Joni Ernst actually beat Sarah Palin to the punch
Before there was
Sarah Palin, there was
Joni Ernst, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa:
At a Montgomery County, Iowa, candidate forum in January, Ernst told a crowd that she believed Obama had “become a dictator” and that he needed to face the consequences for his executive actions, “whether that’s removal from office, whether that’s impeachment.”
Ernst's comments come by way of a
newly posted video of Ernst at the candidate forum and were reported on Yahoo News. Her remarks came in response to a question about whether President Obama should face "punishment" if the Supreme Court ruled against him on on recess appointments. Among other things, she said:
I do think that yes, he should face those repercussions, and whether that's removal from office, whether that's impeachment.
The Ernst campaign response to her remarks was a pretty lame dodge:
If any president oversteps their bounds, there are procedures in place for Congress and the American people to hold him or her accountable. Impeachment is a strong word and should not be thrown around lightly.
Fine, but Ernst wasn't talking in general, she was talking specifically about President Obama. She claimed that "he has become a dictator." She said he should face impeachment if the Supreme Court ruled against his interpretation of his appointment powers. That may be a ridiculous position, but unless her campaign meant their statement as an attack on their candidate, she didn't throw the word impeachment around lightly: She meant it.
And now, as a the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, she should defend it—or at least admit that she was engaged in a craven pander to the tea party freak show. Either way, one thing she's making clear is this: Todd Akin and Christine O'Donnell and Ken Buck and Sharon Angle and Richard Mourdock weren't accidents. Republicans these days are a freak show—and so are their nominees.