Tom Coburn was born in Casper, Wyoming in 1948. He was a manufacturing manager from 1970 to 1978 at Coburn Opticals in Virginia. Later, he attended and graduated from the University of Oklahoma Medical School, starting a family medicine and obstetrics practice in 1988. From 1994 to 2000 Coburn served three terms in Congress as a Representative for Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District, garnering a reputation as a "conservative firebrand."
••
From an AP article on Coburn:
'On the death penalty, he said: "I favor the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life."
He said he performed two abortions to save the lives of mothers who had congenital heart disease, but opposes the procedure in cases of rape.
"Under the mores we live under today, my lineage wouldn't exist," Coburn said, explaining that his great-grandmother was raped by a territorial sheriff.'
••
This is Coburn talking at a town hall meeting in Hugo, Oklahoma, from August '04:
"You know, Josh Burkeen is our rep down here in the southeast area. He lives in Colgate and travels out of Atoka. He was telling me lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go to the bathroom. Now think about it. Think about that issue. How is it that that's happened to us?"
click to hear audio of that quote (courtesy of atrios)
••
"My desire is not to be a U.S. senator. My desire is to change the Senate." Tom Coburn
No comments:
Post a Comment