As Josh Glasstetter at Right Wing Watch noted, "With surrogates like Nugent, Romney should have no trouble alienating moderates." They caught this clip above with Ted Nugent stumping for Mitt Romney at the NRA convention in St. Louis over the weekend.

Ted Nugent Stumps for Mitt Romney at NRA Convention: “Chop their heads off in November” (VIDEO):

Nugent called President Obama a criminal and denounced his “vile, evil America-hating administration” which is “wiping its ass with the Constitution.” Taking it a step further, he said that “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.” “If you can’t galvanize and promote and recruit people to vote for Mitt Romney, we’re done,” he continued. Supreme Court justices also came under assault by Nugent, who claims that the court’s more liberal members have signed a declaration against Americans’ right to self-defense:

“We’ve got four Supreme Court justices who don’t believe in the Constitution. Does everyone here know that four of the Supreme Court justices not only determined you don’t have the right to keep and bear arms, four Supreme Court justices signed their name to a declaration that Americans have no fundamental right to self-defense.”

Nugent concluded with a call to cut off the heads of Democrats in November: “We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November. Any questions?”

UPDATE: And now the Secret Service is going to look into the matter. Funny how they take those comments seriously. Maybe Fox News, the RNC and Mitt Romney ought to distance themselves from the Nuge.

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As Digby noted, "When right wingers get cocky... they forget themselves and start saying what they really think." From Think Progress -- Santorum: States Should Have The Right To Outlaw Birth Control:

Rick Santorum reiterated his belief that states should have the right to outlaw contraception during an interview with ABC News yesterday, saying, “The state has a right to do that, I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that. It is not a constitutional right, the state has the right to pass whatever statues they have.”

Santorum has long opposed the Supreme Court’s 1965 ruling “that invalidated a Connecticut law banning contraception” and has also pledged to completely defund federal funding for contraception if elected president. As he told CaffeinatedThoughts.com editor Shane Vander Hart in October, “One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country,” the former Pennsylvania senator explained. “It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.” Read on...

Go read the rest of Digby's post, but here's another tidbit from her response to this: "No biggie. If a state outlaws your birth control you should just move to a state that doesn't! What's extreme about that? No need to get all hysterical about this stuff."

From earlier this week, Stephen Colbert had a bit of fun with former Iowa gubernatorial candidate and gay bashing wingnut, Bob Vander Plaats and his organization, the Iowa Family Leader for comparing homosexuality to secondhand cigarette smoke.

From Think Progress -- Bob Vander Plaats Tells ThinkProgress Homosexuality Is A ‘Public Health Risk’ Like Smoking .

And Right Wing Watch has more on Vander Plaats here.

Colbert managed to work in a few shots at wingnut Michele Bachmann and #NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement Jon Kyl as well.

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The Heritage Foundation hosted author and Margaret Thatcher biographer Claire Berlinski, who discussed her book There is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters on C-SPAN’s Book TV, which aired over the weekend there. Here’s the description of the segment from C-SPAN:

Claire Berlinski argues that Margaret Thatcher deserves credit for reversing Great Britain's decline in the world during the 1970s. Ms. Berlinski says that Prime Minister Thatcher was instrumental in turning around the country's economy and saving it from socialism. This talk was hosted by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

The reason I decided to share some of this is because, one, Newt Gingrich loves her and thinks everyone should read her book, and second, even though Newt Gingrich deserves to be ignored by our corporate media, they keep putting him on the air, mainly at Fox, but even after he says something ridiculous at Fox the rest of them feel compelled to report on it as though it’s news, and last but not least because this woman’s extreme views are considered mainstream by the people in these right-wing think tanks that are pushing the policies of the Republican Party.

She says out loud here a lot of things that most Republicans would not dare say either on the air or on the record to a reporter, but what she expresses here goes straight to the heart of the conservative world view and what they have imposed and would like to continue imposing on the United States if they regain power this mid-term election.

I’m not going to take the time to transcribe all of this by any means, but wanted to at least transcribe a bit of it for those who might not be able to watch the video.

Berlinski: Before I talk about the points of analogy, I do want to talk the obvious of dis-analogy. The United States is not now facing a massive problem with inflation. Not now, not yet. And we are not… the economic debate is not focused around our trade unions. Our trade unions are not running the show. So when I discuss this document I want you to mentally substitute what I think are the analogous points.

