Meet the newest member of the Black Congressional Caucus: Allen West (R-FL)

[BurtWorm]

He puts the psycho in psychobagger.

(h/t: digby)


http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/meet-allen-west-fanatical-opponent-muslims-immigrants-progressives-obama

In one of the Tea Party’s biggest victories, Florida’s Allen West defeated incumbent Democrat Ron Klein in a rematch of their 2008 race. West, an Army veteran, became a YouTube sensation by criticizing “this tyrannical government” and crying out: “if you’re here to stand up to get your musket, to fix your bayonet, and to charge into the ranks, you are my brother and sister in this fight.” He said that the country was engaging in “class warfare” between “a producing class and an entitlement class,” which is composed of Obama supporters.

While serving in Iraq, he was forced out of the Army for his violent handling of an investigation of a police officer. During the interrogation, West dragged “him outside, pushed his head into the sand, and fired a gun next to his face to get him to sing.” According to West: “It wasn’t torture. Seeing Rosie O'Donnell naked would be torture.”

...

West encouraged his supporters to use violence in suppressing the votes of opponents, saying, “You've got to make the fellow scared to come out of his house.”

He maintains that it is “unfortunate” that gays and lesbians are serving in the military, and compares homosexuality to adultery. West is also radically anti-choice. On abortion rights, he has said “I believe all future discussion on this issue should move us toward the elimination of abortion except in the most extraordinary of circumstances,” and accused pro-choice groups of “promot abortion as a means of birth control.”

West wants to eliminate the progressive tax system. He supports tax cuts for the rich, and calls Wall Street Reform a “sham.” He’s advocated for eliminating the Departments of Energy and Education.

On immigration, he claims that illegal immigrants should not have access to care in emergency rooms, and that Muslim terrorists are coming through the border with Mexico. Radio talk show host Joyce Kaufman, who is slated to be West’s chief of staff, called for illegal immigrants to be “hung on the central square.”

A Republican partisan, West said: “I hate big-tent. I hate inclusiveness. And I hate outreach.” West uses extreme rhetoric against Democrats and liberals. He said that liberals resented the fact that he saved the lives of American soldiers. On the anti-Islam blog Atlas Shrugs, he wrote that progressives “detest anyone who has the courage of conviction and love of America, something which they find unconscionable." In the same post, he wrote, “"Liberals seek to destroy any institution of intrinsic value: God, country, family, honor, valor, courage, VIRTUE... Why? Because if such things exist, then they must be defended, which brings them back to their fear of action." He also claims that Democratic combat veterans Joe Sestak and Patrick Murphy “hate the military.”

[LeftishBrit]

1. What a lunatic!

'I hate inclusiveness.'

And it sounds as though he was charged with misconduct by his superiors in the military, not by anti-military 'liberals'.

He sounds like a caricature of an insane right-winger.

People actually voted for him? Against an actual alternative?

[Blue_Tires]

14. What can I say? People like outrageous trainwrecks...

I'm getting the feeling this is more of an act than his actual feelings...(maybe a 60/40 split)...Sadly, over-the-top, extremist rhetoric has been in style for the past two years, and several candidates have used it to win their races...Meanwhile the media and voters just hungrily lap it up, and shockingly there seems to be no 'bottom' to how insane the discourse will get...


I predict a lot of first-amendment cases in the near future, since some of the more outspoken candidates are only one step way from OPENLY saying (fill-in-the-blank) needs to be rounded up and killed...All extremist rhetoric comes to that final endpoint...

[jaxx]

2. You have to wonder what kind of people would elect a bastard like West.

Real haters is my guess.

[SDuderstadt]

5. Minor point...

that picture/poster in your post should read, "Vote Democratic" not "Vote Democrat".

[jaxx]

6. I picked it up here at DU and changed the dates.

It's too hard to change the word with all the color fades. ;-)

[SDuderstadt]

9. The problem is...

you're unintentionally promoting a GOP slur. They are trying to deprive us of the goodwill that flows from the word "democratic", by referring to us as the "Democrat Party" or the "Democrat Senate". Democrat is a noun, not an adjective.

