God, Guns, and Cannibal Dictators

The 2010 election season is shaping up to be a surreal journey into the nightmare world of the Twilight Zone, where nothing is what it seems to be and evil lurks right around the corner. The aura of Socialism! hasn't been so ever-present in our political debate since the days of McCarthyism, and the sheer number of citizens who are prone to this fear-mongering is much more frightening than that which they fear.

And the fact that one of our State Senators is jumping on the bandwagon with the hopes of reaping the political reward is both embarrassing and nauseating at the same time:

There is so much noise hitting us from all sides that I believe God has been put on the back burner too long! Internet, cell phones, corrupt television programs, dishonesty in politics and the church – where will this all end? If we would “love one another,” peace would abound. If you have an open relationship with your God, you wouldn’t have to worry. Is God your best friend? Your best friend will never abandon you. St. Padre Pio had a motto: “Pray, Trust and Don’t Worry.” Trust in the infinite goodness of Almighty God.

Do we need another major catastrophe to bring us again to our knees? We have allowed God to be taken out of our schools. If you listen attentively, many department stores and supermarkets do not play many or any religious songs during the Christmas season.

Are our freedoms as Americans being taken away? Do Americans believe in our constitutional right to bear arms to defend ourselves and families? Are we supposed to wait until government takes away our guns? When government takes away our guns, then the criminals will be able to take everything from us. Is this a democracy? Wake up, America!

Yeah, I know. Don't try to figure it out. One of the symptoms of schizophrenia is seeing connections where they don't exist, like between God and guns. Or between a popularly elected U.S. President and a brutal, inhuman and possibly cannibalistic African dictator.

Here is the image that adorned Andrew Brock's Wake Up America website:

And here is Idi Amin Dada in all his glory:

Of all the infamous African dictators, including Robert Mugabe, none come even close to the revulsion the average American feels for Idi Amin. For those younger readers who don't comprehend this, here's a little background:

In eight years, more than 300,000 Ugandans were killed. He enjoyed personally decapitating his enemies, and on one occasion he and a few family friends passed a pleasant farewell dinner with the severed heads of two opponents propped up at their places round the table. He had the second of his five wives murdered and dismembered, and then ordered the pieces retrieved from a burlap sack and stitched together so he could show her off to their children.

Asked about his cannibal appetites, he liked to complain that human flesh was a little too salty.

In addition to the President's head being superimposed on the body of Idi Amin, the image also contains the Star of David as part of Obama's logo. When called to task on this by Laura Leslie, our intrepid Senator had this to say:

In no way would I ever do anything that shows any disrespect to the Jewish religion or to my Jewish friends. The graphic was from a site from the UK that disagreed on Obama’s policies and his actions on the state of Israel. I am highly offended to say that I would ever do anything anti-Semitic. To post a story on something without getting the facts is irresponsible. My web editor did not interpret the graphic the way you did. He saw it as Obama disregarding the long standing relationship between the state of Israel and the US.

Which further demonstrates Brock's ignorance. The pic originated on TheTruthHurts.co.uk, which is a clearinghouse for conspiracy theorists who believe, among other things, that Obama and Israel are conspiring to spread Zionism/Jewish control worldwide.

Senator Brock, you can claim this was a mistake, and that one of your "assistants" didn't vet the picture properly. But that doesn't change the fact that you are engaged in an "anything goes" campaign to promote fear and hatred, and make money while you're doing it. You're an embarrassment to the State of North Carolina in general, and the North Carolina General Assembly in particular, and your Republican colleagues should treat you the same way they treated Cary Allred.

Until they do, the NC Republican Party is demonstrating clearly that they are not aware enough, mature enough, and sensible enough to separate fantasy from reality and lead our state government.