Jim DeMint...Americans Freed the Slaves!

Jim DeMint, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, former U.S. Senator from South Carolina, and latest spiritual guru of the tea party, told a Christian radio host last week completely un-ironically that "the conscience of the American people" freed the slaves in the 1860's, not "big government."

Per Mr. DeMint:
"Well, the reason that the slaves were eventually freed was the Constitution.   It was like the conscience of the American people.   Unfortunately, there were some court decisions like Dred Scott and others that defined some people as property; but the Constitution kept calling us back to ‘all men are created equal’ and we have inalienable rights in the minds of god.   But a lot of the move to free the slaves came from the people, it did not come from the federal government.   It came from a growing movement among the people, particularly people of faith, that [slavery] was wrong.

People like Wilberforce who persisted for years because of his faith and because of his love for people.   So no liberal is going to win a debate that big government freed the slaves.   In fact, it was Abraham Lincoln, the very first Republican, who took this on as a cause and a lot of it was based on a love in his heart that comes from god."

This is the same teabagging wingnut who joined other Republican wingnuts on the eve of President Obama's first inauguration to plot how they could undermine and derail Mr. Obama's Presidency!

More details and hilarity at Gawker.