By Nick Sooner Clause | AuxBeacon Reader

[Editor’s Note: An AuxBeacon reader referencing Grove Composite Squadron (SWR-OK-123) expressed a desire to nominate Oklahoma Sen Jim Inhofe for Civil Air Patrol Congressional Public Relations Officer of the Year 2018. A few hours later this story appeared in our inbox. Thank you for your contribution.]

CAP Members:

It is quick work to demonstrate that Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) makes use of our cadets for effective campaign photo opportunities. As the newly appointed chairman of the Armed Services Committee with oversight and funding influence, the Civil Air Patrol leadership is more than willing to play the role of CACMacDaddy for this old man. Instead of being groomed in the dark like mushrooms, our cadets deserve to know the truth.

US Senator James Mountain Inhofe is well known for his aviation incidents, his idiotic climate change denials, his effort to ban same-sex marriage and his passion to legislate English as the national language of the United States. He served as Congressman for Oklahoma’s 1st District from January 3rd 1987 to November 15th 1994 prior to becoming a US senator on November 16th 1994.

Jim Inhofe Lied About the Year of His College Degree

For years, in political biographies and directories, Jim Inhofe stated that he graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1959 with a BA degree in economics. University Registrar Sharon Mossberger revealed records showing Inhofe completed his bachelor of arts degree in economics in 1973 while he was serving as a state senator. When this discrepancy was revealed in 1994, Inhofe initially denied the story and blamed Democrats as out to tarnish his U.S. Senate campaign.

Inhofe claimed that he “didn’t know anything about this” but then finally admitted that he had been allowed to take part in graduation ceremonies in 1959, though he was a few credits short of completing his degree, and that he had not completed his required coursework until 1973.

Jim Inhofe Has Conservative Views on Homosexuality

During his campaign for a Senate seat in 1994, Jim Inhofe proudly made use of the phrase “God, Guns, and Gays” to clearly communicate his platform to the people who elected him. Fourteen years later, in 2008, his campaign ran an ad featuring a wedding cake with two male figures on top, fading into opponent Andrew Rice’s face. Inhofe’s office has stated that he “does not hire openly gay staffers due to the possibility of a conflict of agenda.” He also declared on the Senate floor that he was “really proud to say that in the recorded history of our family, we’ve never had a divorce or any kind of homosexual relationship.”

Apparently, homosexuality among Civil Air Patrol members would be something that Jim Inhofe would expect CAP leaders, like Holly Fieglein and Mark Smith, to portray as shameful based on the “pride” that he feels.

National Conference 2018: Being Gay in Civil Air Patrol

Port Isabel – Cameron County Airport Incident

On October 21st 2010, Jim Inhofe landed his Cessna on a closed runway at Port Isabel – Cameron County Airport in south Texas, prompting construction workers to run like Cary Grant in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. In a recorded telephone call, the men’s supervisor told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that Inhofe “scared the crap out of” the workers, adding that the Cessna “damn near hit” a truck. The Cameron County Airport manager, also speaking to the FAA in a recorded telephone call, opined:

“I’ve got over 50 years flying, three tours of Vietnam, and I can assure you I have never seen such a reckless disregard for human life in my life. Something needs to be done. This guy is famous for these violations.”

Those are pretty strong words, especially the implication that there were other violation. Additional sources, like RationalWiki and FriedmanOfThePlains, suggest that Inhofe is a wingnut, bat-shit crazy and unsafe. That might not be the best example to set for Civil Air Patrol cadets.

Jim Inhofe on Climate Science

With aviation judgment of this caliber, Sen Inhofe then set out to dismiss scientists with graduate degrees on the topic of climate change. On February 26th 2015, Inhofe displayed a snowball on the Senate floor and tossed it before delivering remarks in which he claimed that environmentalists keep talking about global warming even though it keeps getting cold.

In 2016, Inhofe confessed on the Eric Metaxas Show that his granddaughter once came home from school to confront him with her knowledge regarding his denial of climate change. Without specifics, Inhofe concluded that science teachers are brainwashing American children.

“I did some checking, and, Eric, the stuff that they teach our kids nowadays, they are brainwash — you have to un-brainwash them when they get out.”

Inhofe is a regular recipient of monies from the fossil fuel industry, according to the Dirty Energy Money database maintained by Oil Change International. Specifically, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Inhofe has received over $529,000 from the Oil & Gas Industry since 2012. Over the length of his career, Inhofe has received $1,898,410 from the Oil & Gas Industry per OpenSecrets.org.

It is far easier to take money from this dirty industry if one publicly wraps themselves in the US flag and in Jesus of Nazareth. Inhofe has made numerous overseas trips on missions that he described as “a Jesus thing” and that were paid for by the U.S. government. He has said that his trips included some governmental work but also involved “the political philosophy of Jesus, something that had been put together by Doug Coe, the leader of The Fellowship… It’s all scripturally based.”

“I believe very strongly that we ought to support Israel; that it has a right to the land. This is the most important reason: Because God said so.”

“Well actually the Genesis 8:22 that I use in there is that ‘as long as the earth remains there will be seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night,’ my point is, God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.”

Jim Inhofe is an old and hapless poster child for why Civil Air Patrol cadets and future American leaders can no longer be raised as mushrooms in the Oklahoma darkness.