I wrote earlier this week about the Texas Republicans including in their platform their support for therapy to cure gays and lesbians (like it was some kind of illness). But even though this bigotry is reprehensible, it is far from the only idiotic thing in that teabagger platform (which runs on for 40 pages). I don't have the space (or the time) to bring you all of the nonsense in that silly document, but here are a few more examples of just how weird and out-of-touch Texas Republicans are:
* They want to repeal the 17th Amendment, and let state legislatures appoint senators.
* They want to abolish all federal agencies not specifically mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.
* They want the state legislature to have the right to nullify federal legislation it doesn't like.
* They support the use of racial, ethnic, and religious profiling by law enforcement agencies.
* They oppose issuance of Executive Orders (unless approved by Congress).
* They oppose any kind of affirmative action.
* They want to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
* They want to abolish the law that prohibits tax-exempt organizations (like churches) from engaging in partisan political conduct.
* They want employers and individuals to be exempt from laws preventing bigotry in the workplace or business.
* They want individuals who have not completed a program in a law school to be able to become an attorney.
* They support the Electoral College system, and oppose the direct election of the president.
* They want to fully repeal the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
* They want to fully repeal the McCain-Feingold Act (limiting political contributions).
* They want to be able to display the 10 Commandments and other religious symbols on government property.
* They want to adopt English as the official language of Texas and the United States.
* They want to deny federal courts the right to determine the constitutionality of same-sex marriage.
* They want to eliminate the laws creating "no-fault" divorce.
* They support the reversal of Roe vs. Wade.
* They oppose Senate ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
* They want welfare recipients to be drug tested.
* They want to phase out Social Security and go to a system of "private pensions".
* They want to repeal Obamacare.
* They want to prohibit undocumented immigrants from attending public schools.
* They oppose the adoption of national education standards for Texas schools.
* They oppose reality-based sex educations programs for Texas schools.
* They want to abolish the Department of Education.
* They want the Texas Legislature to affirm that all Texans have the right to "open carry" and "campus carry" of firearms, and declare null and void all federal firearm restrictions.
* They want to eliminate the separation of church and state.
* They support capital punishment, and want to impose a swifter path to it.
* They want to cut all non-military spending to pre-2008 levels.
* They want to reduce funding for all levels of education.
* They support "fracking" in natural gas production.
* They want to abolish the minimum wage.
* They want to abolish the Federal Reserve Banking System.
* They want the U.S. to withdraw from the United Nations.
* They oppose any cut to the defense budget.
I find it abhorrent that anyone could actually believe the things above, let alone put it down in writing -- but that's what the Texas Republicans have done. There may be states as bad, but there is no state with a more extreme Republican Party than Texas. The teabaggers are fully in control of the Texas GOP, and they have proudly put their ignorance on display for all the world to see.
