This week’s repugnant Republicans

I know, revealing the Right’s lunacy is like shooting fish in a barrel. All a Louie Gohmert or Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin have to do is open their mouths and you have your quota of insane quotes for the day. But heck, it’s Friday and I need to vent. Here is your weekly dose of repugnant Republicans doing what they do best, being complete morons:

Texas Republican Congressman Joe Barton doesn’t want Satan getting in the way of his legislation. His bill to repeal a decades-old ban on crude oil exports was introduced Tuesday as House Bill 666. By Wednesday, Barton had successfully lobbied to get its number changed to a less-Satanic 702.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says he will cut funding for public schools and universities in a bid to keep the state solvent through June after aggressive tax cuts left gaping budget shortfalls.

A Republican state lawmaker said Thursday that women who become pregnant from sexual assault should not be exempt from an anti-abortion measure, because childbirth resulting from rape is "beautiful." "Obviously rape is awful," West Virginia Del. Brian Kurcaba (R) said during a committee hearing on a new abortion restriction. "What is beautiful is the child that could come from this."

Louisiana Governor Bobbie Jindal’s speech at the American Principles Project’s conference highlighted the need to strongly support public education. But Jindal is currently trying to cut the budget of the state colleges by as much as $300 million —nearly a third of the system’s current budget.

Speaking on Saturday at the Educational Policy Conference in St. Louis, former U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway denounced the notion that conservatives are waging a “war on women,” asserting that sexual libertinism has “impoverished women” and created a culture in which child porn is acceptable.

An Alabama congressman with virulently anti-immigrations beliefs has a new theory on who may be causing the current measles outbreak: “illegal aliens.” Appearing on the Matt Murphy radio show Tuesday morning, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) sees a correlation between immigration and the measles outbreak that has erupted in the United States.