who’s yet to signal his position, has until Wednesday to either veto or sign the package, which would likely be challenged immediately in court if it becomes law.

Chain Gang Revival

South Carolina State Rep. Bill Chumley (R) this week sponsored a bill that would enlist low-level inmates in modern-day chain gangs. The idea was first thought-up by a local sheriff, who said convict labor would shorten prison terms and save money for the state. “You work somebody six days a week, 12 hours a day, they don't have time to sit around and think about how to be stupid anymore," said Wright.

A True Toilet Paper Bill

Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh (R) tried to slip an amendment into a bill this week that criminalize the use of public bath rooms, changing rooms and locker rooms that don’t match-up with the sex on the individual’s birth certificate. Violators would be subject to up to six months in jail, and the proposal aimed squarely at the transgendered earned Kavanagh—who last month said he feared a Phoenix anti-discrimination statue would “serve as cover for pedophiles”—the moniker Bathroom Birther.

Pistol-Packing Parishioners

The Arkansas State Senate this week approved a bill that would allow worshipers to carry concealed handguns into houses of worship. Similar provisions have also advanced in South Carolina, Wyoming and Louisiana in recent months, leading The Seattle Times this week to profile one of the churches in its state (where there are no laws baring guns from churches), which offers firearm training classes.

Criminal Homosexuality

More than 70,000 people have signed a change.org petition supporting the efforts of Rep. Patricia Todd, a Democrat and the state’s first openly gay legislator, to repeal Alabama’s 1992 law requiring sex-ed teachers to instruct students that homosexuality is a “crime” and “not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public.” Perhaps ironically, Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin (R), who would prefer sex-ed be taken out of the curriculum entirely, is one of the key figures fighting to uphold the law.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/24/bringing-back-the-chain-gang-and-other-crazy-legislative-proposals.html

Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh (R) tried to slip an amendment into a bill this week that criminalize the use of public bath rooms, changing rooms and locker rooms that don’t match-up with the sex on the individual’s birth certificate. Violators would be subject to up to six months in jail, and the proposal aimed squarely at the transgendered earned Kavanagh—who last month said he feared a Phoenix anti-discrimination statue would “serve as cover for pedophiles”—the moniker Bathroom Birther.

LOL, I wonder how they would prosecute those here who use "family washrooms"? Most of our large public places (like malls) have those so that either parent can take a child of either gender to the washroom. They have change tables and such for infants too.
It's a great boon to someone like a single Dad of a daughter who doesn't feel comfortable taking her to the mens room. Or vice-versa.

Here is the newest installment ~ Sooz

Lawmakers Gone Wild: Sinks for Muslims, Racial Rants, and More
by Luke Kerr-Dineen Mar 31, 2013 4:45 AM EDT

From claiming low-slung bathroom sinks are “for Muslims” to emailing racial rants to constituents, read our weekly rundown of politicians gone off the rails.

Holding Firm

Dave Agema, a Republican in the Michigan Legislature, made national news this week when he posted an article on his Facebook page titled “Everyone Should Know These Statistics on Homosexuals.” The article calls homosexuals, among other things, “filthy,” “pedophiles,” and more likely to be murdered than “the average person.” Members of both parties with differing views on same-sex marriage quickly slammed Agema’s actions and called on him to resign. Agema has so far refused, maintaining that the article was worth sharing.

High-Speed Assemblyman

Nevada lawmakers voted to expel Assemblyman Steven Brooks, a Democrat, on Thursday after he was arrested for a second time since January on charges of resisting arrest and throwing objects. Calling him “potentially dangerous” and claiming that they did not feel safe with him in the building after reports that Brooks had threatened his colleagues, a Nevada Assembly Select Committee voted 6-1 to make him the first state lawmaker ever to be expelled. Hours later Brooks was arrested for a third time this year after a high-speed chase down the freeway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Washing Their Hands of It

Members of the Tennessee Legislature were alarmed this week when a new sink was installed in the men’s restroom as part of a $16 million renovation of the State Capitol. A number of lawmakers were reportedly concerned that the sink, which is at ground level and in one of the corners of the restroom, was installed for Muslims, who are required to wash their face, hands, and feet before praying. But the saga was eventually put to rest when the legislative administration director chimed in: “The floor-level sink installed in the men’s restroom outside the House Chamber is for housekeeping use ... It is, in layman’s terms, a mop sink.”

A New Argument Against Gun Control?

Alabama State Rep. Joseph Mitchell, a Democrat, presented a new argument against gun control in an email to a constituent earlier this week. Mitchell, who represents a heavily African-American district, apparently annoyed by a heated email from a constituent asking him to not propose any new gun laws, responded by writing: “Your folk never used all this sheit to protect my folk from your slave-holding, murdering, adulterous, baby-raping, incestuous, snaggle-toothed, backward-a**ed, inbreed, imported criminal-minded kin folk.” So far, Mitchell has yet to apologize for his remarks.

Abortion-Pill No-Go

State legislatures in Mississippi and Indiana this week voted on laws that would restrict abortion-inducing pills. The Indiana bill, which was approved 33-16 by the state Senate in February and passed by a House committee this week, requires that women seeking the pill have an ultrasound first. The provision was ultimately dropped from the bill. But in Mississippi, the state House of Representatives advanced a slightly different variation of the bill this week. That bill requires a physician be present when the first of the two pills are administered.

Austin Tree Choppers

A war in the Texas state Capitol is brewing over which ones to cut down and which to protect. The current law in the city, similar to those in most other cities, allows local authorities to decide which trees to preserve and keep out of the hands of developers. But this week Republican state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst put forward a bill limiting the city’s right to preserve trees, which led to another more extreme bill that would take away the city’s power to make laws preventing the chopping of trees.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/31/lawmakers-gone-wild-sinks-for-muslims-racial-rants-and-more.html

“The floor-level sink installed in the men’s restroom outside the House Chamber is for housekeeping use ... It is, in layman’s terms, a mop sink.”



hahahahahahaha! Too funny!

Here is this week's installment ~ there are some "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The Week in Wingnuts: Mandatory Guns and State Religions
by Luke Kerr-Dineen Apr 7, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
The Daily Beast’s weekly rundown of the wildest ideas being proposed, or passed, by state lawmakers.

North Carolina: The Promised Land?

GOP state Reps. Carl Ford and Harry Warren jointly proposed a bill Monday that would allow the state to declare an official religion—effectively nullifying the first amendment. The proposal, backed by 12 other Republicans, was put forth as a responsive to an ACLU lawsuit aimed at blocking commissioners in one North Carolina county from opening meetings with a prayer. Thursday, House Speaker Thom Tillis, who’s reportedly considering a U.S. Senate run, effectively killed the proposal by announcing it would not receive a vote in the full House.

Indiana: Locked and loaded

The state House Education Committee Tuesday approved legislation mandating that one employee in every public school carry a loaded gun during school hours. The bill, which would be the nation’s first of its kind, passed out of committee just hours before the NRA released ++a report++ calling for more armed officers in schools.

