Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Ezra Klein and Chuck Norris (Photos: YouTube.com/Getty Images)

By John Avlon, Special to CNN

With health care on Capitol Hill, wingnuts have been busy trying to scare up support for their all-or-nothing vision of the bill.

On the left, Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein went the mass murder metaphor route against the liberals’ least favorite senator this week, Senator Joe Lieberman. He’s an independent who’s acting too independent for them, refusing to reflexively sign on to the Democrats’ bill and therefore blocking their attempt to get a 60-seat, filibuster-proof vote count.

Lieberman says that he’s trying to make sure the bill is fiscally responsible and lowering the Medicaid buy-in age to 55 is unlikely to make a system that is already going broke more solvent.

Klein saw something more sinister: “At this point, Lieberman seems primarily motivated by torturing liberals. That is to say, he seems willing to cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in order to settle an old electoral score.”

The hundred thousand deaths estimate is based on an Urban Institute report that lack of insurance contributed to 137,000 people in the first half of this decade, but trying to hang that report around Lieberman’s neck is absurd, unfair and more than a little unhinged. It’s a fear-smear that aims for the same emotions as the summer’s "death panel" claims, with the opposite intention.

On the right, action star turned conservative columnist Chuck Norris offered a Yule-tide take on the health care bill from a fright-wing perspective.

“As we near the eve of another Christmas, I wonder: What would have happened if Mother Mary had been covered by Obamacare? What if that young, poor and uninsured teenage woman had been provided the federal funds (via Obamacare) and facilities (via Planned Parenthood, etc.) to avoid the ridicule, ostracizing, persecution and possible stoning because of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy? Imagine all the great souls who could have been erased from history and the influence of mankind if their parents had been as progressive as Washington's wise men and women! Will Obamacare morph into Herodcare for the unborn?”

That’s right, health care reform could kill Christmas.

And Chuck Norris fans won’t want to miss next week’s column, titled “Away with the Manger,” which he promises will show how “the feds are whitewashing America's Judeo-Christian heritage via a progressive, politically correct and pro-Muslim platform.”

The week’s news also provoked a bonus round of wingnut irony. Conservative protestors on Capitol Hill staging a “die-in” to illustrate the impact of what they call government-run health care. It’s the same street theater tactic that Code Pink used to protest war during the Bush administration. The right wing is reading “Rules for Radicals.”

Somehow the extremes always end up resembling each other and the result is always an assault on common sense.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon.

Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Sen. Harry Reid and Mayor Russell Wiseman (Photos: Senate.gov / Townofarlington.org)

By John Avlon, Special to CNN

Wingnut comments are often characterized by unhinged anger and a complete lack of historic perspective – and that’s what we saw this week from Arlington, Tennessee Mayor Russell Wiseman on the right, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the left.

Mayor Wiseman was sitting down to watch "The Charlie Brown Christmas Special" with his children when he found the program pre-empted by President Obama’s speech at West Point announcing the troop surge in Afghanistan.

His conclusion? The timing was a deliberate affront to Christians and the Constitution from a “Muslim president.” His next move was to post his feelings on Facebook.

“Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim president is there, what a load.....try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose. Ask the man if he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he will give you a 10 minute disertation (sic) about it....w...hen the answer should simply be 'yes'....”

In an extensive thread unearthed and excerpted by the Memphis Commercial Appeal this week, Mayor Wiseman went on to widen his attacks, writing: “...you obama people need to move to a muslim country...oh wait, that's America....pitiful.”

At another point he wrote, “you know, our forefathers had it written in the original Constitution that ONLY property owners could vote, if that has stayed in there, things would be different.”

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Rep. Alan Grayson (left) and Michelle Malkin (right).

A Democrat who seems determined to win the race to the bottom and Republican commentators who keep pushing their party further to the right in a hunt for heretics – its all in the "Wingnuts of the Week." Plus, a bonus round: a racist image posted on the RNC's Web site.

Freshman Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has made a name for himself quickly in the halls of Congress, and he's done it the new fashioned way: by kicking and screaming and slandering.

Grayson has earned the first repeat "Wingnut of the Week" since we began this segment in May. His wingnut move at the time was saying that the Republican plan for health care was for people to “die quickly.” But in the last few weeks he's hit two new lows: saying that Republicans are "the enemy of America" and "certainly the enemy of peace," and then calling one of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's advisors a "K Street whore" – on 9/11 Truther Alex Jones’ radio show. (And, seriously, what was Grayson doing on a radio show hosted by someone who sells information on “How to Survive Martial Law in America” and a DVD about Barack Obama called “The Fall of the Republic”?)

