Nomination by convention instead of a primary – it was GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli’s dream road to the party pick. He threw all his political power, and that of his allies, behind a nominating convention and they carried the day. With a convention process he avoided a prolonged confrontation with alternative candidates such as current Lieutenant Governor Bolling.
Unfortunately for the ultra-conservative, homophobic, anti-choice Cuccinelli, his party then blessed him with the gift that keeps on giving: a lieutenant governor candidate that even Cuccinelli considers extreme – Bishop E.W. Jackson, a man who makes Michelle Bachmann look lucid, perhaps even profound.
Let’s take a look at a few of GOP candidate Jackson’s greatest hits, shall we?
From his 2008 book Ten Commandments to an Extraordinary Life we learn that sin causes birth defects:
It is the principle of sin, rebellion against God and His truth which has brought about birth defects…
Oh and from the same book, cloning and in vitro fertilization carry the mark of Satan, Hitler, and Stalin. No, seriously:
Practices such as cloning and in vitro fertilization by woman who want to have children without fathers, are precisely kinds of evils God saw in the tower of Babel incident. The people’s vision was unrestrained by God’s spiritual and moral instructions. Indeed their vision was rebellion against God. Wicked vision carries the mark of Satan. Hitler, Stalin and other bloodthirsty despots have proved that.
He opposes Employment Nondiscrimination for LGBT folks because he sees a ‘direct connection’ between homosexuality and pedophilia.
Even worse he has opposed AIDS prevention programs, saying abstinence is the only solution. He states that homosexuality is “killing black men by the thousands” and by supporting gay rights liberals have “done more to kill black folks whom they claim so much to love than the Ku Klux Klan, lynching and slavery and Jim Crow ever did, now that’s a fact.”
In this video, besides referring repeatedly to the ‘Democrat Party’ Jackson says:
Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was.
I’ll just quote MSNBC’s MaddowBlog to summarize some of his other pronouncements, shall I? Links are in their article:
A few days ago, it was his argument that evolutionary biology can’t be true because most animals can’t talk. And shortly before that, we learned that Jackson had warned that yoga can put you at risk for satanic possession.
Before these revelations, there was the melon video. And the bizarre condemnations of homosexuality. And the comparisons between Planned Parenthood and the KKK. And the time he accused President Obama of having “Muslim sensibilities” and seeing the world “from a Muslim perspective.” And the time Jackson said Democrats have a policy agenda “worthy of the Antichrist.”
And on and on.
Is it any wonder that Virginia Republicans are distancing themselves from their own candidate? Virginia does allow a split ticket to be elected, but every word out of Jackson’s mouth draws attention to the issues Ken Cuccinelli is trying to keep quiet: the extreme, right wing nature of the state’s Republican leadership.
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