Republicans throw red meat to their bigot base.

The Minnesota legislature is spending a lot of time debating how evil gay people are because the Republicans, who control the legislature, are convinced that is what the leader of the GOP, Jesus, wants them to do. Apparently they missed the rapture just like everyone else.

On the very day they were to vote on embedding the state Constitution with an anti-gay clause demanding second class citizenship for deGays, they brought in a moronic fundamentalist minister to open the session in prayer. Here is the video tape. Like the typical fundamentalist he couldn't resist the opportunity to turn the opening prayer into a tirade reflecting the paranoid, bigoted views of the fundamentalist mind-set. He argues the God is the founder of the country and by not letting God run the country we created problems. As he says, we all know (a clear sign they will make something up) that the problems of the country weren't here in 1776 but only arose when "we" thought we could run the country. A few million slaves might disagree about the utopian nature of 1776. But, those people don't count. He mentions "Father" and "Father-God" repeatedly as he reads his "prayer." But it isn't a prayer, it is a fringe far-Right lecture to the legislature by a man who doesn't know better than dress in what looks like a track suit when he opens the legislature.

He then talks about the soldiers who died in the various wars, though he gets Iwo Jima wedged between Korea and Vietnam and he seems to say these soliders "ratified" the Constitution. As bad as his lecture was at the start his closing got worse. I quote:

"I know this is a non-denominational prayer in this Chamber and it’s not about the Baptists and it’s not about the Catholics alone or the Lutherans or the Wesleyans. Or the Presbyterians the evangelicals or any other denomination but rather the head of the denomination and his name is Jesus. As every President up until 2008 has acknowledged. And we pray it. In Jesus’ name."

Clearly he doesn't understand what non-denomination means, he seems to think it has only to do with Christians and that all other religions don't count. His idea of non-denomination is invoking Jesus, which many Jewish citizens might question. We will ignore Muslims, Buddhist, humanists and others since we know they don't have any rights at all. But the theocrats in the Republican Party do claim a "Judeo-Christian" heritage but throw the Jews under the bus anytime they find it convenient.

In addition he publicly accuses Obama of not being a Christian, probably implying he is a Muslim. He pretends every President "up until 2008" has acknowledged Jesus as the head of their denomination. Not quite, but then he thinks soldiers at Iwo Jima ratified the constitution. But since Obama was elected in 2008 he is quite clearly attacking the president as not being a real Christian. He also said, as the bottom youtube link proves, that Obama allegedly said "we are no longer a Christian nation, we are a Muslim nation." Listen for yourself, if you don't believe me.

This intentional insult to President Obama, and this misuse of the opening prayer, caused something of a kerfuffle in the chambers. Republicans scurried to cover-up the entire things. They pretended that Rev. Dean had not been there and started the session over again, with the House chaplain giving a new prayer. They also removed from the incident from the house journal so it is as if the prayer never happened.

Rev. Dean has previously made remarks that sounded quite sympathetic to the idea of executing gay people but now claims he was misquoted. But he told reporters he does want it to be a crime to be gay, so he apparently he only wants them in prison. But what he said indicates he is lying now. He said: "Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. this just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are living about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination." Dean went on:

If American won't enforce the laws, God will raise up a foreign enemy to do just that. That is what you are seeing in America. The bottom line is this... they (gay people) play the victim when they are, in fact, the predator. On average they molest 117 people before they're found out. How many kinds have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?

Do the math yourself. There are around 15 million gay people in the United States, possibly more, but 15 million is a conservative estimate. If they "molest" an average of 117 people that would be 1.7 billion people. But there are only just over 300 million people in the United States. Apparently that explains why gays go on vacation, they've molested every single American, perhaps several times over and have to move on to other countries. Do you really think that this is even possible? But hatred makes people say stupid things, and if the people aren't that smart to begin with, they say spectacularly stupid things.

Dean dismissed the problems he created saying: "I said a prayer. If a prayer starts a firestorm, so be it." Actually praying seems to be the last thing he doing, he is preaching under the guise of praying.

The Republican who invited Dean to "pray" backtracked and said he knew nothing about the man and his view, which he likened to "radical thinking—that kind of thinking, I think back to Nazi German...I don't agree with that." House Speaker Kurt Zellers said, "That kind of person will never, ever be allowed on the House floor again." Even the Catholic Conference said the prayer was turned "into a polemic and his words divided rather than brought people together."

Republicans delayed a vote on the anti-gay amendment as a result, but will reschedule it and insist they intend to pass it regardless.

Rev. Dean is a favorite of one of the worst anti-libertarian Republicans around, Michelle Bachman.

Below you can hear Dean saying the very things he now denies ever saying. Lying for Jesus again.

By the way Rev. Dean has been given, free of charge, display booths at Republican conventions to push his agenda. Dean said: "They invited and they gave us a free table. Amen." He has also received money from a major Republican candidate, Tom Emmers, who has run for governor and Congress as a Republican. Republicans want to keep the "base" of fundamentalists happy but not get tainted by the poison that is fundamentalism. That is not an easy task.