Tom Tancredo

[[File:Tom Tancredo, official Congressional photo.jpg|thumb|165px|[[Democrats]] don't need to make up scare stories about the GOP. They have it right in front of them!]]{{uspolitics}}
'''Tom Tancredo''' {{lived|1945}} is a former [[Republican]] Congresscritter from [[Colorado]] and a noted [[racist]], who was named one of the Ten Worst [[Congress]]men in America by ''Rolling Stone'' Magazine in October of 2006.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20090507004204/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12054520/the_10_worst_congressmen/6 Rolling Stone: Top 10 worst congressmen, 2006]</ref> Tancredo, the [[Irony meter|grandson of immigrants]], has called for the end of all illegal ''and'' legal [[immigration]] to the [[United States]]. 

Tancredo ran for [[President of the United States]] in [[2008 US Presidential Election|2008]] in the Republican primary but did about as well as [[Alan Keyes]] and Duncan Hunter.<ref>ie. A miserable failure as all three met with monumental yawns from the voting public.</ref>  He announced his retirement from [[Congress]] soon after dropping out of the race.

During the 2008 Republican debates, he distinguished himself by invoking Jack Bauer, a fictional television character who [[torture]]s suspects, as a role model for how to deal with [[terrorism]] suspects. This was shot down by [[John McCain]], who is not only a victim of "enhanced interrogation techniques" but also living proof of their ineffectiveness (when his captors demanded the names of his squadron mates, he gave them a bunch of NFL players, and they were none the wiser). He has also called for [[Genocide|dropping a nuclear bomb on Mecca]] in the event of any more [[9/11]]-style terrorist attacks on the U.S.

On 14 April 2009, Tancredo appeared at UNC-Chapel Hill at the invitation of the local chapter of [[Youth for Western Civilization]]. Community members showed up to demonstrate against the xenophobia he was advocating, including students unfurling a banner in the room where he was speaking and a crowd chanting outside. When the crowd didn't disperse, campus [[police]] doused them in pepper spray and threatened them with tasers.<ref>[http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2009/04/police_pepper_spray_and_taser_used_in_protest_not_directed_at_anyone_br_ Police: Pepper spray and Taser used in protest not directed at anyone], The Daily Tar Heel. April, 14, 2009</ref> Much of the dialogue afterward revolved around Tancredo's right to [[free speech]]. This is puzzling since he was free to speak - what he didn't get was a cooperative audience, which he is [[Freedom_of_speech#Right_to_an_audience|''not entitled to'']]. It is also [[ironic]] considering that the free speech of protesters was abridged by the use of chemical weapons by agents of the [[state]]. One student, who had been holding a banner, was later arrested and also received abusive communications advocating for her [[rape]] and [[murder]]<ref>[http://www.ourpaws.info/cramer/ywc/haley-email.doc Documentation of nastiness; also other melodrama]</ref> and has been variously abused on [[StormFront]] and [[Metapedia]].

In 2010, while [[Tea Party]]ing, he stated he'd like to ''bring back'' the [[Jim Crow|literacy test]] to the United States' electoral process and that [[Barack Obama|Obama]] would have never been elected if this test were in place.  Nope, not racist!

During the event, he also said of Obama, "[[Birtherism|If his wife says Kenya is his homeland]], why don't we just send him back?"<ref>[http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/the-dirty-dozen-tom-tancredos-top-12-moments-of-nativism-racism-and-fear-mongering-video.php Tancredo's Dirty Dozen]</ref> 

Later, in 2010, he gave an ultimatum to both Republican candidates in the primary for governor of [[Colorado]] to drop out, presumably in the hope the party would anoint him their candidate instead, or else he would run against them on the [[Constitution Party]] line.  This led to an amusing shouting match on TV between Tancredo and the head of the Colorado Republican Party, who asked Tancredo about his upcoming third party campaign, "What are you going to talk about? Impeach Obama and bomb Mecca?"  Both Republican candidates blew him off and he entered the race as a Constitution Party candidate. After effectively 
fragging
 marginalizing himself in this fashion, he decided to go for the [[wingnut]] gold medal and speak at a conference organized by the  [[Council of Conservative Citizens]].<ref>http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/06/25/tancredo-to-speak-at-white-supremacist-conference/</ref>

Incredibly, even after all this [[Crazification factor|Tancredo still managed to win 36.43% of the vote]] in Colorado's 2010 gubernatorial election, more than three times the number of votes for the Republican candidate, upgrading the Constitution Party to "major party" status for the first time.

Demonstrating that a [[stopped clock]] is still sometimes right, he supports the legalization of [[marijuana|the wacky tobacky]] and, while in Congress, tried attaching an appropriations amendment every year to forbid the U.S. Justice Department from spending money to enforce any federal drug law contradicting state law.<ref>Ulterior motive: Less money for drug enforcement = more money for immigration enforcement? Or perhaps he just likes to party too much with his good buddy [[Dana Rohrabacher]].</ref>

==See also==
*[[Youth for Western Civilization]]
*[[WorldNetDaily]]

==References==
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[[Category:2008 US Presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Anti-abortion activists]]
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[[Category:Birtherism]]
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[[Category:Creationists]]
[[Category:Educators]]
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[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Homophobes]]
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[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:Tea Party]]
[[Category:Xenophobes]]

Categories: 2008 US Presidential candidates, Anti-abortion activists, Authors, Birtherism, Chickenhawks, Christians, Creationists, Educators, Failed Tea Party candidates, Former United States Representatives, Homophobes, Immigration, Islamophobes, Living people, Perennial candidates, Racists, Right-wing activists, Tea Party, Xenophobes