I thought of starting a wingnut watch on my blog, but after a few days of reading reactions to Obama's presidential win, I concluded I would have neither the time nor the stomach to keep up with the crazies. Just a local example: In an interview with the Associated Press this week, Georgia Republican Congressman Paul Broun warned the public against Barack Obama's establishing a dictatorship with a Gestapo-like civilian corps:
Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.
“That’s exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it’s exactly what the Soviet Union did,” Broun said. “When he’s proposing to have a national security force that’s answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he’s showing me signs of being Marxist....[snip]...“We can’t be lulled into complacency,” Broun said. “You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I’m not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I’m saying is there is the potential of going down that road.””
Ummm..... In other words, Broun is indeed comparing Barack Obama to Adolph Hitler. Broun represents Georgia's 10th Congressional District in northeast Georgia, which includes the cities of Augusta and Athens. Broun won a run-off election in 2007 by a slim margin over his opponent Senator Jim Whitehead. The two men were vying in a special election to fill the congressional seat vacated when U.S. Representative Charlie Norwood died. Broun carried 90% of the vote in the Athens area, where he was supported by Democrats as well as Republicans. An opinion article in The Wall Street Journal at the time suggested that folks were angered by Jim Whitehead's comment that the University of Georgia, a "liberal bastion," ought to be bombed.
This November, Broun won a full-term by a landslide--61 to 39 percent--over Bobby Saxon, his Democratic challenger. When he was announced the winner on Tuesday, November 4th, Broun "pledged....to set aside party labels and look for bipartisan ways to solve to (sic) the nation's problems." Obviously, his promise didn't even last a week.
Hat tip to Josh Marshall at TMP. For the full story, you can go to: "GA Congressman Calls Obama Marxist, Warns of Dictatorship," in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Monday, November 10, 2008.
2 comments:
Aaah, Paul Broun! He fits right in with the rest of the shipwrecked G.O.P. A great cartoon about him and the recriminations flying back and forth on the Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 blog!
Leno: Right after Barack Obama clinched the – did you see TV cameras caught Jesse Jackson standing at the celebration with tears – you see him with tears in his eyes? Not because Barack won; because he makes more than $250,000 a year.
Hah! I did see Jackson, head oddly set above the level of the crowd.
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