Georgia: Don’t mess with Nelson

In a unanimous 5-0 vote on Monday, the City Council of Nelson, a small city about 50 miles outside of Atlanta, passed a law that would require every household "to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition." Although Councilman Duane Cronic admitted that the law, which exempts convicted felons and those opposed to gun ownership, likely won’t be enforced, he said it will still make the city safer. "I likened it to a security sign that people put up in their front yards,” he said.

Georgia: Pretend homosexuals?

Sue Everhart, chairwoman of the state Republican Party, made headlines this week when she claimed that allowing gay people to marry would lead to straight people entering into sham marriages to claim health and other benefits. “Say you had a great job…what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits?” Everhart said, adding that gay marriage was also unnatural. “There is no way that this is about equality. To me, it’s all about a free ride.” She didn’t explain what prevented people, gay or straight, from entering into sham marriages now with someone of the opposite sex.

Maine: Hit him where it hurts

Democrats in Maine are trying to take away Republican Gov. LePage’s pension as punishment for his policies. The state’s Senate Assistant Majority Leader Troy Jackson has proposed a bill, co-signed by four other Democrats, that would revoke the pension of any governor who wasn’t elected to a second term (the current law grants a lifetime pension to any person elected to the office).

“At a time when Gov. LePage and others are asking state employees to sacrifice, even at the expense of their own pensions which were promised to them when they signed their contracts, the governor should be held to the same standard,” Jackson said last week.

Kansas: Life Starts Sooner Here

The Kansas legislature became the latest to pass sweeping anti-abortion measures when lawmakers this week approved ++a bill++ declaring that life begins “at fertilization.” In a 90-30 vote on Saturday, the house sent HB 2253 to Republican Kansas Gov. Brownback, who is expected to sign it into law next week. The new law rescinds tax breaks for abortion providers in an effort to stop any state funds from being spent directly or indirectly on the procedure, and bans providers from participating in public school sex education classes.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/07/the-week-in-wingnuts-mandatory-guns-and-state-religions.html

Sue Everhart, chairwoman of the state Republican Party, made headlines this week when she claimed that allowing gay people to marry would lead to straight people entering into sham marriages to claim health and other benefits. “Say you had a great job…what would prohibit you from saying that you’re gay, and y’all get married and still live as separate, but you get all the benefits?” Everhart said, adding that gay marriage was also unnatural. “There is no way that this is about equality. To me, it’s all about a free ride.” She didn’t explain what prevented people, gay or straight, from entering into sham marriages now with someone of the opposite sex.

There must be at least a few failed abortions among those legislators.

Here is this week's installment ~ there are some "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The Week in Wingnuts
by Luke Kerr-Dineen Apr 14, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
From a representative suggesting bulletproof vests for town meetings to a GOP committeeman comparing gays to alcoholics, our weekly roundup of way-off-message politicos.

Michigan: Agema Ain't Going Away

We wrote about Michigan Republican National Committeeman David Agema a couple of weeks ago after the former state representative shared an article on his Facebook feed about the "filthy lifestyle" of homosexuals. This week he doubled down on his comments, telling a local radio station that he wants to help homosexuals out of their “lifestyle” because "the next thing that will occur is your kids will come home and say, 'I think this is a good thing and I think I want to be one.'" But it was the way he closed the interview that made headlines, when he compared gays with alcoholics: "If you really love someone, if you really were concerned about someone, if you saw your friend, for example, dying of alcoholism, would you just stand quietly by and watch it happen?"

North Carolina: Is That a Trick Question?

North Carolina State Representative Michele Presnell, a Republican, was caught out this week after an email exchange with one of her constituents was made public. In it, the constituent asks Presnell how she would feel if a prayer was made to Allah before legislative meetings, to which she responded: "No, I do not condone terrorism." Presnell continued linking the religion of Islam to terrorism at large as the constituent continued the debate, which eventually ended with a curt response from Presnell: "No, you are wrong. Have a good day."

Kansas: Getting Out the Knives

In a 95-26 vote down party lines, the Republican-controlled Kansas legislature sent to Gov. Brownback’s desk a bill legalizing the ownership of switchblades and stilettos. The statewide ban has been in affect for more than 55 years after such items became the primary weapons used by the state’s gangs. But opponents of the ban say that mindset is outdated, and unfairly targets workers who need a knife in one hand while doing something else with the other.

Montana: I Can’t Hear You!

Democrats in Montana’s state senate made a mess this week—literally—and are now offering to pay up. During a debate on the senate floor a week earlier, Senate Republicans ignored the Democrats’ motion to halt proceedings because one of their senators was absent, and proceeded to a vote. Democrats then tried to stop the vote by drowning out the floor session with noise, yelling and banging their mugs on the table, which they damaged in the process. This week, Democrats said they would pay for the destruction they wrought.

Arizona: Don’t Shoot Him, Please

Bob Thorpe, a freshman State Republican Representative, backtracked this week after a legislative lawyer warned him that the bulletproof-vest demonstration he had organized to take place at the State Capitol was “improper.” Late last week, Thorpe reportedly emailed his colleagues asking if they wanted to buy bulletproof vests for town halls and public events, and organized a fitting in the Capitol basement. But after much criticism, he eventually canceled the event, saying: "In the future, before I set something like this up I'll certainly go out and I'll talk to some folks that have been around longer than me and just make sure that I'm not doing something that might look like it was inappropriate.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/14/the-week-in-wingnuts.html

Michigan: Agema Ain't Going Away

We wrote about Michigan Republican National Committeeman David Agema a couple of weeks ago after the former state representative shared an article on his Facebook feed about the "filthy lifestyle" of homosexuals. This week he doubled down on his comments, telling a local radio station that he wants to help homosexuals out of their “lifestyle” because "the next thing that will occur is your kids will come home and say, 'I think this is a good thing and I think I want to be one.'" But it was the way he closed the interview that made headlines, when he compared gays with alcoholics: "If you really love someone, if you really were concerned about someone, if you saw your friend, for example, dying of alcoholism, would you just stand quietly by and watch it happen?"

North Carolina: Is That a Trick Question?

North Carolina State Representative Michele Presnell, a Republican, was caught out this week after an email exchange with one of her constituents was made public. In it, the constituent asks Presnell how she would feel if a prayer was made to Allah before legislative meetings, to which she responded: "No, I do not condone terrorism." Presnell continued linking the religion of Islam to terrorism at large as the constituent continued the debate, which eventually ended with a curt response from Presnell: "No, you are wrong. Have a good day."

Hello! Hello! Anybody home?

Chain Gang Revival would make a good band name

Here is this week's installment ~ there are some "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The Week in Wingnuts: ‘Vaginas’ and Guns in Boston
by Luke Kerr-Dineen Apr 21, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
A Republican rep calls women “vaginas” and another says that liberal Bostonians probably wished they had guns during the lockdown. The Daily Beast finds the wildest ideas being proposed, or passed, by state lawmakers.

