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Tuesday, December 17, 2013
News / Opinion Bob Rucho kind of reminds me of Kim Jong-il
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 2:04 PM
Editor's note: CL copy editor Emiene Wright contributed to this post.
On Sunday, Sen. Bob Rucho, a Republican from Mecklenburg County, penned a tweet that has since caused a firestorm of controversy (sic throughout):
"Justice Robert's pen & Obamacare has done more damage to the USA then the swords of the Nazis,Soviets & terrorists combined."
In other words, the Affordable Care Act will kill as many Americans as the most oppressive political regimes of the last 100 years.
For anyone shocked by Rucho's tweet, remember that the sassy statesman hardly ever shies away from expressing his convictions. The history buff was a primary author of the bill that rejected expanding Medicaid, leaving hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians without healthcare. His tax-reform bill, which was ultimately rejected, would have added a state sales tax to food and prescription medicine. During a voters' forum at Central Piedmont Community College in August, an audience member referenced the state legislature's takeover of Charlotte's airport, to which Rucho replied, "Apparently you might've been reading the newspaper too many times."
Considering Rucho's passion for history and oppressive public policy, the following is a list of classic dictators Rucho has reminded us of "too many times."
Kim Jong-il
Despite a book Jong-il wrote touting his adoration for journalism, North Korea consistently ranks among countries with the weakest freedom of speech. And don't Jong-il and Rucho kind of look alike!?
- Zennie Abraham (flickr Creative Commons)
Pol Pot
When it came to his countrymen, the Cambodian dictator shared Rucho's IDGAF attitude. During his regime, Pot exiled city dwellers to the country to work in farms and labor camps. The forced labor and resulting malnutrition killed off about 25 percent of the country's population. To be fair, rejecting Medicaid will only leave about 5 percent of North Carolina's population without health care coverage. But, you know, what's 500,000 people.
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko
Like Rucho, the president of Belarus is known for controversial statements. In 1995, Lukashenko made a remark that praised Hitler ("Not everything connected to that well-known Hitler was bad"). When an openly gay European Union leader called him Europe's "last dictator," Lukashenko responded that it was "better to be a dictator than gay." Someone get this guy on Twitter.
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