Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis
The week of GOP extremism kicked off in earnest on Tuesday as Kentucky county clerk and marriage-license denier Kim Davis
scaled the steps of a stage to the
Rocky III theme song "Eye of the Tiger," clasped hands with her white knight Mike Huckabee, raised her arms in triumph, and after turning to face a crowd alive with dancing white crosses, draped her head back to drink in the victory that was hers.
"I just want to give God the glory—his people have rallied and you are a strong people," she exclaimed with religious flourish, the flat of her palm raised to the heavens. "We serve a living God who knows exactly where each and every one of us is at. Just keep on pressing—don’t let down—because He is here. And He’s worthy, He’s worthy."
Both Huckabee and Ted Cruz had swooped into Kentucky to meet with Davis—the latest cause célèbre in the GOP’s charge that Christians are under attack in America now that same-sex couples can marry. Davis had just been released from jail after Rowan County clerks had begun complying with a court order to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But as Davis intermittently praised the Lord and erupted in tears of joy, an off-camera drama quietly unfolded between Cruz and a Huckabee staffer who body-blocked his boss’s rival from joining the on-camera revival.
The entire scene—a shameless play for the support of evangelicals—brimmed with religious fanaticism. Anyone who isn’t a believer found the spectacle either amusing or perhaps disturbing, but it certainly wasn’t something they could relate to. Beyond the GOP's evangelicals, the scene screamed, "You’re not one of us."
That was underscored when HuffPost/YouGov asked voters whether they agreed with the judge's decision to jail Davis and 56 percent said "yes." (In a generic question, 62 percent said people should be jailed for disobeying a court order.)
Cruz, who wasn’t going to miss the extremist spotlight twice in a week, made a beeline from Kentucky to Washington for his big "kill the Iran deal" rally the next day with none other than The Donald himself. Cruz may be competing with the Huckster for single-digit bragging rights, but sucking up to Trump on stage held the potential benefit of endearing him to the frontrunner’s growing acolytes.
Head below the fold for more glory.
The Tea Party rally on the West Lawn of Capitol Hill was amped up to the tune of REM’s "It’s the end of the world as we know it" and Cruz didn’t shy away from sensationalizing the moment.
“If this deal goes through we know to an absolute certainty people will die,” Cruz told the crowd. “You cannot wash your hands of that blood.”
Unfortunately, more of the public has bought into that sentiment than hasn’t, with
a plurality now opposing a deal that will allow as many as
150 full-time international inspectors access to Iran nuclear sites that they would have never otherwise had. It’s a deal negotiated by France, Germany, Britain, the European Union, China and Russia, and supported by
dozens of retired military brass and
top U.S. scientists. But GOP hopefuls were more focused on exploiting the moment than the reality that this our best and really only option now.
Although the fight on Capitol Hill was already over—President Obama had enough support to block the disapproval resolution—rally attendees were still praying for an intervention from a higher power. Here's what Becky Hostetter told NPR:
"God does miracles. Even though it doesn't look good, we still got to do this. We still got to do this, and God can honor it. But it's all in his plan. There's always a chance when you got God (laughter) - yeah, a miracle."
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, House Republicans were celebrating their first day back from recess with a "hearing" on Planned Parenthood—which wasn’t actually invited to testify. Just the latest example of Republicans investigating things related to women’s health—
like contraception—without inviting interested parties, like women or Planned Parenthood, to weigh in. Naturally, the "hearing"
was called: “Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation’s Largest Abortion Provider.”
The whole charade was intended to lay the foundation for the upcoming showdown over funding for the organization, which provides millions of women across America with contraceptive care that prevents unwanted pregnancies and, thus, abortions.
In 2010, the most recent year there is complete data from, 36 percent of the 6.7 million women receiving contraceptive care from a safety-net provider got it at Planned Parenthood centers. That's 2.4 million women.
But the GOP isn’t interested in facts or logic, they’re hellbent on defunding Planned Parenthood and perhaps even
shutting down the government over it to rile up their right-wing flank. Never mind the fact that shutting down the government over the issue is opposed by a majority of voters,
especially those in some key Democratic pick up states.
The kicker this week was the fact that Donald Trump, the personification of moderation gone awry, cleared the 30 percent support benchmark among Republican voters. Yes, Trump reigns supreme in the GOP.
Too bad it was a short week. Just imagine what Republicans could have done with one more day.