Georgia’s Republican congressional delegation is one of the looniest in the nation. And for eight years, Paul Broun was probably the looniest congressman in that bunch. Broun represents the state’s 10th district, a swath of ex-urban and rural territory between Atlanta and Augusta. Permablue Athens is the biggest city in the district, but most of the rest of the district would vote for a comatose Republican. Broun is very much the personification of the Republican base. This is a guy who once compared Obama to Hitler, thinks all the talk about global warming is part of a plot to destroy America, and thinks that the CDC is being socialist when it encourages us to eat more fruits and vegetables. Broun is going to be leaving Congress at the end of the year, having lost the Republican primary to succeed Saxby Chambliss in the Senate.
However, from the looks of it, the guy who is all but certain to succeed him may be even loonier. Earlier this week, Jody Hice, a Southern Baptist pastor and right-wing radio host making his first bid for elected office, won the Republican primary runoff for Broun’s seat–the real contest in this heavily Republican district. This is a guy who thinks women should only run for office with their husbands’ permission, thinks the current crisis on the Mexican border is “the reason we have a Second Amendment,” and considers Cliven Bundy’s standoff with the federal government to be a symbol of the fight against gay rights. Mother Jones’ Tim Murphy happened on a book Hice wrote in 2012 in which he claimed abortion rights supporters were worse than Nazis and called for Muslims to be stripped of their First Amendment rights.
But those sentiments are rather tame compared to those expressed on the July 24, 2012 edition of his radio show–four days after the Aurora shooting. People for the American Way discovered that Hice spent the second half of the program wringing his hands at the prospect of Democrats using the shooting to push for more restrictions on guns. But then Hice really went off the deep end. He declared that if the armed forces or law enforcement have a particular weapon, under the Second Amendment ordinary citizens have the right to own it as well.
“It is my belief that any, any, any, ANY weapon that our government and law enforcement possesses ought to be allowed for individuals to possess in this country. Provided they can afford it, obviously, but provided they have a clean record. Because right now we have the militarization of America. We have a government armed with bazookas compared with the BB guns we’re allowed to have. The Second Amendment is about defending ourselves against potentially tyrannical government. You cannot defend yourself with a BB gun if your opponent has cannons and bazookas and missiles.”
Wow. And we thought Wayne LaPierre, Larry Pratt and CJ Grisham were crazy. The lunacy Hice expresses is exponentially magnified by the fact he likely punched his ticket to Congress with his runoff win.
Apparently Hice doesn’t like the sunshine. Late this week, PFAW noticed he’s been frantically deleting shows from both of his YouTube archives. Virtually all of the raw audio that PFAW and other outlets have taken clips from has either been made private or disappeared altogether. But don’t worry. PFAW has amassed an impressive dossier on Hice over the spring and summer. And just in case he deletes that 2012 show, PFAW got a clip here.
Democrats who think their vote really won’t count have to remember–the longer John Boehner holds the gavel, the longer that extremists like Jody Hice are empowered.
Let us know what you think at the Liberal America Facebook page.
Edited/Pubished by JA
Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
