#643: John Eidsmoe

John Eidsmoe is a legendary Alabama attorney and Christian reconstructionist (dominionist) who is on the record demanding a “full scale offensive” to take over the nation and impose Christianity by force of law (also here). He also has, as you may suspect from an Alabama dominionist, what could perhaps be characterized as a more “nuanced position” on slavery.

Eidsmoe is the proud possessor of, in addition to a J.D, a doctorate in “ministry from the Oral Roberts University” and in fact a variety of (unaccredited) degrees from other rather shady places trying to pass as educational institutions. Then again, Eidsmoe is severely mistrustful of education, and is on the recording dismissing accredited education as brainwashing since education introduce kids to reality and Eidsmoe disagrees with reality. Given his expertise on such matters it is little surprise that Eidsmoe was the legal advisor to Roy Moore during the latter’s 10 commandments statue debacle.

Eidsmoe’s rise to fame is primarily related to the fact that Michelle Bachmann was one of his students while she attended Coburn Law School at Oral Roberts University. Indeed, Bachmann describes Eidsmoe as “one of the professors who had a great influence on me” (she still has the audacity to criticize Obama for Obama’s connection to Jeremiah Wright, by the way), and Bachmann his research assistant on the 1987 book “Christianity and the Constitution”. That book argues that the United States was founded as a Christian theocracy, which of course is in blatant contradiction with the facts, but being in contradiction with reality has never have never mattered for professional Liars for Jesus and is a necessary qualification for being, as Eidsmoe was, enlisted by the rabidly fundamentalist pseudo-science organization WallBuilders – which is how he came to be hired by Ohio’s Springboro School District for their summer course on the Constitution. One may wonder how Bachmann aligns herself with Eidsmoe’s opinion that “women must submit to their husband”, but come to think of it Bachmann has in fact said precisely that herself. Bachmann also seems to have got her theocratic sympathies from Eidsmoe.

No points for guessing Eidsmoe’s attitude toward zeh gays (they are destroying society by incurring the wrath of God, if you ever wondered). In Gays & Guns he writes that “one cannot help wondering why homosexuals would persist in a life-style that is in fact a ‘death-style’,” and urges the military to adopt reparative therapy as a means to change the sexual orientation of gay and lesbian servicemembers. In said screed he uses phrases such as “considerable evidence indicates that,” but unfortunately seems to think that “considerable evidence” is just a nicer word for “the zealous bigotry I have decided to adopt.” The proposed measure is apparently needed since gays who join the military will molest children.

Eidsmoe has been considered too extreme and asked towithdraw as a speaker by Tea Party rally organizers. That should tell you something.

There’s a fairly comprehensive Eidsmoe resource here.

Diagnosis: A significant source of evil in the world. Should be approached with care and preferably not at all.

#639: Tim Dunkin

Nothing out of the ordinary about Tim Dunkin insofar as blathering insanity counts as “ordinary”, which the numbers of entries in our Encyclopedia is starting to suggest that it does. Dunkin writes for RenewAmerica and Conservative Underground, and among his schticks is – you guessed it – the malicious gay agenda. Indeed, Dunkin has joined the Scott Lively train, and taken it upon himself to warn America that not only is same-sex marriage not a right, but that homosexuality itself “is a lifestyle choice that lends itself to violence, degradation, disease, selfishness, and exploitation.” From this not particularly well-supported premise he concludes that gay rights must be “fought, defeated, and thrown back” along with “the rest of the broader revolutionary socialist agenda.” Homosexuality will destroy America also because homosexuality is associated with violence, pedophilia and abuse. But mostly because it is homosexuality and hence icky, on suspects.

It is curious that when pressed for arguments, he appeals to the same shit fluffpot woo-meister hippies generally use: “it’s unnatural”. Though he does, of course, not even get that one right.

Dunkin’s rants on evolution and environmentalism are likewise rather exasperatingly devoid of understanding of either (in Dunkin’s world evolution requires a magic transition from non-life to life; microevolution is well-supported – macroevolution is not and so on), and appallingly fond of strawmen, misrepresentations, and misapplying words he doesn’t understand. But that wasn’t much surprise, was it? (No, you get no link to his drivel; google "Dunkin" and "evolution".)

Diagnosis: Fundie bigot. Standard fare.

#228: Lyndon LaRouche

A.k.a. Lyn Marcus

Lyndon LaRouche is a legend. Perennially running for president, LaRouche manages to be a wingnut/moonbat on the radical left and the radical right at the same time. He has a severe messiah complex and runs his organization like a fundie cult, and is – fortunately – insane enough to be rather toothless.

