Kevin Swanson is a piece of shit, a conservative Christian who hasn’t met anything secular that he thinks should even exist. He is a batshit loony who said that it’s better to be drowned than to have your kids watch Harry Potter. He said if his son was gay and about to get married he would cover himself in cow manure on the church steps (pretty kinky there, Swany boy!).
He also wants gays who don’t repent to be executed.
Now, all of this is, sadly, run of the mill hatred from the lunatic fringe. Every movement has it’s extremists, and to paint the mainstream with that brush is unfair.
Except for the fact that not one, not two, but THREE very mainstream Republican presidential candidates were at the rally in Iowa this past weekend where Swanson made his statements.
I am aware that neither Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal will become President, but the former is a former governor who spent time as a right wing pundit and the latter is a former Congressman and two-term governor.
Also at the event was Ted Cruz who, as much as it scares me, could become the next President of this country - once the outsider fascination goes away from Trump, Carson and Fiorina, he can lay claim to be an outsider of sorts and certainly the conservativest of the conservatives who have any shot (he has consistantly polled enough to get off the kiddie tables at the debates). He’s not a favorite, but unlike Jindal and Huckabee, it’s more difficult to just dismiss him out of hand.
And he was fucking there too.
And when called on it, he says “I don’t know what this gentleman has said and what he hasn’t said” before weaseling out of the question.
You can’t say that these views that gays should be put to death are not mainstream when three major Presidential candidates show up at his event in first-state Iowa.
Now some of you might want to bring ISIS into it - fundamentalist loonies who are, in fact, killing gays (among other people).
“Why aren’t you speaking out about them,” they will shrug. “It’s because you hate Christians but love your terrorist Muslims, you liberal rag-head sympathizer,” they will scowl.
Not really. And go fuck yourself.
ISIS is horrible. No kidding. Not much of a debate there.
But here’s the thing: As horrible as ISIS is, you don’t see them inviting mainstream Islamic leaders to their beheadings. That’s because ISIS would have no problem removing their heads too. Regardless, the mainstream governments in countries dealing with ISIS are fighting them, not joining them!
Whereas mainstream leaders in America running for the highest offices in the land are happy to associate with the “kill the gays” asshole, thrilled to share a stage with this bigoted lunatic.
All you assholes who say that all of Islam are terrorists, there’s more evidence that all Christians would be happier than this pastor in cow manure when we get to kill the gays - three more pieces of evidence, to be exact.
And hey there, so-called Liberal media, fuck you too. It was news for far too long when Obama was “linked” to terrorist Bill Ayers and some right wing wackos still use it on their talking points on why Obama sucks even though he barely met the dude and in fact both men resented the insinuation.
But aside from Rachel Maddow and a handful of Democratic-leaning blogs, there has been few mentions and even less outrage about these mainstream candidates for the highest office in the land actually palling around with someone who is using terror and hate without apology.
“Kill the gays” is a mainstream political position to have now in Republican politics. And if you are either a Christian or a Republican, you’ll evidently have to learn to live with it.