Stimulus spending, for trade unions… okay? And benefits programs for… for um… nationalizing industries. And the reason I’m going to suggest those are points of analogy are because we’re talking about ways that the government is controlling the economy.

Will everyone go along with me that far? Will everyone agree to accept that we can just mentally substitute that when I read from this document… okay?

So there’s your first bit of claptrap from this woman. Trade unions = stimulus spending. And “benefits programs”, aka welfare, Social Security, Medicaid, etc. = the government having too much control over the “free markets”. And Margaret Thatcher’s Great Britain and their form of government and the strength of the unions in Great Britain during Thatcher's time is somehow comparable to the United States today where union membership has declined terribly over the last thirty years, thanks to Thatcher’s buddy Ronald Reagan.

I’m sure Berlinski is fully aware of this which is why she feels the need to make this bulls**t ridiculous analogy as to what’s going on in the U.S. today and pretend like what Reagan did to the unions in the United States never happened or to at least ignore it for the purpose of her narrative

And it gets worse from there. More of the really infuriating stuff below the fold.

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Isn't this just lovely? I guess Mark Williams decided he had to one up himself after his remarks about the NAACP on NPR. As Keith notes at the end of his Tea Time segment if the Tea Party doesn't want to be considered racist and they don't repudiate Mark Williams "only four words will have to be spoken to prove you wrong, the Mark Williams letter."

h/t Balloon Juice

Tea Party Leader Mocks NAACP "Coloreds" In Online Screed:

Williams, however, is doing little to refute the notion that there is racism in the Tea Party movement. Last night, the proud Tea Partier wrote a blog post mocking NAACP president Benjamin Jealous. The post takes the form of a fake letter to Abraham Lincoln, in which Jealous asks the former president to repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments (and to reinstate slavery) because the "coloreds" don't agree with the Tea Party's version of "freedom."

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Chris Matthews allows 2nd Amendment protesters Larry Pratt and Skip Coryell to dig their own hole while trying to get them to explain what freedoms are being taken away from them and what right the 2nd Amendment protects. The one thing that's obvious from watching them is that their irrational fears and blind hatred for the President has little to do with anyone taking away their guns.

For a reminder on who these guys are, here's what David Neiwert shared with us on Pratt back in August of 2009.

But then, that shouldn't be terribly surprising. As hate-group expert Brian Levin, the second guest, tries to explain, the GOA has a long history of right-wing extremism, dating back to the days in the 1980s when it was part of Willis Carto's white-nationalist operation. The main figure in all this was GOA's longtime and current leader, Larry Pratt.

Moreover, as the ADL explains, Pratt actually played a critical role in the formation of the militia movement in the 1990s:

In 1992, Larry Pratt, leader of a radical gun- rights group [the GOA] and an advocate of the formation of militias, issued a statement in the wake of the Rodney King riots urging the Los Angeles Police Department to "take advantage of what the Founding Fathers called the unorganized militia" in order to forestall further unrest. Many people initially joined the fledgling militia movement largely as a way to protect more aggressively their right to bear arms; even today, gun-related issues dominate many of the newsletters published by militia groups.

The SPLC has more on Pratt.

David Corn has this on Skip Coryell:

On April 19, an assortment of gun-rights groups will mount the Second Amendment March at the grounds of the Washington Monument. On the Web site for the march, its founder, Skip Coryell, calls it a "peaceful" event. But these folks, as the Violence Policy Center points out in a new report, are pushing a virulent strain of anti-government extremism that certainly could drive a body to take violent action.

Last month in an article for Human Events, a conservative magazine, Coryell noted that one aim of the march is to imply the threat of violence:

My question to everyone reading this article is this: "For you, as an individual, when do you draw your saber? When do you say "Yes, I am willing to rise up and overthrow an oppressive, totalitarian government?"

Is it when the government takes away your private business?

Is it when the government rigs elections?

Is it when the government imposes martial law?

Is it when the government takes away your firearms?

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating the immediate use of force against the government. It isn't time, and hopefully that time will never come. But one thing is certain: "Now is the time to rattle your sabers." If not now, then when?

... I understand that sounds harsh, but these are harsh times. ...

I hear the clank of metal on metal getting closer, but that's not enough. The politicians have to hear it too. They have to hear it, and they have to believe it.

