And you thought Micah Beckwith was the most “far out” candidate on Indiana’s statewide Republican ticket, just because he wants to ban books, criminalize abortion and put gay people back in. the closet?
Jim Banks says “Hold my beer.”
I had originally planned to post about reports that Banks approach is refusing to sign a bill funding Veterans programs if unrelated culture war riders attached by the far Right are removed. Those provisions would eliminate diversity and inclusion programs and further restrict abortion nationwide. He has been quoted as saying that dropping them from a bill addressing practical matters important to veterans–a constituency Banks pretends to care about– will cause him to withhold his vote.
“If they go back to the Dem woke policies — if they fund those policies, I’ll vote against it,” Banks said.
I wasn’t in any particular hurry to highlight this bit of “just normal for Banks” posturing. After all, with Jim Banks, threats like that just mean the sun rose in the East. He’s all culture war, all the time. Just the other day, he introduced a resolution to overturn a Biden administration rule requiring that foster parenting placements not be hostile to a child’s sexual orientation.
But then I saw this article from The New Republic.
Representative Jim Banks is running to represent Indiana in the Senate, but he categorically refuses to reject an armed rebellion against the federal government.
Banks was asked four times in person by a NOTUS reporter if he opposes a rebellion, and each time failed to give a clear answer. The fourth time, he even insulted the reporter.
I don’t take you seriously enough to answer your question,” Banks said on Tuesday, following three previous attempts on Monday when he instead chose to complain about Democrats. Why has a question with a clear easy answer become such an issue? It stems from a social media post from Banks on May 30, the same night Donald Trump was convicted in his hush-money trial.
Banks’s post on X (formerly Twitter) is pinned to the top of his profile, and has a picture of the Appeal to Heaven flag without any words. That flag today is attributed to Christian nationalism and the far right. It was also a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement created by Trump’s followers following the 2020 election, and carried by rioters at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has attracted criticism for flying the same flag outside his vacation home in New Jersey.
In one of his multiple evasive responses to the reporter’s questions, Banks referenced the upcoming election.
“We’re in unprecedented times, and November will be the result of regular people taking our country back,” Banks said to NOTUS. “And then we’ll have a reset, and then we’ll take back our government and our country from the elites and those who are trying to destroy it. So you can infer whatever you’d like from that post.”
I was previously unfamiliar with NOTUS, which bills itself as a “new Washington publication from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute.” The original article, written by the NOTUS reporter who had conducted the interview, expanded on the conversation, noting that Banks had asked him whether he was a Christian, and whether he’d ever appealed to heaven. He followed that with a rant about the Democrats “weaponizing” the law against their political opponents. (I’m pretty sure that in GOP lingo, “weaponizing” means applying the rule of law to Republicans…)
Banks adamantly refused to answer the question “Do you oppose the concept of a second civil war?”
“That’s a crazy question,” Banks said, without answering it.
And when pressed again for his answer, he didn’t respond, disappearing into an elevator.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Banks did not respond to emails requesting the congressman’s opinion on armed rebellion against the U.S. government. On Wednesday, the spokesperson also did not respond to text messages from NOTUS, which were sent to his confirmed cell phone number, attempting again to see if Banks would like to offer clarity. The spokesperson did not answer phone calls from NOTUS ahead of this story’s publication, either.
It’s one thing to disagree with the “biblical perspectives” of people like Beckwith and Banks. It’s more important to recognize that they do not inhabit America’s current reality–or for that matter, any reality. They are thorough MAGA theocrats, convinced that they talk to God, and that God hates the same people they do.
I’m sure mental health professionals have a diagnosis for extreme theocratic zealotry. I don’t.
But I do know that they don’t belong in public office.
None of this surprises me.
I read the article in today’s Axios Indianapolis (titled “Indiana = Trump Country) about Banks speaking at the circle-jerk party that is the RNC last night, and I replied with the following email:
“Dear Axios Indianapolis,
I have not noticed any coverage of Dr. Val McCray’s U S Senate campaign to defeat Jim Banks, or for Kiley Adolph, who is running for the House in the 3rd District to replace him with a Democrat woman. I think both of these candidates deserve equal time in the public’s eye. Please do us all a favor and report about the Democrats.
