On this date in 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of Tony Tinderholt, a member of the Texas House of Representatives and Jared Lee Loughner look-alike who hangs out with anti-immigrant militia groups and talks about arming Americans all along the U.S./Mexico border to stop Mexicans from taking “free stuff” and “thieving”. His solution to the immigration crisis is “people are going to die and that’s the only thing that is going to stop migrants from taking the lifeblood of our country.” Tinderholt has also told open-carry advocates in his district to call him immediately if the police even question them for wandering around with a firearm. Best of all was Tinderholt’s reaction to a Texas probate judge ruling that the state must comply with the Supreme Court’s rulings on same sex marriage… Tinderholt tried rallying against the judge for this, but in his effort online to do so, named the wrong case and the wrong judge. Making his crusade to protect the sanctity of marriage on Christian principles even more ridiculous and hypocritical is the fact that Tinderholt has been divorced four times, and is on his fifth marriage by the age of 44. He also has been under an ethics investigation for “misplacing” $15,000 in campaign funds, something that is not shocking when you consider that back in 1999, one of his ex-wives and employees were embezzling money from a child care business he ran to buy crack cocaine (at least it was without Tinderholt’s knowledge). Since being allowed to continue his legislative career into a second term, he has already shown no signs of chilling out, now directing his attention towards abortion. And like any Tinderholt effort, it’s extreme and insane. He sponsored HB 948, “The Abolition of Abortion in Texas Act”. Tinderholt followed up just that inflammatory idea with a series of quotes that take misogyny towards a level best described as completely insulting:
“Right now, it’s real easy. Right now, they don’t make it important to be personally responsible because they know that they have a backup of ‘oh, I can just go get an abortion.’ Now, we both know that consenting adults don’t always think smartly sometimes. But consenting adults need to also consider the repercussions of the sexual relationship that they’re gonna have, which is a child.”
Yes, those pesky wimmenfolk just don’t know anything about being personally responsible about sex, amirite, fellas? Especially the rape and incest victims who aren’t exempted by the bill Tinderholt just wrote, those non-smartly thinking consenting adults. (Please note those past two sentences are laced with all of the sarcasm I can muster.)
People did ask Tinderholt why he makes no exceptions for rape or incest, and this was his response:
“I’m a firm believer that God creates children in his own image, regardless of how that child is brought into the world, it’s created in his image, and how can someone want to destroy that? I don’t think that there should be any exceptions to murder, no matter what. So, if this child was out of the womb and it was a child that was born out of rape or incest, no one would be OK with killing a child. I look at it like that child is a child in the womb, just like it’s out.”
So unless a rapist were to father a child that looks non-human, Tinderholt feels everyone should be thrilled. Got it. Oh, and we’ll point out that while Tinderholt feels there should be no exceptions to murder, he’s still fine with the death penalty. Last we checked, executioners are an exception to murder, so there’s that.
We don’t have too much to update of late on Tony Tinderholt, save for the fact that in May of 2017, he sabotaged a bill to create stricter penalties for animal cruelty amending it to remove that punishment, and stating his desire to do so was out of spite over his previous legislation on abortion not passing to criminalize it. And, as we have a soft spot for animals, it’s why we don’t feel bad when he read the story that hit the news blotter about Tinderholt breaking his wrist like a dumbass in a hoverboard accident.
Tony Tinderholt was, regrettably, not challenged in the GOP Primary for his seat, and in November, he faces off against Democrat Finnegan Jones, the first time that a Democrat has run for this seat since 2014. We’re hoping that the 15-20 point shifts that Democrats have seen in their favor in state house elections continue in the general election in 2018, because that’s roughly the margin that Tinderholt won by four years ago. We can’t believe we keep having to say this, but anti-government kooks should not be elected into government.