Come and support me at the Second Amendment March on April 19th on the Washington Monument grounds. Let's rattle some sabers and show the government we're still here.

Notice that Coryell says he's not advocating the immediate use of force against the government. That sure makes it sound like he's revving up the gun-rights troops for possible rebellion down the road.

Transcript below the fold.

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Teabagger Mark Williams got terribly upset with Geraldo Rivera for a segment Fox aired just before they brought him on to ask whether the tea party movement should be worried about being painted as extremists.

Williams: Well as long as you keep helping them with hit pieces like the one you just ran. The tea party movement is a political movement based on...

Geraldo: Which hit piece was that Mark? Which hit piece was that?

Williams: ... based on the Constitution Geraldo. That piece mixing militias and Timothy McVeigh and the people who love their country and the Constitution. We are a human rights movement. America is the only society in the history of the world founded on the notion that governments exist to protect individual human rights and liberties. That's being taken away from this country. It's impossible for these people to be militias or to be racists.

Yeah right. This is coming from this guy -- Teabagger Mark Williams says: 'Obama is an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief' and tries to defend it!. Real sweetheart there. Williams goes on to lie and say that Congressman Lewis recanted his story that he was spat on. As Ellen at Newshounds points out, that's just the latest right wing conspiracy theory.

Maybe because it’s not true. Williams might have been thinking of Congressman Heath Shuler who has denied having heard the n-word at the protest on Capitol Hill the day health care reform legislation passed. But Cleaver has not recanted. In fact, here’s a video of him being spat on. (at about 1:15, found via Gawker.)

Williams then went off on a tirade, screaming at Geraldo.

Williams: We’re the ones who were egged, we were the ones who were physically attacked in some cases and our minority members received the most vile, hateful, racist emails. ...

What is it about America and the Constitution that frightens you, Geraldo? What is it about this country and engaged citizenry… what is it that frightens you?

Geraldo: You're going to be what frightens me.

Geraldo then runs to Mike Huckabee to get the tone of the show calmed down and the conversation away from crazy-ass Mark Williams. Yeah that's right. Mark Williams made Mike Huckabee look like the voice of reason in this segment. That takes some doing. The Newshounds article has more on Geraldo's lack of fact checking here.

So what set Williams off besides Geraldo daring to say that the tea party movement might not benefit from being associated with racists and militia groups?

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Our own Dave Neiwert joined Rachel Maddow to discuss the recent militia bust and the upcoming Second Amendment March planned for next month in Washington D.C.

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More of the false equivalency game from John Avlon and David Gergen on Anderson Cooper 360. While both of them warn that this could get out of hand and escalate to more violence, neither are willing to lay the blame squarely in the lap of the Republican Party where it belongs. When one party is using eliminationist rhetoric with no regard for the consequences and the other party is merely pointing out their bad behavior, the side pointing out the bad behavior is not the problem. I'd like to ask Avlon and Gergen if they blame the Civil Rights leaders of the sixties for the actions of the Klan since they seem to be buying into the argument that it's okay to blame victims for the actions of their attackers.

Transcript via CNN.

COOPER: Just to recap the breaking news, the House tonight approving the final piece of health care reform legislation, the final fixes, all that brinkmanship, all that maneuvering, passed by the Senate earlier today. When President Obama signs the fixes, that is it.

But, for some, especially angry opponents of the reform bill, the administration, the IRS, you name it, it is not over -- windows broken, death threats made, some scary stuff, and allegations that some are fanning the flames for political gain.

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Oh boy. The man who brought us Sarah Paling-Around-with-Terrorists Palin and who has promised to take his ball and go home rather than work with the Democrats now thinks we should have some "civility in the health care debate":

Sen. John McCain called for a more civilized political discourse on Thursday after members of Congress who voted for health care reform reported incidents of harassment and threats of violence.

"There is a lot of anger and passion out there," McCain said on CNN's "John King USA." "Let's change that into a spirited and healthy respectful campaign season between Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives. Let's really go at it, but let's do it with respect, that's the key to it."

McCain noted that he has held thousands of town hall meetings during his long political career. "The only thing I ask people to do is be respectful," he said.

CNN didn't bother to mention in their Political Ticker that McCain defended Sarah Palin for her "reload" and political crosshairs Facebook posting. McCain wrote it off as just typical political rhetoric.

Full transcript via CNN below the fold.

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