Arkansas: Gunless Boston Liberals

Nate Bell, a Republican Arkansas State Representative, sent out a tweet on Friday that soon went viral as Boston residents remained in lockdown in their homes. The tweet, sent from Bell’s official account @NateBell4AR, read: “I wonder how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine? #2A.” It didn’t take long for the internet to erupt, prompting an apology from Bell. “In hindsight, given the ongoing tragedy that is still unfolding, I regret the poor choice of timing,” Bell wrote on his Facebook page.

New Hampshire: ‘Children and Vaginas’

State Republican Representative Peter Hansen got the “shock value” he initially sought with his comments, when he was forced to apologize after calling women “vaginas.” Rep. Hansen, who once restrained an intruder who broke into his own home using a gun, was discussing the idea of retreating in an email when he uttered the phrase that got him in trouble. A day later a number of local groups called on him to apologize and resign but Hansen refused, saying his comments were blown out or proportion. But with pressure continuing to mount from both sides of the aisle, a day later Hansen caved for his "blatantly offensive, insensitive, and frankly, stupid language."

New Hampshire: Coming After You

Jack Kimball, the former Chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party-turned leader of the state’s Tea Party, looks to have developed a new way of political fighting: mass impeachment. Kimball filed an "emergency verified complaint" for "breach of oath of office" against all of the 189 house members who voted to repeal New Hampshire’s stand-your-ground law, which passed and is now due in the Senate. Saying the vote violated fundamental principles of the state’s constitution, the New Hampshire GOP have since distanced themselves from Kimball’s actions, while Democrats have called the act a “shameful embarrassment.”

Missouri: Mailing List Wars

Missouri State Sen. Brian Nieves, who’s previous claim to fame was appearing in a Tea Party movie about an armed revolt against the Government, found himself again in the public sphere after an angry email exchange with a former local lawmaker calling him a “freak” and asking him to take him off his mailing list. After Nieves wanted some questions answered—questions like “Who are you?” and “Is there something wrong with you?"—things turned nasty, with Nieves eventually writing: “You'll be removed but be Very Careful to NEVER Threaten me! Also, don't ever send anything to this email address again because every time you do, you automatically get put back on the distribution list. -)”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/21/the-week-in-wingnuts-vaginas-and-guns-in-boston.html

State Republican Representative Peter Hansen got the “shock value” he initially sought with his comments, when he was forced to apologize after calling women “vaginas.”

That's ok. He and his ilk are all a bunch of dicks, so it's not surprising.

LOL, roseanne ~ but to maintain the same level of propriety that "vagina" sets, your comment "... a bunch of dicks ..." would have to be revised to read: "... a bunch of penises ..." ~ or maybe peni? ~ or penii? ~

Sooz

Here is this week's installment ~ there are some "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The Week in Wingnuts: Dog Background Checks, a UN Plot Against Fishing & More
Apr 27, 2013 11:00 PM EDT
From dog background checks to a UN plot against fishing, Luke Kerr-Dineen rounds up the wildest ideas being pushed forth by state lawmakers.

Arkansas: Solution? Shoot 'Em

Chris Nogy, the husband of Leah Nogy, the Chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party secretary, hates Obamacare so much that he declared war against it in an open letter in the Arkansas Republican Party’s official newsletter. Writing that Obamacare is a domestic threat and “inevitable to start down the road to socialism,” he targeted not Democrats, interestingly, but the “turncoat” Republicans who are now flirting with implementing the law. “I don’t feel the same way about the Democrats as bullet backstops as I do about the Republicans who joined them,” Nogy wrote. “Part of me feels that this betrayal deserves a quick implementation of my 2nd amendment rights to remove a threat domestic…If we can’t shoot them, we have to at least be firm in our threat to take immediate action against them politically, socially, and civically.”

North Carolina: Pitbull Peril

North Carolina Rep. Rodney Moore, a Democrat from Charlotte, was inundated with angry mail this week after she put forward a bill that would have required a criminal background check for owners of pit bulls, mastiffs, rottweilers, and other “aggressive” dogs. "There needs to be some kind of accountability," said Moore in defense of her plan, that would have required owners to purchase a $25 “aggressive dog permit.” But the bill caused such a furor that it was quickly killed in committee. “It’s a good idea,” Moore said, after the bill was killed, “but maybe the language was kind of harsh.”

Iowa: Bad Justice

Apparently concerned with what they saw as a tip in the balance of power toward the state’s Supreme Court, Conservative lawmakers in Iowa amended a bill that would cut the salaries of the justices involved in the state’s 2009 gay marriage ruling, which overturned Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriage. Although there are seven members of the Iowa Supreme Court, the bill, if passed, would cut to $25,000 annually only the salaries of the four members who made the decision. Rep. Tom Shaw, the amendment’s main proponent, said that in overturning the state’s ban on same-sex marriage the Iowa Supreme Court had “trashed the separation of powers.” “We’re just holding them responsible for their decision,” Shaw said.

Montana: Oops

Tom Jacobson, a freshman Democrat Montana Rep., made a mistake that looks to have killed the Medicaid expansion—a key component of Obamacare—for the foreseeable future in his state. With fiercely contested legislation bouncing around from the Senate to the state’s House of Representatives, it finally came time to vote on the provision once and for all. Republicans, who opposed the measure, motioned to have the bill sent back to committee, affectively killing it off. Thinking he was sending the bill to the House floor where it would surely pass, he delighted Republicans and voted yes to sending it back to the committee where it remains today.

New Hampshire: The U.N. Hates Fishing

New Hampshire Republican Rep. Al Baldasaro was caught on tape this week railing against the United Nations, saying that its sustainability initiative, Agenda 21, would ban fishing. Having made headlines in the past for once saying that the state government was selling children to gay couples for $10,000 each, he said that Agenda 21 is designed to “contain people” and would prevent a family of eight from catching fresh fish for each family member. "Rep. Al Baldasaro is off his rocker,” said activist Zandra Rice-Hawkin, one of Baldasaro’s most outspoken critics. “His rampant conspiracy theories harm public policy making."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/27/the-week-in-wingnuts-dog-background-checks-a-un-plot-against-fishing-more.html

Here is this week's installment ~ there are some "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The Week in Wingnuts: More guns, less e-cigarettes, and the return of the Obama “birthers”
by Luke Kerr-Dineen May 5, 2013 4:45 AM EDT

New Hampshire: A posse you can trust

It seems Stella Tremblay, a Republican State Representative from New Hampshire, is determined to get to what she thinks is the bottom of the Boston Bombings. Earlier this week Tremblay went on a Boston radio station and suggested that the man whose legs were pictured blown off in the bombing was faking it, and said she wanted a full investigation into the attack. Not from the FBI, but from somebody “unbiased.” Her suggestion? Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a steadfast believer that President Obama’s birth certificate is a fake and who’s been accused of fabricating evidence to support his birther beliefs.

