Hell No, "Dr. Chaps" Will Not Resign

16 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt (R).

KRDO’s Greg Miller reports from along the Ronald Reagan Highway:

Critics want him to resign, but a Colorado Springs state representative has a new message for them about comments he made about the attack on a pregnant Longmont woman…

Representative Gordon Klingenschmitt said “This is the curse of God, upon American for our sin of not protecting innocent children in the womb. And part of that curse, for our rebellion against God as a nation, is that our pregnant women are ripped open.”

…Klingenschmitt admits his words were not appropriate, and he apologized for using them saying he wants nothing but a successful recovery for Wilkins. But he stands by his right to free speech even as he takes that TV show that caused him trouble, off air.

“I’m not gonna resign,” Klingenschmitt said Wednesday, though many said he should.

Rep. Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt’s current predicament, and that of fellow Republicans forced to reckon with his embarrassing antics as a lawmaker, were fully anticipated last year after his Youtube video “ministry” repeatedly made national news. As a webcam crackpot, what Klingenschmitt had going for him was his willingness to shock viewers with claims that President Barack Obama is possessed by demons and that Rep. Jared Polis wants to behead people a la ISIS. Pretty much anything in the news is/was fair game for Dr. Chaps to twist into headline-grabbing rants about demons and beheadings and disembowelment. That’s how he got his Youtube views–not many, of course, and far more from left-leaning sites than fellow Christians.

But there’s no question that Chaps was a known commodity.

Press coverage of Klingenschmitt’s latest offense in response to the attack on pregnant Longmont resident Michelle Wilkins has focused heavily on condemnation from fellow Republicans, including Klingenschmitt’s loss of committee postings in a rare flash of caucus discipline from House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso. But the shift from last summer, when Klingenschmitt’s predecessor Mark Waller acknowledged Chaps’ troubles but reminded HD-15 constituents how “legislative majorities matter,” makes Republican outrage today harder to swallow.

It’s entirely possible that Rep. Klingenschmitt will face a GOP primary in 2016. Residents of HD-15 have been burned before, after all, when Doug Bruce was appointed to the seat, only to make such an embarrassment of himself in one legislative session that Waller was compelled to step forward and Old Yeller Colorado’s foremost conservative fiscal policy icon. What makes Klingenschmitt different is that his craziness was well known before he stood for election, and the voters of HD-15 overwhelmingly elected him anyway. We’re not sure Klingenschmitt ever had the credibility to challenge Bob Gardner (or Waller) for Bill Cadman’s Senate seat next year, but keeping a seat he won by almost 70% last year is not implausible even now.

And that speaks louder than anything his embarrassed colleagues can say.

16 thoughts on “Hell No, “Dr. Chaps” Will Not Resign”

gaf says:

April 2, 2015 at 9:41 am

If Klingenschmitt wins the primary, he will certainly be elected because Republicans will join Waller in supporting the party–regardless. In the Assembly last year, Dr. Chaps faced another wing-nut and a young, inexperienced candidate who started late without laying a base of support in the district. In the primary, he faced another wing-nut who petitioned onto the ballot, who carried a lot of baggage himself and was disliked by almost everyone.

So if the Rs want Klingenschmitt out, they need to take care of business in the Assembly and/or primary by recruiting a reasonable candidate and starting early. Dr. Chaps was elected–he represents his party. If his party wants difference representation, they need to get to work. If he is re-elected, shut up about him not representing the party.

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(not) Dr. Chaps says:

April 2, 2015 at 9:51 am

Listen, what I meant wasn’t that God had cursed us by causing pregnant women to be ripped open, no. God has cursed the babies for not better defending themselves in the womb. Fight back, babies!

Resign? You out your damn mind.

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1. FrankUnderwood says:
  
  April 2, 2015 at 10:50 am
  
  Maybe those babies would have an easier time defending themselves if the liberals hadn’t imposed those limits on ammo clips. After all, feti have Second Amendment rights too!
  
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davebarnes says:

April 2, 2015 at 9:53 am

Gordon is a great representative of/for the GOP (Party of Hate®)

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Zappatero says:

April 2, 2015 at 10:27 am

I live in this Fundamentalist Freak’s district. If I ever see him on the street, that is, if he ever gets up the nerve to leave his dank basement, I’ll encourage him to keep doing what he’s doing, cuz he’s the heart and soul of today’s Republican Party.

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1. Conserv. Head Banger says:
  
  April 2, 2015 at 10:37 am
  
  “heart and soul………..” Tom Cotton gives new meaning to the term “male bimbo.”
  
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  1. BlueCat says:
    
    April 2, 2015 at 11:42 am
    
    Maybe so but he’s a perfect fit for the 21st century GOP.
    
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2. BlueCat says:
  
  April 2, 2015 at 11:10 am
  
  Exactly. The Klingenschmitts may not exactly be the norm for today’s GOP but they are hardly freakishly rare. In fact, most of their opinions (with the occasional exception) are quite mainstream in today’s GOP if their expression of those opinions is a little embarrassing for the more circumspect. They can be found in state legislatures, on school boards and City Councils across the country as well as in Congress. They differ from a much larger chunk of elected Rs only in saying out loud what many more think. The rest are willing to tolerate them and the embarrassment they sometimes cause with any unhappiness with them stemming mainly from their not having the sense to self censor a bit. Klingenschmitt and all the other elected wingnuts are very much an accepted part of the GOP today. He won’t be asked to resign. His Republican constituents can be counted on to reelect him. They and their party, with a big assist from gerrymandering, created the situation which makes so many elected Republican Klingenschmitts possible nationwide and at every level from municipal to state to federal. This is the 21st century GOP. Rs who don’t like that reality should either seriously try to take back their party or leave it .
  
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  1. Zappatero says:
    
    April 2, 2015 at 1:04 pm
    
    ++++
    
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FrankUnderwood says:

April 2, 2015 at 10:45 am

Good…..stand your ground; don’t cut and run, Gordon! Would Jesus resign under these circumstances? Hell no!

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1. Progressicat says:
  
  April 2, 2015 at 11:08 am
  
  WWJR When Would Jesus Resign?
  
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  1. Zappatero says:
    
    April 2, 2015 at 1:04 pm
    
    +++
    
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Gray in Mountains says:

April 2, 2015 at 6:14 pm

as noted previously, another nucking fut

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Gray in Mountains says:

April 2, 2015 at 6:16 pm

wow, I’ve not been here awhile, an “edit” feature

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1. BlueCat says:
  
  April 2, 2015 at 6:53 pm
  
  Welcome back. Hope everything is OK and your absence was just a needed break.
  
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  1. Duke Cox says:
    
    April 2, 2015 at 7:33 pm
    
    Hey Gray!
    
    good to see your user name…hope you are well….
    
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