It sounds to me like Rep. Grayson is coming a bit unhinged in his quest for attention. He's putting up online advertisements asking people to give him money because he’s a "Democrat with Guts" – a similar move to the one pulled by Republican Joe Wilson after he shouted "you lie" at President Obama. And there are some Democrats who reflexively defend Grayson’s comments simply because he’s on their team. Being a professional polarizer does not make you an effective politician or even an effective communicator. Rep. Alan Grayson is again our "Wingnut of the Week" on the left.

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Rep. Edolphus Towns (left) and Justice Keith Bardwell (right).

This week’s wingnuts feature a racist judge (as well as the home-state senator who refused to condemn him) and a Democratic congressman, who literally locked Republicans out of committee in an attempt to block a vote on a financial scandal. Plus, a bonus round Profile in Courage award for President Obama, who calmed a crowd heckling a Republican governor. Take a spin through the World of the Wingnuts from the Big Easy to the Beltway.

If you thought that any lingering sense of scandal about interracial marriage had been erased by the presence of a biracial president of the United States, you haven't visited Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell.

When Beth Humphrey and her boyfriend Terence McKay called to collect a marriage license they were told to take a hike because the judge didn’t approve of the colors of their skin.

When the media came knocking, Justice Bardwell was unrepentant. “It's kind of hard to apologize for something that you really and truly feel down in your heart you haven't done wrong," he told CNN affiliate WAFB.

But in case you were wondering, he isn’t racist. He was doing it for the kids.

"I'm not a racist," Bardwell told his hometown Hammond Daily Star. "I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children."

Maybe he’s worried they might grow up to be president.

Louisiana’s Republican Governor Bobby Jindal was quick to call for Bardwell’s dismissal: "This is a clear violation of constitutional rights and federal and state law. ... disciplinary action should be taken immediately - including the revoking of his license." Democratic Senator Mary Landreau called it “an example of the ugly bigotry that divided our country for too long."

But self-styled conservative Senator David Vitter – who’s best known for letting ‘les bon temps rouler’ with a DC Madam – decided to withhold both judgment and comment for five days. He dodged reporters’ questions on the subject and finally, on Wednesday, his office put out a statement saying “Sen. Vitter thinks that all judges should follow the law as written and not make it up as they go along.”

This is conservative boilerplate – the rubber-stamp equivalent of name, rank and serial number. It leaves open two options: either Vitter isn’t offended by Judge Bardwell’s stand or he’s pandering to the racist vote.
Here’s a Supreme Court decision both Vitter and Bardwell might want to dust off before hiding behind judicial philosophy or personal bias – 1967’s wonderfully named Loving v. Virginia, which states: “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Ed Schultz (L) and Floyd Brown (R).

Apocalyptic urgency and unhinged accusations are the stock in trade of the wingnut fringe. By pumping up fear and anger, they try to divide and conquer for political and personal gain. This week we’re taking a look at a new form of anti-Obama psychosis and a new low in the health care debate.

One of the worst in the political business is back peddling an entrepreneurial impeachment scheme. The culprit is Floyd Brown, a man memorably called “a slimy thug for hire” by George Stephanopoulos during the Clinton years.

You might have first become acquainted with his handiwork in the 1988 campaign, when he was the architect of the infamous Willie Horton commercial, which drew widespread accusations of race-baiting. He’s been disavowed by many sane Republicans, but also served as a delegate to past conventions and as an executive director of Young America’s Foundation.

Well, he’s trying to get back in the game with a noxious new Web site called Impeach Obama. Here’s a snapshot of the hysteria he’s peddling:

How long must we wait... how long should we sit back and permit Barack Hussein Obama to rip apart the fabric of this country before we take action?

Are you terrified at Barack Obama’s campaign to change our country into a third-world nation?

Are you willing to sit back and watch Obama bulldoze our great nation?

Are you willing to let him construct a totalitarian regime... fascism, socialism, Obamaism... take your pick?

It’s got all the telltale signs of Obama Derangement Syndrome – paranoia and pathological hate posing as patriotism. It riffs off race, totalitarianism and apocalyptic politics. In this case, Brown and Co. say they are trying to defend the Constitution by doing violence to it.

There were irresponsible calls for President Bush’s impeachment from the far-left during the last administration, continuing the ping-pong from Nixon to Clinton. Now it’s apparently a standard part of the hyper-partisan bag of tricks, trying to deny the legitimacy of the president from an opposing party by any means necessary. And what’s even worse is that there are folks trying to make a buck by pumping up the hate and hysteria of their fellow Americans.

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Rep. Alan Grayson (L) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R).

With Congress’ approval ratings hitting 21%, according to a new Gallup poll, the polarization and hyper-partisanship is taking a toll. This week we look at two more members of the House of Representatives who’ve been adding fuel to the fire, earning them entry into the Wingnut Hall of Shame: Republican Louie Gohmert and Democrat Alan Grayson.

