This is just downright embarrassing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cHTRzvUyalQ

9/23/2014 11:34:54 AM

this will get taken down from youtube soon, you should link from comedy central directly

9/23/2014 11:45:00 AM

Here is the CC link:
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/8q3nmm/burn-noticed

9/23/2014 11:47:21 AM

could this not have gone in the global warming thread?

9/23/2014 12:29:42 PM

yes it could and yes we're fucked

9/23/2014 12:35:34 PM

I'd say keep this thread. The other thread is a science discussion and this thread should be us gawking at republican know-nothingness. What a train wreck, is anyone willing to defend these assholes?

9/23/2014 6:56:57 PM

Congress routinely create policy on things they know nothing about. Think back to the "series of tubes" thing. That politician was just talking to a lobbyist who used that analogy to sway his opinion.

These politicians are just talking to their energy company lobbyists for their information. It's the best they can do, they're not intelligent enough or trained in reading scientific papers, and they're not going to talk to scientists for their opinion when they have lobbyist friends with money more than willing to share their thoughts.

9/23/2014 8:14:12 PM

I call bullshit. There may be a few isolated true believers in congress but the vast majority know exactly what they are doing when they stand up and attempt to cast doubt with a good sound bite: They are trying to stuff their campaign coffers.

Of the three mentioned by Stewart

Steve stockman has an accounting degree from U of Houston.

Dana Rohrbacher has a masters from U of S. Cal. In American studies

Larry bucshon has a medical degree from U of Chicago


While none of these are technical science degrees I think it shows that none of them are imbeciles. They are all smart enough not to go to their committee and not do some basic research and fact checking. But the truth doesn't matter to a sociopath, only clinging to power (by saying whatever is needed to keep the campaign finance faucets flowing). I believe we do a huge disservice to the world by not acknowledging "this guy is bought and paid for and willing to throw the world under the bus so that he can cling to power for a few more terms."

There are some legitimate knuckle draggers out there that just can't parse science. I just don't think it makes up more than an extremely small minority in congress.

9/23/2014 9:11:30 PM

Quote :

"Congress routinely create policy on things they know nothing about. Think back to the "series of tubes" thing. That politician was just talking to a lobbyist who used that analogy to sway his opinion."

oh jesus yes. see also: gun control, in almost every case.

Quote :

"There are some legitimate knuckle draggers out there that just can't parse science. I just don't think it makes up more than an extremely small minority in congress."

I will accept that maybe at least some of those 3 absolutely get it, and are bullshitting for bucks.

I do not agree that the mouth breather contingent in Congress--particularly in the House--is an extremely small minority.

9/23/2014 9:39:05 PM

Quote :

"I do not agree that the mouth breather contingent in Congress--particularly in the House--is an extremely small minority."

At best it's a very large minority. I don't even want to think about it at worst.

9/24/2014 10:14:38 AM

^

9/24/2014 12:12:43 PM

So just to be clear, you guys feel that somewhere between a large minority and a majority of republican leaders fall somewhere between incredibly stupid and handicapped?

That says a hell of a lot about conservatism, in general, don't you think?

9/24/2014 2:19:57 PM

Same is true for Democrats, though. I think it's a general indictment of

a)our electoral process
b)our electorate

[Edited on September 24, 2014 at 2:44 PM. Reason : .]

9/24/2014 2:43:55 PM

It's not just republicans. I sometimes watch CSPAN, and the way politicians talk vs. reading about them in the news is very, very different. Harry Reid for example sounds like a demented old man who can barely string a sentence together on CSPAN, but when he's reported on, this doesn't really come across (usually...)-- he should not be in congress or any leadership position for that matter.

Similarly, there was a republican politician from the midwest on, and his words if you read them were typical conservative tripe. But when you hear them, there is inflections and nuance there that makes me think this guy has bitter hatred for poor people, it's not a mere ideology of trickle down economics. It's like he knows trickle down is a failure, but can hide behind the ideology, because it's almost impossible for the media to report on the real meaning behind his body language and intonation.

So i'd wager, just based on watching CSPAN, that most of Congress is pretty bad off. Al Fraken is probably one of the most articulate, thoughtful and intelligent politicians you'll see in congress. Just reading about these people doesn't paint the full picture.

9/24/2014 2:43:56 PM

^^Im not holding democrats up as a bastion of intelligence, but are they really perfectly analogous to republicans? What issues are democrats straight denying hard evidence on similar to climate change denial, trickle down economics, we were founded as a Christian nation, etc. It could be my bias, but nothing really jumps in my mind.

^ watching them in person can be very telling, but I still refuse to believe that they are so stupid that they can't even parse the basics of climate change when a scientist is there explaining to them the details. It's not ignorance, it's willful ignorance. They don't attempt to understand the problem because they are paid to promote a non-solution (the status quo). I think they know a hell of a lot more about climate change than their simpleton questioning suggests in the video.

9/24/2014 3:27:20 PM

GMO's are the democrat's anti-science issue, but except for some local labeling laws I don't think many have taken up the cause

9/24/2014 3:58:42 PM

Also add gun control. Most democrats are wildly misinformed (at best) or downright stupid (at worst) about the subject matter.

TBH this isn't a party issue. This is the effect the electorate has on governance, as they'd rather vote for people that can make them feel warm and fuzzy about their particular issue of choice or their party line stance, rather than voting for people that have more than 2 brain cells wired together.

I also think there's a brain drain in governance because smart people don't want to put up with being around a bunch of imbeciles every day and never be able to get shit done, therefore they don't run.

[Edited on September 24, 2014 at 4:22 PM. Reason : i a word]

9/24/2014 4:21:28 PM

Republican understanding of climate change used to be a whole lot better, but it has dropped steadily since the early aughts. McCain ran with cap and trade as a part of his platform in '08, now he just kinda ignores it and sidesteps when anyone questions him about it. Do you guys remember the commercial of Gingrich and Pelosi sitting on a couch talking about what we can do about climate change?, that was also in '07 or '08.



So what happened? Did Republicans just start getting stupider in the past 6-10 years?

Or, and I think this is the simpler explanation, the Oil and Gas industry doubled its lobbying spending, paying Republicans to ACT stupid and PLAY dumb - to maintain the status quo.

9/24/2014 6:22:35 PM

Look, I'll admit that Democrats got carried away with the whole labeling of "Assault Weapons" and banning certain guns based basically on aesthetics. That's a pretty minor complaint though compared to the anti-science GOP, who also have some of the most asinine arguments against gun control as well. I would hope watching us bomb sovereign nations with impunity on network TV would make people realize that guns aint protecting you from our government.

9/24/2014 8:59:05 PM

I don't think that's a perfect analogy. There wasn't impunity when we were actually occupying. Regardless, that's mostly academic; armed uprisings are not common or likely here in the States.

Dems are plenty guilty of adhering to their worldview squarely in the face of the facts. I think lately (for a decade or more)the GOP is worse. I think ignorance is tolerated more, and certainly celebrated more, in conservative circles. I do not think that's an indictment of conservatism as an ideology.

9/25/2014 12:37:48 AM