Mainesanity: Pine Tree State GOP taken over by Tea Party wackos

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I like Maine. I really do. It's lovely, along the coast -- you know, U.S. Route 1, Kennebunkport, Bar Harbor. It can be quite stunning.

And while it's a state that elects Republicans to Washington -- Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins -- its Republicanism is generally quite moderate. Even the Kennebunkport-based Bushies were fairly moderate, at least compared to the right-wing extremists who currently hold sway in the Republican Party.

Enter the Teabaggers, however. As Mike Tipping of Maine Politics reports (via Chait, and see also the CSM):

An overwhelming majority of delegates to the Maine Republican convention [Saturday night] voted to scrap the the proposed party platform and replace it with a document created by a group of Tea Party activists.

The official platform for the Republican Party of Maine is now a mix of right-wing fringe policies, libertarian buzzwords and outright conspiracy theories.

The document calls for the elimination of the Department of Education and the Federal Reserve, demands an investigation of "collusion between government and industry in the global warming myth," suggests the adoption of "Austrian Economics," declares that "'Freedom of Religion' does not mean 'freedom from religion'" (which I guess makes atheism illegal), insists that "healthcare is not a right," calls for the abrogation of the "UN Treaty on Rights of the Child" and the "Law Of The Sea Treaty" and declares that we must resist "efforts to create a one world government."

It also contains favorable mentions of both the Tea Party and Ron Paul. You can read the whole thing here.

That's certifiably, bat-shit-crazy insane. Like, even more insane than Palin, out there with Beck and Bachmann and the Birthers and the various delusional paranoids of the far right.

And it's in Maine! That's even more insane. (But click on the link above and watch the video. It would appear that Maine's Tea Party GOP is one of the least diverse groups in America. I realize that Maine isn't exactly the most demographically diverse state, but this is ridiculous.)

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Republican Party! Enjoy!