Rep. Jim Welker of Loveland got a pass a few weeks ago for forwarding a racially charged e-mail about Katrina victims to his fellow lawmakers. Now we learn it wasn’t the first time he forwarded bigoted views to others — and that he was warned about it by his own party in 2003.

The 2003 e-mail is nothing short of disgusting. First, he quotes an article by a radical right group that says:

In surveys conducted by homosexuals, gay men admitted that they regularly swallow the semen and ingest the feces and urine of their partners. Such common practices have led to massive outbreaks of hepatitis, intestinal parasite, yeast infections, herpes, other deadly viral infections, even typhoid fever. Still, nothing under present law prevents active homosexuals — with or without AIDS — from working in food handling professions, or with elderly and young children, who are especially vulnerable to illness.

He adds his own comment at the end:

Lately, there is a lot of talk about homosexual marriages, etc. From a health standpoint, the homosexual and lesbian behavior is not a healthy life style and can even result in early death. Our society worries about people wearing seat belts, losing weight, smoking, taking drugs and abusing alcohol. Where is our consistency?

When asked yesterday to respond to criticism over the discovery of the 2003 e-mail, Rep. Welker said:

Just because I send something doesn’t mean I agree with it,” Welker said Friday. “It’s like letters to the editors. It can be a very powerful tool for discussion.”

I don’t thank that dog will hunt anymore. Check out this 2005 e-mail in which he forwarded an article blasting undocumented immigrants and blaming them for everything from gangs to drugs in our schools. While he says he doesn’t agree with everything in it, he also says:

We need to contact our leaders in Washington, DC, so they will make the necessary changes in the very near future for the sake of our great nation!

Rep. Welker appears to be a serial offender. How many passes should he get? Maybe there should be a new kind of three-strikes law. The first time, it’s a youthful indiscretion. The second time, it’s a regrettable lapse of judgment. The third time, you’re out.