#661: Mary Fallin

Mary Fallin is the Governor of Oklahoma and a former representative for Oklahoma's 5th congressional district, and damn if she isn’t quite insane. Fallin is a staunch creationist and is on the record expressing a preference for religion over science (but so is her last Democratic opponent Jarl Askins). And of course you presumably see where this is going for education in Oklahoma.

In 2011 Fallin responded to a heat wave sweeping her state by asking citizens to seek divine intervention: “The power of prayer is a wonderful thing, and I would ask every Oklahoman to look to a greater power this weekend and ask for rain,” she said in a manner worthy of Rick Perry. It didn’t have any measurable effect, but does tell you quite a bit about a certain group of politician’s attempt to find solutions to the ordeals facing their constituencies. Indeed, one would think that the Oklahomans who believed this measure to be effective had already prayed for rain, making Fallin’s urge doubly idiotic.

Diagnosis: Another moronic godbot who has been given an irresponsible amount of power to wield, and sure enough uses it to cause as much damage as possible to civilization.

#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.

#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.

#622: Jimmy DeYoung

Jimmy DeYoung a noted prophecy teacher and conference speaker with a Bible school “doctorate”, a radio host (WNYM in New York), author, and producer of much audio and video material on the standard batshit crazy endtime stuff, which he fully endorses (yes, he is one of the RaptureReady guys). DeYoung is currently actually located in Jerusalem, presumably as a means to being able to experience the imminent endtimes first hand, to evangelicize (bring Jesus to the Jews), and to convey garbled idiocy in the form of opinion pieces back to his US audience about the persecution of Christian majority everywhere. His knowledge of Middle Eastern politics is breathtakingly lacking for someone who has lived there for even a short time, but he seems to try to make up for the lack of insight in appallingness and insane conspiracy theories.

Among his video productions is The Daniel Papers and its accompanying study guide, which explains Daniel's calculations for the coming of the Messiah, his outline of the end times, and his description of the coming seven years of tribulation. Among his more outré beliefs is the claim that the Ark of the Covenant must be found in order for the Jewish people to build the Temple. “I believe it is underneath the Temple Mount,” said DeYoung, because prestigious rabbis have (apparently) been “mere inches” from seeing it. He doesn’t seem to mention Ron Wyatt, and is apparently also semi-oblivious to the fact that it is dusting away in an American storehouse, as per the real-time documentary “Indiana Jones”.

Here’s DeYoung on Glenn Beck. Although DeYoung “agrees with him politically” he can unfortunately not accept Beck as a spiritual leader because Beck is a mormon.

Diagnosis: Breathtaking moron