Funny how a story can rise up, months later, to have zombie lies come back to trap a candidate.
This past weekend, Democrat Brian O'Donnell debated Republican (and Teabagger darling) J Paul Brown in Durango, Colo., the first of a series of debates for the race for House District 59. So far, Brown has a slight edge in the polling.
We'll see how long that lasts.
On tax day, I attended a Teabagger rally and reported some of the whacked-out rhetoric Brown was spouting... ammunition O'Donnell used during the debate:
Brown continued with statements that are often staples of Tea Party speeches and Internet legends. Regarding the student loan provision in the health care reform act he said, “They’re going to take over all student loans ... now, I wonder why? They want to control our kids.”
What that provision did, in fact, was remove third-party lenders from the process, for an estimated $61 billion in savings over 10 years.
Brown also pointed to a provision in the act that would activate 6,000 medical workers and emergency responders in the event of a national emergency. “Section 5210 established a ready reserve corps. That’s Obama’s private army.”
For the full story, and more lunatic conspiracy theories, go here.
During Saturday's debate (and regarding Obama's "private army" claim), Brown said he was "misquoted" -- O'Donnell called me to ask if maybe I had that wrong.
Brown lied. Everything he said at the rally was recorded and notated.
However, Brown didn't stop with "Obama's private army":
Speaking to one of the Tea Party’s biggest issues — gun rights — Brown said, “Can you imagine what Barack Obama would do if we didn’t have guns? No telling what he’d do; this guy’s after power, let me tell you, and they want to take away our guns.
“Hillary Clinton is talking about a treaty with the U.N. to do exactly that,” Brown continued, referring to a United Nations small arms treaty agreed upon last fall. Setting international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional weapons, the treaty would allow nations to remain in charge of arms export control arrangements, but would legally oblige countries to follow terms set forth in the treaty.
“I tell you what I know, that you guys will stand right with me. It’s going to be civil war when they try to do that,” Brown added, his statement met with a loud, “Amen!” and applause.
“The United Nations is not going to tell us what to do with our guns and they’re not going to with our land, and they’re trying to do that all the time, right now,” Brown said.
While the treaty would set controls for the import and export of conventional weapons between nations, the treaty would not subject citizens of one nation to the laws of another. Furthermore, in 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (in District of Columbia v. Heller) that, “(T)he enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table. These include the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.”
In fact, the only gun legislation President Obama has signed while in office expanded gun rights, allowing loaded and concealed weapons in national parks.
Apparently, it was The Durango Herald's reporting on O'Donnell holding Brown accountable,
The debate, sponsored by Club 20, gave the candidates three minutes each to ask each other questions. O'Donnell used his time to press Brown on comments he made at an April tea party rally, reported by The Pagosa Springs Sun.
Brown said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was negotiating a treaty with the United Nations to take away Americans' guns, which would spur a civil war.
"Who is the civil war between, and is this appropriate rhetoric to bring up in a state legislative race?" O'Donnell asked Brown.
"It's a concern of mine," Brown said. "You know, if you start taking away our guns, I'm sorry, people are going to stand up, and they're not going to let it happen. The idea that Hillary Clinton is out there doing a treaty with the United Nations, it's my opinion that maybe we just ought to get out of the United Nations."
The treaty to which Brown referred has not been signed. It would cut back on the international trade in small arms. The National Association of Gun Rights and other groups see it as a gun grab and have started an Internet campaign against it.
That caused Brown to walk back some of his statement's from April's rally, outright lie about others.
Although Dan Maes, Tom Tancredo and Ken Buck capture all the headlines with outrageous theories of U.N. bicycle invasions, terror babies and rape victims needing to carry pregnancies to term, in Colorado it's apparent that the tea bag doesn't fall from the cracked mug.
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Brian O'Donnell, CO HD-59