On the right, Texas Republican Louie Gohmert drew stunned reviews after a rambling speech on the House floor, speaking on the subject of a hate crimes provision attached to a defense bill. Here’s part of what he said:

“If you’re oriented toward animals, bestiality, then that’s not something that could be held against you ... which means that you’d have to strike any laws against bestiality. If you’re oriented toward corpses, toward children. You know, there are all kinds of perversions, what most of us would call perversions, some would say it sounds like fun, but most of us would say were perversions and there have been laws against them and this bill says that whatever you're oriented toward sexually that cannot be a source of bias against someone.”

We’ve heard this riff before from conservatives like Rep. Steve King and Chuck Norris. It’s reaching for slippery-slope legal arguments sure sounds scary – but it’s thoroughly debunked by sources like Politifact – because for, among other reasons, pedophilia, necrophilia and bestiality are criminal acts while gays and lesbians are protected by basic civil rights.

Gohmert’s ramble somehow drew Hitler’s Germany into the conversation – which is an ever-popular wingnut tactic. He also took time to announce that he was not racist because he once voted for Alan Keyes for president – a man most recently seen calling Obama a communist and defending the birthers.

But Gohmert’s been busy developing Hall of Fame Wingnut credentials this year. He’s a co-sponsor of the Birther Bill and waded into the health care debate on 9/11 Truther Alex Jones’ radio show by stating "this socialist health care ... is going to absolutely kill senior citizens. They’ll put them on lists and force them to die early." Stay classy, Louie.

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

ACORN sign (L) and Ellen Sauerbrey (R).

In this edition of "Wingnuts of the Week," the unhinged attacks on the Obama administration from GOP leaders continue while ACORN confirms its worst stereotypes and gives community organizing a bad name.

On the right, the problem since the summer is that the wingnut fringe is blurring with base and influencing party leadership. That disturbing dynamic came into sharp focus this past week after a former Bush administration official claimed that the Obama administration was advancing "fascist, socialist ideals."

Former Bush administration official Ellen Sauerbrey – who served as UN representative, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration and was a two-time GOP nominee for governor in Maryland – warned a September Lincoln/Reagan dinner audience: "I'm really afraid for the future of our country. Our Constitution is indeed being dismantled."

The story was broken by The County Times of St. Mary’s County, Maryland, which said she characterized the president as being surrounded by “a cult-like following edging toward those of past dictators like Juan Peron and even Adolph Hitler.” When subsequently asked to clarify her comments, Sauerbrey disputed the article and denied having personally compared President Obama to Hitler, saying instead: “I think that we have a government that is following policies that are socialistic and fascist."

When among the most accomplished members of the GOP start parroting paranoid talk radio talking points it’s a sign of the degradation of our civil discourse. Her fellow Maryland Republican Michael Steele might want to step in and restore some sanity.

On the left, the wingnut of the week is ACORN – and it’s been a long-time coming. Long a symbol of far-left unaccountability and ideological excesses to folks on the right – despite their supposed non-partisan status – ACORN found itself facing a shocking video sting operation by enterprising conservative activists when workers in 4 cities eagerly offered a pretend pimp and prostitute tax and loan advice on setting up a brothel. One tape shows a worker allegedly offering advice on smuggling 13 underage El Salvadoran girls into the country to work there, including recommendations that the girls be listed as ‘dependents’ on the tax forms.

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The full tapes have yet to be released and at least one ACORN employee reported the requests to the police. But if the pattern holds true, it confirms the worst stereotypes – grassroots groups taking taxpayer dollars to undermine U.S. laws and values of common sense and common decency. The CEO of ACORN called the workers’ actions "indefensible." The House and Senate votes to strip the organization of federal funding and the White House dropped them from participating in the census. It was revealed that the IRS had placed $2 million in tax liens against the group's Big Easy headquarters and even Rep. Barney Frank condemned their actions in a statement released Wednesday. Amid an ongoing investigation and now a lawsuit against the journalist James O’Keefe and the Breitbart.com Web site that first posted the videos, it’s clear that from small stings big scandals can grow.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon.

Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC).

Who knew that we could hit a new congressional low so quickly after the summer recess – or that the uncivil outburst would become a conservative rallying cry approaching absurd folk hero status?

But that’s what happened to South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson since he shouted “you lie!” at President Obama during a joint session of Congress last week.

It was, by all internal accounts, an unhinged moment of anger. Wilson apologized to the president soon after and was roundly criticized by the likes of John McCain and other leading Republicans. He became the face of our coarsening civic dialogue, a sign that Tea Party anger is gaining currency in Congress.

Then he started raising conservative cash by the boatload, as his local Democratic opponent did the same. Hyper-partisan talk radio came rallying to his side. Wilson said he’d stop apologizing and hired a media consultant. Soon it was Wilson who was playing the victim card, with online ads that proclaimed “Joe Wilson is Under Attack.”

