So Keith Olbermann brought up this character on Countdown tonight, and I wanted to take a minute, and a little internet research, to inform you all about the current state of the Tea Party, vis a vis this particular would-be Congressman, Tim D'Annunzio. I would call Tim a bizarre, deluded man, but I have to say after looking over his positions a little, that that would be a discredit to bizarre, deluded men everywhere. If you have spent the last few weeks mired in the diaries regarding Obama's failure or his impending triumph (depending on who you are), take a moment and remind yourself who the enemy is here.
First, allow me to point you to Tim D'Annunzio's official campaign website. Take a few minutes and look it over yourself, then come back for the highlights.
Highlights!
For the most part, D'Annunzio is a good ol' fashioned Teabagger. He's got the typical neo-libertarian talking points in his campaign platform, but look a little closer.
From his "Abortion" platform point:
Those who condone, support, and champion the murder of the unborn believe that these children aren't human. That begs the question of what other species do they believe they are? ... Posterity [from Declaration of Independence] meaning to those yet to be born or even yet conceived.
Bizarre? The implication that pro-choice folks think fetuses are actually animals or aliens is, uh, a little weird.
From "Energy Independence":
the rights and desires of individual states must be considered when reviewing offshore and on land drilling and mining proposals. We must reduce the regulations that are restricting development, building, and/or expansion of new oil refineries... God has blessed North Carolinians with a beautiful state. From the breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountains, to the fantastic beaches of our Outer Banks, it should be up to North Carolinians how to best use our natural resources.
That's right, North Carolinians should allow BP and Exxon to drench the fantastic beaches of the Outer Banks in oil! :)
So while those are weird, sure, it gets weirder. His "Winning Back America" section borders on the paranoid conspiracy nut, demanding that the Republicans restore a "true conservative" majority across all sectors of government in order to "overturn every bit of the frivolous spending that hasn’t occurred yet and also overturn the socialization and federal control that has invaded into the private sector." What comes next? Why, (re)education, of course, to make sure our children understand "the greatness of our heritage and our true foundations of God and our constitution." Finally, "we must never let this happen again." THIS! THIS! The THIS that THEY started! THEM! >.> Really?
So now we've established that Tim D'Annunzio is a particularly nutty brand of Teabagger. Borderline conspiracy theory nut. Now I'll tell you that he got 37% of the vote in the North Carolina Republican primary for his Congressional district, and will be in a runoff election against his next-most-popular opponent.
That's not all, Kossacks! That is not all.
Check this out.
And this.
Oh, and this. This one's actually just kinda funny.
That's right, Tim "Machine-Gun Social" D'Annunzio believes these things, in addition to his wackier-than-normal Tea Party views:
- He is the Messiah. Whether he is Jesus Christ's Second Coming or a brand new Messiah is a little hard to tell.
- You can raise people from the dead, right now. No mention of whether this would be through good ol' fashioned prayer, or using the Necronomicon.
- The "New Jerusalem" prophesied in Revelation is going to be a 1,000-mile high pyramid. IN GREENLAND.
- The Ark of the Covenant, lost in the Middle East during biblical times, has been found. IN ARIZONA. At least we have the fragments of the Ten Commandments back. Too bad this didn't happen.
And this guy won THE LARGEST PLURALITY in his primary! This drug-addled religious fanatic Tea Partier stands a reasonable chance of becoming a Representative to the US Congress!!
If I may implore you, put aside your frustration with the Obama Administration for now. Put aside your defense of the Obama Administration for now, even! Put aside the conflict over whether OUR SIDE is doing a good job, and make sure that these crazy assholes don't take Congressional seats. This is the homepage for the Democratic incumbent to the seat "Machine-Gun" D'Annunzio wants. His name is Larry Kissell. I honestly don't know much about him. Go to his website and donate. It doesn't matter if he's a DINO, he's got to win this election. GO DONATE.
Now's the time to unite around the common cause of the 2010 elections. If we don't band together and fight for sanity in our country, crazies like Tim D'Annunzio are the kind of people whose smiling faces will usher us into the reeducation camps. And I wish that I was only exaggerating to make a point.