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Tag: jim bridenstine

This Week In Crazy: It’s Time To Execute The President (Again), And The Rest Of The Worst Of The Right

Welcome to “This Week In Crazy,” The National Memo’s weekly update on the wildest attacks, conspiracy theories, and other loony behavior from the increasingly unhinged right wing. Starting with number five:

5. Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck, who is apparently no longer concerned about tearing the country apart, checks in at number five this week for his latest in a long series of warnings that we’re all going to end up in internment camps.

On the Wednesday edition of his radio show, Beck explained that — just as Native Americans were imprisoned in the name of manifest destiny — so too will those who don’t support Obamacare and abortion rights end up in government camps:

He didn’t stop there; on Thursday, Beck dove into a theory about how a movement to boycott Israel was actually orchestrated by the White House — in a thinly veiled attempt to invade Jerusalem, and round up all of the American Jews who support Israel.

You know it’s a classic Beck conspiracy when both George Soros and a blackboard are involved.

4. Fox & Friends

Over the week, high school student Jewel Moore has gained a good deal of publicity for starting a petition lobbying Disney to create a plus-size princess to help provide positive role models for girls of all body types.

It may not shock you to learn that her idea did not go over well on Fox News.

On Thursday, Fox & Friends responded to the petition by welcoming guest MeMe Roth, a self-described obesity expert who does not appear to understand the difference between “plus-size” and “morbidly obese.”

“If you’re going to do a storyline with obesity, then you need to do Princess Diabetes, Princess Cancer, Princess Fertility Problems,” Roth said.

“It’s unhealthy,” Roth added. “If you like cancer and diabetes, if you want fertility problems, then plus-size is beautiful.”

As Media Matters points out, Roth is hardly a credible source on questions of body issues:

It is unclear why Fox presented Roth as qualified to speak on the plus-size Disney princess issue — she does not appear to have degrees in the nutrition or medical field, but instead is known for body-shaming through her National Action Against Obesity website and personal blog which carries the tag-line “MeMe Roth: Reporting From FATOPOLIS.” She has compared obese people to sex criminals and advocated for nutrition plans that sound a lot like anorexia.

Then again, all of this makes her the perfect guest for Fox & Friends, where bullying is just a “rite of passage.”

3. Gordon Klingenschmitt

Gordon Klingenschmitt

When it comes to bullying, however, Fox & Friends has nothing on Gordon Klingenschmitt. The reliably crazy Colorado state legislature candidate continued his loony battle against non-discrimination legislation on Tuesday, when he sent an email warning that an anti-bullying bill — the Student Non-Discrimination Act — is actually just Minnesota senator Al Franken’s way of “legislating pedophiles to recruit your kids.”

“Al Franken (D-MN) wants to require pedophilia in all public schools, in the form of mandatory pro-gay lectures to all public school children,” Klingenschmitt wrote. “Russia bans child-recruiting, but Al Franken wants to require pro-gay child recruiting.”

Conveniently, as it turns out, the best way to fight Franken’s pedophilia bill is to give Klingenschmitt your email address.

It should not shock you to learn that the Student Non-Discrimination Act does not “require pedophilia in all public schools” (nor does Russia’s extreme anti-gay bill merely ban pedophilia, for that matter).

But then, Klingenschmitt has never been big on facts. Stay tuned for his next email, in which Al Franken’s militant gays plan to have sex in your school.

2. Jim Bridenstine

When U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) chose not to run for Senate, Tea Party groups lamented that they lost an opportunity to have a true believer join Congress’ upper chamber — and the Republican Party dodged a bullet.

Bridenstine’s constituents demonstrated the pitfalls of his brand of politics this week, when video emerged of a woman launching an epic tirade against President Obama at a Bridenstine event in Tulsa. Along with calling the president a “criminal” and a “moron,” the woman warned that Obama is shipping Muslims into the country “through pilots and commercial jets.”

“He should be executed,” the woman declared. “He’s an enemy combatant, really.”

Rather than condemning the treasonous charge, Bridenstine instead offered a conspiracy-laden rant of his own.

“Everybody knows the lawlessness of this president,” Bridenstine replied. He went on to charge that the president “uses the United Nations to try to change the laws of the United States,” specifically highlighting a (fictional) attempt to ban scary-looking guns.

Bridenstine’s tepid response does seem a bit weak, especially coming from a man who thinks of himself as a modern-day Patrick Henry. Perhaps if the concerned citizen wants a stronger reaction to her Muslim-smuggling conspiracy, she should hop over the border and attend some town halls in Texas.

1. George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman

This week’s “winner” is right-wing folk hero George Zimmerman, who is skipping several years of the usual pseudo-celebrity meltdown calendar, and jumping right ahead to “celebrity boxing match.”

On Wednesday, Celebrity Boxing promoter Damon Feldman announced that on March 1, Zimmerman will take part in a three-round match against rapper Earl Simmons, better known by his stage name, DMX.

That Zimmerman would step into the ring in a desperate attempt to stay relevant is not particularly surprising. That he’d fight DMX — who has been in a bout or two before — proves just how desperate for the spotlight Zimmerman actually is.

For his part, DMX appears to be feeling pretty optimistic about his chances in the ring.

“I am going to beat the living f**k out him,” the rapper told gossip site TMZ. “I am breaking every rule in boxing to make sure I f**k him right up.” He added that he will literally pee on Zimmerman’s face.

And thus, millions of Americans became trapped between their revulsion at Zimmerman continuing to profit from the shooting of an unarmed teenager, and their desire to see DMX beat him through the canvas.

