Newsflash: Jim Inhofe is Hardheaded

Before you start typing your "more of Clark's liberal nonsense" in response to me calling Jim Inhofe "hardheaded" and "stubborn" watch the YouTube clip above. I am only repeating what the senator is calling himself. In his "One Man in America" ad, Inhofe turns being inflexible and unyielding into a virtue. In the spot, he takes responsibility for Oklahoma's pristine roads and claims his mule-like demeanor saved the people of a town that does not exist anymore.

Of course, with the ad being only thirty seconds long, he left out some things he is stubborn about...

GLOBAL WARMING

Somehow, the career politician forgot the most illustrative stubborn trait: Global Warming denial. Inhofe is to the Global Warming debate what Mel Gibson's dad is to the question of whether the Holocaust occured. He has called the clear consensus of scientists who talk of climate change perpetrators of "the second-largest hoax ever played on the American People." (First, goes to our founding fathers who seperated church and state.)

Inhofe also wondered aloud, "what would happen to the ratings of the Weather Channel if people weren't scared anymore?" Obviously, that is a fair question, because I know I get all in hysterics after watching video like this.

GOING GAY

While showing a picture of his family, this was an actual quote from Inhofe during floor debate of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage:

It takes a stalwart person to avoid switching sides, right Sarah?

NAME CALLING

A staple of an Inhofe campaign is the "Friend of Bill Clinton" game. In his eyes, every person who ever opposes him does so because they are best pals with the former President who is incredibly unpopular in this state. It does not matter if the person ever met or voted for Clinton, Jim Inhofe steadfastly insists that the enemy and Clinton are "friends", a slur which gets him cheers.

The name calling does not end there, however. Some more obvious name calling includes:

The Environmental Protection Agency = "The Gestapo"
Environmentalists = "The Third Reich"
The Red Cross = "Bleeding Heart Organization"
EPA Administrator Carol Browner = "Tokyo Rose"

In a country that feels playground taunting is beneath public officials, Jim Inhofe has stubbornly adhered to the time tested practice.

TORTURE

Americans have long held it against nations like Russia and Iraq for using torture as a method of extricating information from people. Some say such practices demean the information gathered since people who are being made to feeel they are drowning tend to tell the interrogators what they want to hear (true or not). Some crazy people even think that a country like the USA should avoid such dirty tactics in order to maintain a reputation of being above board.

Not Senator Inhofe, however. In the wake of the Abu Ghraib controversy, Inhofe made it clear his outrage was directed to those who were outraged to learn that our country was emulating the very person we invaded Iraq to take out. He also voted against the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act which banned torture. Only eight other senators voted likewise...Tom Coburn was one of them.

COLLEGE SHOULD NOT BE AFFORDABLE

In a way, it is refreshing to see a politician who is not interested in branding themselves as pro-education. While every other person seeking office (from Brad Henry to George W. Bush) labels themselves as the "Education (fill-in-the-blank)", Inhofe had no qualms voting with only eleven other senators to keep student loan rates at 6.8% instead of decreasing them to 3.4%.

SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS

Inhofe is unbending when it comes to "supporting our troops". That's why he voted against the "Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008." Wait, what? Why wouldn't he want to assist servicemen who have completed their service in improving themselves post-military?