As the Republican party has become more and more irresponsible, it has become fashionable for its defenders to argue from equivalency: sure, there are some loony-tune legislators who are Republican, but there are equally demented Democrats. Both sides do it, so it’s not fair to single out the GOP examples.
Now, there is an element of truth to this. Certainly, there are rabid ideologues on both the left and right. But no fair-minded observer can deny that for sheer lunacy, the Republicans win in a walk. They have depth and breadth. (Lest you think it’s confined to Michelle Bachman and Louie Gohmert, let me assure you they have an absolutely formidable bench.)
For example, I’d never previously heard of Florida Congressman Ted Yoho.
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) recently told a group of constituents that he backing a birther bill because he hoped that it would “get rid of everything” that President Barack Obama had done, and then added that the president’s “racist” health care law forced white people to pay more to use tanning beds.
The Florida Republican continued: “I had an Indian doctor in our office the other day, very dark skin, with two non-dark skin people, and I asked this to him, I said, ‘Have you ever been to a tanning booth?’ and he goes, ‘No, no need.’ So therefore it’s a racist tax and I thought I might need to get to a sun tanning booth so I can come out and say I’ve been disenfranchised because I got taxed because of the color of my skin.”
I defy anyone to find a Democrat who can match that for idiocy or racism. And this guy isn’t even one of the GOP’s usual subjects!
As Juanita Jean, who blogs from the World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Parlor, accurately notes, if there wasn’t a tax on tanning beds, that would mean that President Obama is encouraging everybody to become dark skinned like him or the Muslims. Because he’d be trying to turn us all black!
These folks are just obsessed with the President’s skin color. Too bad they aren’t equally invested in stuff like–oh, I don’t know… logic. Or coherent thought. Or public policy, although asking that they actually do the jobs they were elected to do and stop their single-minded obsession with preventing Obama from doing anything may be too great a stretch.
This blog and Yoho’s comments give me the perfect opening to put this question to more than my family and friends. If dark-skinned people are all bad, lazy, to be feared and don’t deserve to vote – WHY IN HELL DO MILLIONS OF WHITE FOLKS SPEND MULTI-MILLIONS OF THEIR DOLLARS YEARLY ON TANNING BEDS AND VACATIONS IN SUNNY PARTs OF THE WORLD TRYING TO TURN THEMSELVES AS BROWN AS POSSIBLE:? ’nuff said!
Representative Yoho…wow, that was really something. I’m just astonished.
The bigger problem is that his views represent a sizable population in our country.
Sheila: Dems have been making “disparate effects” arguments against Republicans for decades.
A Repub votes against welfare? It is because the Repub is racist and knows that minorities are the majority recipient.
A Repub votes against abortion? That is because this is a women’s issue and we all know Republicans hate women.
I could go on.
There is some truth in many of your comments, but this one is not one of your best.
Hopefully you (and your followers)can see from Rep. Yoho’s comments that allegations of racism based upon disparate effect are silly, and should not be utilized in civil public discourse, as they are also quite maddening.
Hopefully you (and your followers)can see from Rep. Yoho’s comments that allegations of racism based upon disparate effect are silly, and should not be utilized in civil public discourse, as they are also quite maddening.
Paul; if you can tell thinking people of both parties how to shut these idiots up, please let us all in on your secret. Yoho is but one of many Republicans who must be wheelchair-bound as it is impossible to walk with both feet in your mouth or see where you are going with your head up your ass.
I still think the ban on “batshit crazy” has to be lifted.
Take this Yoho thing further, please! The guy is ridiculous and it would be good to know the exact area he is representing and to contact anyone we know within that district about how he represents them poorly.
Sheila; I want to step outside this issue for a moment to thank you for your important and enlightening blogs. I know I am not the only one who selfishly clicks onto your site each day expecting information, insights and words of wisdom from you. We seem to forget you do have a life outside this blog; husband, family, job, social life and community activities. Your articles are always timely; so it isn’t as if you are posting random thoughts you have squirreled away to send into cyber space for your readers to comment on. So; a big thank you for all you do. It is probably more important to many of us than you realize because you often have sources we do not have access to so you keep us informed of vital issues in this screwed-up, frustrating, confusing, going-nowhere-fast political world today.
Thank you, JoAnn– I really appreciate the kind words!