Allen West: Tanning Tax Is 'Racist,' John Wayne Is 'Watching Our Back'

Sarah Palin and Nikki Haley's calculated pick for vice president, Florida Rep. Allen West, currently has the fun task of trying to woo Florida Democrats thanks to redistricting laws that are magically moving his cheese around! So over the weekend West spoke at a 1,200-capacity venue in the usually Democratic-leaning Century Village area of Palm Beach County, and 75 people showed up. There, West told these skeptical retirees, who for the most part had no idea who he was, that the tanning tax included in Obamacare is "racist" and that West is the Democrats' #1 target. The collective response: "He is?" Oh, and then there is Allen West's Facebook page.

While West told the crowd ("crowd") that he liked certain parts of the healthcare bill (kids being on their parents' health plans until age 26; coverage for preexisting conditions), he feels that the bill is approximately 109383939232 pages too long, and that taxing people for using tanning beds is "racist," as opposed to a preventative anti-cancer measure:

You want to talk about something that's really racist? They have a tanning tax. I'm not tanning.

Some lady responded to this comment by calling West a "liar," which is an interesting choice of word. ("You are so tanning.")

Then there was last week, when West appeared to photoshop himself into a picture of John Wayne, illustrated above, and put it on his Facebook page. 

The point? To show solidarity with another ridiculously outspoken and, well, dead, person, who happened to say incredibly racist things from time to time, as this New Times article reminds us. And to apparently roll out his "#1 target" campaign, in which West paints himself as a victim of the Democrats' wrath in order to...win Democrats' votes. Accompanying the photo was this caption:

We will be the #1 target for Washington liberals because of our vocal opposition to their failed big government economic policies. We're ready for the fight, especially with a guy like this watching our back.

Errrr. Who is "we"? And John Wayne is dead? Oh, we are tired now! [Palm Beach Post via Huffington Post , New Times]