Lunatic Politician of the Day

It's Georgia State Representative Bobby Franklin.



Now, sure, you could argue that he's not so much a lunatic as just a huge asshole, and you'd have a good point, but can't he be both?

This is the guy who introduced a bill to allow people to bring guns to church.

100%

Because "blessed are the meek" is for sissies! Man up, Jesus!

Also, he would like to do away with drivers' licenses. Seriously!

CBS Atlanta’s Rebekka Schramm asked Franklin, “How are we going to keep up with who’s who and who’s on the roads and who’s not supposed to be on the roads?”
“That’s a great question,” Franklin said. “And I would have to answer that with a question, ‘Why do you need to know who’s who?’”
“What about 12-14-year-olds who want to drive? What would stop them?” Schramm asked.
“Well, what’s stopping them now anyway?” Franklin answered.

 

I'm pretty sure it turned out okay for the Coreys!

In his bill, Franklin states, "Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose. Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right."

 Franklin told CBS Atlanta News that driver's licenses are a throw back to oppressive times. “Agents of the state demanding your papers," he said. "We’re getting that way here.” 

So basically, either you're cool with this:

 

or you're cool with this:

 

You're down with this:

 

Or you're down with that:

There is no in-between!

Franklin has tried to require Georgians to pay taxes with gold coins (or silver, he's not inflexible)

 

Pre-1965 silver coins, silver eagles, and gold eagles shall be the exclusive medium which the state shall use to make any payments whatsoever to any person or entity, whether private or governmental. Such coins shall be the exclusive medium which the state shall accept from any person or entity as payment of any obligation to the state including, without limitation, the payment of taxes (“Constitutional Tender Act,”)

 

 He introduced a bill which would outlaw abortion in the State of Georgia, claiming that the Supreme Court has no right to rule on such matters, so Roe v. Wade is null, or something like that. Here's an excerpt from the text of the bill: (complete text is here check it out if you want to see some first-rate wingnuttery.)

The United States Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to hear or decide the case of Roe v. Wade or any other case pertaining to a state's punishment of the crime of prenatal murder;

As it had no jurisdiction to hear the case, certainly the United States Supreme Court lacked the authority to pass, or order all states to strike or refuse to enforce, a law that is outside of its subject matter or federal jurisdiction;Georgia was not a party to the suit in Roe v. Wade, and is not bound by a decision in which it did not have right of participation;

because if there's anyone who can school you on jurisprudence, it's this guy:

 

 

 Justice Blackmun, writing for the majority in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), wrote: 'when those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer [to the question of when life begins].'

 The General Assembly knows the answer to that difficult question, and that answer is life begins at the moment of conception;

 

See, he's smarter than Hugo Blackmun. And doctors and philosophers and theologians. Basically, he's the smartest person in the whole wide world when it comes to conception-related issues. Which is probably why he now is giving us this bill relating to the opposite of conception:

(via Daily KOS)

Franklin wants to create a Uterus Police to investigate miscarriages, and requires that any time a miscarriage occurs, whether in a hospital or without medical assistance, it must be reported and a fetal death certificate issued. If the cause of death is unknown, it must be investigated.  If the woman can't tell how it happened, than those Uterus Police can ask family members and friends how it happened.  Hospitals are required to keep records of anyone who has a spontaneous abortion [medical term for miscarriage] and  report it. Needless to say, there are no exceptions allowed. Not for rape victims. Not for incest victims. Not to save the life and health of the mother (the fetus must get equal care).

 Because when someone has just experienced a tragic event like a miscarriage, it's important to treat her as a criminal suspect. Oh, and speaking of rape victims, Bobby Franklin will thank you not to refer to them as "rape victims."
This is from House Bill 1181:

To amend Titles 16 and 17 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal law and criminal procedure, respectively, so as to change the term "victim" to the term "accuser" in the context of a number of statutes making reference to circumstances where there has not yet been a criminal conviction; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Said Title 16 is further amended in Code Section 16-6-1, relating to the crime of rape, by revising subsection (c) as follows:

"(c) When evidence relating to an allegation of rape is collected in the course of a medical examination of the person who is the victim accuser of the alleged crime perpetrator, the law enforcement agency investigating the alleged crime shall be responsible for the cost of the medical examination to the extent that expense is incurred for the limited purpose of collecting evidence."

