Great Falls radio host Rick Tryon doesn’t identify himself with the Tea Party, but nonetheless had some strong reactions to the news that former Lt. Gov. and current US Senate candidate John Bohlinger (D-MT) compared the Tea Party to the Taliban.
Here’s what Tryon had to say at his PoliticsMontana.com website:
Well, I can cross former Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger off the list of Senate candidates I’ll consider voting for. He has now joined the growing number of Montana politicians who embarrass us all by making asinine comments. Unbelievably, he actually described tea party folks as Taliban. I’m not a tea party follower but I do know the difference between a group of murderous foreign thugs who throw acid into little girls’ faces and a group of patriotic mostly older Americans who protest debt and deficit at peaceful rallies. Anyone who doesn’t understand that difference and who uses that kind of divisive, idiotic rhetoric for selfish political gain has no business being a U.S. senator representing Montana. It’s a cynical slap in the face to every innocent man, woman and child slaughtered, brutalized and tortured by the actual Taliban.
You should be ashamed of yourself, Mr. Bohlinger.
Meanwhile, Montana Tea Party groups are demanding an apology from Bohlinger. Tom Balek has the full letter from the Montana Tea Party Coalition:
On Tuesday, former Lieutenant Governor John Bohlinger announced his candidacy for the Montana US Senate seat in next year’s election. Today Bohlinger told Chuck Johnson, Lee Newspaper Capital Bureau Chief, that his decision to run was driven by last month’s federal government shutdown, which he blamed on the “Tea Party Taliban”. He said the Tea Party thought the shutdown was “clever” and “cute”.
It appears that Mr. Bohlinger’s campaign will consist of the same kind of inflamed rhetoric that currently paralyzes our capital. His alarming lack of understanding of both the Taliban and the Tea Party does little to qualify him as a candidate for such an important office, and insults Montanans who actually fought the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Taliban is a violent terrorist organization of religious extremists who routinely torture and murder innocent men, women and children. Women, gays, and anyone who opposes their oppressive Sharia laws have no rights under Taliban rule.
The Tea Party is made up of concerned American citizens who support the US Constitution, including its carefully designed citizens’ rights and limits on the scope of government. We are opposed to government fraud, corruption and waste, and seek fiscal accountability. We are concerned about profligate government spending, our unsustainable $17 trillion debt, and the mismanagement of our national economy, recently epitomized by the disastrous Affordable Health Care Act. We want our children and grandchildren to enjoy a standard of living at least somewhat commensurate with our own.
If asked, Mr. Bohlinger would say he supports the Constitution. He would most likely claim to oppose government waste and fraud. And he may have good intentions for his children and grandchildren.
The Montana Tea Party Coalition asks Mr. Bohlinger if that makes him a member of the Taliban, too.