Republican Primary in Wingnut Central

Colorado Springs is the epicenter of wingnutism in Colorado. Home to Cheyenne Mountain and James Dobson, the 5th Congressional District, Colorado College excepted, is a Republican wonderland, full of knee-jerk, unthinking Conservatives like Duncan Bremer who believes the way to peace in the Middle East is to convert all the Moslems to evangelical Christianity. I'd like to invite Mr. Bremer to take his campaign for the Republican nominee to Baghdad where he can start proselytizing to his heart's content, preferably outside the Green Zone.

Which brings us to Brantley Rayburn, who is concerned that Iraqi kids grow up chanting that they want to die for Allah. Uh, I believe the word for dying for one's God is martyrdom, something the Evangelicals have honored since there were Evangelicals. Rayburn believes Iraq is the key to rooting out terrorism in the Middle East. Personally, I believe Israel and our knee-jerk support of it is a more likely key to the problem but Mr Rayburn conveniently ignores the fact that we, the United States of America under Republican party rule made Iraq into a haven for terrorists, we're near to making it into a failed state and the primary war there is sectarian, kind of like when the Southern Baptists and the Missionary Baptists square off over immersion vs. sprinkling.

Jeff Crank has an interesting take on the war's failures, attempting to blame them on Congress, who authorized the war, rather than the President, who prosecuted it so ineptly. He's a Hefley and a Bush clone, stay the course and all, yada, yada. Doug Lamborn and John Anderson echo the party line, further emphasizing the intellectual bankrupcy of the Republicans. Neither of these people are willing to face the great, white elephant in the middle of the debate: We're losing both in Iraq and Afghanistan, the entire premise of the Iraq debacle was a lie and Bush was liar in chief.

Lionel Riviera wants to beef up the special forces, emphasizing the failed Neocon thinking that we can impose democracy at gunpoint and that American force can dominate the world. One need only look at how poorly supplied and funded Hezbollah is holding off nuclear power Israel to see how ineffective force is in an age when any kid with a shoulder-launched rocket can take down the mightiest of warplanes.

In short, unless Colorado Springs wakes up and realizes that the Republicans truely have lost their minds and the right to rule this country, one of these Wingnuts are going to become the Representative from Colorado's Fifth District. I'm not anticipating a Democratic win, the best that can be said of this race is that we won't lose a seat.