April 05, 2014 10:03 AM UTC

Even More Bob Beauprez Muslim Conspiracy Theorizing

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Colorado Independent's John Tomasic reported yesterday evening on yet more bug-eyed wackiness from 2006 2014 GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez:

Last January, [Beauprez] wrote a 1,500-word column for Townhall entitled “Muslim Brotherhood in the White House,” in which he embraced and promoted reports citing vague sources who implied that the Obama administration had been infiltrated by “six American Islamist activist… Muslim Brotherhood operatives.” There is a lot of block quoting in the piece and talk of terrorism and Hamas and power grabs. In short, there is the general whiff of political fever swamp about the entire column. (It was recommended on Facebook 771 times.) It comes off as not the kind of thing the head of a purple state would be expected to author, at least not under his or her own name. [Pols emphasis]

Beauprez concluded the piece by telling his readers that Egypt is “being transformed into a theocratic Islamic fascist country” and that “with the U.S.-Brotherhood relationship in Egypt as the obvious example, Islamists in Iran, Syria, Palestine, Libya, Afghanistan – and, yes, even in the United States – can only be encouraged by the thought of a second term for Barack Obama.”

Beauprez's January 2013 column relies on a report that Beauprez admits is unsourced, and another based on the account of a disgraced former FBI agent named John Guandolo. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nationwide watchdog tracking extremist figures and organizations, has this to say about Guandolo:

Guandolo is vice president of Strategic Engagement Group, a nonprofit organization that says it was formed in 2010 “for the purpose of exposing and defeating efforts to subvert the United States Constitution and subjugate the American People.” He has stated in training sessions around the country that Muslims “do not have a First Amendment right to do anything,” [Pols emphasis] according to news reports.

Reportedly, Guandolo believes (among many other things) that CIA Director John Brennan was converted to Islam after a "counterintelligence operation" against him in Saudi Arabia many years ago. Our readers know Brennan is not the most popular guy right now with Colorado's own Sen. Mark Udall, but the idea that Brennan, chiefly controversial for his support of drone strikes and (at least past) support of harsh interrogation methods against Muslims is one seems very distant from reality as we understand it. There's no legitimate evidence to support this allegation that we can find, but Guandolo's theories were enthusiastically regurgitated for a while in early 2013 by right wing media outlets like World Net Daily and Glenn Beck's The Blaze.

For those just joining us, since launching his campaign a month ago from Washington, D.C., Beauprez's time "in the wilderness," in between his campaigns for public office, has emerged as a veritable treasure trove of loony-tunes allegations and conspiracy theories: including such topics as the "giant hoax" of climate change, how Muslim Sharia Law is "creeping in" right here in Colorado, and how President Barack Obama is "pushing the boundaries" toward "civil war." All of which is, of course, the perfect segue into Obama's birth certificate.

If Beauprez's free-ranging embrace of such a multitude of chain email conspiracy theories seems disqualifying to you, you're probably right, setting aside the GOP primary of course.