US Representative Don Young of Alaska Blames Friends of Suicide Victim for the Suicide

Rep Don Young (R, AK), not a suicide expert.

The last time we heard from Representative Don "We Used to Have 50-60 Wetbacks" Young, he was displaying his ignorance of economics. This time our Wingnut Hero is blaming friends of a suicide victim for the suicide, comparing gay marriage to bull sex, and bossing students around for how they hold their hands while daring to confront the great and powerful Republican congressman.

I shit you not.

But then, witnesses say, Young said suicide shows a lack of support from friends and family. 

That comment stunned students and staff still mourning the loss of a student who died Thursday, staffers say. 

"When I heard 'a lack of support from family' and I heard 'a lack of support from friends,' I felt the oxygen go out of the room, but I gasped as well," Spargo said. "It just isn't true in these situations. It's just such a hurtful thing to say."  

Both Spargo and Swick say a friend of the victim, moved by emotion, shouted at Young, “He had friends. He had support.” 

“The kid said, ‘It’s depression -- you know, a mental illness,' ” Spargo recalled. As she remembers, Young replied, “ ‘Well, what, do you just go to the doctor and get diagnosed with suicide?’ ” 

At some point during the exchange, several school staffers say, the congressman also used either the words "---hole” or “smartass.”

My only regret about this story is that in a room full of high school students, apparently no one used their cell phone to record the event. Maybe they didn't expect the fireworks from a US Congressman.

The real hero of this story is Wasilla junior Zachary Grier, who, had heard that the Congressman had threatened to hurt his opponent, Democrat Forrest Dunbar, because Dunbar had touched Young's arm. Young Zach apparently has a sense for wingnut pressure building up, as he decided to ask a couple of questions that just might keep the congressman angry and talking.

Grier got up and asked Young about Ballot Measure 2 that would legalize recreational marijuana -- “he was completely against it” -- and followed up with questions about the Kodiak debate. Young twice told him to get his hands out of his pockets. Grier complied politely, several witnesses said. 

He got in one more question, this one about same-sex marriage.
“I asked why is it so bad in your eyes?” Grier said. 

As Spargo described it, Young answered, “You can’t have marriage with two men. What do you get with two bulls?” 

Witnesses say Young then said something about a lot of "bullshazzle" or some word resembling the more familiar obscenity.

Colorful language for a high school, but more telling is the tendency of these older scumbags to jump right to the animal sex when asked about homosexuals. Kind of makes one wonder what happened to the congressman during his formative years... Of course, Young didn't care much for a smart ass (and I use the word with respect and admiration) kid, so he ran and tattled to the school principal:

Spargo talked briefly with Young on his way out. He asked her about the student who shouted at him. The principal said he was a friend of the boy who died. “ ‘I’ll take care of it,’ ” she told Young. 

“He told me, ‘That boy needs to learn some respect,’ ” Spargo recalled.

Blame a kid for his friend's suicide, and then say that kid needs to learn respect. This is the GOP political philosophy in a nut shell.

Louie Gohmert's Slippery Slope to Forcing Churches to Hire Cross-Dressing, Satan-Worshiping, Animal Rapers

Louie Gohmert is a Congressman!
No, really!

According to Louis Gohmert, once you draw a line on the number of rounds a magazine can hold, nothing's stopping the government from forcing churches to hire cross-dressing, Satan-worshiping animal rapers.

No, really.

In fact, I had this discussion with some wonderful, caring Democrats earlier this week on the issue of, well, they said "surely you could agree to limit the number of rounds in a magazine, couldn't you? How would that be problematic?"

[...] 

And I pointed out, well, once you make it ten, then why would you draw the line at ten? What's wrong with nine? Or eleven? And the problem is once you draw that limit ; it's kind of like marriage when you say it's not a man and a woman any more, then why not have three men and one woman, or four women and one man, or why not somebody has a love for an animal?

71.7% of TX-1's voters sent Gohmert to Congress.

