Just when I think that members of the right wing fundamentalist fringe of the Republican Party could not possibly get more kooky, they go ahead and prove me wrong, and get more kooky.
With his recent actions, Republican Tom Tancredo, who represents the 6th District of Colorado in Congress, has moved into the category of genuine, Grade A fruitcake.
Tom Tancredo has watched George W. Bush gain political popularity by exploiting voters’ fears about terrorists. Congressman Tancredo is not the sort to be outdone, however, so he’s taken Bush’s panic-inspired security state screed and kicked it up a notch.
Lately, Tom Tancredo has taken to hanging around with conspiracy theorist Paul Williams, who has spent a lot of time hanging around on the AM radio dial trying to sell his new book, The Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse. Paul Williams claims that Al Quaida has twenty nuclear bombs in the United States right now, and is ready to set them off at any minute… no, really, just any minute now… ok, hold on… it won’t be long now… annnny minute…
What proof does Paul Williams have that terrorists have 20 nuclear weapons in American cities ready to explode? Well, he has secret sources. Who are they? Well, Mr. Williams can’t tell us who they are, silly, because they’re secret sources. You know, the same kind of secret sources that told us about the gigundous arsenals of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that were ready to kill half the human population on the face of the Earth.
Tom Tancredo believes Paul Williams. Tom Tancredo has a plan to stop the secret conspiracy. What is Tom Tancredo’s plan? He wants to bomb Mecca. First.
Yes, it’s a matter of public record. Tom Tancredo actually went on the radio, WFLA-AM in Florida, and announced that he thought the United States should attack Muslim holy sites across the Middle East, including the most holy Muslim place of all, the holy city of Mecca.
Congressman Tancredo really believes bombing Mecca would really encourage terrorist not to attack the United States. For that reason, I am happy to give Tom Tancredo the Congressional Fruitcake of the Year Award.
Tom Tancredo is a Fruitcake Bumper Sticker
Nah, he’s Grade B fruitcake at best. Granted he’s espousing a foolish idea; but it’s at least a falsifiable idea, and one that, if true, would actually mean something, and would actually be relevant to the real world. Contrast with this quote from Dennis Kucinich:
Now that’s a fruitcake!
Well, that’s a silly attempt to channel Carl Sagan, but it’s not really fruitcake material. If you read Kucinich’s words using the right frame, it actually is in alignment with some theories of physics and astronomical observations.
J. Clifford, when did Tancredo say we should bomb Mecca first?
It was said on Friday (7/15) on the radio, and hasn’t received a lot of attention in the time since.
And the pre-emptive aspect is described in an article in the Rocky Mountain news, which describes Tancredo as promoting a plan to:
As far as the Kucinich-Tancredo comparison goes, I’d rather have a fruitcake that gazes at the stars than have a fruitcake dropping bombs. For that reason, Tancredo is the top fruitcake, in my book.
You know the stuff of both animate and inanimate matter, came exploding out of stars a long time ago. Kucinich and Joni Mitchell are right–we ARE stardust.
Realization of the interconnectedness of everything is not metaphysical masturbation. It is accurate and also describes a certain kind of anti-war sentiment and pro-environment stance. We are all connected–so, better get our shit together.
I might just take on the anti-Bush fight if his administration starts blowing up sacred ground because of religion.
Personally, I think war and unquestionable religion are both stupid, but I’ve seen footage and pictures of people in Iraq clutching pieces of their children in the remains of their houses and those people seem to, at that point, take religion very personally, and at THAT point I think they could do without any more parts of their lives getting ripped apart.
Why does Bush sound so untouched by all these horrible things popping up around him? Makes me wish we could force people to THINK sometimes…
Folks,
I’m looking all around, and I can’t find any mention of a pre-emptive strike suggestion. Every news article I found on Google repeats that he’s talking about a *retaliatory* attack on Muslim holy sites.
That doesn’t forgive it! It’s nuts to think that pissing off EVERY Muslim in the world will increase our security. Keep the fruitcake award, Congressman.
But gang — it doesn’t do us any good to *exaggerate* what he said to make it more inflammatory. No matter what crud he said, we don’t have the right to make it sound even a bit nastier than it was.
CNN’s article on it:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/18/congressman.muslims.ap/
J. Clifford — you wrote that the “pre-emptive” element was in the “Rocky Mountain news.” I Googled the exact phrase you wrote, and got zero hits. I Googled this Congressman’s name + “Rocky Mountain” and found two hits:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3934448,00.html
and
http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_3942200,00.html
Both make it clear he was talking about “responding” — not pre-emptive attacks.
Keep it real, folks. Spinning truth to drum up emotions is what THEY do.
-Tom
The only fruitcake is you. I suppose you are one of these fruitcakes who thinks 9/11 was a government conspiracy. What a moron.
Really, Art? Is that what you suppose? If so, you suppose WRONG. I don’t hold such a conspiracy theory.
Paul WIlliams was the one with the conspiracy theory. Where did all those nuclear suitcase bombs, set to go off at any minute, go to? Hmmm?
What does Tom Tancredo have to say about Paul Williams now? Nothing. He used Paul Williams to whip up fear when it was politically convenient, and then pretended he never said anything.
Yes, I say Tom Tancredo is a fruitcake – and a dangerous one.
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