OK Pol Uses Homophobic Comic Book

Via Towleroad comes the story of Oklahoma politician Brent Rinehart's homophobic comic book, which he is using to attack the people he thinks are trying to run him out of his OK County Commission office:

The "liberal good ol' boys,” gays and Satan are doing everything they can to get Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart out of office, a comic book prepared by his re-election campaign claims. The comic book, obtained Wednesday by The Oklahoman, is expected to be mailed to voters by Rinehart's campaign, Rinehart said.

"A drowning man tends to thrash about,” state Attorney General Drew Edmondson, one of the targets in the book, said through a spokesman. "Nothing Rinehart says is worthy of comment or rebuttal.”

Edmondson filed felony campaign finance charges against Rinehart last year, alleging Rinehart and his former campaign manager illegally funded the 2004 campaign for county commissioner. A trial has been scheduled for September.

Another of the book's targets, Sheriff John Whetsel, called it "extremely pathetic and very bigoted. I was taken back that in 2008, a candidate would use that type of inflammatory material and do it under the name of being a Christian.”

"This is one of the strangest things I've ever seen,” said Keith Gaddie, a political science professor at the University of Oklahoma. "I've never seen a comic book with the phrase ‘anal sodomy' in it before. That was a new one for me.” Gaddie said comics were common political campaign tools decades ago, but not for today. "He's pretty much grinding every ax he's got from his days in the county commission,” Gaddie said. "In a way, it's a sophisticated piece.”

In one sequence, Satan says: "If I can get the kids to believe homosexuality is normal!” The angel replies: "Hey Satan, not with Brent around you won't!”

Illustrations by Sally Kern.