PeeDee Tony
Texas Tony
Well, it's been quite a week for Anthony P Culler. Culler, a Republican, is challenging
Rep Jim Clyburn (D-SC) for South Carolina's District 6 seat . . .
Clyburn, a popular Democrat in a deep blue district has been serving in Congress since 1993, and as the Assistant Democratic Leader since 2011. He was previously House Majority Whip, serving in that post from 2007 to 2011.
Mr Culler has admitted that this is a David and Goliath match-up. He is a white male Republican running
in a district that was --
defined, in the early 1990s, in a deal between state Republicans (mostly white) and Democrats (mostly black) in the South Carolina General Assembly to ensure a majority-black population, known as a majority-minority district. The rural counties of the historical black belt in South Carolina make up much of the district, but it sweeps south to include most of the black precincts in Charleston, and west to include most of the black precincts in Columbia.
Despite the odds, though, Mr Culler has figured out an attention-getting angle to try to juice his chances when the district goes to the polls:
"This is our minority majority district," Culler said. "It's the black district. That's what some people call it. … I've got another description for this district, it's a Christian district."
"We believe in the way that it's always been," Culler continued.
Culler urged voters to turn out on election day and vote for him.
"No matter how many Gremlins there are across this country, we here in the sixth district will stand against it," Culler said.
More after the orange mobius . . .
Oh. Did I neglect to mention the Gremlins? Well, Mr Culler is Gremlin Man who went on quite a Facebook tear a few days back to bolster his Christian Heterosexual Cred with his constituents. The post was replete with the usual traditional family values, sanctity of marriage, and "God told me to run" yadda yadda. The Gremlins were an artistic flourish that helped ensure the silly thing went viral.
Mission Accomplished! Mr Culler snagged his 15 minutes of Internet fame and then some. When the opportunity arose, Culler doubled-down with a low-rent video follow-up that made everything just that little bit more skeevy. The South Carolina Republican Committee wasted no time throwing Culler under the bus and a Libertarian candidate quickly signed on to take advantage of the fact that Culler had sucked all of the air out of Republicans' slim chances in the Sixth.
But that's not really why I'm here. I've spent my entire gay life out of the closet, much of it when it was decidedly un-cool. I'm nearly immune to homophobic silliness in my own life, I just despise the negative effect that it still has on LGBT kids and will fight it forever for that reason. The fight is decidedly easier these days because your garden variety homophobe is deservedly considered somewhat moronic by a majority of Americans these days.
What bothers me much more is the fact that our Congress seems to be increasingly viewed as a potential sheltered workshop for unintelligent, inexperienced, sometimes pathological miscreants and political dilletantes more than willing to exploit the public trust for their own personal well-being.
Mr Culler, for instance has a quite colorful history, to be blithely presenting himself as a God-fearing man of principle, a leader, a traditional family values exemplar, etc, etc.
Culler doesn't say much about his educational or professional qualifications for representing his district in the US House of Representatives. And far be it from me to suggest that an honest, hardworking congressman of integrity needs a diploma or business success to serve the electorate well. On the other hand, the only well documented facts about Tony Culler's past indicate that he might be the consummate con-man, assisted by his lovely wife Renee who is no slouch herself in that respect.
Culler's primary ambition, to date, seems to have been to raise his family without the daily inconvenience of a job. When the Cullers lost their home in Nacogdoches, TX for non-payment of their mortgage, back in 2009, they did not view it as an unfortunate downturn from which to recover but, rather, a vast governmental conspiracy against them that extended from the local sheriff to the governor's office.
The Cullers loaded their now-homeless four daughters into their SUV and started asking for donations to help them. Not to help them get back on their feet, mind you, they were asking for help to fight the "web of corruption" that had singled them out and destroyed their comfortable lives in Texas, where they were able to get by on the proceeds of mineral rights to their property and Mrs Culler's sporadic employment.
Then the bottom fell out of natural gas, the proceeds dried up, the Cullers mortgage went into foreclosure, and they were ultimately evicted . . . despite the fact that the neighbor who bought the property at sheriff's sale tried to help them out of their bind by renting their home back to them.
