DeMint-ed

And I was just saying how he had all but disappeared.



It's to be expected that DeMint would say this, considering who he was giving the interview to. That's why these little games of patty-cake are generally pointless and a waste of time.

But here's where I take exception with what DeMint has to say.

Does one HAVE to be religious in order to be not just a Tea Bagger, but a conservative? Conversely, does one HAVE to be anti-religious to be a liberal/progressive? The answer to both is obvious. But conservatives love to use religion more than they love to study scripture in order to find out what their religion actually espouses.

It may be a bit of a stretch, but I get the sense that DeMint is doing a little coattail-riding with this interview. After all, Glenn Beck has fashioned himself into quite the televangelist and his show ratings show that conservatives are not only enjoying it, but buying into his preposterous theories.

Teabagging American's Safety

While speculation runs rampant about "what could happen next" after the failed terrorist bombing on Christmas day, many people ( primarily the paranoid conservatives leading the charge of "do we now go into Yemen ) aren't realizing that the TSA is without leadership. And you'll never guess who's holding that process up.

The post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has held up President Barack Obama's nominee in opposition to the prospect of TSA workers joining a labor union.

That's right, one of the Teabagger's favorite Senators is solely responsible for the complete lack of leadership within the TSA all because he thinks that organized workers will be harmful to American's safety. The irony is quite delicious, isn't it.

The very idea behind the Teabagger movement is government is the problem, not the solution. But I wouldn't be holding my breath in the hopes that one of their paid spokespersons will be coming out with a statement decrying DeMints actions.

Some Thoughts For Your Morning

- While some on the fringe Right are attempting to spin Sarah Palin's recent trip to Hong Kong to give a "speech" into conservative gold, it needs to be pointed-out that this trip was profitable to no one besides Palin. Her message, if one could even say that there was one, was simply a rehash of all the tired coloquialism and home-spun "aw shucks" nonsense that served her so well on the campaign trail last year. The only thing that needs to be said to Palin now is this.

- I have been wondering how long it was going to take some idiotic conservative prattle-head to accuse Obama of "endangering the troops" if he pushed forward with healthcare reform. Jim DeMint has further proven that his ability to be a stage prop for the far-right will not only get him airtime, but that he is willing to use the American military as a weapon for his own devices.

- I'm afraid that Chuck Morris has suffered too many blows to the head and fallen victim to the all too familiar "life after fame" aspect of being a type-cast actor. Ever since his conservative bent has been revealed, Norris has said and done some pretty ignorant things. But this one is pretty much tops.

- Why is it that conservatives, like Eric Cantor, lack the ability to even comprehend that people die from lack of or improper healthcare? Is this simply too much to ask from them?

So Obsessed With The Constitution That He Doesn't Even Know When It Was Written

I missed this little gem on Friday.

Sen. Jim DeMint, the overtly eager and reactionary Senator from South Carolina, is just another in a long line of conservatives that get their constitutional facts complete wrong.

He has issued a pitch for his reelection bid in 2010 that revolves around the constitution, the year 1776, and the amount of money that he would like to raise.

I can’t do all this alone. That’s why I launched my Club 2010 team of Internet activists to help propel my re-election campaign. Just last week we received $5,000 from donors giving $17.76. I trust that conservative activists are willing to stand behind the ideas I’ve been pushing in Washington, so I’ve set a loft (sic) goal of raising $17,760 in $17.76 increments over the next five days.

Of course when people make their living as a politician, there are bound to be some verbal slip-ups, gaffes, and foot-in-mouth moments. But if you are a representative of the party that claims to be about "country first", limited government, and appreciation of what the founding-fathers had done, don't you think you would have the desire to do a little fact-checking?

In Senator DeMint's case, I suppose that the desire to get your message out first overrides the ability to be correct.

More from Alex Koppelman

Considering that this is part of DeMint's reelection campaign, one has to wonder what his state, and those that are considering reelecting him, have to say about this.

It's probabaly a fair assumption that no Republican in the state is going to have any qualms with DeMint's comments simply because they sound good. This is one of the foundations of the conservative movement and the Republican party - say something about your country that sounds good and back it up with a gimmick that will entice people to follow you around like a celebrity. We saw this with the "tea-parties" earlier in the year ( and word is that there's going to be more on July 4th ) and conservatives loved the idea.

Will this rhetorical mistake have an adverse effect on DeMint? Not at all. It's always the ones that say they know their history most and love their country most that have no relative sense of either country or history.