So why should you vote for LaRouche (given that he – as he certainly will – runs for president again)? Among the issues LaRouche is firm on, and that no one else seems to deal with effectively are (more details here):
- Using tactical nukes to build a canal across Africa to solve the world's water crisis.
- Break the Satanist conspiracy between Henry Kissinger (and/or George Soros), the Queen of England, ADL, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund that controls the world’s drug trade.
- Avoiding the imminent global economic collapse (which has been immediately around the corner since the 60s, apparently). His suggestions on how to deal with it are rather diffuse.
- Banish rock & roll (especially the Beatles), which is a tool used by British Intelligence to control American minds. In fact, according to LaRouche, British liberalism is the main threat to the world at present, and they are secretly working to take over the world and bring it back to the dark ages (other conspiracy theories are dismissed as British propaganda).
- Remove any trace of the politics of the betrayer Barack Obama (LaRouche’s followers have compared Obama to Hitler, but were staunch supporters of John Kerry); in fact LaRouche has called for the impeachment of Obama.
- Dismiss and end the propaganda for the fraudulent idea of global warming (a conspiracy).
- Drawing on the resources of the already existing (worldwide) LaRouche Youth Movement to do, well, whatever youth movements do? (It really exists, btw, and bears all the hallmarks of a cult; the spokesperson is one Barbara Boyd and it seems to be led by Lakesha “Kesha” Rogers, a certified nutcase.

LaRouche was originally a Trotskyist (under the name Lyn Marcus), instigating several labor strikes among students during his leadership of the sectarian leftist National Caucus of Labor Committees (LaRouche promoted the use of physical violence, however, against his competitors in the Communist Party). He established relations to the extreme right – e.g. Willis Carto’s Liberty Lobby – during Reagan (particular over drug policy and staunch opposition to environmentalism). He eventually turned from (some semblance of confused) Marxism to anti-Semitism. This quote, from 1978, is, uh, interesting: “America must be cleansed for its righteous war by the immediate elimination of the Nazi Jewish Lobby and other British agents from the councils of government, industry, and labor" (more quotes here).

He also erected a quite wide-ranging intelligence network and a surprisingly large international organization (or somewhat militia like cult) with ties to a frighteningly many questionable regimes, including South Africa’s apartheid regime and Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party. He also achieved a certain success in the 80s, before being imprisoned for tax evasion (sharing a cell with Jim Bakker). LaRouche’s followers are known to be among the most persistent at comparing Obama to Hitler. They’re still running a variety of fronts and publications (including the crackpot science cesspool “21st century Science and Technology”, known in particular for its rabid and completely unscientific papers arguing (ranting) against global warming). This one is worth a visit.

More here. This one seems to have gone a little over the top, however.

Diagnosis: Schizophrenic, megalomaniac raving lunatic who seems to wish to establish a socially conservative, fiscally socialist political system based on cult-like worship of the strong man (himself). That political system has been tried before. Fortunately LaRouche doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of implementing it in the US, despite the fact that he has a frighteningly large number of followers.

202: William Herbert “Bill” Keller

Turns out that Bill Kaysing, the popularizer of the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was a hoax, went ahead and died himself out of an entry in our Wikipedia. Bummer. Thus we jump ahead to Bill Keller – no, not the executive editor of the NY Times Bill Keller, but the televangelist whose records – very predictably – include jailtime for financial acrobatics. After spending time in jail he attended Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University. That combo prepares you better than anything to spread the word of God, it seems, and Keller has made a substantial following from his Tampa-based Live Prayer show.

Keller is fond of pointing out, often as sort of an afterthought, that people are on the highway (or “conveyor belt” to hell) – in particular Muslims (nicely unhinged, this one) and scientologists. Regarding scientologists, Keller said (apparently without a hint of self-awareness or irony) that he is “always amused at people who reject the story of Christ and God's simple plan to redeem fallen man, yet buy into the wild theology of cults like Scientology. Christianity requires that you use your God-given intelligence to make the choice to accept Christ as your Savior based on reality. Cults like Scientology requires [sic] that you abandoned all intelligence and blindly believe wild stories based on no facts.” Indeed.

Somewhat bizarrely, Keller emphasized his support for Mitt Romney in the 2008 elections, but in interviews pointed out that Romney, as a mormon, was also going straight to hell (“if you vote for Romney, you are voting for Satan”, Bill pointed out and promptly got himself in trouble with the tax exemption rules).