At the 9/12 protests in DC, I saw dozens of signs expressing their solidarity with Wilson – “Joe Wilson speaks for me,” “Joe Wilson told the truth,” “He speaks for patriots,” and “Palin-Wilson 2012.”

This week, the House decided to offer the first formal resolution rebuking a congressman for speaking out while the president was giving an address in its history. Wilson deserved it for his wing-nuttery, but my guess is that it will only make him more of a martyr to the fringe.

That’s also likely to be the impact of one Democratic congressman’s argument for the official rebuke. Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia told reporters that Wilson’s ugly outburst "did not help the cause of diversity and tolerance with his remarks.”

No problem so far. But then Congressman Johnson brought the specter of the KKK into it. “I guess we'll probably have folks putting on white hoods and white uniforms again and riding through the countryside, intimidating people," he said. "That's the logical conclusion if this kind of attitude is not rebuked."

On "Wingnuts of the Week," we’ve condemned overuse of KKK, communist and Nazi references in domestic political debates from whatever the source. Wilson and Johnson’s remarks are not equivalent, but saying that idiotic incivility will lead logically to a resurgence of the KKK doesn’t help the argument or the healing process. The moderate majority of Americans see Wilson’s comments for what they are – an unhinged ugliness bubbling up around this president.

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The wingnuts' increasing influence in American politics should be a wake-up call – it is a challenge to the idea that what unites us is greater than what divides us as Americans. Expect more turbulence this fall – and more reason for us to call out the extremes and keep them accountable.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon.

Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Rep. Pete Stark (L) and Jim Greer (R).

As a heated wingnut summer heads to a close, we look at a new GOP “socialist” attack on President Obama for speaking to school children, a ‘brain dead’ attack on Democratic centrists and, in a bonus round, a callous conspiracy theory just in time for the 8th anniversary of 9/11.

President Obama is slated to give a speech to America’s school children next Tuesday on the subject of taking personal responsibility for their success in school.

Last time I checked, personal responsibility and socialism were opposite concepts, but that didn’t stop Florida GOP Chair Jim Greer from firing off an unhinged press release. Here’s an excerpt:

“As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology … I do not support using our children as tools to spread liberal propaganda. The address scheduled for September 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the President's agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our President's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates…Now that school is back in session, President Obama has turned to American's children to spread his liberal lies, indoctrinating American's youngest children before they have a chance to decide for themselves."

Greer accused the president of using the speech to promote his political agenda – though the speech was never slated to cover policy. The Department of Education did change language in a lesson plan that suggested students write a letter about how they would help the president after hearing him speak. PolitiFact’s Truth-o-Meter did a rundown on the ‘controversy’ and published its results with a “Pants on Fire” ruling.

This knee-jerk name-calling and hyper-partisan hysteria is the latest sign that things have become completely unhinged inside the hotbox of the GOP. Accusing the president of having a “socialist ideology” and spreading “liberal lies” and “propaganda” don’t even raise common sense – or common decency – concerns.

Wingnuts live in a world without perspective, and those on the right are trying to turn the President of the United States into a fearful figure in order to score partisan points with their base. Only the far, far left fringe would have accused President Bush of having a ‘fascist ideology” – and they would have rightly been laughed off the stage. These statements are coming from GOP party officials – politicizing a talk to school kids by the President of the United States. Stay classy, GOP.

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Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie-D (L) Jon Voight (R)

This Week’s Wingnuts include congresses’ biggest spender of your money on the left and questions about whether President Obama is provoking a civil war from a celebrity turned conservative commentator. It’s capped off by a Profile in Courage award for John McCain’s honorable defense of President Obama in front of an angry town hall crowd. Let’s begin.

Independent voters disapproval rate for Congress stands at 70% – that’s largely because of the out-of-control spending coming out of Washington. The latest numbers from the OMB estimate a cumulative $9 trillion deficit over the next decade. Of all the unhinged appropriators in the House of Representatives, one name stands out: Hawaii’s Neil Abercrombie, who just claimed the coveted "Porker of the Month" award from Citizens Against Government Waste

Last year, Abercrombie appropriated more taxpayer money than any other member of the House – earmarking a quarter of a billion dollars for 44 projects in fiscal year 2009 alone.

Abercombie’s latest caper was to insist on US prevailing wage for construction costs of a US base in Guam – rates that are 250% higher than local wages. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Abercrombie’s amendment would inflate the cost of the building project by $10 billion. And that’s not all – one of the primary construction companies on the project are among Abercrombie's top 5 donors.

Abercrombie is also a defender of developing an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter – which has been opposed by both President Obama and the Pentagon. This year, the project has received appropriations in excess of $500 million in both the House and Senate and President Obama has threatened to veto any bill that contains its funding. For his part, Abercombie’s already aiming for higher office – the 71-year-old is running for governor of Hawaii.

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