• West says allowing openly gay and les-
bian personnel to serve will "break down
the military": "West, a former U.S. Army
colonel, asked by an audience member about
the abolition of the ban on openly gay people
serving in the armed forces, said he opposed
the move but it's too late to change. He said
new recruits must conform to military stan-
dards. 'When you take the military and you
tell it they must conform to the individual's
behavior, then it's just a matter of time until
you break down the military,' he said." (The
Tampa Tribune)
• West calls Obama supporters a "threat
to the gene pool": "Are there REALLY 80% of
Americans who want higher taxes? I must con-
fess, when I see anyone with an Obama 2012
bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat
to the gene pool." (The Florida Independent)
• West accuses liberal women of "neuter-
ing men," causing federal debt to grow:
"'We need you to come in and lock shields,
and strengthen up the men who are going to
the fight for you. To let these other women
know, on the other side — these Planned
Parenthood women, the Code Pink women,
and all of these women that have been neu-
tering American men and bringing us to the
point of this incredible weakness — to let
them know that we are not going to have our
men become subservient. That's what we
need you to do. Because if you don't, then
the debt will continue to grow.'" (The Florida
Independent)
• West says Muslim congressman rep-
resents the "antithesis of the principles
upon which this country was estab-
lished": "Rep. Allen West, R-Fort Lauderdale,
appeared recently on the South Florida-based
program The Shalom Show and said that Rep.
Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim mem-
ber of Congress, represents the 'antithesis of
the principles upon which this country was
established.'" (The Florida Independent)
• West calls for "censoring" news orga-
nizations publishing material obtained
from Wikileaks: "I think that we also should
be censoring the American news agencies
which enabled [Julian Assange] to do this
and also supported him and applauding him
for the efforts. So that's kind of aiding and
abetting of a serious crime." (The Florida
Independent)
Then, of course, there's the company he
keeps. Shortly after winning office, he hired
right wing radio host Joyce Kaufman as his
chief of staff. Some of her most memorable
statements (emphasis added):
• "In August 2007, when discussing illegal
immigrants, she said on her show, 'If you
commit a crime while you're here, we should
hang you and send your body back to where
you came from, and your family should pay
for it.'" (The Florida Independent)
• "Among the Kaufman clips ricocheting
around the Internet is [one] in which she says
… : 'I don't care how this gets painted by the
mainstream media, I don't care if this shows
up on YouTube, because I am convinced the
most important thing the Founding Fathers
did to ensure me my First Amendment rights
was they gave me a Second Amendment. And
if ballots don't work, bullets will.'" (The
Palm Beach Post)
Kaufman quickly resigned after many of
her incendiary remarks came to light. West
blamed the reaction on "sexism and misogy-
nist behavior," as well as the "racism" of his
opponents. %
Sarasota News Leader February 7, 2014 Page 58
