As usual,
Think Progress has the story:
And increasingly as usual, Ted Yoho (R-FL) is the one responsible.
At a town hall meeting recently, while Presidents and Pundits alike were praising the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an African American constituent, Melvin Flournoy, asked Yoho if he thought the Civil Rights Act was Constitutional.
Now, as the article states, the easy--and correct--answer is "yes" and then move on. But not Yoho. I guess there's some kind of special Tea People something that makes them open their mouths and stuff comes out:
“Is it constitutional, the Civil Rights Act?” Yoho repeated before giving his reply: “I wish I could answer that 100 percent.” The Florida Republican then went on to strongly imply it may be unconstitutional: “I know a lot of things that were passed are not constitutional, but I know it’s the law of the land.”
FLOURNOY: Do you think that any part of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 [sic], do you think any part of that is constitutional? And then if you’d discuss why. [...]
YOHO: This country grew through a lot of growing pain. We’re going through it again. As we grow as a country and prosper, we’re going to go through it again in the future. That’s why I’m so thankful for the Constitution because it allows us to do that. Is it constitutional, the Civil Rights Act? I wish I could answer that 100 percent. I know a lot of things that were passed are not constitutional, but I know it’s the law of the land.
Here's the whole painful exchange on video for your enjoyment:
Folks, this is why we're going to win in 2014. We have to be aggressive in showing the electorate that this is the NORM for the Republican Party, not the exception. We need to show that the Yohos, the Steve Kings, the Louis Gohmerts, that those people are the true face of the Republican Party, while at the same time showing all that we are able to do, and HAVE done--minimum wage, paycheck fairness, health care, you name it.
It's a CHOICE election. And if they don't choose, they will LOSE.