Many Hoosiers do not even know who is running to defeat MAGA and I believe it would be a great service to America for people to be informed that there are good people running as an alternative to it.
Thank you,
James Todd
PS
Are you aware of Project 2025? Approximately 70% of Americans are not. Please inform your readers about it. When people become aware of it most people are horrified of what it will do to our country.”
Once again we see clearly that anything Republican is corrupt, stupid and anti-Constitution. They have gone full-fascist; another word for their pathetic euphemism, Christian Nationalism.
Disgusting. And yet millions of Hoosiers and others will wipe the drool off their chins, bob their heads and vote for them. I’m glad I’m old.
If I recall correctly, the leader of the Heritage Institute said that there would be a revolution, and it would be bloodless, if the left allows. So, if there is an armed conflict let’s just blame it on the libs.
Perhaps the reluctance to speak about armed conflict is more related to the plan to blame the left for anything that happens. It only works if nobody on the right takes a public stance beforehand.
Buried in this is the weaponization of “DEI”. The MAGAs are experts and the DEMs dig in and lose from it. MAGA has successfully propagandized that DEI “means” identity politics and giving unequal advantage to marginalized groups.
There is a simple solution. Make the issue equality of opportunity based on income/wealth not race/ethnicity. That would suddenly “include” the largest number (not %) of the disadvantaged, poor and working class whites who, increasingly, are moving away from the Democratic Party. Too bad that racial/ethnic virtue posturing rule the day because it might turn the US into a MAGA country.
Despicable creatures like Banks and his ilk that constantly spew hatred of others are certainly not Christians.
Their behavior seems to fall more in line with Satan worshipers.
NOTUS is a new nonprofit startup founded by Robert Allbritton, the original founder of Politico. I follow them on X. They publish good articles on both parties. Banks would not like their questioning because they are not propaganda from culture warriors like Fox News, who feed the GOP machine.
Trump’s MAGA theocrats are being challenged for claiming God protected Trump from being killed while God ignores protecting a school filled with innocent children. That would be a great question from a NOTUS journalist!
It would also be interesting to learn how many Hoosier US Congressmen and Senators have read P2025 and their thoughts about the Heritage Foundation’s handiwork—what they support and what they don’t.
Yesterday, I believe Sharon gave Obama kudos for the progressive Obamacare he put forth, but the author of Obamacare was the Heritage Foundation. Obamacare came from RomneyCare out of Massachusetts. And Obama put that conservative healthcare piece into play when he controlled the Senate and Congress. It was a far cry from Universal Healthcare and rewarded the insurance biz (his donors) with lucrative contracts. There’s nothing progressive about it.
Banks makes me almost glad to be living in Florididia…almost.
I find it interesting how most of these battles really revolve around those who don’t have much of a say. Those of the youngest among us really don’t!
That really is by design. There were many stages of child development under the judeo Mosaic law.
The common Hebrew term for a child is yeʹledh. (Genesis 21:8) The related yal·dahʹ refers to a “female child,” a “young lady,” or a ‘girl.’ (Joel 3:3; Genesis 34:4; Zechariah 8:5) Both words come from the root ya·ladhʹ, meaning “bring forth; give birth to; bear.” Two other Hebrew words for a child (ʽoh·lelʹ and ʽoh·lalʹ) come from the root verb ʽul, meaning “give suck.” (1st Samuel 22:19; Jeremiah 6:11; Genesis 33:13) The usual Hebrew term for a boy or young man is naʹʽar. (Genesis 19:4; Judges 8:20)
Greek terms are teʹknon (child), te·kniʹon (little child), pai·diʹon (young child), and arʹsen (male child). (Matthew 10:21; John 13:33; Matthew 2:8; Revelation 12:13) The Greek neʹpi·os refers to a “babe” (1st Corinthians 13:11), and the Greek breʹphos refers to an “infant.” (Luke 1:41) At times the Hebrew and Greek words for “son” are rendered ‘child.’—Genesis 3:16; Luke 20:34–
There were other terms, such as the Hebrew taph (little children; little ones) conveys the basic idea of ones walking “with tripping steps.” (Genesis 43:8; 45:19; Isaiah 3:16)
The importance and the diverse phraseology in the Hebrew and Greek languages, show the importance of children in the ancient world. Child rearing was one of the primary duties of being a parent. And if a parent or guardian refused appropriate nutritional and living conditions, withheld education, we’re liable under the laws of that time.
