Tim Murphy at Mother Jones introduces Wes Riddle:
In mid-May, Texas Republican congressional candidate Wes Riddle posted a new note on his Facebook page. It was written by his spokesman, Garrett Smith, and it was dire. “The reasoning for President Obama’s impeachment,” Smith wrote, “begins with the fact that the State Department is giving away seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands to Russia.” According to the statement, Riddle—who has Rep. Ron Paul’s endorsement and stands a good chance of winning in November if he can make it out of next Tuesday’s runoff—believed that Obama’s unprecedented giveaway included at least one island the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, “billions of barrels of oil” from offshore deposits, and unknown strategic advantages…
There were a few problems with this indictment of Obama: The president hadn’t given away any islands; the treaty in question had been signed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991; none of the islands, which are well on the other side of the international boundary, had ever been officially claimed by the United States; and Alaska’s two US senators at the time had publicly endorsed the measure. Smith’s rant, much of which was copied word for word from a WorldNetDaily article, was based on a falsehood.
Riddle, an Army veteran turned West Point instructor turned historic-theater owner, isn’t merely another commenter on the internet. He could be coming to Washington. A few days after this Facebook post on the Alaskan islands, he pulled in 15 percent of the vote in a crowded GOP primary for Texas’ 25th Congressional District, a solidly red splotch of central Texas that went to John McCain by 10 points in 2008. That was good enough to vault Riddle into next Tuesday’s runoff election…..
For Riddle, the stakes couldn’t be greater. In February, Riddle, who asserts that states have the authority to nullify federal laws they consider to be unconstitutional, posted an item on [his website] Horse Sense warning that Americans’ freedoms were being snuffed out in the name of well-meaning reforms like child labor laws, and no one was willing to do anything about it. “I JUST WISH THE GOVERNMENT WOULD LEAVE US ALONE,” he wrote, bursting into all-caps. But he feared Americans had grown too complacent. “[I]s another Robert E. Lee or Jeff Davis left anywhere in this unified, chained and tethered house of ours—locked down from the inside out?,” he wondered. “Is there a governor with backbone anywhere in the country to point out and even put an end to…(shall I name it? Are you willing to recognize it?). Tyranny.”
When I was a child, satirists like Lenny Bruce and MAD Magazine could use “Quemoy and Matsu” — another insignificant archipelago stranded between great political empires — as a shorthand for the paranoid grudge-fondling of Richard Nixon’s paleoconservative backers. Who knew that those revenants’ children and grandchildren would forge an alliance with the neo-confederates to keep combatting the progressive gains of the nineteenth century even into the twenty-first?
LittlePig
He’ll fit in quite nicely with Senator Aqua Buddha and Rep. Michele “There’s a Muslim In My Pants!” Bachmann.
BGinCHI
I wish the government would leave this jackass alone by refusing to pay his pension or for his healthcare.
BruinKid
Yeah, I got really pissed at a Ron Paul fan the other day for making some of the most idiotic arguments on gun laws. There are some decent arguments to make. He wasn’t making them. He then eventually claimed that Hong Kong was a great example of a “free market” system, so I had to roundly mock him for saying that. (In Hong Kong, the government owns ALL the land, which is where they get most of their revenue from.) Yep, these libertarians’ best argument for a free market is a colonial dictatorship.
BTW, I finally found a good clip of Noam Chomsky ripping apart Ron Paul’s economic ideology.
Mattminus
I love the reference to “Jeff” Davis, like they’re buddies or something.
R-Jud
Is there another FUCKING TRAITOR, you mean? I can’t even with these people.
Tony J
Uh hu. Why does that screed bring to mind another fan of Bobby Lee and Jeff Davis who became really famous for Siccing the Semper out of a skinny Tyrannis from Illinois?
burnspbesq
Surely, even Texans aren’t deranged enough to send this whack-job to Congress.
…
Umm, hold on a sec.
Perhaps I am giving them more credit than they have earned.
Davis X. Machina
@R-Jud:
It’s always roughly 1850 in this country. It’s like frickin’ Groundhog Day, without the redemption at the end.
R-Jud
@Davis X. Machina: No sex, neither.
ETA: “Either”. Whatever.
R-Jud +3
jl
Fifty four forty or fight!
What has Nobama done about that? Nothing. Traitor.
Fnarf
“Grudge-fondling”. I love you.
jayjaybear
I just don’t understand this mindset that the Confederates were noble little Davids standing up to the tyrannical Goliath Lincoln. Maybe it’s an accident of birth, that I was raised in Pennsylvania instead of Louisiana or Texas or Alabama, but we were taught throughout 12 years of primary and secondary school that Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee et.al. were the BAD GUYS! What kind of warped psyche do you have to have to consider the folks who wasted hundreds of thousands of lives to defend their right to OWN another human being?
jayjaybear
I just don’t understand this mindset that the Confederates were noble little Davids standing up to the tyrannical Goliath Lincoln. Maybe it’s an accident of birth, that I was raised in Pennsylvania instead of Louisiana or Texas or Alabama, but we were taught throughout 12 years of primary and secondary school that Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee et.al. were the BAD GUYS! What kind of warped psyche do you have to have to consider the folks who wasted hundreds of thousands of lives to defend their right to OWN another human being to be heroes?
