Oklahoma Where The Stupid Comes Winding Down The Plain

Steve Benen discovers helpful Congressional Republicans are trying to tamp down the rhetoric on right-wing extremism and disassociate themselves with fringe groups. Oh, wait.

Richard Poplawski recently gunned down three police officers, in part because he feared the non-existent "Obama gun ban." In the wake of tragedy, I'd hoped some of the less responsible voices on the right might be inclined to lower the temperature a bit, especially since the administration hasn't made any efforts to pursue new gun control measures.

So much for that idea.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said this week that the administration will try "all sorts of things" to chip away at the individual right to own a gun, warning of gun control policies aimed at "disarming us."

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Cushing, Oklahoma, Coburn warned that Attorney General Eric Holder "doesn't believe in the second amendment" and "doesn't even know what an assault weapon is."

"He doesn't believe in our right to own and hold a gun," Coburn said of Holder, whose nomination he vigorously opposed. "He doesn't believe the Second Amendment means it's a right for me to have a gun to protect myself."

Coburn added, "I'm very worried about the Second Amendment, in terms of this administration," adding, "Even though the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Second Amendment means we get the right to own a gun."

First, the Supreme Court's ruling in Heller wasn't "unanimous"; it was a 5-4 split. (Coburn was only off by four justices.)

Second, what possible good could it serve to have a sitting U.S. senator tell a group of voters that the administration is pursuing policies aimed at "disarming us"? A report prepared by the Department of Homeland Security, which was requested and prepared by Bush administration officials, just told us that irrational fears of gun control are stirring political radicals and extremists.

Well gosh, could there be a reason why conservatives are getting all up in arms (literally) over this? If you don't want your party and your policial philosophy to be conflated with fringe wackos who mean to do America harm by harming Americans, then stop publicly stating as fact the same paranoid delusional fantasies these fruitcakes use to recruit with as a sitting US senator!

How difficult is this? When people kill cops because they fear an imaginary gun ban, and you as a sitting United States Senator repeat this same lie, you are an irresponsible, terrible, dangerous person. you do not deserve to represent your state as a Senator. Period.

Retract the statement or resign, Senator Coburn.