#609: Cynthia Davis

Cynthia L. Davis is a former Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives who currently runs the Back to Basics Christian Bookstore in O'Fallon. You can probably feel the direction in which this entry is going, and true enough: her political career was characterized by anti-abortion activism and suchlike (her antics regarding sex education is appalling), to the extent that she finally left the Republican Party over “the loss of party principles,” and teamed up with the Constitution Party instead.

Of course, Davis is, despite her concern for the unborn, not particularly concerned with such issues as child welfare (see for instance this astonishing piece, which is one among many), and she received national attention in 2009 when she attacked programs providing subsidized meals for school-age children from lower-income families during the summer months, saying that such programs “could break apart more families” and that “hunger can be a positive motivator.” She drew some criticism on that one even from fellow wingnuts.

It was also noted that Davis has earlier been observed “stealing food at state dinners to take home to her children.”

Here’s Cynthia Davis on sex. The piece does not flaunt erudition.

Davis has, as expected, also made repeated efforts to have creationism incorporated in public school curricula – and Missouri seems fertile ground for such projects, with people like Sherry “I don’t think evolution should be associated with our school” Melby and David Awbrey running around).

Diagnosis: Comple whacko. As ignorant, stupid, and blockheaded as elected representatives come; Bachmann class.

#206: Alan Keyes

Alan Keyes is a conservative speaker and activist who has run for President and the Senate numerous times (always losing, thankfully – in 2008 he ran with Wiley Drake). He is most famous for being clinically insane, completely ignorant and pathologically intellectually dishonest. More about his career can be found here and here. He used to try to run on a Republican ticket, but after 2008 ran with the Constitution part - but since they supported Chuck Baldwin he started his own party, the Independence Party.

He is insanely anti-gay, actually arguing that gay people cannot have sex (they are rather “mutual pursuit of pleasure through the stimulation of the organs intended for procreation, but it has nothing to do with sexuality because they are of the same sex. And with respect to them, the sexual difference does not exist. They are therefore not having sexual relations”). When Keyes’s own daughter came out as homosexual, she was promptly disowned.

He is a strong champion of gun rights, coming up with reassuring claims such as “gun owners are pro life and their guns are to defend the lives of the unborn” (see also this). He has also claimed that downturns in the economy prove that God is angry with legalized abortion.

Keyes is also a staunch supporter of teaching Biblical creationism in public schools, and he supports mandatory prayer and faith initiatives – as long as they are not Jewish, since Jewish (as opposed to Christian) initiatives promote enmity and hatred (see also this). He is also a firm believer in theocracy and the religious foundation of the U.S. - in the sense of Gary Bauer, Gary DeMar, Gary North and David Barton (who should apparently change his name to “Gary” as well). See also this.

In November 2008 Keyes (and Markham Robinson) filed a lawsuit against the California Secretary of State, then-President-elect Barack Obama, then-Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and California's 55 Democratic electors, seeking to challenge Obama's eligibility for the US Presidency (though Keyes didn’t like McCain either). The suit requests that Obama provide documentation that he is a natural born citizen of the United States. Following Obama's inauguration, Keyes denied he had been constitutionally inaugurated, refused to call him President, and called him a "usurper" and a "radical communist". He has even resorted to civil disobedience over the matter (though refusing to call it “civil disobedience, since he doesn’t believe in that). Keyes is thus one of the most central idiots of the birther movement. He has also been affiliated with the Christian Exodus independence movement.

Keyes also made a rather unflattering appearance in Borat.

Diagnosis: Blatheringly moronic fundamentalist and rabid clown. He has some die-hard followers, but even the more extreme Republican wingnuts often find that they have to distance themselves from him.

#84: Jerome Corsi

Paranoid, right-wing loon and conspiracy theorist, columnist for World Net Daily, and prolific author who has hit upon the most effective rhetorical strategy there is: just lie. Outright, all the time, and if anyone catches you lying, just lie more. Just invent the facts – some people will believe you.

Among Corsi’s conspiracy theories are the NAFTA highway, the alleged plans for a North American Government, criticism of the United States government for allegedly covering up information about the 9/11, the abiotic theory of petroleum (arguing that oil is produced from chemical reactions in the Earth, rather than from biological matter – in fact, the argument isn’t mainly the usual creationist ones, but arguments from the conspiracy that oil is a scarce commodity), and that the United States (i.e. the Democrats) really support Iran in their attempt to develop nuclear weapons.

As a matter of fact, Corsi’s attacks haven’t only been directed at the Democrats; he also alleged that a Muslim terrorist group group with ties to criminal drug networks and al-Qaida has given "strong support" to John McCain, and that "the Republican Party is controlled by what used to be called the ‘Rockefeller Wing'”. Politically, Corsi backs Chuck Baldwin, who has already been covered in our Encyclopedia.

Corsi’s most famous achievment was his 2004 book “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry,” the book that (dishonestly) started the rumors of Kerry’s “cowardice” in the Vietnam war. Purely made up, of course, but the distinction between truth and falsity has always been blurry (or rather unimportant) for people like Corsi. His equally non-factual book on Obama, book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, was released in 2008. More on Corsi’s antics can be found here.

He frequently hangs out with White Supremacists, and with Alex Jones (who will be covered here in due time; don’t worry). He is also (in addition to being a Troofer) a Birfer and spends a lot of time warning people about the planned, Government-run concentration camps.

Even right-wing pundits like Medved think Corsi is a kook. That should tell you something.

Diagnosis: Utterly unhinged, pathologically unable to distinguish truth from falsehood from fantasy from opinion. Has had a huge impact, however and must be considered severely dangerous.

#12: Chuck Baldwin

It's our 12th loon, Chuck Baldwin! Baldwin was a 2008 U.S. presidential candidate for the openly theocratic Constitution Party.
Baldwin is a strong advocate for a Christian Nation and a historical revisionist with a persecution complex, arguing tirelessly that the American Constitution is based entirely off of the Bible. At the same time he promotes religious liberty, but Baldwin is one of those who aren’t affected by cognitive dissonance. Baldwin also holds that the Founding fathers were religious fundamentalists – he is known for publicly attributing quotes to them that he has made up himself (but the contents of which, according to him, the founding fathers would have agreed with). For a discussion of his views and arguments, see here:
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/12/chuck_baldwins_christian_natio.php

Diagnosis: Bigoted, vile, zealous and crazy theocrat, liar for Jesus, paranoid and harebrained (but the martyr tactic is the lifeblood of these dingbats, so a persecution complex is unavoidable). Impact is probably relatively limited (the Constitution party isn’t exactly in the running for many seats), but the Orwellian historical revisionism he stands for is a cause for concern.