SOMEONE SHOULD PROBABLY MESS WITH TEXAS…. Over the years, thanks to Kevin Drum’s keen eye, Political Animal has brought readers several reports on the truly hysterical — in more ways than one — platform created by the Texas Republican Party. It’s one of the more astounding documents one will find in 21st century American politics.
I feel a certain responsibility to keep our coverage going, and noticed this week that the Texas GOP has released a 25-page proposal (pdf) intended to guide state Republicans for the next two years. It’s not pretty.
The Texas Republican Party’s new 25-page platform is chock-full of absurd policy prescriptions, many of which are based on the most absurd of conspiracy theories. While not particularly surprising for Texas, the platform does remind us just how outside the mainstream Republicans in Texas truly are. Political Correction sifted through the haphazardly written document and highlighted several sections that best symbolize the sort of conservatives who have political control in Texas.
It’s hard to know where to start. I suppose, right off the bat, it’s worth noting that Texas Republicans have a few problems with gay people — the platform wants to make gay sex illegal, wants Congress to prevent federal courts from even hearing litigation on the issue, and wants it to be a felony for any judge to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. Why? Because, as the platform argued, the “practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society” and “leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases.”
But, really, that’s really just the tip of a deranged iceberg. The Texas Republican Party wants the 16th Amendment to be repealed, along with the federal minimum-wage. It wants Social Security to be eliminated, along with early-childhood-development programs. It’s worked up about the Fairness Doctrine, the formation of a “North American Union,” and “the implementation of one world currency” — none of which is seriously being pursued by anyone. American foreign policy towards Israel should, the platform argues, be based on the Republican Party’s interpretation of the Bible.
The good news? The Texas Republican Party used to demand a return to the gold standard, and now it doesn’t.
Clearly, the Texas Republican Party is moving to the left. What a bunch of sellouts.
