House leadership does some housekeeping

The ultimate symbol of homophobic baffoonery, Arlon Lindner of Rogers, has officially been defeated. Even sweeter was the fact that it was the Republican Party itself that did him in. They chose to endorse Joyce Pepin instead, forcing Lindner to run as an independent.

The man was such an idiot that the Republican Party could no longer tolerate his nonsense.

As the Star Tribune reports:

The loss was traced in part to his penchant for provocative and sometimes offensive remarks that led some House members to call for his censure. Lindner had, in the last few years, called the Dalai Lama the leader of a "cult" and said Buddhism was "incompatible with Christian principles." He also questioned the extent to which gays and lesbians were persecuted by the Nazis and said that gay rights might eventually lead to an African-like AIDS epidemic in the United States.

Lindner blamed the loss of his endorsement partly on Peppin's husband, Greg Peppin, the executive assistant to the House speaker, saying that House leadership "can fix it to where you look bad in your own district."

Arlon, buddy, you certainly did not need the House leadership to accomplish that. You did quite a fine job yourself.