Keller is, among other things, convinced that Obama is not a True Christian™ because he is pro-choice and because (apparently) of his attitude towards Israel.

Diagnosis: Example of a pretty common breed of godbotting lunatics, but no less a lunatic for that. His particular influence is unclear, but he does apparently have some followers.

199: Rick Joyner

Rick Joyner heads MorningStar Ministries, which he co-founded with his wife Julie in 1985. He also oversees MorningStar's “University”, Fellowship of Ministries, and Fellowship of Churches, as well as editing their various publications. According to Joyner, the purpose of his ministry is the “biblical mandate Matthew 24:45–46” as well as a commitment to equip future leaders and work in relationship with current leaders to prepare and strengthen the church for the last days.

He has written numerous books, including the “The Final Quest” series. This is a series of prophecies based on revelation Joyner claims to have received personally – as such it has remained rather controversial even among Evangelicals. Joyner claims to have been (literally) transported to Heaven and to have had long conversations with Jesus (and some saints and prophets). Hence, his talk about spiritual warfare and the impending 'civil war' within the church bears the stamp of authority, doesn’t it?

Interestingly, while Joyner claims to regard the utterly insane William Branham as something of a lunatic, he also claims to have seen Branham close to the throne of God in his travels to Heaven. Hence Branham must be closer to the truth than one thought (this is perhaps the most feeble attempt I’ve seen of trying to argue that your apparently crazy views are not as crazy as they seem, Rick).

He also weighed in on the health care reform, pointing out that the bill "is about euthanasia, the power to determine who lives or dies in America. Hitler and Stalin would have loved to have had a means such as this for dispatching the millions they killed – it would have made their job much easier, and probably given them the ability to kill many more than they did. THIS BILL IS THAT SINISTER. This is not a joke."

Joyner was also (along with Jack Deere and Bill Johnson) in on the attempted curing and rehabilitation of Canadian televangelist Todd Bentley (famous for his Lakeland revival and for “healing” cancer and AIDS patients by beating them up), after Todd had been involved in – you guessed it – an adultery scandal.

Diagnosis: Pathologically delusional kook and madman who sometimes display glimpses of self-awareness that he is quick to explain away. That only makes him even more zealous of course. Impact unknown – he has many followers, but had he not existed the followers would probably have found another loon to worship.

#172: James Hartline

San Diego’s most famous wingnut, and one of the most thoroughly unhinged anti-gay activists out there (the competition is pretty fierce), James Hartline is the publisher of The James Hartline Report, which addresses issues involving homosexuality. A fine example is here, where Hartline urges his voters not to cast their votes for Mayoral Candidate Jerry Sanders because it violates the Bible, and because Sanders “will be bringing with him a new wave of moral compromise and radical homosexual ideology. This is the core problem in San Diego, which, for the last ten years has destroyed all sense of morality in America's once Finest City, and left the citizenry with an unfixable financial black hole.” The point was the Hartline found homosexuals among Sanders’s campaign sponsors (which are, by default, extremist promoters of the insidious homosexual agenda). By not treating gays as shit, Hartline claims, Sanders is disrespecting every Christian voter. He also claims that “both Jerry Sanders and Donna Frye are rabid supporters of the liberal, social experiment of the sexual revolution”, but I am unsure that Hartline has earned the right to use the adjective ‘rabid’ of other people. Here, by the way, is some context and a snapshot of ordinary San Diego lunatics.

He also blamed the 2007 forest fires on the gays (God’s punishment), or actually on the anti-christian California lawmakers who even considered legalizing gay marriage.
And last year, the torrential rains in Southern California were … well, you guessed it.

Particularly charming is his tendency to start sounding like an incoherent Old Testament prophet when his hysterical rants reach their climax. He is also oppsed to the “Nazi-style stem cell research”.

This entry could also serve to indict Phil Magnan, the director for Biblical Family Advocates, who joined forces with Hartline on at least this occasion, and who thought it was ‘sad’ that the Gay Men's Chorus of San Diego was allowed to sing the National Anthem at the San Diego Padres baseball stadium.

