The Republican Party's mad dash towards insanity has come to New England with full force. The beautiful, wonderful state of Maine (one of my favorite places on Earth) has now seen its once Rotarian-friendly GOP taken over by a group of Teabaggers. Maine Politics Blog reports that over the weekend the state party has adopted a platform straight out of the mad mind of Glenn Beck:
An overwhelming majority of delegates to the Maine Republican convention tonight voted to scrap the the proposed party platform and replace it with a document created by a group of Tea Party activists.
The official platform for the Republican Party of Maine is now a mix of right-wing fringe policies, libertarian buzzwords and outright conspiracy theories.
Some of the more interesting bits:
In pursuit of these principles we endorse and shall promote the following initiatives.
I. To Form a More perfect Union
a. All legislation must adhere to the restrictions outlined in the Constitution to protect the individual from intrusive government.
b. Direct the State of Maine to join with other states in asserting our 10th amendment sovereignty rights which protect us from unconstitutional federal government intrusions.
c. Insist on strict adherence to our 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms.
d. Pass a "Read the Bill" act, to insure clarity, and eliminate the corruption associated with side issues, earmarks, pork or riders.
e. Oppose "Localism and Diversity", the Fairness Doctrine or whatever else such attempted restrictions are labeled. Any restriction on speech is by definition NOT free speech.
f. Reject the Employee free choice Elimination act, as an unconscionable affront to the right to a secret vote.
How these people managed to construe diversity as a restriction on free speech is beyond me. I believe this is the first time I've seen a platform explicitly call for an end to diversity.
How bout this:
g. Restore integrity to the electoral process:
i. Prohibit any public funding of advocacy groups such as ACORN, no matter what it or its affiliate organizations rename themselves; New York Communities for Change, New England United for Justice etc.; Conduct thorough investigation of their activities and voter fraud and prosecute violations.
ii. Eliminate motor voter and other voter fraud mechanisms; institute secure voter registration and identification systems.
iii. Reject any effort to give foreign citizens the right to vote in the US in any situation or capacity.
I'd be laughing if they weren't absolutely serious. They call for eliminating voter registration at the DMV and reject non-existent efforts to give foriegn citizens the right to vote. These people truly are crazy.
In addition they call for:
Protecting their guns from....someone:
iii. Reject any agreement which seeks to confiscate our firearms.
Creating a massive roundup of immigrants, Gestapo-style:
No amnesty, no benefits, no citizenship ever for anyone in the country illegally. Arrest and detain, for a specified period of time, anyone here illegally, and then deport, period.
Imposing a new national religion:
b. Reassert the principle that "Freedom of Religion" does not mean "freedom from religion".
Going to war with Islam:
a. Discard political correctness, make public the declaration of war (Jihad), made against the US on 23 Feb 1998, and fight the war against the United States by radical Islam to win.
Importing economics that Austrians don't practice:
a. Return to the principles of Austrian Economics, and redirect the economy back to one of incentives to save and invest.
b. Cut spending, balance the budget, and institute a plan for paying down debt. Proclaim that generational debt shifting is immoral and unconscionable and will not be tolerated!
c. Pass and implement Fed bill #1207 (Introduced by Ron Paul), to Audit the Federal Reserve, as the first step in Ending the Fed.
Turning away from GreenTech and promote 19th century fossil fuels:
i. Promote energy independence aggressively by removing the obstacles created by government to allow private development of our resources; natural gas, oil, coal, and nuclear power.
Making sure healthcare is not a right:
Clarify that healthcare is not a right. It is a service. As a compassionate society we will aid those in need. However, the government takeover of healthcare is not only unconstitutional, but detrimental to the entire healthcare system. Only market based solutions will solve the problems.
And of course:
b. Repeal and prohibit any participation in efforts to create a one world government.
This is their PARTY PLATFORM.
Update: The BIG QUESTION here is do Senators Collins and Snowe stand behind the new Maine GOP platform? That is the question reporters in Washington should be asking...dig?