Louie Gohmert, Asshole of the Day for April 3, 2014
So often with Louie Gohmert the question is -- is he an asshole? Or an idiot? And when I phrase it that way the most common answer is "why can't it be both?" Louie Gohmert often says the dumbest things of any congressman, which is saying something with Michele Bachmann and Paul Broun as colleagues, and what always stands out is how uncurious he is to learn the facts and how content he is with his limited understanding of things. And for being an idiot who doesn't seek to be smarter, when the facts are within his grasp, he is an asshole.
And his latest pronouncement is typical for him-- it combines a limited understanding with an unwillingness to think it through. See if you can spot the problem when he starts talking about the separation of church and state:
Gohmert pointed out that a Congressional Research Service report revealed that President Thomas Jefferson, who coined the phrase “separation of church and state,” had also attended church services at Statuary Hall.
“But it was to be a one-way wall, where the state would not dictate to the church,” the Texas Republican insisted. “But the church would certainly play a role in the state.”
“So, that’s a little different idea than a lot of people have about separation of church and state now,” he added. “Including some of our esteemed Supreme Court, who are not quite as familiar with our history as they probably should be.”
This really isn't hard-- church and state either must be separate or not. There can't be a role for the church in state without the state being in the church. And here's why: how does he decide which church gets to play a role in the state? How do you balance the competing interests of different churches?
As he may know, there is more than one religion and church in this country. Would he like the Muslim churches to play a role in the state, or is he only reserving that role for Christian churches?
And of course there are many Christian sects with different views on things— for example, not all Christian churches think abortion or contraception or gay marriage are against their religion. Would he be OK with those Christian churches having a role in the state, or only his denomination?
And that's where it becomes pretty clear that Louie Gohmert isn't interested in thinking things through because he's settled on his church being the one that has influence and dictating laws to the rest of the country, many of whom don't share his view of Christianity or aren't even Christian at all. But he doesn't care if the religious needs of others are trampled. He doesn't see-- and isn't interested in seeing-- that keeping religion out of the government protects the religious interests of everyone, including him.
The Founding Fathers didn’t set up a theocracy, but since he's doesn't see that, and does't care understand how important that is, he is the Asshole of the Day.
It is Louie Gohmert's third time as Asshole of the Day. Previous wins were for saying that cutting food stamps would help poor people avoid obesity and saying that pregnant women should have to give birth to brain-dead babies.
Full story and video: Raw Story