South Carolina: More guns, please

South Carolina lawmakers have been among the most vocal opponents to the pro-gun control push following the tragedy at Newtown. Already this year state politicians have introduced bills that would allow teachers to carry firearms and students to enroll in a High School gun class, but now they’re pushing a new strategy: with Representatives this week signing a resolution “inviting and welcoming gun manufacturers into our state.” The resolution, which 55 South Carolina House members signed, discusses possible incentives for gun and ammo manufacturers looking to open and expand in the state, citing, among other things, a political climate that is more “hospitable” than other states’ less “accommodating” stances.

California: Love-hate relationship

Los Angeles Democratic mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel has spent the weeks following the city’s March primary courting former-Republican mayoral candidate Kevin James for his endorsement. But after James threw his weight behind her runoff opponent Eric Garcetti, her campaign began distributing mailers denouncing the news. “Say no to Eric Garcetti!” it reads. “He sold us out to win Republican votes.” But James wasn’t having any of it, and responded by making public text messages from Gruel from the period following his primary loss. “How is your day looking? I am ready, willing and able!” read one of the texts in which Greuel discusses a meeting with James. “U are beloved – I hear it a lot!” read another.

California: E-cigarettes kill

Cigarette smokers have been hit with all kinds of legislation in recent years, and the California state Senate this week shows no sign of letting up. On Tuesday the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee moved SB 648 to the floor for a vote, where it is expected to pass, that would ban e-cigarettes in the same places as regular cigarettes. Despite the FDA never studying the health effects of e-cigarettes, which transfer limited quantities of nicotine in a vaporized form, and oppositions from users who say it has helped them kick the habit, lawmakers have stood by the proposal.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/05/the-week-in-wingnuts.html

I just accidentally found this Daily Beast weekly thread has been resurrected with a new author ~ I'll get the posts I missed between its disappearance and its return caught up [there are several] ~ great companion read with our AlterNet "... headscratchers, kneeslappers and assorted absurdities" thread ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The Fringe Factor: Grover Norquist Is a Muslim?
by Caitlin Dickson Jun 2, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Grover Norquist is a Muslim, the GOP doesn’t need the Latino vote, and other crackpot theories from our fearless political leaders.

Grover Norquist Is a Secret Muslim

How do you spot a Muslim? A beard is usually a good tip-off. That’s how Cathie Adams, former chairman of the Texas Republican Party and current president of the Texas arm of the conservative interest group Eagle Forum, unmasked Grover Norquist. Adams explained at a Tea Party event this week that the anti-tax lobbyist is part of a “stealth jihad” being carried out in the U.S. “As you see, he has a beard. He’s married [to] a Muslim woman,” she said. “But he denies that he has converted himself. He denies that.” Norquist isn’t the only prominent figure involved in this secret jihad. Adams suggested clean-shaven CIA Director John Brennan could very well be an undercover Muslim as well. “Where is the outcry?” she demanded. “Thank God that Ted Cruz is now in the United States Senate!”

Memo to the GOP: Forget About Hispanic Voters

Speaking of Eagle Forum, the group’s founder gave the Republican Party a helpful tip this week: forget about Hispanic voters. The idea that the GOP needs to court the Latino vote is “a great myth,” Phyllis Schlafly said on the conservative radio show Focus Today. Instead, the party needs to home in on the people they actually have a chance of winning over: white people. “The propagandists are leading us down the wrong path,” she said. “There’s not any evidence at all that these Hispanics coming in from Mexico will vote Republican.”

Detroit Judge’s Bad Behavior? Blame It on the Hypomania

It’s a little hard to follow the story of Wade McCree, the suspended Detroit judge currently being tried for misconduct for having an affair with a woman whose child support lawsuit he was also presiding over. But according to his doctor, the questionable behavior sprang from McCree's hypomania, a symptom of bipolar disorder that consists of racing thoughts and rapid talkativeness, high sex drive, distractibility, and other delusional or reckless behavior. During his first testimony on Tuesday, McCree admitted to the affair, providing more than enough details about his relationship with Geniene LaShay Mott, how he got her number from her case file, impregnated her, and even enlisted the help of his wife to pretend that he was getting a divorce in order to convince her to get an abortion. But when he took the stand again this week, McCree’s memory of their affair seemed significantly fuzzier; first he looked dazed while providing mixed answers to simple questions, then he became visibly irritated. So what’s up with McCree’s weird behavior? Blame hypomania.

Don’t All Politicians Buy Their Staff Gag Gifts From Adult Stores?

South Carolina State Sen. Robert Ford resigned Friday amid a Senate Ethics Committee review into accusations that he did some personal shopping—including picking up a few things from adult stores—with campaign funds. The 20-year senator had spent the previous night in the hospital due to cardiovascular problems, according to his lawyer, and maintained that the adult-store purchases were simply gag gifts for people working on his campaign and certainly not illegal. Still, Ford explained in his resignation letter, he wasn’t up to defending himself. “If I was ten years younger, I would stay and fight. But at this point in my life, I feel this is the best decision for everyone concerned.”

[Sooz says there is a video here in the original with the caption "Here are a few crazy congressmen whose crackpot theories and controversial comments place them firmly on the fringe."]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/02/the-fringe-factor-grover-norquist-is-a-muslim.html

I can't figure out how at least some of these people function in everyday living ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

The Fringe Factor: Women Don’t Want Equal-Pay Laws
by Caitlin Dickson Jun 9, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Hormones cause military sexual assaults, Eric Holder’s worse than al Qaeda, working moms hurt education, and more of this week’s crackpot theories from the edge of U.S. politics.

Hormones to Blame for Sexual Assault

Sexual assaults in the military: criminal activity perpetrated by an institutionally chauvinistic mentality or inevitable byproduct of a bunch of hormonal young people working and living together? Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) sent members of both parties into a tailspin this week when he suggested at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the pervasiveness of sexual assaults in the military might be partially to blame on the latter. “The young folks that are coming into each of your services are anywhere from 17 to 22, 23. Gee whiz—the hormone level created by nature sets in place the possibility for these types of things to occur,” Chambliss said. Both sides of the aisle jumped on the senator’s words. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), co-chairman of the military assault-prevention caucus, said, “Perpetuating this line of thinking does nothing to help change the culture of our military.” And Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) called for Chambliss to take back his comment. “I think he should think about whether if, God forbid, a sexual assault happened to a daughter of his, would he think it was OK for a senator to just chalk the assault up to raging hormones?” she asked.

Women Don’t Want Equal-Pay Laws

Call her old-fashioned, but Marsha Blackburn just doesn’t think American women want equal-pay laws. The Republican representative from Tennessee, who voted against the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as well as the Paycheck Fairness Act of the same year, explained why she wouldn’t support a law that would close the gender gap on NBC’s Meet the Press. “I think that more important than that is making certain that women are recognized by those companies. You know, I’ve always said that I didn’t want to be given a job because I was female, I wanted it because I was the most well-qualified person for the job,” Blackburn said. “And making certain that companies are going to move forward in that vein, that is what women want. They don’t want decisions made in Washington. They want to be able to have the power and the control and the ability to make those decisions for themselves.”