It really isn’t much of a secret looking at the amount of child abuse happening today, especially children that just disappear off the face of the planet. Where could they be? Children are the most vulnerable section of the human race by far. At a time when their minds are soaking up every sensory input, sight, smell, sound, verbal, feel. These early experiences formulate a childs behavior and conduct, for the rest of its adult life.
Whose responsible for the child’s education? The parent? Or the state. You would think it would be the parent, but in this day and age it seems there is a desire for the state to mold a child’s mind. Is that the way it’s supposed to be? With the importance placed in scripture concerning children, and with the importance of appropriate conduct from the parents towards the children, sometimes under the penalty of death, it seems the parent is the responsible party. James 1:27 actually condemns improper conduct from adults towards children. And also, widows.
Children need to have an appropriate education, children also need to have health care, they need to have shelter, they need to have love and compassion, if not, those adults are to be penalized in a fatal fashion. When so many are complaining or roiling against public health and education, against sustenance and shelter, they are recognized as part of the men of lawlessness camp. Just as what folks claim they are allowing their children to participate in, at the age of 14 and under, would be considered a death penalty for those adults. All parents have to be held accountable for the steerage of their children especially those who cannot survive outside of the parents home. It really is an a complicated thing to follow basic compassionate decorum while raising a child. Unfortunately, there are several different sides who seem to want to have the children. And, why is that? It reflects back to certain loving provisions provided in a family home, or, completely the opposite. These things give us the next generation of humans which might be far worse than the previous. Who gets to decide What moral code is followed!
This guy Banks would have been a Tory during the American Revolution and favored hanging Jefferson with his Declaration of Independence. How, if elected, will he be enabled to swear to follow the Constitution while simultaneously favoring, like Trump, its dissolution where it purports to limit executive power? Are there Nazis in our midst running for office?
Todd, I wish we lived in the world you describe. In the real world, moving to national health insurance wasn’t politically possible. To suggest otherwise is misleading. Obama had just four months time when Democrats controlled the Senate with 60 votes, the minimum number needed to avoid cloture. They passed Obamacare without a single Republican vote in the Senate. Yes, the Heritage Foundation published a study in 1989 which years later became the framework of RomneyCare.
Gerald,
Oh yes. Vance, Bannon, Trump, Banks, Miller, et. al., clearly voice the same rhetoric as the 1933 Nazis in Germany. They’ve been there all along, but the 70 million voters who stayed home in 2016 should be taking credit for this horror show we are now trying to wriggle out of.
How could we have been so irresponsible as a nation?
The tweet that should be pinned to Banks’s X account is the one he posted on 1/6/21 at 4 pm
“Peaceful protest is healthy, but what is happening at the U.S. Capitol right now is unacceptable and un-American. Those participating in lawlessness must be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Todd. To say there was nothing progressive about the Affordable Care Act is kind of ridiculous. If it weren’t progressive the Repubs would have had no reason to fight it, which they did, vigorously, for eight years. In fact they are still trying every tactic they can to weaken/destroy it and if Trump and his minions win they will certainly do so. Tossing around such hyperbolic statements makes you sound a bit nutty.
It its so sickening to see the so called “Christian” politicians proclaiming their so called faith be perverting the holy texts of both Christianity and Judaism. The writings of the authors of both the Old and New Testaments can be thought provoking, beautiful, and purveyors of great wisdom.
Unfortunately, those same writings can be damned dangerous when taken out of context and misused by radical miscreants in the name of “Christian Nationalism,”