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
__
Can somebody please explain to me how it is that under the doctrine of states rights, the voters in Texas can nullify a law applying only to putatively Alaskan territory that the voters in Alaska approve of? The last time I read my US Civil War history, I don’t recall anything about Lee and Jackson leading the Army of Northern Virginia to defend the right of voters in Maine to dispose of islands off the coast of Florida. But maybe I skimmed thru that part a little too quickly.
a dood
proving once again that Lincoln was wrong, and we’d be better off without the South.
Maude
@jayjaybear:
I went to a school with some girls from the south a long time ago. They were arguing about the Civil War and one said that the south won.
Calouste
@a dood:
Nah, Lincoln was right. It was Andrew Jackson who was wrong in not lining the road from DC to Richmond with gallows for the traitors and reorganizing the South into new states, with names like Lincoln, Sherman and Grant.
Mino
@a dood: Heh.
The Other Chuck
@Maude:
Considering the government we have to put up with because of them, she’s on to something.
MattR
@Maude: I think I got this link from someone here, but I can’t remember who.
@jayjaybear: Don’t understimate the effects of 12 years of Southern propaganda posing as education.
burnt
@Maude:
Reflecting on what has happened since Jan. 20, 2009, I think perhaps the south really did win the Civil War. Certainly the south won the hearts and minds of say 27-percent of the current population–pretty impressive numbers 150 years after Appomattox.
Maude
@MattR:
Thanks. It was a good article.
They are regressing back to comfortable ground. Change scares the bejeebus out of them.
Cassidy
Step up coward.
Warren Terra
Unleash
ChiangWilliam S. Graves!bemused
There’s no end to whackjobs sprouting up all over the place. I don’t suppose their numbers have increased but in recent years so many of them have managed to get voted into office or gotten themselves into positions of power. It’s quite terrifying.
I still can’t fathom what point asshole James Taranto was trying to make in his disgusting tweet even after reading most of the comments in that thread. Does he believe no one is worth sacrificing one’s life for because he can’t imagine anyone would be worth sacrificing his own life to protect? Is he a shock tweeter looking for attention? Is he just a sick twisted person? All of the above?
feebog
@ Calouste:
I’m pretty sure you mean Andrew Johnson, as Andrew Jackson was the 7th President of the US and was long gone by Lincon’s time.
MattR
@bemused: The most charitable way of interpreting what Taranto was trying to say would be that he hopes the survivors live wonderful, productive lives that properly honor the lives that were sacrificed for them. (Which is still kinda dickish, but not nearly as bad as what he actually said)
Dennis SGMM
Back in the late 1960s, I spent a few years in south Texas. At that time there were dry counties and I lived in one of them (Kleberg County). So you went to a bar because the Byzantine laws allowed you to go to a bar for a beer – but not to a Circle K (Texas 7-11) for a six pack.
Getting your beer in roughly half of those places involved a fist fight. Just the way it was; I was the outsider. Took a while to learn that. The Texans provided me with one great line during my education;
“You got the talkin’ part done, now let’s get to it.”
People like Riddle don’t drink in those bars.
bemused
@Dennis SGMM:
That is charitable.
El Cid
It doesn’t have to be “true” — just true enough.
Tell all the lies, and let God sort ’em out.
bemused
@bemused:
Sorry, that was for MattR.
MattR
@bemused: I assume that was intended for me. That was the best possible interpretation I could come up with and it still oozes of condescension that he has some say over the way another person lives their life (plus the bonus sexism that comes with making that comment to a group of women)
Cassidy
Interesting email exchange:
My response:
And response:
Cassidy
Block quote fail. Sorry.
TenguPhule
Can we just have this bastard shot in the name of common decency?
bemused
@MattR:
Is he a Randian? For extremely self-centered people, the only concern would be to save themselves and have contempt for those who chose to sacrifice themselves. I also get the impression that Taranto is sexist so that tweet could be considered a twofer.
MattR
@bemused: No idea. I can’t keep track of the details of all these different assholes.
(EDIT: We need a guide (let’s call it Conservapedia) that documents the odious beliefs of right wing pundits, politicians and lobbyists)
Calouste
@feebog:
I indeed meant Johnson. I blame it on my typing fingers doing an unintended auto-correct.
Roger Moore
@jayjaybear:
You just have to accept that what Davis and Lee were fighting for was right. Most people try to make it a story about fighting against Yankees trying to tell them how to run things, but you can bet that a lot of the real dead-enders think the whole bit about owning black people wasn’t such a bad thing, either.
Also, too, are we sure this guy’s name is really Wes and not Tom Marvolo?
Roger Moore
@Calouste:
I’m pretty sure that Lincoln was dead set against lining the road from DC to Richmond with gallows. At the very least, that’s not the impression I get from:
SFAW
@Roger Moore:
Well, except that when Lincoln made his “malice toward none” speech, he had just dropped a shitload of Owsley, so he may not have been thinking straight.
