Friday, June 25, 2010

Rep. Gohmert: Fear the baby terrorists

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Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Is there any level of absurdity that demagogic Republicans won’t stoop to in order to try and stoke fears about terrorism and national security? Here’s Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) giving a speech on the House floor about how terrorists are supposedly recruiting pregnant women to have US-born children who will later grow up to become terrorists (seriously):

Gohmert: I talked to a retired FBI agent who said that one of the things they were looking at were terrorist cells overseas who had figured out how to game our system. And it appeared they would have young women, who became pregnant, would get them into the United States to have a baby. They wouldn't even have to pay anything for the baby. And then they would turn back where they could be raised and coddled as future terrorists. And then one day, twenty...thirty years down the road, they can be sent in to help destroy our way of life. 'Cause they figured out how stupid we are being in this country to allow our enemies to game our system, hurt our economy, get setup in a position to destroy our way of life.

Um … Somehow, the fact that he claims to have gotten this information in an unsubstantiated interview with a single unnamed retired FBI agent doesn’t really lend his scenario much credibility. Nor does the fact that anyone with half a brain and a cupful of resolve can sneak into the US through its porous borders these days, thus eliminating the need for such ridiculous and contrived infiltration methods.

Poor Republicans. It’s like their brains have collectively melted in the past two decades.