U.S. Education Became ‘Mediocre’ When Moms Went Back to Work

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant knew the minute the words left his mouth that there would be backlash, but it was too late. When asked during a Washington Post live event Tuesday how America became so educationally “mediocre,” Bryant replied, “I think both parents started working. And mom is in the workplace.” Realizing immediately that this probably didn’t sound so great, he kept going, explaining that in today’s families, “both parents are so pressured,” while at the same time other countries seem to be devoting more resources to bettering their schools.

Texas Jury Says Man Justified in Shooting Prostitute Who Wouldn’t Have Sex With Him

In Texas, it is legal for a “law abiding” citizen to use deadly force to get back something that was stolen from them at night. If the existence of that law is not enough, it was somehow used to acquit Ezekiel Gilbert of the murder of a Craigslist escort who refused have sex with him. Gilbert’s defense team successfully argued that he was justified in shooting 23-year-old Lenora Ivie Frago in the neck on Christmas Eve 2009 because she wouldn’t give back the $150 he paid her for sex that they didn’t have—therefore he was trying to retrieve stolen property. Frago was paralyzed and died seven months later. The prosecution argued that the law didn’t apply to Gilbert, because he was trying to force Frago to have sex for money, prostitution being illegal and whatnot, but the jury sided with Gilbert, sparing him the possibility of life in prison.

Who’s Scarier: the Attorney General or the Head of al Qaeda?

According to former congressman Allen West, Eric Holder poses a bigger threat to national security than Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current head of al Qaeda. West called on supporters to stop “this dangerous duo today,” referring to Holder and President Obama, in a fundraising letter. “Al Qaeda is a very serious and persistent threat, but I trust the U.S. military to protect us from future attacks. I cannot say the same about President Obama and his Justice Department,” he wrote, warning that we may wake up one day and find that “America is no longer America.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/09/the-fringe-factor-women-don-t-want-equal-pay-laws.html

Here's more ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

The Fringe Factor: Rape Still Won't Get You Pregnant
by Caitlin Dickson Jun 16, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Rape still won't get you pregnant, Obama owes Oklahoma an apology for spending on climate change research, and other bold statements from our fearless political leaders this week.

Arizona: Rape Rarely Results in Pregnancy

Didn’t we go over this already? Apparently the backlash surrounding Missouri Rep. Todd Akin’s controversial—and wildly inaccurate--claim that you can’t get pregnant from “legitimate rape” didn’t make an impact on Trent Franks. In an attempt to argue that a bill he authored banning abortions after 20 weeks should not have an exception for cases of rape and incest, the Republican representative from Arizona declared this week that “the incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.” Needless to say the blowback was almost immediate, with Nancy Pelosi’s office, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee each sending out mass emails decrying Franks’s comments. But the representative didn’t back down. In a surprise appearance at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in D.C. Thursday night, Franks told a room of cheering conservative activists, “I’ve been through the spin dryer here in the last 48 hours and I wish I hadn’t assisted them so much to that end. But somehow in the long run, truth and time travel the same road. And we are very blessed that the Lord that we serve will prevail in the final analysis no matter what.” He’s also taken advantage of the hate he’s getting from pro-choice groups as an opportunity to fundraise, writing in an email to supporters, “NARAL, Planned Parenthood and the taxpayer-funded abortion lobby is attacking me for one reason—I’m 100 percent unapologetically pro-life and I won’t back down. Will you contribute $25, $50, $100 or even $500 right now to help me fight back?”

Iowa: Illegal Immigration is like Bank Robbery

Another day, another outrageous comment from Steve King. The representative from Iowa made us cringe not once, but twice this week when discussing his favorite topic, immigration. First, on Thursday, about two dozen members of the undocumented youth organization United We Dream showed up at King’s office to protest his effort to defund President Obama’s deferred deportation program for young illegal immigrants. Not pleased to see them, King tweeted, “20 brazen self professed illegal aliens have just invaded my DC office. Obama’s lawless order gives them de facto immunity from U.S. law.” The next day, the Iowan took to the House floor to argue for the necessity of deportation of illegal immigrants. “Think of it this way: If someone goes in and robs a bank and step out on the steps of the bank with the sack of the loot and law enforcement appears and says, sorry, you can’t keep the loot and we’re going to put that back in the bank but you can go. That’s the equivalent of removal,” he explained. “You don’t get to keep the objective of the crime, we put you back in the condition you were in before you committed the crime. That’s not draconian.”

Wisconsin: More Abortion Obstacles

It’s about to become a lot harder to get an abortion in Wisconsin. A bill mandating that any woman seeking an abortion first undergo a transvaginal ultrasound has sailed through the Wisconsin State Assembly and is on its way to Governor Scott Walker, who's already promised to sign it into law. The measure also includes a provision to shut down one of the last four abortion clinics in the state, and requires that any doctor have admitting privileges at a hospital in order to legally perform an abortion. In a speech before the vote, Republican State Representative Pat Strachota said that the bill was “about having full knowledge of the decision that women are about to make” when considering an abortion.

North Carolina: No Gun Permit? No Problem

North Carolina is taking gun rights to a whole new level with a new bill that proposes scrapping the current requirement to obtain a permit to purchase a handgun. Under the bill, which received a Senate Judiciary committee’s seal of approval this week, handgun owners would still need to get a permit for concealed carry, but they’d be allowed to take that concealed weapon to a lot more places, including virtually any school, parade or funeral procession—unless explicitly prohibited—as well as bars and anywhere else that serves alcohol as long as the establishment’s owner doesn’t have a problem with it. This bill is the latest example of the hard-right turn North Carolina politics have taken recently, spurring six weeks of protests led by the NAACP.

Oklahoma: Enough With the Global Warming

Oklahoma Rep. Jim Bridenstine thinks President Obama owes his state an apology for all the money he’s wasted on climate change research, since it is very unlikely that global warming has anything to do with all the violent tornadoes that have wreaked havoc on Oklahoma recently. “Here is what we absolutely know. We know that Oklahoma will have tornadoes when the cold jet stream meets the warm gulf air. And we also know that this president spends 30 times as much money on global warming research as he does on weather forecasting and warning,” Bridenstine said during a one-minute speech on the House floor this week. “For this gross misallocation, the people of Oklahoma are ready to accept the president’s apology, and I intend to submit legislation to fix this.” According to Politifact, while Bridenstine is right that climate change research outweighs government spending on weather forecasting, his 30 to 1 claim is “mostly false.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/16/the-fringe-factor-rape-still-won-t-get-you-pregnant.html

Every time I'm convinced the GOP/TPers canNOT get any more unhinged ... they DO! ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

Fringe Factor: Masturbating Fetuses and Gay Tutus
by Caitlin Dickson Jun 23, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
From masturbating fetuses to Boston Marathon conspiracy theories, it’s been a busy week for America’s best and brightest.

