THAT GUY IN MICHIGAN: NOT JUST A HOMOPHOBE, BUT A FULL-SERVICE RIGHT-WING NUTJOB

You probably saw this story in the last couple of days:

A Michigan committeeman with the Republican Party says that he posted an article on Facebook about the "filthy lifestyle" of LGBT people because it was “worth sharing.”

Slate's Dave Weigel on Wednesday reported that Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema had used his Facebook page to promote an article by Dr. Frank Joseph titled "Everyone Should Know These Statistics on Homosexuals."

... Included in his so-called "statistics," are claims that "homosexual sexual encounters occur while drunk, high on drugs, or in an orgy setting,... Homosexuals account for half the murders in large cities" and "50% of suicides can be attributed to homosexuals." ...

Some Michigan Republicans have called for Agema to resign, but he says he won't.

But this guy's been a nutjob for a long time, on the usual broad range of issues.

He's a sharia-obsessed Muslim-basher who once filed a bill to prohibit Michigan from recognizing foreign laws -- a bill he was invited to talk about at a rally featuring Koran-burning pastor Terry Jones; Agema said he would have appeared at the rally with Terry Jones, but he had a scheduling conflict.

Agema has also made several joint appearances with Kamal Saleem, a self-described former terrorist who now roams the country proclaiming the right-wing Muslimphobe agenda -- despite the fact that his claim that he is an ex-terrorist has been widely debunked. Saleem appeared with Agema on behalf of an Agema bill requiring employers to E-verify employees citizenship status; Saleem said, "If we don't pass this bill we will be legalizing terrorism to be part of our culture."

In 2007, Agema defended the treatment of Abu Ghraib prisoners. More recently, he's accused President Obama of being a secret Muslim, writing on his Facebook page:

"Obama won't acknowledge the National Day of Prayer but allows Muslims to pary [sic] on the step of the capitol, now on Egyptian TV he says he's a Muslim according to some sources. Here he says he's a Christian. We're in trouble folks if this is true."

The guy likes Facebook. Last December, he took to Facebook to exult in the macing of pro-union protestors:

Outgoing state Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, took to Facebook on Tuesday, Dec. 11, to say he was "enjoying" protests by union supporters against right-to-work legislation.

Agema, an Air Force veteran and former American Airlines pilot, wrote on Facebook that "(r)iot police on horses are now macing and pushing back the crowds who tried to storm the building."

"I fell (sic) like I'm back in the military- I'm rather enjoying this," wrote Agema, a term-limited and outspoken lawmaker with strong Tea Party ties. "It brings back memories."

He went on to explain to followers commenting on the post that he does not enjoy riots, but that when "riots occur, its the putting down of inappropriate behavior that is rewarding. That is what we did in the military but with countries and tyrants."

Oh and, yes, he's a homophobe. He once introduced a bill to all but eliminate funding for HIV programs in Michigan and transfer the money to ... the Michigan Aeronautics Fund. (As noted above, he's an ex-pilot.)

There's more, but it's too exhausting to keep cataloging this. Suffice it to say that this guy should have been marginalized a long time ago.

(Warning: All the links above are safe, but if you go to any of them, please note that some contain links to the Michigan Messenger, a site that has apparently been corrupted and is now deemed unsafe by Google. Click carefully.)