The Cullers weren't able to pay that rent because they were unwilling to interrupt their crusade against civic corruption with time-consuming jobs.
The course they chose instead? dress up their four young daughters every day, outfit them with protest signs and collection cups, and march them around for hours in the Nacogdoches sun in front of the bank that had foreclosed on their property. Since the Culler girls are home-schooled, I suspect Mr Culler felt that this operation was a great American learning experience for them.
The Cullers, of course sued all of the "corrupt" officials and the bank involved and enlisted a fool to represent them in court -- Anthony P Culler. They lost every case and eventually left Texas where their support network began to sag under the Cullers' daily needs, and took themselves back to South Carolina to throw themselves on the mercy of Mrs Culler's family. That was when it occurred to the Cullers that they might be able to turn their War on Corruption into a paying gig and both decided to run for Congress.
Mrs Culler went first, then quickly crashed and burned with this sort of amazing performance:
At some point, you just have to feel sorry for the poor sane guy trying to interview her.
Undaunted, Mrs Culler declared the interview a triumph in one of her characteristically rambling Facebook stump speeches:
It was a success!
Many of you have asked me about “comments/rumors” that are circulating since I began my campaign for US Congress. I have already been “warned” by strangers that “Texas would come out if I continue” and that even though my husband and I “may be able to handle it but your girls may not”, I have and will continue my campaign. (These people do not know my girls. And they definitely do not know me. These Cullers DO NOT run!) I tell them, to their absolute dismay; the story of the destruction of my family will be coming out! But I will be the one doing it - my way.
You will be shocked to learn how far up the ladder the corruption in this case goes. This story has the potential to change the Republican Nomination for President! Two of the current nominees - Texas Governor Rick Perry and Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann have personally been made aware of the crimes committed against my family. And both have refused to investigate my family’s Constitutional rights being violated!
Here is my theory on why the crimes, committed under color of law, by Nacogdoches County Sheriff Thomas Kerss and his department, can NEVER be investigated. Here is why he will get “away with it”. (Kerss was also the President of the Sheriff’s Association of Texas, 254 county sheriff departments, at the time of these crimes!)
If Sheriff Kerss is found guilty of committing crimes under color of law (Felonies), then what happens to ALL the cases/convictions that he has participated in as a law enforcement officer? If he becomes a convicted felon, will new trials need to be ordered? Will convictions be overturned? For how many and at what “cost”? (Is that “cost” higher than the loss of one American family’s freedom and liberty? Not to us it isn’t.)
And, big finish:
Has God ever placed you on a journey that you did not understand OR agree with at the time? There was a reason my family was destroyed in Texas and lost EVERYTHING we owned. (Yes EVERYTHING - baby pictures, Christening gowns, all our children’s clothes/toys/home school books, pets, etc.) The reason was to prepare and strengthen me for the United States Congress. It was to make me PERSONALLY AWARE of the existence of corruption in the government and the destructive power of that corruption.
I believe the new 7th Congressional District of South Carolina was formed for me to represent. This is my home and I returned so I could be elected to represent it. It is God’s will and I will not turn from the enormous task he has placed before me. I readily admit that I do not have a campaign staff or the funding for such an operation. But I do have the ability, education, training, work ethic, and the experience necessary to represent the people of the 7th district. I also have God, my husband, my four daughters, and faith that God will provide the rest. I cannot be beaten.
But, sadly, no. The electorate, inexplicably thwarting God's plan, awarded Mrs Culler only 1.5% of the primary vote.
Now it's Tony's turn to try his hand at Congress-ing. Somehow Anthony Culler managed to win the Republican primary for his district, mostly because the district is a Democratic party lock that most Republicans wouldn't bother with. We already know he's not going to win this election but it should be interesting to see what the Cullers' next scam will be. For now, at least, it looks like Congress will be spared the Cullers' Magical Reality.
Even PeeDee Republicans seem to be on to them:
Nevertheless, voters beware this midterm, it's dangerous out there.
BTW, Mr Cullers, if you're reading this? God asked me to give you a message: Get a job, take care of your daughters and STFU. Americans are truly weary of your kind.