You’d think after hurting his campaign with months of bizarre remarks, Oklahoma’s Tom Coburn would know by now to keep his foot out of his mouth. Alas, he’s a slow learner.
The Republican Senate candidate in Oklahoma warns of “rampant” lesbianism in some schools in the state in a tape released Monday by his Democratic opponent. […]
In the tape released by the campaign of Brad Carson, the Democratic candidate, Coburn says a campaign worker from Coalgate told him that “lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they’ll only let one girl go to the bathroom. Now think about it. Think about that issue. How is it that that’s happened to us?”
Coburn’s anti-gay issues are notorious. He did, after all, once say that gays have “infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country” and represent “the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today.” But now “rampant lesbianism” is forcing schools to change their bathroom policies in Oklahoma? Even non-partisan education officials had to explain that this is utter nonsense.
“I don’t believe that,” said Keith Ballard, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association. He said the group’s attorneys “haven’t said anything to me about that.”
[…]
Joe McCulley, school superintendent in Coalgate, chuckled when asked about Coburn’s remark.
“He knows something I don’t know. We have not identified anything like that. We have not had to deal with any issues on that subject — ever,” McCulley said.
Coburn’s probable response — that he was just repeating what he was told by someone else — isn’t enough. He’s a Senate candidate talking to voters about an issue important to him. Coburn wasn’t just relaying a story; he was urging his audience to “think about…rampant lesbianism.” I’m afraid the man just isn’t well.