Good news: Jim DeMint, the Republican Senator from South Carolina and de facto leader of the Tea Party in Congress, is leaving the Senate.
Bad news:He’s going to head a right-wing think tank, which will give him even more power and money to push the GOP further right.
DeMint’s positions were as odious as you might expect from someone who felt he wielded the sword of righteousness in the Senate. Among his greatest anti-gay hits:
- Calling for banning gay teachers in the classroom
- Holding up the confirmation of out lesbian Marisa Demeo to a federal court because, well, you know.
- Trying to block the appointment of Mari Carmen Aponte as ambassador to El Salvador because she wrote an op-ed praising the country for offering legal protections to the LGBT community
DeMint had zero legislative record in the Senate. His goal was to stop things from happening. His biggest legacy there was recruiting far-right candidates formed in his own image to push his agenda. He gave us Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Pat Toomey. He also gave us a string of losers, including Christine O’Donnell,
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At first glance, DeMint’s departure to the Heritage Foundation could look like he was removing himself from the political fray. In fact, DeMint will probably use the Foundation more as a campaign organ than as a think tank. If you’re looking for sharp new conservative policies, DeMint isn’t going to be the guy to deliver it. Instead, he just got a big salary to do his damnedest to push the Republican party so far to the right that it’s likely to fall off the political map altogether.
DeMint has already signaled whom he wants South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to appoint as his replacement: Rep. Tim Scott, the only black Republican in Congress. Needless to say, Scott is reliably anti-gay himself and once suggested that President Obama should be impeached for trying to raise the debt ceiling.
If Scott is appointed, he will be the only black Senator, which would be a PR coup for the Republicans, given that, based on the 2012 elections results, they can probably fit all the black Republicans into a mid-sized banquet room.
Photo: Gage Skidmore
Caleb in SC
DeMint is leaving the Senate for these reasons: (1) He will make more money; (2) He will have more influence over national public policy; and (3) He will be unencumbered with the rules and ethical requirements of the Senate. Once at the Heritage Foundation, DeMint is going to do exactly the opposite of what the GOP needs to do following this past election — he is going to push the GOP even farther to the right and, in doing so, alienate even more “checkbook Republicans.” While “DeMinted” will certainly continue his personal agenda against LGBT people, he will also accelerate the GOP death spiral until it rests in the dust heap of history.
BJ McFrisky
So—putting a black man in the senate is a bad thing? Such shameless racism.
2eo
I don’t want to draw direct comparisons between the US and the UK, however we are undergoing a similar thing over here.
The party UKIP [the BNP fronted by a mental defective] are dragging a lot of the right wing Conservative party members out of the party and defecting. They are not well supported but the influx will largely cripple the Tory vote among the right wingers. Leading to better parties getting more of a say, as even with the demographics they can not win any more seats.
What the USA and the world needs is these nutters to go all out while they don’t have as much influence and rip the right in two, it has started happening already with the GOP in abject desperation throwing everything to try and make a relevant platform.
The world needs these people to be really good at their failures and ripping the right into an un-electable shambles, which they nearly are now, hopefully by 2016 they will never be in a position to ever get power ever again.
1EqualityUSA
We saw how well this worked in 2012.
Caleb in SC
@BJ McFrisky: I think that is too much of a leap to call it racism just because the article is skeptical about Rep. Scott’s anti-gay stances. Here’s a good reason why Nikki Haley will NOT appoint Rep. Scott. Scott’s district largely encompasses Charleston County, which is one of the most progressive counties in the state. If she appoints Scott, there is no guarantee that a Republican will be elected here to fill his spot. There is also a concern among people in the state that Rep. Scott is still too inexperienced on the national level to be “rewarded” with the Senatorship. To put it in perspective, he still has not completed two full years as a representative.
the other Greg
There once was a lad named McFrisky
Who thought anal sex was too risky
He thought only oral
Would count as moral
But he finally got fucked with some whiskey!
BJ McFrisky
@the other Greg: That wasn’t even clever, it was just . . . odd. But you get points for trying.
ait10101
@BJ McFrisky: No, I think it was clear in hte article that placing an anti-gay black man in the Senate is a bad thing. It also brings out the fact teh the Republicans have a clear shortage of blacks.