Texas: Who Says 15 Weeks Is Too Young to Masturbate?

Can fetuses really masturbate? Does it matter? According to Texas lawmaker Michael Burgess, they can and it does. His point, apparently, in making the cringeworthy claim that if you look at a sonogram of a male at 15 weeks in the womb, you might catch him playing with himself, was to argue that if a baby can feel pleasure at that age, who’s to say he can’t feel pain? Burgess, actually an OB-GYN by profession, seems to have based his argument on some little-known observations made in a decades-old research paper that female—not male, as he said—fetuses touched their own genitalia. Burgess’s objective in making this statement, of course, was not to make the Internet giggle at the thought of fetuses masturbating (which happened), but to provide yet another example of how fetuses, even at 15 weeks, are people and therefore it should be illegal to abort them. The congressman’s comments were part of his argument in favor of the controversial House bill, which passed Tuesday, that bans abortions after 20 weeks.

Idaho: Where Gay Men Are Cool, as Long As They Don’t Wear Tutus

The heads of the Idaho Republican Party would like to get rid of all six of the state’s city ordinances banning sexual-orientation-based discrimination. Why? Because Cornel Rasor is under the impression that gay men have a tendency to wear tutus to work and throw in-office pride parades, and he doesn’t feel he should be legally required to put up with that. Is that so wrong? “I’d hire a gay guy if I thought he was a good worker,” Rasor insisted. “But if he comes to work in a tutu ... he’s not producing what I want in my office.” He went on to clarify, “If a guy has a particular predilection and keeps it to himself, that’s fine. But if he wants to use my business as a platform for his lifestyle, why should I have to subsidize that?”

North Carolina: Now Offering Race-Based Death Sentences

North Carolina is really on a roll lately. Eighty-four people were arrested Monday at the seventh weekly Moral Monday protest lead by the state’s NAACP chapter against North Carolina’s sharply conservative GOP leadership. Also this week Tar Heel State Gov. Pat McCroy decided that the racial-justice law, banning death sentences based on race, was making it virtually impossible for the state to execute anyone, so he killed it. McCroy signed a repeal put forth by North Carolina’s Republican-led legislature on Wednesday, declaring, “Nearly every person on death row, regardless of race, has appealed their death sentence under the Racial Justice Act. The state’s district attorneys are nearly unanimous in their bipartisan conclusion that the Racial Justice Act created a judicial loophole to avoid the death penalty and not a path to justice.” Last week we focused on the state’s bill to knock down the unnecessary burden that is getting a permit for gun purchases.

Illinois: Former Miss America Is a ‘Street Walker,’ and the Democrats Are Her ‘Pimps’

Illinois county chairman Jim Allen learned the hard way that if you don’t have anything that’s not horribly offensive to say about someone, don’t say anything at all. The Republican from Farmersville resigned Thursday after some particularly nasty things he said about former Miss America and Illinois legislative hopeful Erika Harold were made public. In an email to a supporter of Harold—who’s planning a primary bid for a Republican-held seat—Allen compared the candidate to a “street walker” working for Democratic and moderate Republican “pimps.” He also suggested that after losing 2014 primary, Harold, who is black, would go back to Chicago, which he spelled in a derogatory way, “working for some law firm that needs to meet their quota for minority hires.” Allen threw in the towel at the behest of RNC chairman Reince Priebus, who said, “His behavior is inexcusable and must not be tolerated.”

New Hampshire: What Was the Government’s Role in the Boston Marathon Bombing, Really?

Jim Allen wasn’t the only state politician to step down this week amid controversy. New Hampshire state Rep. Stella Tremblay is of the opinion that the government actually orchestrated the Boston Marathon bombing as a means of creating an excuse to infringe on American civil liberties. Despite apologizing for causing a stir with her conspiracy theory—and even after the suspects had admitted their guilt—Tremblay continued to suggest that not enough questions were being asked about the government’s part in the incident. She even emailed her fellow House members with links to videos and conspiracy-theory blogs, asking, “Have you seen ANY main stream media doing a follow-up on these stories? I have not. I just connect the dots.” Her colleagues were not convinced, however, and reprimanded her. And Thursday, just before the House was about to pass a brand-new budget, Tremblay called it quits.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/23/fringe-factor-masturbating-fetuses-and-gay-tutus.html

How is it possible that this many people all avoided evolving into rational humans? ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

Fringe Factor: Wendy Davis Is a Terrorist
by Caitlin Dickson Jun 30, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Local ‘terrorists’ complain about water quality. From Ted Cruz’s fact-check freakout to Iowa’s abortion decider, a look at the far out from our fearless political leaders.

Texas: Wendy Davis Is a Terrorist

Wendy Davis’s impassioned—and effective—10-hour filibuster in the Texas Senate elicited a lot of emotional reactions, but perhaps none as melodramatic as that of Republican State Senator Bill Zedler. Furious that Davis and her supporters prevented passage of a sweeping abortion bill that would, among other things, close almost all of the abortion clinics in Texas, Zedler lashed out on Twitter. “We had terrorist[s] in the Texas State Senate opposing SB5,” he tweeted. Terrorists.

Tennessee: Complaining About Drinking Water Is Also Terrorism

State officials were pretty fast and loose with the term “terrorism” this week. A Tennessee civic group released a recording from a May 29th county meeting during which Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Deputy Director Sherwin Smith warned residents complaining about their water quality that, if their claims were unfounded, they could be guilty of terrorism. “We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously,” Smith said. “But you need to make sure that when you make water-quality complaints, you have a basis. Because federally, if there’s no water-quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.” Residents in attendance were appalled, as Smith’s comments were taken as a way of silencing numerous complaints that local children were getting sick from drinking the water.

Texas (And Elsewhere): Immigration-Reform Freakout

This week, an immigration-reform bill—offering a path to citizenship for many undocumented immigrants—passed the U.S. Senate. The move was heralded as a bipartisan victory by some, but certainly not all. Many of the bill’s Republican opponents (it was approved by all Senate Democrats) lashed out, while others, like Ted Cruz, calmly put their faith in the House of Representatives to kill it. Before the vote even took place, the senator from Texas tweeted a warning that, “If the Gang of 8 bill passes, those newly legalized are exempted from Obamacare. HUGE incentive for employers to hire them instead of Americans.” When The Washington Post’s fact-checker deemed this statement completely inaccurate, Cruz freaked out on Fox News and said, “I would be very curious if the columnist who wrote that—who works for The Washington Post, which has more employees—how he would feel about it if they decided to fire him and hire someone who was here illegally because it was $5,000 more expensive to hire a U.S. citizen to write that column.” Cruz’s chief of staff, Chip Roy, has also made his feelings about the bill and its supporters clear, retweeting a post that calls out Republican supporters of the amendment that enhances border security as “selling out America.”