[SteppingRazor]

10. Agreed, but Ron Klein ran perhaps the worst campaign I have ever seen in my life.

I mean, it was just stunningly, amazingly bad.

Other than the words "I'm Ron Klein and I approved this message," you know how many words TV viewers heard from Ron Klein? Zero. Not one ad featured Klein himself. Every single ad attacked West, not a single positive ad from Klein or even a simple ad saying what he believed in and what he would do if re-elected. That's no way to win a campaign. Negative advertising, unfortunately, has its place in politics, but if it's the only thing you've got, you're dead.

[BurtWorm]

12. Did he not have a record to stand on?

[SteppingRazor]

15. He'd only been in office since 2006...

so he might not have had too many accomplishments to list. But that's sort of the point. He'd only been there for four years. A lot of voters weren't even familiar with the man. He should've at least had a commercial saying something like "Hi, I'm Ron Klein and I'm your representative. I'm asking you to re-elect me because...."

Tell the people anything. Mom and apple pie, etc. But, as I said, he did not say a single, solitary word to anyone throughout the campaign. Not on TV, not on radio, and barely in person. It was just a phenomenally bad campaign.

[BurtWorm]

18. He might as well have run ads saying 'I don't trust you people'

'I'm Ron Klein and I approve this message.'

[SteppingRazor]

20. So, you're saying that an incumbent candidate shouldn't say anything through an entire election?

Because that's what Klein did. It was stupid, and the fact that he lost to a guy like West in a district like Florida's 22nd only serves to prove the point. I mean, it wasn't even a close election. In a district as centrist as the 22nd -- perhaps the most, if not the only, centrist district in Florida -- a man like West should never have won. But he defined himself to counter Klein's attacks while at the same time attacking Klein, who did nothing to defend his record.

[BurtWorm]

22. No, I'm saying that doing nothing but running negative ads

is a sign you don't trust your constituents. I'm agreeing with you.

[SteppingRazor]

23. Oh! Totally misread your comment. Apologies.

And, what the hell, I think West's probably a one-termer anyway.

[BurtWorm]

26. That's your district?

:o

[SteppingRazor]

27. Yes. Allen West is my congressman. n/t

[Gaedel]

29. West attack ads

Were pictures of Ron Klein and Nancy Pelosi coupled with West's accusation that Klein was Pelosi's "lap dog".

Klein should have taken ownership and said "Hell, yes, Nancy and I are on the same side, the right side."

Klein just had ads on West's overdue bills.

[SteppingRazor]

30. I'm not saying West didn't do attack ads. I'm saying Klein didn't do positive ones on himself.

And so, West's attack ads defined Klein while Klein's attack ads ran up against West's ads talking about improving the economy, the "failure" of bank bailouts, etc.


And as far as Klein's attack ads, they did go a little further than just his overdue bills. There was also the one that tied West to the Outlaws MC, and the mailer that included West's Social Security number. To a lot of independents, that latter ad was seen as a real low blow.

On edit: And I totally agree that Klein should've run ads owning his relationship to the House leadership and explaining how his and Pelosi's positions on the issues have worked for voters. But, of course, he didn't do that.

[Freddie Stubbs]

25. Klein has been an elected official for 18 years

He is fairly well known in his district, which is one of the reasons he was able to knock off Clay Shaw in 2006.

[SteppingRazor]

28. He was able to knock off Clay Shaw in 2006 because that year was the reverse of 2010...

that is, an anti-incumbent attitude, but aimed at Republicans instead of Democrats.

Political junkies like you and me may have been familiar with Klein, but state Legislators aren't necessarily household names to most voters. Florida's 22nd is my district. When Klein ran in 2006, he had name-recognition problems against Clay Shaw.

[Gaedel]

32. Rep Foley hitting on interns

That is what did in Clay Shaw.

Klein just had the advantage of the anti-corruption tailwind.

Then in four years, Klein didn't come up with a reason to vote him in again.

