Richard Burr, a Republican who represents the newly insane state of North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, is as complete a stalk of dickweed as can be found in the swampland of American politics. He also is not very bright even though he chairs the ironically named Senate Select Committee on Intelligence which, judging by Burr's recent remarks to some fans back home, is neither very select nor does it have anything much to do with intelligence.

Hey, Sparky. Let CNN remind you that the camera's always on and the mic's always hot.

The North Carolina Republican, locked in a tight race for reelection, quipped that as he walked into a gun shop "nothing made me feel better" than seeing a magazine about rifles "with a picture of Hillary Clinton on the front of it." "I was a little bit shocked at that -- it didn't have a bullseye on it," he said Saturday to GOP volunteers, prompting laughter from the crowd in Mooresville, North Carolina. "But on the bottom right (of the magazine), it had everybody for federal office in this particular state that they should vote for. So let me assure you, there's an army of support out there right now for our candidates."

And, inevitably, there came the walk-back apology which, as these things usually go, is both inadequate and insincere.

"The comment I made was inappropriate, and I apologize for it," Burr, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, said in a Monday statement to CNN.

Well, that makes things all better, doesn't it?

"Inappropriate"? It was a death threat, meathead. I can't tell you how secure I feel knowing that this guy has a top security clearance. But he wasn't finished. If he can't find somebody to plug Hillary Rodham Clinton, he's willing to help assassinate her administration, one appointment at a time.

But he also bluntly said that if Clinton is elected, he will do everything in his power to deny her the right to fill the vacant Supreme Court slot, aligning himself with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's position on the issue. "Well, my answer to you would be it isn't going to happen -- period," Burr said when asked about the prospects of President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, being confirmed in the lame-duck session of Congress. Burr added: "And if Hillary Clinton becomes president, I am going to do everything I can do to make sure four years from now, we still got an opening on the Supreme Court." Burr boasted that he is responsible for the "longest judicial vacancy in history" by denying the confirmation of an Obama judge to serve in the eastern district of North Carolina.

These really are the fcking mole people.

Click here to respond to this post on the official Esquire Politics Facebook page.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io