My favorite bit is "wonderful, caring, Democrats." This is Louie doing his best to speak nicely of the people he hates, the people he thinks are going to lead us all to forced bestiality. Maybe as he starts to flap his gums, some little recess of his brain tells him he should love the sinners, but as he gets his mouth warmed up, the connection with that part of his brain short circuits, the gate opens, and away they go.

And as his disjointed thoughts race down the home stretch, they inevitably latch on to "Obamacare" which, of course, is going to force people to abandon their religious beliefs.

No, really.

You need to educate yourselves on the issues. You need to understand that when there is a law being pushed, as it has for several years, that says that religious institutions should not be exempt from discrimination laws, that it is going to devastate the church, the synagogue, the places of worship that hire people because ultimately they're saying you have to hire whatever Satan-worshiper, whatever cross-dresser you think might be immoral, that's against your religious belief.  You are going to be forced to abandon your religious beliefs, and we've been seeing that with some of the requirements under Obamacare.

Your Church will be forced to hire this man! Via Wonkette.

It's hard to get a handle on just how nuts Louie Gohmert is, so it's best to use a comparison. KTW posted on Rep. Don Young's recent revival of Operation Wetback. Young's wingnutty enough to get his own post here, but even Young couldn't help but laugh at the lunacy that 71.7% of TX-1 voters thought was an accurate representation of their interests in congress (note, that this suggests some of those voters are actually crazier than Louie Gohmert).

During a meeting of the House Natural Resources committee Gohmert said that the warmth created as oil makes its way through the pipeline gets caribou ready for some hot and heavy behavior in the region. 

According to Gohmert: 

“So when they want to go on a date, they invite each other to head over to the pipeline. So my real concern now … if oil stops running through the pipeline … do we need a study to see how adversely the caribou would be affected if that warm oil ever quit flowing?” 

The Washington Post calls the representatives call for action a “faux concern” and it apparently led fellow GOP Rep. Don Young of Alaska stifling his own laughter while stating: 

“I’m not sure it’s warmth of the pipeline.”

The fact that Young said he's "not sure" tells you how crazy Don Young is, and yet even he couldn't deal with the east Texas hot sauce of hilarity that is Louie Gohmert.

Same Old Rusty Dog Whistles Dripping with Centuries Old Spit

GOP Rep Lou Barletta, via That's My Congress

Just days after GOP Rep. Don Young of the great white north kicked off the latest incarnation of Operation Wetback, Rep Lou Barletta, a GOP congressman from the Pennsylvania section of Upper Appalachia, might have accidentally stumbled into saying something stupid about immigration:

“Let’s not take on any more water on this sinking ship,” he said. “Let’s patch the holes. Then we’ll decide what do we do with all this water that’s here.”

I don't have any evidence that he accidentally said this, though. He might be getting his soggy talking points from the Great GOP Fax of the Universe, in which case this is the same old dog whistle they've been blowing for decades. It's the same dog whistle that got the first marijuana laws passed. It's the same dog whistle Eisenhower used to round 'em up and send 'em home. The odds may be good that this wingnut (with a distinctly immigrant sounding name) might have some kind of history of being anti-immigrant. Who knows? Probably best not to mention it.

Maybe the New York Times doesn't have access to Google. That would explain why the reporter of this latest story on the GOP's obsession with dampness couldn't find basic facts like Rep. Barletta's lack of basic facts.

When the law passed, Barletta told the Washington Post, "I will get rid of the illegal people. It's this simple: They must leave." On the day the city passed the measure, Barletta wore a bulletproof vest to illustrate his concern over crimes he said were being committed by undocumented immigrants. Statistics, however, showed that undocumented immigrants were hardly responsible for a crime wave in Hazelton: the city's data showed that of 8,575 felonies committed in the city between 2000 and 2007, 20 had been linked to undocumented immigrants. Later, forced to admit that he had no proof of an illegal immigrant-caused crime wave, or proof that illegal immigrants were crowding Hazleton's schools and hospitals, or even any idea how many illegal immigrants were in Hazelton, Barletta responded, "The people in my city don't need numbers."

