It’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys these days

On Saturday in Colorado Springs, a man armed with an AR-15 assault rifle shot and killed three people, apparently at random. The police surrounded and killed him minutes later. Of course, before he opened fire there wasn’t much to do about a guy walking around with an assault rifle because, hey, it’s perfectly normal in Colorado. Naomi Bettis, a neighbor who witnessed the killings, saw the gunman beforehand and thought something might be amiss.

Bettis said she recognized the gunman as her neighbor — whom she didn’t know by name — and that before the initial slaying she saw him roaming outside with a rifle. She called 911 to report the man, but a dispatcher explained that Colorado has an open carry law that allows public handling of firearms.

In other words: Nothing to see here, move along. Oh, wait…

Tweet Of The Day

Colorado offered free birth control — and teen births fell by 40%: http://t.co/BX1t0Odsid

— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 8, 2014

Not only that, “teen abortion rate dropped 35 percent from 2009 to 2012 in those counties served by the initiative.”

From the State Of Colorado:

DENVER — Thursday, July 3, 2014 — Gov. John Hickenlooper announced today the teen birth rate in Colorado dropped 40 percent from 2009 through 2013, driven by a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment initiative that helps low-income women get long-acting reversible contraceptives.

“Unintended pregnancies, especially among teenagers, carry health risks for mother and baby,” said Dr. Larry Wolk, department executive director and chief medical officer. “Our Colorado Family Planning Initiative has helped thousands of young women who weren’t ready to have children avoid pregnancy with affordable, safe and effective contraceptives.”

The Colorado Family Planning Initiative has provided more than 30,000 intrauterine devices (IUDs) or implants at low or no cost to low-income women at 68 family planning clinics across Colorado since 2009. The decline in births among young women served by these agencies accounted for three-quarters of the overall decline in the Colorado teen birth rate.

While the family planning initiative has helped thousands of young women avoid unintended pregnancy, it also has helped reduce social and economic costs to Colorado. The teen abortion rate dropped 35 percent from 2009 to 2012 in those counties served by the initiative. The infant caseload for Colorado WIC, a program that provides nutrition education and support to low-income women and their babies, fell 23 percent from 2008 to 2013. And Colorado saved millions in health care expenditures associated with teen births, $42.5 million in public funds in 2010 alone based on the latest available data.

“This initiative has saved Colorado millions of dollars,” said Gov. Hickenlooper. “But more importantly, it has helped thousands of young Colorado women continue their education, pursue their professional goals and postpone pregnancy until they are ready to start a family.”

Peak Wingnut Is Still a Myth

Back in 2008, just before Obama’s election, John Cole at Balloon Juice posited a theory that we had passed “peak wingnut.” His theory held that the American people and the press had reached saturation on the wild stories of Obama being a socialist, Marxist, gay, Muslim, etc. and had reached the point where those crazy claims were ridiculed or dismissed outright by the public. Cole’s theory was quickly disproven when the goat fucking child molester Erick Erickson posted about convicted felon Frank Marshall Davis’ claim that Obama was molested as a child by a gay pedophile. Since that episode, peak wingnut has been suspected a number of times, but is now suspected to be an impossible state. I submit that we now have definitive proof that peak wingnut cannot exist within the current political environment.

Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a beautiful city nestled in the shadow of Pike’s Peak. The downside is that it is the central hub of El Paso County, one of the reddest counties in Colorado. Colorado Springs is the home of Focus on the Family, the creation of the despicable James Dobson. Dobson was also responsible for the creation of the hate group, Family Research Council. Last Tuesday, Colorado held their primary and a man by the name of Gordon Klingenschmitt won the Republican nomination for State House District 15, which represents eastern Colorado Springs. Now, some of you are probably saying, “Klingenschmitt? I’ve heard that name somewhere before.” You would be right.

Gordon Klingenschmitt was a US Navy Chaplain who was court-martialed in 2006 for wearing his uniform while participating in a political protest outside of the White House. Klingenschmitt was protesting alongside other luminaries such as Rep. Walter Jones and Judge Roy Moore. Klingenschmitt willfully disobeyed the lawful orders of his superiors by wearing his uniform after being told he was forbidden to do so. After his conviction, Klingenschmitt was thrown out of the Navy, to the cheers of his fellow conservative, Christian Chaplains.

After his national disgrace, Klingenschmitt continued to support himself by becoming the uber-wingnut. Here are just some of the things Klingenschmitt has said and may actually believe:

• Demonic spirits are controlling the FCC and are using it to “molest and visually rape” your children.
• Demonic spirits are behind the homosexual agenda.
• Obamacare causes cancer.
• Demonic spirits are behind gun control, the Bible forbids gun-free zones and the Bible demands people be allowed to arm themselves against “left wing crazies.”

Klingenschmitt is indistinguishable from the Taliban in that he believes the law should only protect those of his religion. Not just Christianity, but his extreme brand of Christianity. Now, there are plenty of these theocrats running around. Most notably are the “Dominionists,” who believe the country should be ruled in accordance with biblical law. In this case, though, Colorado Springs Republicans (and it was only Republicans because Colorado has a closed primary system) have actually nominated one of them to represent them in the State Legislature and he didn’t run unopposed. That means a majority of Republican voters in this district willingly chose to align themselves with Klingenschmitt’s beliefs. That is the lunacy and outright evil we are dealing with in the forces trying to take over the Republican Party. Klingenschmitt is just a slightly more extreme version of Ted Cruz, Michelle Bachmann, Steve Stockman, and Louie Gomert. The biggest difference is that, with the exception of Bachmann, those people didn’t really let their full freak flag fly until after they were elected. Once elected to safe Republican seats, they felt unrestricted in the batshit crazy things they could say, whether they believed them or not.

Don’t be fooled, though. Klingenschmitt is a true believer. He really sees demons under every rock. He is a complete adherent to the principle of stoning gays in the public square. He is committed to the principle that the laws only protect Christians and all others are merely peons subject to his Christian whims. And the saddest thing of all is that in Colorado Springs he just may win.