Five Things Everyone Should Know About GOP Senate Candidate Todd Akin

Rep. Todd Akin, R-MO.

By Zack Beauchamp on Aug 8, 2012 at 8:41 am

On Tuesday night, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) wrapped up his state’s Republican Senate nomination, defeating two other Tea Party Republicans in a race that split the GOP’s hard right faction. Akin’s highest profile backers were former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), which should be no surprise — Akin has a long history of taking inflammatory, extremist positions, particularly with respect to religion and equal rights for gays and lesbians:

1. Akin believes Medicare is unconstitutional.

2. Akin said that “the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God.”

3. Akin is one of the most anti-gay GOP members of the House.

4. Akin called recent legislation streamlining the student loan process a “state three cancer of socialism.”

5. Akin wants the United States to withdraw from the UN.

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The New Southern Strategy: Quote Ayn Rand to Blame the Middle Class

It's a well-documented fact of history that for the past half-century at least, conservatives have used race resentment as a way of cutting the safety net in order to further enrich the already well-to-do. If the objective is to cut Medicaid or food stamps, bring up stories of lazy (black/brown) ne'er-do-wells, young bucks and welfare queens in the to steel the minds of white voters and fool them into destroying their own safety net. It's been a remarkably successful tactic, and one that is still being used with frequency to this day.

One of the keys to the race-baiting attack has been to take the social malaise that develops in economically depressed communities and attribute that malaise to some in-born defect of the people of the communities themselves. By blaming poor outcomes on genetic and cultural moral lassitude rather than pre-existing economic oppression, it becomes much easier to deny social services to those communities while lower taxes on wealthy white "producers."

Throw in some hippie-punching and a blame campaign waged against the cosmopolitan values of the post-60s to account for everything else wrong with America that can be fixed with economic libertarianism mixed with strict religion-based social controls, and you have the basic political and economic program of the Right. It has been very effective.

But that program is now becoming a victim of its own success. As economic libertarianism has dragged down middle-class wages and benefits, suddenly the social malaise that has long gripped minority communities is starting to make itself felt across the entirety of America, including among working-class whites.    READ MORE

Occupy Protesters Interrupt Ron Paul During Campaign Event: "Why Do You Hate Gays?"

Yesterday we reported that Occupy protesters were making their way to Iowa to hold a "People's Caucus," interrupt candidates, and camp out at campaign offices. And last night Ron Paul got his first taste of that plan.

As Raw Story reports:

During a rally with veterans last night, candidate Paul saw his speech interrupted by a group of about 20 occupiers, who began shouting as Paul was mid-sentence. After a few seconds, the crowd responded with a boisterous chant of the candidate’s name, over and over again.

“Why do you hate gays?” one of the protesters shouted. “Why do you hate the 99 percent?” Another reportedly asked why he wants to repeal Roe v. Wade and “control a woman’s reproductive decisions.”

All good questions! Paul's response: "Freedom of speech, ain't it wonderful?" (Yes, yes it is.)

Watch video of the incident below.

Major Ron Paul Supporter Favors Death Penalty for Gays

Paul's endorsement from a Pastor who wants the death penalty for gays exposes his link to Radical Christian Reconstructionists.

December 29, 2011  

At first it seemed like the moment of triumph for the Ron Paul for President campaign. The Texas congressman had won the endorsement of Rev. Phillip G. Kayser, a prominent right-wing Nebraska pastor, just as momentum built toward a possible big win for Paul in next week's GOP caucuses in neighboring Iowa, where evangelicals comprise a majority of voters.
 

The campaign issued a press release lauding Kayser and trumpeting his endorsement, citing "the enlightening statements he makes on how Ron Paul's approach to government is consistent with Christian beliefs." Then came word of Kayser's "Christian belief" in applying the death penalty for gay male sex, and the Paulites got busy scrubbing their press release from the campaign Web site. (The text of the release and a screen shot can be seen on the Web site Outside the Beltway.).

What reporters Pema Levy and Benjy Sarlin of TPM uncovered when they scrolled through Kayser's writings on his Web site, Biblical Blueprints, were not simply the rantings of a random fringe preacher, but a "blueprint" for the philosophy of Christian Reconstructionism, which seeks to make manifest biblical law as the law of the land. That would include the death penalty not only for the practice of sex between men, but also for adultery and insubordination by children. READ MORE

Foo Fighters Protest Westboro Baptist Church Via Song

Hot on the heels of lots of people hating Foo Fighters for not being punk in the comments of our Nirvana piece, the multi-platinum rock band turned around and did something entirely punk rock, and admirable to boot. On August 30 in Kansas City, the WBC had called for a picket of a Foo Fighters show, presumably because they are gay-friendly (oh, and this video of the band members taking a shower together, naked, for the song "Hot Buns," which is awesome). But the Foos had a little surprise up their sleeves: they rolled up on a flatbed truck and parked it right in front of a line of white people holding "God Hates Fags" signs, and proceeded to counter-protest with a country song about acceptance. We're a little disappointed they didn't make out at the end (some of the Foos are married; maybe they have a thing about monogamy). Either way, good job. Watch the whole thing below, via Spin Magazine. Read more