Diagnosis: Hartline’s Report is one long, hysterical, unhinged, garbled primal scream against sanity, reason and freedom, and the guy is totally insane. Impact unclear, but I doubt he convinces anyone not already positioned well beyond the reach of reason

#157: Ron Graham

If Billy Graham is in many ways a tactful and (relatively) sane proponent of fluffy-feelgood Biblical literalism, then his namesake Ron is his maniacal, deranged, twisted and distorted mirror-image. The latter is an uncompromising fundamentalist who criticizes those, like Billy, who try to change God to suit their personal beliefs and wishes (i.e. making him anything but a psychotic mass-murderer). See him criticize people for taking verses out of context, and doing the exact same thing himself when trying to prove that God isn't quite as nasty as his actions, words and apparent intentions really entail. In this one he also apparently claims that any non-Christian is non-human (so God’s killing them would more be like pest control taking care of ants, or gardeners cutting down the tall weeds, as they used to put it in Rwanda). His argument-style is called SPAG, and it’s probably fun.

If you want to leaf through Graham’s rants (not necessarily recommended), you’ll find the collection here. Graham is a Biblical literalist. No, really – he is really, really a literalist. Meaning (mostly) that he assumes Medieval musers’ (Dante, Pico etc.) interpretation. That doesn’t go very well with science, of course, but Graham is willing to bite any bullet that comes his way: “Scientists would have us all believe that the edge of the universe is billions of light years away […]. I submit to all those enthralled by man’s fabrications that the heavens are simply rolled out as a scroll just as the Bible states. I’ll even take it a step further and say that all we humans see in the night sky, as far as deep space is concerned, is only a wonderful holograph, an illusion if you will. Well, my theory is no more farfetched than that of the proponents of billions of years.” Except that intuition and incredulity aren’t really the arbiters of scientific truth. Furthermore “[S]cientists tell us it all occurred with a big bang. God was there in the beginning, where were the scientists?” That one will sure be a partypooper at any physics conference, I bet. I suppose it is redundant to mention what Graham thinks about evolution (but if you insist). His whole view of science is summed up here.

At least he has some charming views about those who disagree with him. It is supposedly watertight - since he speaks the words of God (SPAG), it follows that those who disagree with him speak the voice of Satan.

And of course there is the usual stuff: “the real landslide of the decay of our society began years ago when we allowed the Bible to be taken out of our public schools. Soon after that we had the legalization of abortion and the teaching the lie of evolution as a fact not as a theory, even to the exclusion of any other possible scenario for life to have occurred on earth. Then, more recently, we’ve seen the teaching in our public schools of the abomination of homosexuality as being a fully acceptable and normal lifestyle.”

Diagnosis: Completely insane, and the kind of figure bad parents use to scare their children – an excellent Halloween prop, really. It is hard to imagine that he has many followers, but you never know.

#133: Gerald Flurry

Flurry is the founder and Pastor General of the Philadelphia Church of God (PCG; (visit the website here), based in Edmond, Oklahoma, and presenter of the television program The Key of David, editor in chief of The Philadelphia Trumpet magazine, and founder and chancellor of Herbert W. Armstrong College in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is taught within his church that Flurry is That Prophet, a divinely appointed successor to Herbert W. Armstrong, akin to Elisha after Elijah. Or something.

In his magazine Flurry writes an article in each issue detailing how America is falling apart because her youth do not follow his interpretation of God's values. This includes but is not limited to articles on how Universities undermine America's values: “American colleges and universities actually encourage people to indulge in SOME OF THE MOST REPUGNANT IMMORALITY IN THE HISTORY OF MAN! We lead the world to sexual immorality” (Flurry is a fan of random capitalization). Sexual interaction between consenting individuals at universities represent “SOME OF THE MOST IMMORAL ACTS IN HUMAN HISTORY”, right after the invention of science. In short, sex is the cause of the downfall of America.

Apparently, God was also responsible for the Haiti earthquake because the people there weren’t Christian enough – if you think of it, Flurry is actually a couple of notches more insane than Pat Robertson, though less influential. Oh, and Germany is ruled by the Nazis – that is, the old Nazis, since they survived WWII and are still running shop, apparently (visit the website here). He is really scared of Germany.

He also publishes “Malachi's Message to God’s Church Today” and distribute it to as many Worldwide Church of God (Armstrong’s original churcn, which Flurry broke away from and apparently thinks is the devil) members as possible. According to Flurry, Malachi's Message is the “little book” of Revelation 10, a part of Revelation hidden by God until 1989.

Members of PCG are not allowed to associate with heathens (especially not members of the Worlwide Church of God), and there is a requirement is for Armstrong College students to remove themselves from all social networking sites, especially Facebook and My Space, because they risk coming in touch with heathens there. All of Flurry’s sermons are distributed locally on CDs which are subsequently destroyed after everyone has heard them (you are not supposed to listen to them twice; (this is a website for a competing sect, apparently)).

