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Watch this clip from the Rachel Maddow show of her interaction with the ... unusual, would that be a reasonably neutral word? - congressional candidate in District 4, Art Robinson, the Republican trying to unseat Democrat Peter DeFazio.
Interaction, in that what you'll see here isn't anything like an interview, notwithstanding Maddow's attempt to conduct one. (We've read enough of Robinson's newsletter postings on line to know that the quotes Maddow cites are reasonably representative of the material.)
Then try to imagine actually conversing with this guy - or try to imagine him actually working with other people to get anything done in Congress. The mind boggles.
Meantime, take specific note of his dodge, minute after minute, of the basic and simple question about massive amounts of anonymous money pouring into the district. The fast avoidance footwork says all you need to know.
Even in a surreal political environment filled with Christine O'Donnells, Sharron Angles and Joe Millers, Robinson sets some new standards.
Check out this article from AlterNet backgrounding Robinson, noting that "he has proposed dumping radioactive waste and crude oil waste at sea. But wait! There’s more. For a the better part of a decade at least Robinson has been reprinting, marketing, and selling a virulently racist 19th Century English boys’ adventure novel that suggests Africans are like retarded children."
Read through, and you'll also find the links Robinson has to particularly extreme Christian Reconstructionist activists, through his home-schooling curriculum (it is aimed at "parents concerned about socialism in the public schools"); be sure and read all the way to the end.
ALSO We might note here that most active scientists are associated with organizations which help support research, most often higher education institutions, corporations or nonprofit organizations. Robinson's recent (as in, the last few decades) association seems to be largely with this one, which he created, about seven miles from the nearest small town, Cave Junction. Its sources of income are unclear.