My mission every week is to find supporting evidence for Kos' book American Taliban. This week we need look no farther than NY gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino.
In any population there is a low IQ segment of the population that is extremely permeable to fundamentalism (Religion Explained-- Pascal Boyer). In America, christian fundamentalists fear blacks, browns, women, homosexuals, immigrants and muslims for example.
That fundamentalist substrate usually remains dormant in populations...but..there is always the environmental trigger.
Like the islamic fundamentalists became radicalized by western meddling and colonialism, the American Taliban became...erm ....switched on by Obama's election,
cause-- effect-- extremism.
And Paladino is a treasure trove of empirical data.
Paladino's homophobic diatribe was actually written by Rabbi Yehuda Levin. Now where is the separation of church and state in that?
In fact, given Eric Cantor, Sarah Palin, and Jim Demint's continued rejection of Jeffersonian separation of church and state, one can only assume that the Tea Party movement, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Religious Right, is planning on establishing some sort of judeochristian velat-e-fiqh if they get power.
Remember the 911 hijackers strip club patronage?
Well here is (NSFW)"family first" Carl Paladino's email log.
quod erat demonstrandum.