 

So if you are the victim of say, a robbery, the police and courts can still refer to you as the "victim," or "vic" as they say on Law  Order. If you are a victim of rape, stalking or similar crimes, you must be referred to as "the accuser."  Because we all know how you ladies like to go around making up these accusations so you can have the fun of a trial, having your sexual history debated in court and generally being called a slut and a liar. I get it, you just love the attention! 

This being Georgia, this bill has four co-sponsors, including one woman, Charlice Byrd

 

Seen here being super-duper proud of something.

Byrd is another piece of work, but she will have to wait for another day. Because today is Bobby's day! Congratulations, Bobby Franklin, you're the lunatic politician of the day!

Oh, and I've been asked to award you this, also:

Advice for Sarah Palin

Tsk, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. . .

If you're going to create a fake Facebook profile to basically troll yourself, don't use bits of your real name as the fake name like some sly cartoon villain!



See, it's not that hard to find out that your middle name is Louise, and when the only thing the fake persona seems to care about is how awesome Sarah and Bristol Palin are, well, it's not that hard to put two and two together. Oh, sorry, I mean for most of us putting two and two together is easy, you know what, it's like a math thing, it's not important. No, MATH, not METH. You know what, just forget it.

It might be less suspicious if you named your alter ego "Jane Smith" or something. Okay, probably Jane Smith is already taken, but there are lots of names that are probably still available. Here are a few suggestions:

Helen A. Handbasket

Marge Inall

Alexandre Dumass

Phyllis Steen

Erin Competent

Amelia Airhead

Lacey Unmentionables

Julia Childish

Eileen Wright

Shirley U. Geste

Opal Eeze

Barbara Aryan

Linda Masapost
Alma Exesliveintexas

Mae Niac

Tara Part

Misty Meaner

Sandra McQueen


Narcissa Sism

Quittie McDumbfuck

How to cheer up Moumar Qadaffi

Flag this as inappropriate.

 

Appropriate Songs for Today

Something Wonderful Is Happening.

 

And it's happening in Wisconsin, the home of "Fightin' Bob" LaFollette! 

But it's not only Wisconsin.

It's already spread to Ohio!

 

 

 

 

And Walks for Choice are being planned in cities all over America.

 (link)

 

I think we may be seeing the resurrection of American Progressives.

 

For thirty-plus years, progressives and working folk in general have been getting slapped in the face and punched in the gut by the well-funded organized armies of the right. Unions have been busted, wages have stagnated, the media has been corrupted to the point that it now reflects a full range of viewpoints, from garden-variety conservative to hard-right theocracy. Companies have been allowed to send low-skilled jobs to China, high-skilled jobs to India, the profits to the Caymans and the tax burden onto the rest of us, all while enjoying tax break after tax break to the point that many corporations pay no taxes at all.

 

Every time we think we may be getting somewhere we get disappointed by someone like Bill "NAFTA" Clinton or Barack "Card check, what card check?" Obama. But it seems like maybe the ascendancy of the Tea Baggers may have been the final straw. 

 

 

 

(someone like this being taken seriously could make anyone snap!)

 

And by the way, Fuck you, Jon Stewart for referring to the Wisconsin protests as the "Bizarro Teaparty." Do you really not see the difference? You may not agree with the protesters in Madison, but what they are protesting against is something real. The Tea Baggers  were up in arms about death panels and Marxist/Nazi tyranny and all manner of paranoid bullshit. They were spectacularly mis-informed and organized by big money groups like "Freedom Works" and promoted relentlessly by a major cable "news" network. It's not the same thing!

   

Oh, God Damn It! Really?

Okay, but anyway, this could still be the start of something big, in spite of that one idiot.

 And I'm sorry, Jon Stewart, I still love you!