Iowa: Need an Abortion? Talk to the Governor

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad may have agreed to expand Medicaid coverage for his state’s poor residents under Obamacare, but don’t think that means he’ll be handing out free abortions to any low-income Iowan who comes knocking. Anyone seeking a covered abortion must go through Branstad first. Seriously. Included in the state’s Medicaid expansion legislation is a clause requiring the governor’s approval for any medically necessary abortions to be covered by insurance. And by medically necessary, that means an abortion for a pregnancy caused either by rape or incest or that endangers the life of the mother. So, it is basically up to one man, Gov. Branstad, to determine which rape or incest victims, or fatally pregnant women, deserve to have their abortions paid for by Medicaid, and which don’t.

Pennsylvania: Even Talking About Gay Marriage Violates “God’s Law”

Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims just wanted to share his excitement about the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act with his fellow members of the State House, but his colleagues were not having it. When Sims, who is openly gay, stepped onto the House floor Thursday to discuss the Court’s move, he was silenced by several legislators citing “God’s Law.” Though Sims insisted he wasn’t trying to convert or criticize gay marriage opponents, he wasn’t allowed to talk -- and neither were the other Democrats who tried to speak on Sims’ behalf. As Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe explained, “I did not believe that as a member of that body I should allow someone to make comments such as he was preparing to make that ultimately were just open rebellion against what the word of God has said, what God has said and just open rebellion against God’s law.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/30/fringe-factor-wendy-davis-is-a-terrorist.html

Do you think these "great minds" stay up at night figuring out how to be more idiotic and outrageous than the goof sitting next to them ... or does it just come naturally? ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

The Fringe Factor: The Perils of Sex Ed
by Caitlin Dickson Jul 7, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Sex education makes teens hot and bothered and other claims from our fearless leaders.

Texas: Sex Ed Makes Teenagers Horny

According to Texas state Rep. Steve Toth, teenagers probably wouldn't even think about getting busy if it weren't for those sex-ed classes getting them all "hot and bothered." A Houston Chronicle reporter caught Toth making this argument following the House State Affairs Committee's move to pass expansive abortion legislation. Toth was responding to fellow Rep. Donna Howard's suggestion that proper sex education would result in fewer unwanted pregnancies and abortions. "My wife worked at a home for unwed moms, and one of the little kids that was born, his name is David. David came about as a result of his mom and dad, who were just 16 at the time, going to a Planned Parenthood deal where they taught them how to use contraceptives," he said. "They were not sexually active at that point. They got into the car, and they were so hot and bothered from this deal, he couldn't even get the condom on."

North Carolina: Anti-Sharia and Anti-Abortion for the Price of One

What's better than a ban on Islamic Sharia law? A bill that cracks down on Sharia and abortion at the same time, of course. Already on a conservative roll this summer, the latest bill to make its way through the North Carolina Senate is one that does just that. The Family, Faith, and Freedom Protection Act of 2013 not only keeps Muslim families from invoking Sharia in custody cases or other family law, but also restricts health-care coverage for abortions, requires that physicians make an appearance during any pill-induced abortions, and that abortion clinics fulfill all the requirements of a full-blown hospital, among other rules. The abortion restrictions are hardly a shocker, given what other states have put in place, but one might ask why North Carolina would need to ban the traditional Islamic law. Apparently some people feel that American citizens are threatened by the possibility of other people trying to use religious regulations.

Ohio: Don't Even Think About Getting an Abortion Here

Ohio Gov. John Kasich might have just signed into law the most expansive set of restrictions to abortion access in the country. The Midwest state's new law has many outrageous provisions: it defunds all of the state's Planned Parenthood clinics and imposes a gag order on rape-crisis centers to keep counselors from informing rape victims that they are legally entitled to abortions if they want them. The law not only mandates that a woman undergo a preabortion ultrasound—and pay for it herself—it also redefines pregnancy as occurring before a fertilized egg makes its way into a woman's uterine lining, potentially making even IUDs illegal.

Iowa: Watch Whom You Pull Over

Larry Hedlund, an agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, probably didn't realize when he ordered state troopers to pull over a black SUV going 84 miles per hour that it would result in his removal from duty. Then again, he also probably didn't anticipate that the reckless vehicle he'd ordered to be pulled over belonged to Gov. Terry Branstad. It wasn't the governor behind the wheel, in fact, but a state trooper, while Branstad and his lieutenant governor, Kim Reynolds, were in the back seat, reportedly unaware of what was going on. Five days after the trooper was pulled over, Heldund was relieved of his duties.

Glenn Beck: Purchase Food Insurance and Be Like a Founding Father

Are you aware that the best way to emulate the Founding Fathers is to purchase Food Insurance—you know, freeze-dried or dehydrated meals—for your family in case of an emergency? If not, you probably haven't been keeping up with Glenn Beck's Internet show. Beck, who previously endorsed Goldline while warning his audience of impending economic collapse before the gold firm's executives were charged with fraud, is now shilling for Food Insurance. He has claimed on his show that people who purchase Food Insurance are modern-day versions of the Founding Fathers, who'd "sit in a room for years and study and try to figure out: what does freedom mean and how do we make people free?" Apparently you make people free by planning for disaster with "freeze-dried entrees or dehydrated options." Beck is such a good salesman that Food Insurance even sells the Glenn Beck basic kit and the Glenn Beck deluxe kit on its website.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/07/the-fringe-factor-the-perils-of-sex-ed.html

Dayum, your nutters are really nuts.
Ours just go fishing in military choppers.

You're too kind, Oskar!

At one time, I had visiting all 50 states on my "bucket list" ~ thanks to this recurring thread, I've been able to cross off SEVERAL states ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

Fringe Factor: Should Oral Sex Be a Crime?
by Caitlin Dickson Jul 21, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Sorry, lovers: Virginia may make all oral and anal sex illegal. From Tea Party immigration science to first-graders’ gun classes, a look at the far out in U.S. politics this week.

Virginia: A Vote for Ken Cuccinelli Is a Vote Against Oral Sex

If you vote Ken Cuccinelli for Virginia governor, he’ll keep your children safe from sexual predators by making all oral and anal sex—between everyone, even married couples—a felony that carries a sentence of a year in prison. The state’s attorney general and Republican nominee for governor recently announced a campaign pledge to reinstate a Crimes Against Nature law, which has already been deemed unconstitutional by federal courts. This week, the campaign launched a website, vachildpredators.com, that presents the law banning sodomy as the only “anti-child-predators law,” which it’s not, and says that it “is only applied to sodomy committed against minors, against non-consenting adults, or in public,” when that’s actually not the case. It’s not like Cuccinelli doesn’t realize that this law criminalizes the behavior of consenting adults as well as sexual predators; he’s the reason the provision including consensual oral and anal sex between grown people wasn’t removed to make the law constitutional in the first place. Cuccinelli’s explanation for opposing a version of the Crimes Against Nature law that focused on public sex, prostitution, and other nonconsensual acts? “My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong,” he said in 2009. “And I think in a natural-law-based country, it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that … They don’t comport with natural law.”