Notorious members of PCG include Dennis Leap and Andrew Locher.

Diagnosis: Yet another clinically insane Messiah-wannabe cultmaster (PCG is a small cult empire, in fact); he has a fair share of followers, actually, though his impact is minimal beyond those. Stay far, far away from this guy. Lots of people in Internet discussions seem to agree that he is mad, mostly for the wrong reasons.

#130: Bryan Fischer

Another big fish for our encyclopedia, up next is Bryan Fischer, the director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy for The American Family Association. Now it is hard to keep these groups apart, but any organization with “Family” in their name is guaranteed to be, shall we say, over the top. AFA’s mission is to make homosexuality illegal, along with abortion, and possibly even women's voting rights. More information here (they have rather effective strategies, in particular targeting companies that have made statements or policies in favour of gay rights, advertised in gay publications or advertised during a commercial break in a TV show which they find objectionable. They call for members to bombard these companies with complaints, or boycott their products).

But turn to Fischer, an unrepentant theocrat who is known for wanting the government to force gays and lesbians into "reparative therapy" or prison (discussed here).

He has recently fallen out with Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter, since these are not sufficiently against gay marriage for his taste - they associate with organizations that want to destroy the American military and the institution of marriage.

Well, sometimes it seems that “ruining the military” isn’t the goal of the guys – rather, they want to take it over for their own nefarious purposes. Quote Bryan Fischer: “Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews. Gays in the military is an experiment that has been tried and found disastrously and tragically wanting. Maybe it's time for Congress to learn a lesson from history.” (Fischer actually bases his claims on a book by Scott Lively, who will be covered later).

He is apparently completely oblivious to the irony in this one.

Fischer received some flak when he blames a grizzly bear attack at Yellowstone National Park on America for turning their back on God: “History reveals that God's covenant with an ancient nation suggests that one of the consequences for a nation which walks in his statues is that it will have nothing to fear from wild animals”. He phrased the whole incident in a slightly peculiar manner.

The AFA has also called for an end to allowing Muslims to immigrate to the United States, for banning them from joining the military, and for a moratorium on all new mosque building in America.

He is also, unsurprisingly, a staunch creationist, and was formerly the head of the Idaho Values Alliance.

More on Fischer here (we’ve touched on just a small selection).

Diagnosis: Totally insane, vile and zealous, theocrat and Godbot, hatemonger and crackpot, loon, moron, dumbass, crank. You pick, they all fit. Yet he still seems to enjoy quite some influence. I can’t quite find words.

#102: Gary DeMar

One of the movers and shakers of the Christian Reconstructionist movement and an open theocrat, DeMar is an author, lecturer and also the president of the cult American Vision, an American Christian organization. The vision of this think-tank is "an America that recognizes the sovereignty of God over all of life and where Christians are engaged in every facet of society." In his own words “[a]ll government requires a reference point. If God is to be pleased by men, the Bible must become the foundation of all their governments, including civil government. This means that Biblical law must be made the foundation of all righteous judgment in every government: personal (self government), ecclesiastical, familial, and civil.” In other words, there is a war going on, a culture war or war between civilizations, and DeMar is firmly on the side of God and the family. And it is “Darwinism [which] secularized everything in America, including our understanding of the Constitution."

As the notable David Barton, DeMar attempts to connect the writings and thoughts of the founding fathers with his organization’s vision, and is not afraid of lying or quote-mining to a ridiculous degree in the process (this is a war, remember); he claims that the sole and clear purpose of the founding fathers was to establish the Kingdom of God in the New World.

Among his more scary-sounding books titles are “Surviving College Successfully” (given his background, you can probably figure out what he means), “Whoever Controls the Schools Rules the World”, “America’s Christian History: The Untold Story” and “America's 200-Year War with Islamic Terrorism”; he has worked with such luminaries as John W. Whitehead, Gary North and Peter J. Leithart, who must be considered just as crazy as DeMar himself.

He has also said that he would execute homosexuals, but since he is such a liberal, the death penalty will only be awarded if they were actually caught engaging in sodomy.

A few, random examples of strategic moves in DeMar’s war.

In fact, there seems to exist a certain tension among the reconstructionists regarding the Constitution - and here is a truly lunatic discussion of the debates within the movement.
Diagnosis: Utter madman. He and his associates have a profound influence on the more religious parts of the Republican Party (for example), however, and must be considered extremely dangerous.

