Slavery and Death Penalty: What is UP with Crazy Arkansas Politicians?

Slavery wasn't such a bad thing. It wouldn't be such a bad idea to impose the death penalty on rebellious children.

These sure as hell aren't my opinions. They are the wisdom, so to speak, of recent statements by Arkansas policititians that came to light recently.

The Arkansas Times is having a field day with all this. First they reported on Rep. Jon  Hubbard, the guy who said slavery might have actually been a good thing.

Jon Hubbard of Arkansas says slavery might
not have been such a bad idea.

Said Hubbard: “… the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.”

Hubbard also opines: “Wouldn’t life for blacks in America today be more enjoyable and successful if they would only learn to appreciate the value of a good education?”

Actually, he's partly got a point there. Only the blacks in question don't need to learn to appreciate the value of a good education. They just need to have access to such education. You know, in buildings that aren't crumbling, with up to date technology and textbooks, and teachers who know what they're doing. Something new like that, not the substandard schools many minorities are subject to.

Hubbard has thoughts on other subjects as well, oh yes he does. Take immigration. He doesn't like it. He says: .."the immigration issue, both legal and illegal... will lead to planned wars or extermination. Although now this seems to be barbaric and uncivilized, it will at some point become as necessary as eating and breathing."

The Arkansas Times article doubtless leaves some details out. Or Hubbard is. Who's idea is it to have these planned wars and exterminations? And why? I don't know, Hubbard seems a bit pessimitic to me.

This all gets better when you check out the writings of Charles Fuqua, a Republican running for a seat in the Arkansas legislature. Fuqua says,  that several things, including the entire U.S. economy,.violate the 10 Commandments. I'm not sure how, but I'm not an expert like Fuqua.

Charles Fuqua says a viable option for parents of
rebellious kids is to kill the little brats

A major highlight of Fuqua's philosophy is his idea that imposing the death penalty on rebellious children isn't such a bad idea.

"The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellioius children is not something to be taken lightly."

Of course, a parent can't just off his kid the first time the little brat mouths off.  The courts should carefully decide which rebellious kid should die, and which should not, which adds a welcome sense of orderliness and legal heft to the pratice of getting rid of annoying kids.

And happily, parents wouldn't be compelled to kill their rebellious kids. It's just an option.

Fuqua is certainly not afraid of using death in other instances. For instance, he notes it's so expensive to keep prisoners in jail for a long time. Needless to say, Fuqua's got an elegant solution:

"We cannot continue to sustain the percentage of our population that is in prison. No prison term should be longer than two years. Prison should be unpleasant and rehabilitative. Anyone that cannot be rehabilitated in two years should be executed."   

So even if you're jailed for two years on a nonviolent crime, they can say "off with your head" in Fuqua's world. I guess that goes along with keeping rebellious kids in check.
Other thoughts from Fuqua:
"The minimum wage should be set at zero. It is simply a lie that raising the minimum wage helps people at the low end of the pay scale."

Yeah, make them work for free. Kind of like they did in the days of slavery. Which means Fuqua would find kindred spirits in Hubbard, the first guy in this post, and another Arkansas pol, Roy Mauch.

Mauch doesn't have much of a problem with slavery, either.

".. If slavery were so God-awful, why didn’t Jesus or Paul condemn it, why was it in the Constitution and why wasn’t there a war before 1861?
The South has always stood by the Constitution and limited government. When one attacks the Confederate Battle Flag, he is certainly denouncing these principles of government as well as Christianity."

I guess the civil war continues to rage, at least in Mauch's mind.

And Mauch had this to say about the 14th amendment, which among other things, granted U.S. citizenship to recently released slaves after the Civil War:

Says Mauch:  "The 14th Amendment completely destroyed the Founders’ concept of limited government and was coerced on this nation by radical people and in my opinion was never legally ratified as required by Article V of the Constitution. It was essentially a Karl Marx concept and would have never come from the pen of Madison or any of the patriots from Virginia."

Who knew Karl Marx was so interested in former slaves and freeing slaves would unleash the scourge of worldwide socialism?   Gee, what right does the government have to say slavery is a bad thing.

All these wacko viewpoints from Arkansas pols are funny, but there's a serious undercurrent. The Arkansas Times notes Fuqua is running for office with help from the Arkansas Republican Party. All of them have supporters in the Republican Party, and in some circles among the Arkansas electorate. And from people in other states as well.

The weird Arkansas politicians seem really into the Constitution, which is nice. In that spirit, I will say they have the First Amendment right to spout their stupidity. But it's still shocking that in this day in age, people in (minor) positions of power could be so ignorant, so bigoted, so whacked out.