Think Progress - Week in Crazy

The Week in Crazy

Jun 7, 2013 | By ThinkProgress War Room

10 Crazy Things the Right Did This Week

It’s been another week of the insane, inane, and outright offensive. Here’s your top ten:

1. House Republicans pass plan to deport DREAMers. Just as the Senate is about to consider a bipartisan immigration reform plan, House Republicans, led by virulently anti-immigrant Rep. Steve King (R-IA), passed a mean-spirited plan to deport DREAMers. Boos filled the chamber as the vote was gaveled.
2. GOP Senator says we can’t pass immigration reform because of government spying programs. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) used the revelations regarding the NSA’s spying programs as his latest excuse for not passing immigration reform.
3. Republican-appointed federal judge says blacks and Hispanics are “predisposed to crime.” Judge Edith Jones, a member of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a circuit overseeing a large number of death penalty cases, made her outrageous comments about minorities during a speech earlier this year. The judge, who has a long history of troubling behavior, added that the death penalty is a public service because it’s the only way an inmate can “make peace with God.”
4. Congressman loses it on the House floor. Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) lost it during a rant on the House floor during which he accused the president of “dishonesty, incompetence, vengefulness and lack of moral compass [that] lead many to suggest that he is not fit to lead.”
5. Senator suggests porn is to blame for military sexual assaults. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), most recently known for being the chief opponent of immigration reform, suggested that porn is responsible for the epidemic of sexual assault plaguing the military.
6. Republican governor schedules costly special election to lower Democratic turnout during the general election. Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) is far head in the polls in his bid for re-election, yet he appears to have scheduled a special election to fill the seat of recently deceased Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to keep Democratic turnout low the day he and Republican state legislators will be on the ballot. The election will cost $12 MILLION or more and is taking place less than a month before the November general election.
7. Fox Business refuses to run an ad critical of Fox contributors. After a spate of male Fox contributors made disparaging and sexist comments about female breadwinners, the group UltraViolet sought to run an ad on Fox Business critical of their comments. The network refused to air it.
8. Anti-Obamacare states pass up billions in funds meant to help the poor get health insurance. The red states that are refusing to expand Medicaid under Obamacare are set to lose out on $8 BILLION in funding, which will cause them to leave an additional 3.6 MILLION Americans uninsured simply out of spite.
9. Wall Street Journal editorial board member says bike share is a “totalitarian” plot. Dorothy Rabinowitz assailed the newly unveiled bike share plan being rolled out in New York City. She complained that the city’s best neighborhoods were being “begrimed” by the bikes put in place by “totalitarian” Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She also described the “bike lobby” as an “all-powerful enterprise.”
10. Congressional inquisitor-in-chief goes overboard on CNN. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been endlessly pursuing conspiracy theories and alleged Obama administration scandals for years, but he went more overboard than usual this week. During an appearance on CNN, Issa called White House Press Secretary Jay Carney “a paid liar.” Issa’s fellow Republicans reportedly told him to cool it following the incident.

BONUS: A Texas jury acquitted a man for the murder of a woman he hired as an escort, after his lawyers claimed he was authorized to use deadly force because she refused sex.