Jim Demint, probably the most consistent starking raving lunatic in the entire history of the GOP, was a TeaBuggerer before TeaBuggery became an art form. Despite overwhelmingly winning a second term in 2010 as the proto-typical reich wing mental case senatwhore, he decides to cash in early. As of January, 2013, he will increase his salary by a factor of 10, heading up the Heritage Foundation.
By many accounts, the net IQ of both the Senate and the Heritage Foundation will increase by 23 points as a result of this move.
The litany and list of Demint's mental weaknesses, interference with good government, and the numerous times he damaged the country because of his petrified, putrid, and pathetic political leanings (leanings? he leans so far to the right that westbound avalanches get jealous) are simply too long to list here.
While we should welcome and applaud the unexpected removal of Demint from a position of power, national power, no less, this might be a case of jumping from the frying pan deep into the flaming pyre.
Heritage Foundation, for those who may not know, began polluting Washington DC in 1973. Archconservative Joe Coors, who personally bought a plane for Ollie North's illegal Contra arms supply deal, decided to create a seriously conservative think tank to counteract the liberal actions of Richard Millhouse Nixon, then president of the USandA.
Along with Paul Weyrich (who cofounded the Moral Majority, ALEC, and secretly underwrote most of the Monica Lewinski attacks on Clinton) and Ed Fuelner, Coors sought to change Washington DC from the inside, using Heritage as the most obvious vehicle.
When Hilary Clinton correctly alleged that there existed a "vast right wing conspiracy," had she known about these three, she would have been spot on.
Heritage maintained a low profile until 1977, when Fuelner decided to push the organization into a whole new level of think tankery. They started off leaving briefings of the day's votes in congresscritters' cars and limos, and in senators' inboxes. No one else bothered to discuss or frame issues or bills coming up for a vote. In effect, Heritage filled a vacuum it created for congress. For its opponents.
WHat used to be the job of majority and minority whips (advising people how to vote, not necessarily why, though), was rapidly replaced by Heritage arguments.
Heritage had two talents, creating framing of issues, in the most conservative manner possible, and hiding its true colors - ie pretending that they are not as crazy as their ideas are.
Anyway, Jim Demint is the perfect candidate to lead Heritage. Not that he is that much smarter than the three yahoos (two now dead) who created it, for he is not. But his obscenely conservative ideas are precisely what Heritage preaches, although in a far more gentile manner. To put it bluntly, putting Demint in charge means that there will be no change at all at Heritage, from a policy perspective.
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That brings us to Tim Scott.
A radical bible beater, he sharpened his eye teeth on the Ten Commandments battles, which he first won, then lost with his city Council.
He ran successfully for congress, being one of the most visible Sarah Palin success stories. TeaBaggers "r" Us, on every policy issue. He wants to deny food stamps to any union member, if his/her loss of wages is due to a strike. He vocally opposes Obama Care, and once threatened impeachment of Obama because of the federal deficit.
On every issue, from immigration (AZ has it right), education (privatize, teach creationism, and destroy teacher unions), military (we spend too little), war (Keep our troops in Afghanistan, invade Iran when we have time) to Health care (Repeal, defund, attack Obamacare) he is exactly like Demint, only younger.
Oh, and he is black.
Imagine someone even more conservative than Herman Kain, but in a national office for the next few years. (2014) What is worse, he seems to be a shoo in for this South Carolina senate seat quite possibly for many years to come.