Lotta Moments - Of course,
Lotta Moments - Of course, here in Minnesota we have Arlon Lindner.
Lindner, a Republican representing Corcoran in the northwest exurban metro, is - to be charitable - perhaps not the brightest light on the Lord's Christmas Tree. The man has a long record of saying just plain stupid things in the House - his remark about Nazi persecution of gays and lesbians could only come from someone with no clue abuot history. Worse, like Lott, he says a lot of things that may have not-stupid ideas at their base, but are stated in such a way as to guarantee trouble - handing shiploads of ammunition to the DFL, who needs all the ammo it can get in the absence of any legislative initiative.
Yes, there might be an idea worth exploring at the core of some of the statements for which Lindner is being condemned:
- "Buddhism is a Cult". Of course it's not. But remember the context of the event; the University of Minnesota, which rigorously separates Christianity from any of its official functions, had just rolled out the red carpet for the Dalai Lama. This irritated a lot of people - including, understandably, the fundamentalist Lindner. Was his reaction appropriate? Of course not. And I personally would welcome the chance to debate theology with a Buddhist adherent - but that's another issue. Question: If Lindner's critics were to be intellectually honest, wouldn't they also have condemned, or at least questioned, the Dalai Lama's visit?
- "If We Extend Rights to Gays and Lesbians, We'll Become Another Africa". Can I understand why Afro-Americans would take umbrage at this? Sure. I'd suspect that there's a valid idea buried in there somewhere. Lindner links legally-enumerated rights for gays with the excesses of big government. He's wrong to do it, but work with me here. Africa, the continent, has been turned into a social, medical and economic disaster area at the cost of millions of lives by the most extreme excesses of big government - big-state socialism and authoritarianism combined with the petty hatreds of intense tribalism. Question: If Lindner's critics were intellectually honest, wouldn't they allow for the fact that Africa is a mess?
Of course, most of Lindner's critics in the House are not intellectually honest:
Rep. Neva Walker, DFL-Minneapolis, the other black House member, said she considered Lindner's statement "a slap of racism directed towards me and Keith."
Question for Rep. Walker: If someone criticizes the government of Norway, or that nation's social and medical problems that devolve from that government's policies, does that "slap" me, as an American of Norwegian descent? I'd think not.
Steve Sviggum, the Speaker of the House, got in a great point, according to today's Strib article:
said he wouldn't force him out, although he called many of Lindner's statements "inappropriate."
If he did so, Sviggum added, he would have had to censure Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, for referring recently to Republican State Auditor Pat Awada as "Osama bin Awada."
"I won't remove Arlon for using wrong words," Sviggum said. "Arlon is not a mean-spirited person at all. But it almost seems every time Arlon says something, it gets worse for him."
Indeed. And if Arlon Lindner has to walk the plank for being an idiot, Tom Rukavina should walk with him. Rukavina is, if anything, a bigger idiot than Lindner.
Lindner subscribes to some views that are just plain ignorant:
I'm not convinced that they were persecuted," he said, suggesting that the main gay participants in the Holocaust were Nazi concentration camp guards. That contention, he added, is laid out in a book called "The Pink Swastika," which he hasn't read but is trying to lay his hands on.
The book deals (so I've heard) with the homoerotic aspects of Naziism and the idea that Hitler was a closeted gay. And it's irrelevant...
...because Lindner is wrong (gays were murdered in droves), and if I were a Corcoran resident I'd be upset that such an invincibly ignorant person was representing me in the Legislature.
It's true - Lindner's critics are driven by nothing more than craven political opportunism. But it'd be nice if we didn't give them the opportunities.
Posted by Mitch at
March 11, 2003 07:27 AM
