#638: Rex Duncan

Rex Duncan is a (former) Oklahoma State Senator legendary for a level of paranoia that borders on the clinically mentally ill. He is most famous for being behind the Oklahoma anti-sharia law – and although being against sharia law is a good thing, his reasoning displayed less than firm grasp of reality: “This is a pre-emptive strike to make sure that liberal judges don't take the bench in an effort to use their position to undermine those founding principles that are international or Sharia law.” Because the people who would want to impose sharia law are obviously liberal judges – you know, that liberal, homosexual lobby and fundamentalist Muslim alliance and its conspiracy against Oklahoma (since “Oklahomans recognize that America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles”). On the need for a preemptive strike, and against the suspicion that the threat of Oklahoma becoming governed by sharia law is exaggerated, Duncan pointed out that “[i]t's not just a danger, it's a reality. Every day, liberals and uh, just ...”

In fact, the law is not merely an empty gesture to accommodate the paranoid persecution complex of the electorate. It has actual, real life, adverse consequences. There is a pretty good discussion here. Duncan has a history of standing up for the good values, by the way.

Diagnosis: As many have pointed out, Duncan forgot Martian law in his amendment, and there is still an opening that Oklahoma may impose Martian law on Oklahoma. In any case, the features that qualify Duncan for an entry are not the law per se, which is stupid, but the appalling lack of coherent reasoning behind it. Of course, it is rather obvious that this was intended pure demagoguery, but still … there is no evidence that Duncan doesn’t believe his own shit, and the default position must be that he does.