[WCGreen]

3. Meet the new GOP...

Armed and dangerous...

[oldlib]

4. What is his stand on racism?

I noticed that he didn't discuss that issue.

[SteppingRazor]

16. He accepted donations from racists so....

http://floridaindependent.com/11391/allen-wests-campaign-finance-sheets-link-him-to-controversial-figures

[RamboLiberal]

7. And his RW Talk Radio Whacky Chief of Staff Joyce Kaufman

She then continued...

The Founding Fathers were brilliant. They gave us two methods with which to do it. They gave us ballots -- and that's a first line of defense. We go out there, and we change them, we send home all of these incumbents who have done nothing to represent the people. They don't come to their districts, they don't talk to us -- and they stopped taking my calls.

And then the Founding Fathers were ever so brilliant -- and I don't care how this gets painted by the mainstream media, I don't care if this shows up on YouTube, because I am convinced that the most important thing the Founding Fathers did to ensure me my First Amendment rights was they gave a Second Amendment. (Cheering.) And if ballots don't work, bullets will."And at about 7:45, she talked about exactly what she would do if the Republicans didn't win big in November -- a plan that sounds an awful lot like putting together a militia to fight the United States government:

When I say I'll put my microphone down on November 2nd if we haven't achieved substantial victory, I mean it. Because if at that point, I"m gonna go up into the hills of Kentucky, I'm gonna go out into the Midwest, I'm gonna go up in the Vermont and New Hampshire outreaches, and I'm gonna gather together men and women who understand that some things are worth fighting for -- and some things are worth dying for."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/allen-west-hires-fiery-talk-radio-host-and-potential-rebel-as-chief-of-staff-video.php?ref=fpa

She also wants to lynch illegals - gee that ought to go over well in the black caucus - NOT.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. What an Asshole!

:wow:

[LeftinOH]

11. He may or may not believe the things he says- but he certainly knows how to get elected. n/t

[marmar]

13. Allen West in a caucus headed by Barbara Lee....ought to make for some interesting meetings.

nt

[yurbud]

17. Wall Street reform was a sham? Did he want it to be tougher?

[Vinca]

19. This guy makes Bachmann look like the poster child of sanity.

[Brewman_Jax]

21. He'll read the script

for now, 'til he finds, like JC Watts before him, he's not going to get any respect from the GOP. Being a teabagger, he'll get even less respect. Also, they'll take in the back room if he's starts thinking for himself and decides he's being dissed and doesn't like it. Then, when they have no more use for him, or he's had enough, he won't run again, and he'll be quietly retired to "spend more time with family". The End

[MagickMuffin]

24. The Black Congressional Caucus needs to make sure they punk the S**T out of this guy

"Hey Rep. West we will be meeting @ ____________ on Tuesday @ 6:00. See you then!"

Continue punking him with wrong dates, times, places. I don't think he'd last very long at their meetings anyway. The Black Congressional Caucus is from Venus, West is from Mars.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

35. More like the Black Congressional Caucus is from earth, and West is from Mars. nt

[Divine Discontent]

31. oh, how NICE of them to allow an absolute NUTCASE into their fold... just great!

[marmar]

33. "Black Congressional Caucus"? ..... Shades of the Kerry-Bush debate?

[alp227]

34. I read about West's Iraq tortures on Ed Brayton's blog

scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/11/war_criminal_now_a_republican.php

Referencing a December 2003 report on CNN:

In testimony at an Article 32 hearing -- the military's version of a grand jury or preliminary hearing -- West said the policeman, Yahya Jhrodi Hamoody, was not cooperating with interrogators, so he watched four of his soldiers from the 220th Field Artillery Battalion beat the detainee on the head and body.

West said he also threatened to kill Hamoody. Military prosecutors say West followed up on that threat by taking the suspect outside, put him on the ground near a weapons clearing barrel and fired his 9 mm pistol into the barrel.

Yuck. Why oh why did this guy win even though it's been known publicly for years what he did? Guess his district was also pro-Bush...but in the past 3 presidential elections Florida-22 voted Democrat.