Be that as it may: I’m still hoping for the secession of Dumbfuckistan, it can’t happen soon enough. 27 percent of the population is 80+ million? Fit ’em all into
Nuevo AztlanTejas, then close the borders. Let Austin move back to America, it can bring Dell Computer with it, if it wants.Problem solved!
Tonal Crow
Is he related to Tom Riddle? Sounds like he’s taking a similar path.
muddy
@Cassidy: That was sweet! I hope that’s a meme that will stick. What cognitive dissonance! “Must vote R. Must vote white guy. R(whiteguy) has record of gun grabbing. ptzzeeeet” I hope you don’t mind if I copy that. Extensively.
Riots at the convention, I’d pay extra to watch that on tv.
SFAW
@muddy:
‘Specially if they’s all packin’, the ensuing “I’ll blow them terrists away! Vulvarines!” gunfight might get rid of a significant portion of the 27 percenters.
Or, better yet, have The Continental Op pit one side against the other(s), then stand back and let things follow their natural course.
Jay in Oregon
@SFAW:
Someone pointed out that guns aren’t allowed in the GOP convention hall, but they are allowed outsid.
If someone was deranged enough to roll some tear gas canisters into the convention, how many of those brave men and women outside will go charging in to confront the terrorists/ACORN thugs/Ron Paul supporters, and how many will tuck tail and run?
muddy
@Jay in Oregon: I think that’s shocking that they won’t allow guns inside. They want them everywhere else. That’s pretty hypocritical. They should have the courage of their convictions.
Roger Moore
@Jay in Oregon:
More important, if somebody set off a string of fire crackers in the crowd, would it result in a massive crossfire? I think this needs to be tested.
muddy
@Roger Moore: I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter.
SFAW
@Roger Moore:
Beat me to it, re: testing the hypothesis. I see it as win-win all the way around.
A side-test: how many of them will we be able to call “Brave Sir Robin”? What’s the over/under on that line?
VividBlueDotty
Pray for rain, according to this article:
In the 2000 election (the most recent in our data), we estimated that Al Gore got about 2.8 million fewer votes than he would have under ideal climatic conditions.
ETA from The Dish – about his only post today that wasn’t working my last nerve.
Roger Moore
@VividBlueDotty:
Sorry, but Spahn and Sain are both dead, so what’s the point of praying for rain?
SFAW
@Roger Moore:
Thank you for that.
[Stands, doffs cap, and salutes the memory of the incredible Mr. Spahn.]
john fremont
@Cassidy: Also too, I will also.point out that Obama was reasonable enough to allow a federalist approach towards open carry of firearms on nat’l parks and forests; in that open carry in nat’l parks will be harmonized to state laws and local ordinances.
Heirn
@Calouste:
It was Andrew Johnson not Andrew Jackson.
Horrendo Slapp (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
Child labor laws? Jefferson Davis? Robert E. Lee? This guy scares me. I keep hoping that shit like this is nothing more than the last throes of a few dead-enders, as they wake up to a time looming when the darkies and wetbacks are going to outnumber the “real” Americans like them. The thing is, though, that scared, angry, desperate, paranoid fuckups can do an awful lot of harm when they think they’re cornered.
And here’s something else I was wondering. I’m not a fan of throwing the words “treason” or “traitor” around lightly, but, shit, when does all this talk of how great the confederacy was and how we need another Jefferson Davis and how states can “nullify” federal laws stop being everyday right wing dickery and become something more serious? Anybody know?
low-tech cyclist
@Roger Moore:
Nah, Voldy was evil but smart. This guy must be Tom Riddle’s dumb kid brother – just as evil, but with nothing but wingnut slogans amongst the cobwebs upstairs.
PanurgeATL
@Horrendo Slapp (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.):
It’s like this: The little white boys of the ’70s were brought to political awareness at the end of that decade. For most of them, Ronald Reagan was the person who embodied this awakening; many of them were little kids at home in the ’60s and early ’70s and, unable to go to college and see for themselves, had had their views of that time shaped by the mass media and their parents (Ooohh! Scary hippies!). Once Reagan left office, Rush Limbaugh was waiting for them, and as they got older they were handed the old socio-cultural models of middle-age manhood (now livened up with a classic-rock soundtrack) rather than being allowed to forge new ones of their own. They were vaguely conservative in their childhood, but many of them are rabid right-wingers today, because they know no other way of looking at the world–liberalism simply must be wrong. And these guys have got plenty of years left in them.
In the meantime, liberals, in the name of forging a culture of resistance in the wake of the ’60s and ’70s, actually put together a counterculture of accommodation (in which case, what’s the point?), re-inforcing, for all their “irony” and “subversion”, the conservative milieu. What it mainly did was make cultural conservatism cool; you could take it either way. If you were liberal, it was ironic and subversive; if you were conservative, it was an earnest reinvention of “timeless” Features Of The Universe. I knew the project was fundamentally misguided when I was 14, and now it’s come to this. Now what??