Neil Parrott, a far-right, extremist Republican state representative from Western Maryland, once actually proposed going beyond Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional premise of 172 years ago in The Scarlett Letter in real life. He supported branding people who tested positive for HIV with a tattooed mark as a means of identification, if not punishment and humiliation.
Parrott argued that placing such a mark permanently on a victim’s skin, rather than just making them wear a big letter, “H,” on their clothing, was somehow a “compassionate” proposal.
While he has tried to distance himself from that proposal in his race for the Congress seat occupied by Democrat David Trone, Parrott still supports some of the most extreme views among Republicans running for Congress. That includes anti-abortion in all cases, even when the life of the mother is in danger, and eradicating the Affordable Care Act.
Trone beat him by 20 points two years ago, but the district has become more Republican after Judge Lynne Battaglia, appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, threw out a state-approved Congress map earlier this year. The new map changed Trone’s district to the point that Parrott is favored by some political analysts, though some still say Trone is likely to win. Still, it’s too close for comfort in a state that should be solid Democratic.
It was another example of Democrats eating their own, trying to be “fair” to Republicans who laugh in their faces as they gerrymander and erase voting rights at will in other states. If Parrott somehow wins in November, you can mostly blame Battaglia.
More on this here.