The Alan Keyes Award . . .

by Cliopatria

We haven't heard much from the Illinois GOP Senate nominee lately, but he might want to start piping up: another candidate is giving him a run for his money for the nuttiest statements of the year.

Yesterday, a tape was released showing Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn, the GOP's nominee for the seat being vacated by Republican senator Don Nickles, justifying his opposition to gay marriage with the following assertion:"Lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go to the bathroom. Now think about it. Think about that issue. How is it that that's happened to us?" To date, the Coburn campaign hasn't identified which schools practice this policy, and state education officials say they had never heard of any such thing.

The remark comes on the heels of Coburn describing the contest between him and conservative Dem congressman Brad Carson as a showdown between the forces of"good and evil"; reports surfacing that Coburn, an M.D.-turned-congressman, once sterilized a woman without her written consent; and the nominee publicly terming residents of the state's capitol, Oklahoma City," crapheads."

There is, however, one major difference between Keyes and Coburn. While Keyes is now running 50 points behind (and polling less than 20 percent of the vote), according to the latest Daily Oklahomanpoll, Coburn trails Carson by only two points. With Bush expected to carry the state by a 2-1 margin, there's a pretty good chance Coburn will be carrying his campaign against school bathroom pass policy to the Senate.

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Derek Charles Catsam - 10/15/2004

Richard --
You did not have to do this, but you did. Thanks. It shows a graciousness that many who are wrong (including myself) too often fail to show.
dc

Richard Henry Morgan - 10/15/2004

There's a bit over at the WSJ opinionjournal website, showing how Edwards' quote was a truncated one, and one not all that nutty in the original. Apologies to Edwards.

Derek Charles Catsam - 10/13/2004

Tom --
The problem is that you are a dumb dumb poopiehead.
dc

Richard Henry Morgan - 10/13/2004

Setting goals is probably what Edwards intended but, just as assuredly, it is not what he said. Nor does Coburn set the baseline for nutty comments -- it is possible to say something nutty without it being quite as nutty as Coburn.

Tom Bruscino - 10/13/2004

Only if he would have made a DC-8 disappear.

Ralph E. Luker - 10/13/2004

Tom, You would have told King that his address at the March on Washington should have been called "I Have an Illusion."

Tom Bruscino - 10/13/2004

Come on, this is a political season when both sides have accused the other of some pretty harsh things. My post on Edwards was mild by comparison.

We all know what he was implying, but Edwards still opened himself up with that comment. I did not compare Edwards to Coburn, I just had a little fun with the faith healer aspect of people rising and walking if Kerry is elected.

Derek Charles Catsam - 10/13/2004

Dammit -- I make work for myself just by posting a comment on a day that I have way too much to do as is.
dc

Ralph E. Luker - 10/13/2004

Oh, and btw, you also need to straighten Bruscino out on this issue, at Big Tent!

Ralph E. Luker - 10/13/2004

Good point, Derek. Now you tell to go over to Liberty & Power and tell David Beito the same thing!

Derek Charles Catsam - 10/13/2004

Wait a second. let's not compare bigotry agaionst gays and lesbians to the prospect of medfical advancement. Reeve predicated his work of the last ten years on that precise event -- learning to overcome spinal cord injuries through science. And the advancement has been huge. To say that the Kerry administration has goals to deal with sponal cord injuries is akin to the Coburn comments, and that one or two similar comments would meet the Coburn test -- that's just plain inane. Let's have at least a hint of a sense of perspective, KC and Richard.
dc

Robert KC Johnson - 10/13/2004

I hadn't seen the Edwards comment--it certainly is worth a nomination. He needs one or two more, though, to catch up to Coburn.

Oscar Chamberlain - 10/13/2004

Edward's comment was a bit over the top (setting aside the timing of Reeve's passing). But at least it reflected the over-the-top optimism that Reeve himself liked to project.

Andrew Ackerman - 10/12/2004

This doesn't rise to the level of the Coburn comment, but it is another gem of a Keyes anecdote. From today's Hotline:

Does This Means There's An Alternate Universe Where
Keyes Is A Raving, Wild-Eyed Liberal?

Keyes "could reach to the Bible for a metaphor
about the odds he faces:" David vs. Goliath. "But a
better analogy for the way he conceives this race
might be from 'Star Trek' -- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
taking on the Borg or Capt. Benjamin Sisko battling
the Dominion. Keyes is an unabashed 'Trekkie,' taking
time between his cerebral, philosophical books to
plunge into 'Star Trek,' 'Stargate' and other science
fiction pulp." Keyes friend Marlo Lewis: "Alan really
loved that line in the Star Trek movie, the one with
the Borg, where Picard draws the line in the sand and
says 'It ends here.'"

Keyes' favorite is "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."
He "is watching the whole series on CD." Keyes:
"There's something basically clean and decent and
all-American about the respect for human dignity that
[Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry showed." He said
the episodes are morality plays about good vs. evil
like the old Westerns such as "High Noon" that he
loves. Keyes' spokesperson Connie Hair, an ex-actress
("Death Wish 4", among others) who left her job at
Paramount when "God gave me the chance to work for
Alan Keyes," chimed in that Roddenberry's original
title for the series was "Wagon Train to the Stars"
(Pallasch, Chicago Sun-Times, 10/10).

Richard Henry Morgan - 10/12/2004

Coburn set a high mark. Edwards is in the race, though. Supposedly, he told a Newton, Iowa, high school crowd:

"When John Kerry is President, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again."

I say praise the Lord. Can I have an amen?