Latest wingnut idiocies

Among the latest idiocies from the right wing here in Asheville are these, as reported by the Citizen-Times:

1) Cal Thomas spoke at a luncheon sponsored by the John Locke Foundation, our state’s home-grown think-tank that, in fact, comprises some very intelligent, thoughtful ideologues of a libertarian bent (intelligent and thoughtful as compared to most wingnut ideologues). Like many of his colleagues, Thomas seems to have written off the McCain candidacy and anticipates “the most socialist government in the history of America” if Obama is elected. “It will be bad for America,” he continues, according to the Citizen-Times.

I have to wonder what would be good for America in Thomas’s eyes. More bailouts of Wall Street crooks? A Treasury Secretary who wants to help the biggest banks take over smaller banks? More socialism for the rich but not for the poor and middle-class?

No, Thomas disapproves of the bailout. But he says the right does want “to help people out of poverty so they can help themselves.” He wants the poor to live within their means. And for those who have no means to live within? They should get over their expectations of entitlement. After all, “We’ve got to take care of ourselves first.” We, as in the wealthy rightwing idiots who can afford luncheon at the Renaissance Hotel.

Thomas is all for education, too, though he doesn’t like it to be public. “Well, you can’t expect government schools to teach the values and principles of our country.” Excuse me? What does Thomas think the public schools are teaching – the values and principles of Venezuela or Pakistan? Or is it that he can’t tolerate the fact that many teachers, like college professors and writers and non-academics who value education, tend to think for themselves and ask questions and open their minds and learn new information – all of which puts them squarely within dictionary definitions of “liberal.” Oh, NO!

I have read Thomas’s columns for years (they appear quite frequently in the Citizen-Times editorial pages). What he is looking for is not education, as provided (against long odds) by public schools. He’s seeking indoctrination in private schools, be they secular or religious, in which the values and principles of the Republican party, not those “of our country,” are instilled in the students. No sex, no sex education, no abortion, no rights for gay people, repeal of the First Amendment and gutting of the Fourth . . . It’s too long a list to enumerate here.

Really, Cal, give us a break.

The good news is that Thomas was able to generate a right-wing crowd of about 130 people in a warm, cozy, comfortable restaurant in the middle of the day. A few nights before, James Taylor sang at an Obama rally, held outdoors in 40-degree weather, that attracted 5,000. That followed by a few weeks the Obama appearance that brought 28,000 (in a city of 74,000) to the Asheville High School stadium. Not bad for a little old mountain town in Western North Carolina.

2) A letter-to-the-editor writer twists reality in and on itself by ascribing all the factual wrongs of the Bush-Cheney regime to the Democrats. He considers these “the most corrupt stories since Watergate . . . Rezko, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, voter (registration) fraud by ACORN and other questions of radical ties, each directly linked to Barack Obama.”

He goes on: “Liberal elites gaining the election by presenting one view, hiding truths. . . .” “ACORN can stuff the box.” “Liberty and democracy cast to the curb in pursuit of power.” “Our nation is about to abdicate personal liberty to an unelected . . . federal regulatory system,” directed by “elites who seize power through buying our vote with our money and then secure it by changing the rules to keep it.”

Where to begin?!? I guess Iran-Contra, Enron, the Iraq war lies, Halliburton, Blackwater, Valerie Plame, Jack Abramoff, Robert Ney, Tom DeLay, Duncan Hunter, Ted Stevens, to name a few, aren’t worthy of notice in the annals of corruption. And each is directly linked to the Bush family and/or Dick Cheney.

ACORN can’t stuff the [ballot] box. Maybe the letter-writer doesn’t quite understand the difference between filling out a voter registration form and filling out a ballot. That wouldn’t be surprising, since the Republicans have tried to eliminate millions of Democratic registrations over the past few years, so that only Republicans get to vote. But the fact is that, according to every news report by every media I’ve seen, it’s only the Republican operatives behind the electronic voting machine systems who can actually “stuff the box” and flip votes from the Democratic candidate to the Republican one, as they proved in Ohio in 2004 and are already doing again in several states this year, when early voting is already underway. Scores (maybe hundreds or thousands by now) of complaints of pushing the button for Obama and seeing the McCain light go on; not a single report from any state of the opposite happening.

Oh, these pathetic, flailing, frightened wingnuts, looking in the mirror and seeing their most hated enemy. And instead of saying, “OMG, that’s me!” they write letters full of crap that say, “Look how horrible the other side is!” It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.

3) NC Congressman Robin Hayes doesn’t remember saying to Palin/McCain supporters at a NASCAR racetrack that “Liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God.” First he denied saying it, accusing reporters of “irresponsible journalism,” which is wingnut code for “lying liberal media.” Then, forced to listen to an audiotape of his remarks, he excused himself by claiming “there is no doubt that it came out completely the wrong way.”

What would be the right way, Robin? “Liberals don’t admire real Americans . . . ?” “Liberals envy real Americans . . . ?” “Liberals feel a little icky about real Americans . . . ?” Liberals are just not real Americans, are they?

For those who don’t know it, Mr. Hayes is the heir to the Cannon Mills textile fortune. Apparently that makes him a real expert on “real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve.” Clearly, Hayes really had to work and accomplish to achieve the remarkable feat of turning most of his inherited textile millions into a variety of other assets. For example:

The assets and other sources of income on his Personal Financial Disclosure forms (available on the Legistorm web site at www.legistorm.com/memberdisclosure/271/Rep_Robin_Hayes.html) include between $37 million and $133.9 million worth of stocks, bonds, and his personal airplane, plus numerous rental properties. Well done, you hard working NASCAR guy, you!

Now, as someone who wasn’t born to wealth, I think of Hayes as someone who’s actually never had to work a day in his life, or worry about bills or health care coverage or college tuition for his family. So from the viewpoint of this liberal, maybe what Robin Hayes meant to say was, “Liberals really loathe self-important idiots that inherit millions of dollars from daddy and mommy, buy themselves congressional seats, load up on rental real estate, and then dare to try to present themselves as just good ol’ boys who are acting in the interests of their struggling, hard-working tenants.”