John Staggs Continues To Be Awesome

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett has told election officials they can no longer force candidates to sign a McCarthy-era loyalty oath stating they are not “subversive.”

Although the oath was ruled unconstitutional in the 1970s, it remained on the books in Pennsylvania until it was challenged in recent years — by Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Jay Ressler last year and this year by State House candidate John Staggs, also a Socialist Workers Party member.

Staggs, you may remember, was the totally awesome third candidate in the 2003 Philadelphia mayoral election, whose platform included opposition to the war in Iraq and independence for Puerto Rico. He’s also a butcher who was working on an experimental plane.

As you can tell, if there were any justice in the world, right now Philly would be run by our plane-flyin’ meat packing plant-workin’ socialist friend. Staggs challenged the rule forcing him to sign the loyalty oath when before submitting the signatures. He’s running for the State House in District 198. If he wins — which, uh, is not going to happen — the state legislature would increase its awesomeness content by about a billion percent.

Pa. drops loyalty oath for candidates [AP/Yahoo!]
Butcher, candidate to vie for mayor spot [Daily Pennsylvanian]
State orders end to use of ‘loyalty oath’ [The Militant]