Apparently the people in his congressional district don't need numbers, either, since they decided to send this Bullshitting Wingnut to congress. Or, maybe he's just a nice guy with something important to add to the conversation on immigration and race. I can't really decide which, so I guess I should be nice, and just say it's "a gaffe." Too bad some New York Times reporter doesn't go keep him talking; we might find out what he really thinks.

Don "Bridge to Nowhere" Young Ruminates on Other Ways to Cross a River

Leila Kheiry of Ketchikan Community Radio (KRBD) interviewed Don "Bridge to Nowhere" Young and she did a pretty good job of keeping him talking.

Young said that if the United States were forming today, no individual state would agree to be part of the government; they all would prefer independence.

Well, he's off to a good start, but I would suggest that the states that take more from the federal government than they put in, like Alaska, would probably want in because, you know, free money for parasites! For Don Young, states that suck from the Federal Teat don't count, but you individual 47%-ers need to get some skin in the game!

“I really think that everybody should consider my 10 percent solution,” he said. 

“Everybody put 10 percent of their salaries, including those on government welfare, so everyone has something in the game – a little skin in the game – including all the agencies and the whole bit; you’d balance the budget.” 

Young admits that his 10-percent idea is unlikely to find support in Congress. But, he said former presidential candidate Mitt Romney was correct when he said that 47 percent of Americans don’t contribute, and that is a large part of the current problem. 

Image via The Economist

So, the 47% of Americans, many of whom (because Ronald Reagan wanted to encourage them to work instead of being on welfare) get to use the Earned Income Tax Credit, are a "large part of the current problem" but Alaska and the other states that take more than they pay in aren't?

OK, then.

Young keeps talking, because that's what wingnuts do, and displays his ignorance of basic economics by calling for more industry, and less reliance on imports, to bring jobs back to this country. Before he got into politics (a long time ago) Young worked in construction, fishing, trapping, gold mining, tug boating and teaching fifth grade. He apparently never took economics (or didn't pay attention when he did), or he'd know that his support for a high dollar policy is the exact opposite of what you'd want to do to lower our trade deficit and create manufacturing jobs in the US. But then, consistency isn't really a wingnut trait. Bullshitting is.

Operation Wetback, image via Immigration of the 1950s.

Young is, however, capable of noting the effects of productivity on labor intensive industries like agriculture.

Young also believes that Americans need to bring industry back to this country rather than relying on imports. Doing so would increase jobs, although he understands that automation has reduced the number of labor positions available.

“My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes,” he said. “It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”

I'm guessing the GOP is going to keep Don Young away from their new Latino outreach efforts. Of course, he kept talking today in an attempt to limit the damage from his racist slur.

"I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California," the Republican congressman said in a statement issued to a local television station in Anchorage. "I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect."

Young was born in 1933 and raised in Sutter County, California. He got an associate's degree in education from Yuba College in 1952, served in the army from 55-57, got a bachelor's degree from Chico State College in 1958 and moved to Alaska in 1959. According to the CNN story:

The word was used by the U.S. government in the 1950s for "Operation Wetback," a massive crackdown on illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Operation Wetback, image via US Slave.

Merriam Webster, Wikipedia, and even the Urban Dictionary all agree that the word is, and always has been, a racial slur. If the congressman has proof of the word being used in a way that's not a slur, he's not offering that proof with his non-apology apology. Use of the word is disrespectful  and there is no other way to use it. But then, we already knew that Young is a bullshitter.

He keeps talking in the KRBD interview, about taking advantage of the shipping routes through the arctic he helped create by distorting free markets in favor of his oil company executive friends, and the ethics investigations into his possible past crimes, which he defends by claiming there's a statute of limitations.

But once you swim across Talking Wingnut River, there's really no turning back.