U.S. Representative Steve King (R-IA) brought out the racist guns on Twitter this morning with a vile cartoon depicting President Obama wearing a turban. The tweet was a jab at his words at the National Prayer Breakfast, in which he said that Christians have forgotten there’s bloodshed and death in their history, too.
In his tweet, King claimed that Obama’s speech was just going to strengthen jihadi recruiting efforts. We can only wonder just what planet he’s on, since Obama didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. He said that we shouldn’t forget the Inquisition or the Crusades, or that Christianity was used to justify both Jim Crow and slavery. Since Islam is the devil, though, we’re probably not supposed to actually say anything about Christianity’s bloody history out loud.
Here’s the tweet:
Obama was giving a history lesson at the National Prayer Breakfast. Could he have said anything else? Yes. Did he give fodder to the jihadists? No. But, of course, the right exploded about that anyway, because heaven forbid anybody should impugn the bright light that is Christianity.
King’s religious views are so biased, so colored, that in 2013, according to Right Wing Watch, he used the following example to “prove” that America is a truly Christian nation:
If you drive home tonight, and you drive in your driveway, and your neighbor’s dog has gotten loose and runs in front of your car, and you run over your neighbor’s dog and kill the neighbor’s dog. If you’re any kind of a man, you go over to the neighbor and knock on the door and you’ll say ‘I just killed your dog.’ Alan [Colmes], that’s called confession.
And the next thing that you will say is, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.’ And that’s confession, and then repentance. And then once you repent, you’ll say, ‘Please forgive me, I didn’t mean to kill your dog. I didn’t mean it.’
And your neighbor, if he’s any kind of a man, he will say, ‘Alan, you didn’t mean to kill the dog, it really wasn’t your fault. You’ve confessed and you’ve repented, and you are forgiven.’ That’s called redemption.
Or that’s called being a decent human being, but to right-wing nutjobs who think like King, the only reason people have to be decent human beings is Christianity. He might have the process right, but being a decent human being is nothing exclusive to Christianity. To these people, though, somewhere in our hearts, we’re all Christian. If we weren’t, we’d be total monsters.
That fallacy persists, despite the fact that it’s just flat-out not true. Pile that on top of deep-seated racism, and you’ve got people like Steve King. Fortunately, though, many of the responses to his vile tweet were not nearly so ignorant.
This user just made a simple request:
And this not-so-proud resident of Iowa expressed her feelings on the matter:
This guy got it spot-on; it is a national disgrace that racist prigs like King hold elected office:
And this one just makes us laugh!
Too bad King won’t delete his account, and he probably won’t delete this tweet, either, because he means it. And they’re right, undermining the president the way King did does more for our enemies than pointing out Christianity’s bloody history. Islamophobia, racism, and general nutbaggery is alive and well, and embodied in people like Congressman Steve King.
Featured image: via Twitter
The GOP and their followers don’t want historical accuracy or truth. They have co-opted “truth” to mean “what I feel is right” and they desperately want history to read like something Newt Gingrich penned.
Like rabid sports fans, they want to cheer all the successes while whitewashing the failings - and that is not a pathway to progress.
But maybe that’s the point. As we move forward we leave behind the original intent of the constitution, the notion that only rich white men should have power in government.
So if this was a 100 per cent Black or Latino country, the Constitution would be null and void and could not possibly apply?
People who believe that morality only exists within their religion frighten me, because that tells me they have no real morality, and that the only thing stopping them from killing raping and looting their way through the world is an old book that keeps getting re-translated. If you have faith that’s great for you, but if your religion is your only moral guide, then you lack empathy.
If you are good because the book of your religion demands you be book rather than face “punishment”… then your good behavior is disingenuous.
I am an Atheist. I do not lie (because I think it is wrong, and would be hurt if I were on the receiving end). I do not cheat on my wife… shockingly because I ALSO think that is wrong and (amazingly) would be hurt if the tables were turned.
I could go on - but here’s the short: Anyone who is “good” because they fear mythical punishment… is dishonest. A hypocrite. They are not “good” because it is the best thing, but they fear punishment.
I challenge every religious person (Gandhi, and friends cannot apply, but Pat Robertson, etc, are welcome!) - place your beliefs AND your convictions AND your actions AND your *reasons* on the table. I challenge you in the name of YOUR God, demonstrate you are more honest. That your beliefs are more pure. Etc. Go ahead, bring a gun with one bullet… I am confident I will walk away alive.
King is just an aging Irish drunk, who cares what he says?
Whoa! Hold on there sport!
A whole lot of us aging Irish drunks are nice people who like the president.
Not quite sure how King’s tweet was racist, although I have no doubt that he is a racist to the core. Still, false advertising and you should be ashamed of yourself. BTW you could have mentioned that Islam also has confession, redemption and forgiveness, but it also has compensation. For example, I live in a Muslim country and last year a large sum of money was stolen from my house. After 6 months the thieves were caught and I received all my money back from the families of the thieves who not only apologised but were clearly extremely ashamed that one of their family members had dome this. It seems the thieves had all come back from living in Europe and had picked up some bad habits.
Perhaps the respondent was paying attention to the cartoon, which, you must admit, is certainly quite a stereotypical caricature-the nose, the lips, the ears? OK, I’ll give you the ears, but the rest is just racist.
Obama doesn’t have a nose? or lips? How about all the cartoons that people like you snickered over portraying Bush as a chimp? Those were just peachy weren’t they? When dems made fun of Bush unmercifully for 8 years, we were told, loudly and screechily, that “dissent is the highest form of patriotism” Now dissent is racist. “Great seats, huh buddy?”
Steve King is what he is. The dude is thrives over being negative. When he says somethings no one in his own party calls him out on it including Mia Love, Ben Carson, Allen West, and etc. So you sold your soul just to kiss someone tail to fit in the party. Yet, you bash the president for his comments even thought they are the harsh truth about America. They go to church, praising the lord that they do not go to hell, and yet, they are the one’s causing the conflicts. Who are you Steve King to praise the lord and judge someone at the same time. Clearly this man ain’t no saint but he is sure a hypocrite just like the rest of the Republican party.
lol “racist cat turd”. Love it.
Ummm… Pretty sure Islam isn’t a race.
I have found that most of the time when liberals have no facts on their side they yell “racism ” or “racist “. This is just the new “stick ” used to attempt to beat any opponents of the liberal cause in to silence . The true racists among us can be found to the left of center every time , decrying every thing good in an attempt to “Balkanize ” America . They have done a pretty good job so far but they are about to learn just what Admiral Yamamoto posited after Pearl Harbor in 1941 . ” I’m afraid we have aroused a sleeping giant . ” I also believe the liberals will learn the same lesson Yamamoto did !