How Many Controversial Comments Can Arkansas Republicans Make in One Week?

Posted on Oct 11, 2012

AP/Arkansas Secretary of State, Lori McElroy

Jon Hubbard is among a trio of Arkansas politicians in hot water for controversial remarks.

What is it with Arkansas Republican state lawmakers and incendiary rhetoric this week? The first incident, noted Monday, happened when it was revealed GOP state Rep. Jon Hubbard wrote in a newly published book that slavery may have been “a blessing in disguise.”

As if one dumb statement about slavery weren’t enough, we also have Arkansas state Rep. Loy Mauch. Over the course of a decade, it was revealed this week, Mauch wrote letters to the Democrat-Gazette newspaper in which he defended the practice of slavery while espousing pro-Confederacy views. In one such letter, Mauch wrote:

If slavery were so God-awful, why didn’t Jesus or Paul condemn it, why was it in the Constitution and why wasn’t there a war before 1861? The South has always stood by the Constitution and limited government. When one attacks the Confederate Battle Flag, he is certainly denouncing these principles of government as well as Christianity.

Wait, what century are we in again?

And as if those comments weren’t bad enough, a Republican state legislature candidate, Charlie Fuqua, suggested that the death penalty might be appropriate for children who don’t obey their parents, and that Muslims should be expelled from this country.

More nonsense from someone trying to get into elected office in an effort to wield public power. A scary thought, indeed.

But it doesn’t end there. Oh no. Let’s go back to Hubbard now, who apparently is not done with his rantings just yet. On Thursday, the Arkansas lawmaker defended his remarks in a letter to an Arkansas newspaper by comparing Gov. Mike Beebe and state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, both Democrats, to—who else—Adolf Hitler.

The Washington Post:

Instead of shutting up and hiding under the covers, Hubbard wrote a letter to the editor that appeared in Thursday’s Jonesboro Sun. He said, “Does all this political propaganda being put out by Gov. Mike Beebe, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and others remind you, even a little bit, of how Hitler took control of the minds of the German people in the 1930s?”

So now we have Nazis in the mix, too.

Read more

In the wake of all these contentious remarks, the Arkansas state GOP has pulled funding for Hubbard, Fuqua and Mauch. That is more than reasonable, given that the only elected position any of these guys appear to be well suited for is the mayor of Crazytown.

But as Think Progress noted, there are still some involved politically in the state giving money to the trio.

Though the party committee has cut them off, the three candidates are still receiving support from other Arkansas politicians, including U.S. Reps Steve Womack (R) and Tim Griffin (R). Mauch has also been endorsed by the National Rifle Association and the Arkansas Right to Life PAC.

It should be noted that Americans for Prosperity, the advocacy organization backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, has sent out mailers in the state promoting Hubbard and Mauch.

By the way, for those at home keeping track of how many days it’s been since a Republican lawmaker in the state of Arkansas has said something inflammatory, we are back at zero. 

 

 

—Posted by Tracy Bloom.

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