Sidebar: Gordon ‘Dr. Chaps’ Klingenschmitt among crowd at Lamborn ‘liberty’ talk

 
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn on Tuesday told a small crowd in a bar-basement in Colorado Springs that he and other Republican lawmakers were urging military officers to resign in protest over Pres. Obama’s Middle East policy, he seemed to have been attempting to shore up his wobbly support among the 5th District’s far-right “liberty voters.”

Who are the Colorado Springs “liberty voters”?

Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt
Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt

A photo taken at the event captured among the crowd controversial Statehouse District 15 candidate Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt. He sits at one of the fold-out tables staring at the camera as Lamborn delivers his remarks.

As Corey Hutchins first reported yesterday, one of the audience encouraged Lamborn to “support the generals and the troops in this country despite the fact that there is no leadership from the Muslim Brotherhood in the White House.”

Lamborn responded enthusiastically.

“You know what, I can’t add anything to that, but do let me reassure you on this,” he said. “A lot of us are talking to the generals behind the scenes, saying, ‘Hey, if you disagree with the policy that the White House has given you, let’s have a resignation, you know. Let’s have a public resignation, and state your protest, and go out in a blaze of glory.’ I haven’t seen that very much, in fact I haven’t seen that at all in years.”

It was the kind of remark that makes news: Republican lawmakers with nothing to lose but an endless number of news-cycles to win urging military generals to ruin their careers and resign during a time when the nation is engaging an expanding terrorist organization overseas.

It’s the kind of remark Klingenschmitt has been dropping at a regular clip for years.

As Right Wing Watch has documented, Klingenschmitt has said that “‘Obamacare causes cancer,’ that the Bible commands people to own guns in order to ‘defend themselves against left wing crazies,’ and that the FCC is allowing demonic spirits to ‘molest and visually rape your children.'”

In August, Klingenschmitt wrote an email to supporters of his Pray in Jesus’ Name Project, denouncing Colorado Congressman Jared Polis for threatening Christian Americans by demanding equal rights for gay Americans. It got ugly.

The full quote:

[blockquote]The openly homosexual Congressman Jared Polis introduced a revised bill to force Christian employers and business owners to hire and promote homosexuals with ZERO RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS for Christians who want to opt out.

Polis “wants sexual orientation and gender identity treated the same way as race, religion, sex, and national origin, when it comes to employment protections,” claims the Advocate, under the headline “Polis trims ENDA’s religious exemption.”

Dr. Chaps’ comment: The open persecution of Christians is underway. Democrats like Polis want to bankrupt Christians who refuse to worship and endorse his sodomy. Next he’ll join ISIS in beheading Christians, but not just in Syria, right here in America. [/blockquote]

Hutchins tweeted the night of the event that Lamborn acknowledged Klingenschmitt and called him his “friend.” He said of candidates for office: “They’re not going to be perfect.”

hutchins tweet

Hutchins told the Independent that the crowd at the bar barely reacted to Lamborn’s comments about urging generals to resign.