Tom Coburn Another Embarrassment in Backwards GOP

COMMENTARY | Every week it seems there's another good ol' boy in our government who seems to want to take our country back a hundred years. I continue to be surprised at these politicians who are supposed to represent the American people. Have they been living in a deep, dark hole, only to pop their head out once in awhile to make hateful and violent comments?

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., should not be representing anyone. He has done nothing for his home state of Oklahoma, and he'd be happy to see America's senior citizens lose their Medicare program. Coburn says that before Medicare was enacted, communities came together to make sure people received medical attention, though he agreed that many received poor care or none at all before the program's inception.

The Daily Kos reports the senator commented Wednesday, "Show me where in the Constitution the federal government is responsible for your health care?"

In Coburn's twisted way of thinking, if we abolish Medicare, we'll just leave our senior citizens on the streets and see if someone takes care of them. I don't see communities coming together anywhere to help the millions of uninsured right now. How is kicking the elderly out of the only medical insurance program they have going to make things better?

It won't, but Coburn doesn't care. He receives excellent medical insurance through his position as a senator, where his job is supposed to be as a representative of the people.

Coburn went on to attack President Obama and Affirmative Action, stating, according to Tulsa World, "Obama's intent is not to destroy, his intent is to create dependency because it worked so well for him. As an African-American male, Obama received tremendous advantage from a lot of these programs."

Though this statement is extremely disrespectful and offensive to our president and our society, Coburn's worst comment was yet to come. With the horrendous violent shooting rampage in Norway, the tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, and countless other violent acts, Coburn's next comment went as low as it could possibly get.

After calling his colleagues cowards, Politico reports Coburn remarked, "It's a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor."

In typical GOP fashion, Coburn's spokesman said the senator was "obviously joking." This seems to be the response for every horrible thing the Republicans say, but violence is no joke. The only joke here is Coburn, and he needs to resign.

If an average person off the street made a comment like that, they'd be hauled into the nearest police station for questioning. Can you imagine what would happen if someone made a comment like that on an airplane? And what if that person was black?

The disrespectful, hateful, violent and prejudiced comments that come from the mouths of some of those in the GOP need to stop being brushed off. Where do we draw the line? Continuing to pander to these good ol' Republican boys needs to end now.