I’ll offer two predictions about the coming fight: First, the man who claims that he needed a gun to defend himself against a 17-year-old is unlikely to make much of a boxer. Second, when Zimmerman loses, a whole host of WorldNetDaily columnists will be ready to declare the judges’ decision skewed.

Check out previous editions of This Week In Crazy here. Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments!

Tea Party Favorite Bridenstine Won’t Run For Senate In Oklahoma

Jim Bridenstine

Republicans may have dodged a political bullet on Wednesday, when Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) announced that he will not run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) in 2014.

“After giving this matter serious consideration and prayer, my family and I have decided I will not run in the special election to complete Dr. Coburn’s term,” Bridenstine said in a statement, as reported by Talking Points Memo. “I would like to thank my faithful supporters who have provided so much encouragement. Their extraordinary outpouring of support strengthens my resolve to continue our efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Bridenstine, an unabashedly right-wing freshman from Tulsa, was many Tea Party groups’ favored choice to replace the infamously conservative Coburn in the Senate. Within days of Coburn’s announcement that he would step down, the Senate Conservatives Fund and the Madison Project released statements urging him to jump into the race.

Bridenstine’s choice to remain in the House clears the path for fellow Rep. James Lankford (R-OK), the fifth-ranking House Republican, to move to the upper chamber of Congress. Lankford, who has drawn criticism from the right for the perception that he is insufficiently conservative, now seems less likely to face the type of mad dash to the right that has repeatedly plagued Republican candidates and embarrassed the national party in recent GOP primaries.

Although Lankford will not have to face arguably his most threatening challenger, he won’t walk to the GOP nomination unopposed. Almost immediately after Bridenstine announced that he will not run for the seat, Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon formally jumped into the race.

No Democrats have entered the contest so far, but whoever wins the June 24 Republican primary is expected to easily win the general election in deep-red Oklahoma.

Right Wing Readies For Fight In Oklahoma Senate Race

Right Wing Readies For Fight In Oklahoma Senate Race

Just days after Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) announced that he would retire at the end of the year, the battle lines are already being drawn in the race to replace him in the U.S. Senate.

On Monday afternoon, U.S. Representative James Lankford (R-OK) announced that he will be a candidate in the June 24 Republican primary (the general election will take place on November 4).

“After a great deal of thought, prayer and discussion with my family, I feel led to continue my Oklahoma common-sense and principled approach to attack the deep problems in the United States Senate,” Lankford said in a statement released by his campaign.

“I am willing to wage a hard-fought campaign for the opportunity to continue Dr. Coburn’s conservative legacy,” he added.

Lankford, who served as program director of the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center before successfully winning election to the House in the Republican wave of 2010, is currently the chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, making him the fifth-ranking member of the GOP majority. His strong support from party leadership, along with his solid fundraising — Lankford’s campaign committee has $454,738 in cash on hand — make him a strong contender in the special election to replace the infamously conservative Coburn.

Lankford’s leadership position may leave him vulnerable in the Republican primary, however. Despite his reliably Republican voting record, Lankford’s alignment with Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and his tepid support for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants — along with votes to fund the government without defunding the Affordable Care Act — have left some on the right uneasy about his candidacy.

Before Lankford even announced his intention to run, the Senate Conservatives Fund — an influential political action committee founded by former senator Jim DeMint, and financially backed by heavy-hitting Republican fundraisers such as Koch Industries and Foster Friess — had already declared that the congressman is too moderate to garner their support.

“We won’t support Congressman Lankford’s bid for the Senate because of his past votes to increase the debt limit, raise taxes, and fund Obamacare,” Senate Conservatives Fund executive director Matt Hoskins said in a statement. “We have reviewed his record and it’s clear that conservatives cannot count on him to fight for their principles.”

Similarly, the Madison Project — a right-wing group that has gained notoriety in 2014 by attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and backing his primary challenger, Matt Bevin — immediately released a statement criticizing Lankford as insufficiently conservative.

Although Madison Project policy director Daniel Horowitz did acknowledge that “Lankford is not a purely liberal Republican and an anathema to Oklahoma,” he still warned that “Rep. Lankford is a quintessential status quo Republican.”

“There is no way someone like Lankford will change the country club culture of Senate Republicans; we will be changed by them,” Horowitz writes. “Sending another mediocre Republican to the meat grinder would be a waste of one of the most conservative seats.”

Instead of Lankford, the Madison Project urged Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) to “jump in the race and give voice to conservatives.” And while the Senate Conservatives Fund hasn’t explicitly endorsed Bridenstine, the freshman congresssman is the only House member to have received a donation from the group during the 2014 election cycle.

Bridenstine, who was elected with Tea Party support in 2012, is among the most conservative members of the 113th Congress. It’s not hard to understand why right-wing groups might favor him over Lankford; while Lankford is capable of delivering red meat to the base (such as the time that he blamed gun violence on welfare moms), he’ll never be able to match Bridenstine, who compares himself to Patrick Henry and once took to the House floor to rage that Barack Obama’s “dishonesty, incompetence, vengefulness and lack of moral compass” make him unfit to serve as president.

Bridenstine has not yet announced whether he will pursue the Senate seat. Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon is also reportedly mulling a run, while Rep. Tom Cole, Attorney General Scott Pruitt, and Governor Mary Fallin have all anounced that they will not run.

No matter how ugly the Republican primary gets, it is unlikely to yield a Todd Akin-like scenario in the general election; in deep-red Oklahoma, the Republican nominee is almost certain to win the general election, no matter how extreme he or she has to get to capture the nomination.

Photo: House GOP via Flickr