The gold standard

I've been starting to pay attention to the bizarre slate of third tier candidates being sported by a electorally fractured GOP, and I must say, the range of candidates claiming to be the true representative of "the base" (an appropriate descriptor in more ways than one) is an especially tasty smorgasbord of wingnuttia. We have a Catholic cultist (and they were worried about Kennedy taking orders from the Vatican?), an old school, SoCal Buchananite, and now, truly setting the gold standard for this crowd, a crazy-ass bigot.

How crazy? Well, how 'bout "Christian crusader, cultural nationalist, and Iran freedom fighter" crazy?

A cultural warrior on the international front, Tancredo is an enthusiastic supporter of the Bush administration's war on terror, including the war in Iraq. Tancredo, who is a consistent supporter of the Pentagon and U.S. defense industries, has become a leading spokesperson in the House for an Iran regime change strategy in which the People's Freedom Fighters (MEK) would be the vanguard organization supported by the United States.

What does it mean to be a "cultural warrior on the international front?" I can read that two ways. At first blush, it seems related to his "cultural nationalism," wanting to keep 'Murica 'Murican, and to make the rest of the world more 'Murican. And more Christian, judging by his (quite deliberate, I'm sure) use of the term "crusader." However, consider the term "cultural warrior" in the domestic context: I conjure up images of anti-woman, anti-sex, me-first xenophobes. Kinda like those Islamic fundamentalists who Dinesh D'Souza likes some much.

But for truly crazy, we've got to give a shout-out to his hare-brained scheme for regime change in Iran, promoting the agenda of an exile group with a bizarre, cultish ideology that the State Department considers a terrorist group. Obviously, Tancredo learned nothing the last time we relied on an exile group to accomplish regime change.

And speaking of that other war, how does Tancredo think it's going?

Tancredo continues to be an enthusiastic supporter of the U.S. war in Iraq. In a section on his official website on Iraq, Tancredo says: “The United States did not invade Iraq to conquer it, but rather to set it free. The United States does not stand to gain territory, oil, or any other spoils of war. We all should be proud of that sacrifice.”

I suppose he has a point, if you ignore the building of permanent bases in Iraq, President Bush warning the Iraqi Army to "not destroy oil wells," securing the Oil Ministry while letting the rest of Baghdad fall into chaos in April 2003, and Halliburton.

And there you have it. While the GOP has an impressive array of wingnuts to choose from, Tom Tancredo is heads and shoulders above the rest of the Fringe for out-and-out craziness. My hat's off to you, freak!