#64: Gerald Celente

Celente is a “professional” trend forecaster and founder of the Trends Institute. He predicts future trends – in particular economic ones – with all the accuracy and razorsharp precision of a tabloid newspaper horoscope. He claims to have predicted more or less every major economic event in the last 30 years, establishing himself as a modern counterpart to Nostradamus. For example, Celente predicted on February 14, 1999, about the approaching millennial New Year, that, "Employers should anticipate several weeks of low productivity” and that children graduating in 2000 will "shape the new millenium." He has also predicted that America is going broke. A true wizard.

His method seems to be an Other Way of Knowing (intuition, mostly).

Curiously (or rather, unsurprisingly), he has received a lot of press, particularly from conservative sources – especially his assertions that American President Barack Obama's policies (described as “fascism light”) will lead to food riots and tax revolts. Indeed, Celente plays a major role in Conservapædia’s article on Barack Obama.

He seems to be the instigator of the term “Obamageddon”, which is predicted to occur in 2012. Made on November 13, 2008: “[B]y 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.”

The basis for the prediction has, of course, all the rigorous underpinnings of the ordinary, “Mayan calendar” 2012 Armageddon. If nothing else, however, Celente and his reception among pundits provide a fascinating glimpse of the mechanisms of confirmation bias, goalpost moving and wishful thinking at work.

His website, interestingly, does not keep track of his previous predictions (apart from the ones that could be interpreted as having been fulfilled by some stretch). He does provide “trend summaries” – his summaries of events occurring the previous year.

Diagnosis: Probably a fraud, but his confirmation bias and wingnuttery is real enough. Very influential, something that provides more evidence (if any more was needed) for the ubiquity and danger of confirmation bias.

#13: Matt Barber

Our lucky 13th loon is Matt Barber. Barber is a columnist at Worldnetdaily (where do they find these people, seriously?). Also policy director for cultural issues at DC-based Concerned Women for America (an anti-gay organization), and spokesman for Liberty Legal Alliance. Very, very concerned about gay people, convinced gay marriage is unconstitutional and that there is a gay conspiracy out there (and Obama is in on the conspiracy because the Supreme Court didn’t quite agree about the unconstitutionality (yes, that’s the reasoning)). Barber has absolutely no insight into how the legal system works, which does not prevent him from commenting on it with brazen confirmation bias, fact-twisting and outright lies. Argues for taking children away from gay parents. Like so many of his ilk, Barber is also a moral relativist when it suits his purposes. Also has a serious persecution complex and is worried about gay jihadists.

A (typical) quote in advance of the 2008 election: ”If Bill Clinton was the first black president, Barack Obama, if elected, will be the first "gay" president. No, I don't mean he'll personally decorate the West Wing, open a bathhouse in the Rose Garden or take up with Barney Frank. I mean he'll be the most radically pro-homosexual, anti-family president in history. He's very quietly pledged as much to the homosexual "Human Rights Campaign" and other fawning members of his homofascist fan club” (note the interesting characterization of Obama voters in the last sentence).

Trivia: try to find the logical structure of the argument presented here.

Diagnosis: Moron; paranoid lunatic with a severe persecution complex; probably little impact beyond the group who already agrees with what he says (i.e. no power to persuade anyone).

#6: Steven Anderson

Our sixth loon, Steven Anderson, is a rather frightening one.

An Arizona-based pastor at Faithful Word Baptist Church, Anderson is famous for sermons where he fervently prays (and asks his congregation to pray) for the death and eternal torment of people who disagree with him (mostly president Obama, democrats and gays), including urging his congregation to murder his enemies (i.e. gays and liberals). Strong advocate of Old Testament morality (“God didn’t change his mind”) but oblivious to the cognitive dissonance it brings with it. No qualms about lying about his opponents. Convinced that gays are currently bringing an end to America (and that liberals are really disguised gays – Anderson has several ad hominem arguments of the kind ‘x says p; x is a liberal; hence x is gay, hence p is false, a lie and part of a scheme to bring down America’).

Discussed here, for instance:
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2009/08/gospel-of-hate-arizona-pastor-steve.html

and here: http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/08/fred_phelps_jr_steven_anderson.php

Diagnosis: Deranged, vile and very possibly clinically insane. Fred Phelps wannabe. Very dangerous to the extent that some of his (presumably relatively small) congregation might actually do what he tells them to do.