A recent Youtube entry plays audio of Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern making a speech to 50 or so conservative constituents on March 8.
Read some excerpts from Kern’s diatribe.
“Studies show, no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted for more than, you know, a few decades. . .”
“I honestly think [homosexuality]’s the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat.”
“Gays are infiltrating city councils.”
“One of my colleagues said, “We don’t have a gay problem in our community…” Well you know what, that is so dumb. If you have cancer in your little toe, do you just say that I’m going to forget about it since the rest of you is fine? It spreads! This stuff is deadly, and it is spreading. It will destroy our young people, and it will destroy this nation.”
There is more where that came from, but only so much of her vitriol can fit in one column.
Kern told the person who recorded her public tirade in secret, “shame on you.”
But where does the real shame belong?
Even Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson apologized for alleging gays helped the Sept. 11 attacks happen. Kern’s response when confronted? “I’m saying what I believe in.”
She has vowed not to apologize and has told reporters she received a standing ovation from Oklahoma Republicans on Monday.
It almost seems futile to bring light to her lunacy. Apparently Kern’s study of history glossed over Ancient Greece or Rome which lasted quite a bit longer than a few decades.
And although it would be interesting to hear why dear Sally thinks gays are worse than terrorists, the second statement is just as telling about her feelings about Muslims as it is about gays - she believes Islam is a “big threat” to our nation.
Her infiltration comment is eerily reminiscent of “We need breathing room,” first coined by Adolf Hitler in Germany in 1938.
And she thinks the gays are a cancer.
What a woman.
Some outlandish statements at least have some situational explanations, if they are not outright defensible. Mel Gibson, for instance, was quite intoxicated at the time of his anti-Semitic escapade.
But Kern’s sober words are telling of a woman who’s over-the-top evil. The only question to be answered is whether or not she should keep her job. Is her venom, deplorable as it may be, protected by the First Amendment?
No. Kern should be terminated from her public service without prejudice.
Here’s why.
She has a responsibility to her constituents - some of whom are undoubtedly gay or Muslim in her Oklahoma City district - to work without bias for the common good.
Kern’s prior actions have already shown how her sick outlook slithers into everything she does for her state.
In 2005, Kern introduced a bill in the Oklahoma legislature which threatened to restrict funding to public libraries unless they shelved gay-related materials in the “adults access only” section.
Kern took particular notice of “King and King,” a children’s book about a prince looking for another prince. While nothing remotely or implicitly sexual is mentioned, Kern called the tolerance-promoting fairy tale “obscene.”