Earlier this afternoon, insurrectionist and extremist Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) spoke at the far-right CPAC conference in Texas. See below for video of the speech, which was basically one lie after the other, one right-wing talking point after another. Before you check out the video, if you want a bit more background on this conference and how bad it is, see The Fascist Circus Comes to CPAC Texas (“Republican politicians joined Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for speeches laced with antisemitism and overt Christian nationalism.”); As conservatives cheer far right messages at CPAC, Mehdi Hasan has another name for it: ‘Fascism’; Alarm grows as Orban prepares to take ‘pure Nazi’ rhetoric to US; America’s far-right embraces Hungary’s autocratic president; etc. And for more on Cline, see Video: In Cringe-Inducingly Bad Speech at Extremist CPAC Conference, Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) Claims Virginia Was One of “Original States Fighting the Original Cancel Culture” Against Thomas Jefferson, etc.; Audio: On Trumpster Radio This Morning, Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) Demonstrates Yet Again Why He’s Utterly Unfit to Serve in Congress; Seditionist Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) Was Perfectly Fine with Trump’s 1000s of Personal Attacks and Assault on Our Democracy, Now Suddenly Claims to Be Outraged at Biden’s Nominee For OMB Director; etc.
With that, here’s the video of Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) speaking earlier today at the far-right CPAC conference, with a few examples of his many lies and absurd, right-wing talking points. Oh, and if you live in VA06, make sure you vote for Democratic nominee Jennifer Lewis this November!
- “…and once and for all we will retire Nancy Pelosi from the Speakership of the House of Representatives” (DRINK – LOL! Seriously, though, Republicans have been attacking Nancy Pelosi – misogyny much? – for so long now, it’s pretty much a drinking game.)
- “I always appreciate the opportunity to get out of the swamp of Washington, DC and be around so many like-minded conservatives or as I like to say, REAL Americans!” (Translation: anyone who’s not far-right like Cline and the overwhelmingly white attendees at CPAC isn’t considered a “real American.” Also note the typical right-wing assault on “Washington, DC,” which of course is at its root an attempt to demonize and diminish our government and to ensure that powerful corporate interests, polluters, billionaires, etc. are the ones in charge of our country.)
- “This is our opportunity to show folks who frustrated and fed up we are that Biden, Pelosi and ‘the Squad’ continue to pull our country further and further to the radical left. And we’re going to keep that progress going! We’re going to keep that pressure on” (First of all, Cline completely mangles his lines here, as he follows up the supposed horrors of “Biden, Pelosi and ‘the Squad'” with the line, “And we’re going to keep that progress going!” WTF??? As for the concept that Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are in league with “the Squad” to “pull our country further and further to the radical left,” it’s just wrong on every level. For starters, this country is about as non-radical-left as a country can get. Second, nothing in President Biden’s agenda is “radical,” and the vast majority of that agenda is supported by the majority of Americans, making it by definition in the CENTER, not the “left” or the “radical left.” In sum, the entire basis for Cline’s critique is completely flawed, full of crap, etc.)
- Supposedly Glenn Youngkin “has successfully stopped this lurch to the left,” while “building the Commonwealth into an economic powerhouse, restoring law and order, and reinserting parents into their children’s education, where they belong.” (That’s all just flat-out false. One example: Virginia was the #1 state in America to do business under Gov. Ralph Northam for two years in a row, but in the first rating since Youngkin became governor, has fallen to #3. The point is, Virginia actually HAS BEEN an “economic powerhouse” under Democratic leadership, despite Cline’s dishonest attempt to rewrite history. As for “restoring law and order” and “reinserting parents into their children’s education,” in fact we had those things under Governors McAuliffe and Youngkin, while right-wingers Glenn Youngkin/Winsome Sears/Jason Miyares are busy pushing a highly divisive agenda which assaults public education and makes us all LESS safe.)
- “These folks who think that a boy is a girl, believe the border is secure, think the retreat in Afghanistan was a success, ignore the Supreme Court, and revel in the fact that gas prices have gone down even though they’ve doubled under their failed ‘Green New Deal’ policies. It’s little wonder that they can’t define for you what you have known for a while – we are in a recession.” (There’s so much nastiness/bigotry and so many lies here, where to even start? Note the “think that a boy is a girl” line in particular, as an indicator of where right wingnuts’ heads are at right now. As for “ignore the Supreme Court,” that’s just weird, as Democrats have been doing the exact opposite, as they watch in horror – and organize to fight back – as the far-right, out-of-control Supreme Court dismantles our rights. As for “Green New Deal” policies, in fact, the “Green New Deal” has never been enacted, but the dripping hostility towards clean energy and climate action by the Ben Clines of the world is VERY telling – and should be automatically disqualifying for these people to hold public office in America. Finally, no, we are NOT in a “recession,” neither officially nor unofficially, particularly given that we’re about at full employment, with the lowest unemployment rate in decades and massive job gains last month.)
- “The left tells us that we’re bad people because of what we believe…that because we support the Second Amendment, because we stand up for the unborn, because we promote fiscal responsibility, because we believe in traditional values, and because we love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we are somehow ‘less than’.” (Again, where to even start with this steaming pile of crap? But the bottom line is that Democrats are fighting right-wing Republicans like Cline because we strongly oppose their dark, dystopian, authoritarian, theocratic, anti-democratic, even fascistic vision for America. So we don’t see right-wing Republicans like Cline as “less than,” but we DO see them as a major threat to our freedoms, our constitution, our democracy, our habitable planet, etc. And that’s why we fight them with everything we’ve got, and of course why we need to turn out and vote BLUE in every single election, up and down the ballot!)
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