Texas: By the Time You Realize You’re Pregnant It May Be Too Late for Legal Abortion

The Texas state legislature has less than two weeks left in its special session to consider new abortion restrictions and now, added to the number of bills that have been proposed by GOP lawmakers in the last few weeks, comes perhaps the most outrageous of them all: a ban on abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. Just to clarify, this usually happens around six weeks into a pregnancy, which is before most women even have a chance to realize they are pregnant. Gov. Rick Perry has already signed into law the measure shuttering most of the state’s abortion clinics and banning abortion after 20 weeks (you know, the one that Wendy Davis filibustered to death and then was brought back to life?) but now that they still have some time, certain Republican lawmakers apparently figure, why not try to actually make it impossible to get an abortion in Texas?

Tea Party: Immigration Is Like Breeding a Thoroughbred With a Donkey

Several bloggers and reporters watched in awe this week as Tea Party speaker Ken Crow compared “well-bred Americans” to racehorses and immigrants to donkeys at an anti-immigration rally on Capitol Hill. “From those incredible blood lines of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and John Smith. And all these great Americans, Martin Luther King. These great Americans who built this country. You came from them,” said Crow, who was once the president of Tea Party of America. “When you learn about breeding, you learn that you cannot breed Secretariat to a donkey and expect to win the Kentucky Derby. You guys have incredible DNA and don’t forget it.” The “No Amnesty”–themed rally was held by the unlikely duo of the Tea Party and the Black American Leadership Alliance, an anti-immigration group. Notably in attendance—and also on the roster to speak—were Sen. Ted Cruz, Representatives Steve King and Mo Brooks, and former representative Allen West.

Utah: Where Kids Only Go to School If They Want to

Guess what, kids of Utah? State Sen. Aaron Osmond wants to let you choose whether or not you go to school. The Republican has announced his plan to get rid of compulsory education in Utah, because he believes that too many parents are under the false impression that “the responsibility to educate, and even care for their child, is primarily the responsibility of the public school system.” He further explained his opposition to school in a post on the state Senate’s blog, writing, “Our teachers and schools have been forced to become surrogate parents, expected to do everything from behavioral counseling to providing adequate nutrition to teaching sex education, as well as ensuring full college- and career-readiness.” In Osmond’s opinion, education should be viewed as an opportunity, not an obligation. So “let’s let them choose, let’s not force them to do it,” he told Salt Lake City’s Deseret News.

Missouri: Gun Safety Begins in First Grade

Speaking of school, first graders in Missouri may soon be learning gun safety along with reading and addition. Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, has signed into law a public-safety bill that not only requires school staffers to go through at least eight hours of ‘Active Shooter and Intruder Response Training,” but gives schools the opportunity to apply for grants to enroll their students as young as first grade in the Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program. The course, sponsored by the National Rifle Association, is billed as a gun-safety class for kids, but, according to studies done on the program, it does more for recruiting new NRA members than preventing the gun-related deaths of children. According to one report on the program, Eddie Eagle is kind of like “Joe Camel with feathers.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/21/fringe-factor-should-oral-sex-be-a-crime.html

I canNOT figure out how anyone can really believe this full-on idiocy ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

Fringe Factor: Most Young Immigrants Are Drug Mules
by Caitlin Dickson Jul 28, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Most DREAMers arrived with marijuana on their backs, North Carolinians will soon be able to bring guns to the bar, and an Alabama meeting kicks off with a prayer against gay marriage. This week’s highlights from the political fringe.

Iowa: Most Young Immigrants Are Drug Mules

How do you tell a valedictorian from a drug mule? Look at their calves. At least that’s how Rep. Steve King (R-IA) justifies making the claim that “for every one who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there that weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.” King was speaking, of course, about young illegal immigrants who would be eligible for legal status under President Obama’s DREAM Act, and just in case anyone thought he wasn’t serious, King defended his comments a few days later. “It’s not something that I’m making up,” he insisted during an interview with Radio Iowa. “This is real. We have people that are mules, that are drug mules, that are hauling drugs across the border, and you can tell by their physical characteristics what they’ve been doing for months.” He added, “There are valedictorians in this group, and my heart goes out to them, but not to the point where I’d sacrifice the rule of law and legalize a lot of bad elements in the process.”

[Sooz says there's a video of Steve King here in the original that is accessible via the end link.]

North Carolina: Grab Your Gun and Go to the Bar

North Carolina’s summer of extremism continues with the approval of a new bill expanding the list of places concealed-carry permit holders can bring their concealed weapons—into bars, playgrounds, and public recreation areas. According to the bill, which will likely receive Gov. Pat McCrory’s seal of approval any day now, a concealed-carry permit makes it OK to keep guns in a car parked on school property. But hey, it could be worse. North Carolina may be opening itself up to more potential school and bar shootings, but at least the really over-the-top provision forgoing background checks for handgun permits was scrapped before the bill was approved.

Texas: Minority Rights Are Just Like Animal Rights

Louie Gohmert, everyone’s favorite wacky member of Congress from Texas, made this lovely comparison during a House Judiciary Committee hearing this week in response to an amendment Tennessee’s Steve Cohen had presented to the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act. Cohen was attempting to ensure that, under the bill, third parties cannot insert themselves in regulatory action involving protecting people from race, sex, or nationality-based discrimination. Gohmert thought Cohen’s concerns were kind of silly and proceeded to make it known. “There is nobody in this chamber who is more appreciative than I am for the gentleman from Tennessee and my friend from Michigan standing up for the rights of race, religion, national religion of the Delta smelt, the snail darter, various lizards, the lesser prairie chicken, the greater sage grouts, and so many other insects who would want someone standing for their religion, their race, their national origin, and I think that’s wonderful,” Gohmert said. The amendment failed, and New York Rep. Jerry Nadler called out Gohmert for belittling Cohen’s efforts. “This is not a snail darter’s amendment; this is not an environmental amendment,” he said. “It is a civil-rights amendment, and we are talking about the civil rights of people—the civil rights of people that have been violated egregiously for generations in this country.”

Alabama: Pray the Gay Away

The Supreme Court has yet to determine whether praying at government meetings is constitutional, but that doesn’t mean everyone at the Alabama Public Service Commission was comfortable with the introductory prayer at last week’s meeting. Of course, this wasn’t just any old “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food,” this was a prayer against abortion and gay marriage. Baptist preacher John Delwin Jordan, who was called upon by Public Service Commission president Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh to testify on behalf of the local Tea Party, led attendees in a four-minute prayer that concluded with, “We’ve taken you out of our schools; we’ve taken you out of our prayers; we’ve murdered your children; we’ve said it’s OK to have same-sex marriage, God. We have sinned.” Granted, Jordan did ask for those who “believe in the power of prayer” to hold up their hands before he launched into his sermon, though if the vote wasn’t unanimous, that surely didn’t stop him.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/28/fringe-factor-most-young-immigrants-are-drug-mules.html