Republican Stupidity Series #1
God is punishing us and other medieval thinking
“God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga)
What century does Large Marge live in? Shouldn’t our political leaders be at least conversant with last century’s scientific knowledge?
Proving her statement wasn’t a just a joke, she later defended it saying, “Jesus talked about that in Luke 12:54-56. Yes, eclipses are predictable and earthquakes happen and we know when comets are passing by, however God created all of these things and uses them to be signs for those of us who believe.”
If God was sending “signs” she wants us to dump idiots like Marjorie.
BTW the Bible passage she references doesn’t mention earthquakes, eclipses or God’s wrath for having a more liberal, tolerant society.
Freedom to be stupid
“Thank you very much for limiting our choices. We thought we were free in America until we met you folks.” Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) lecturing Geraldine Richmond, Dept. of Energy’s undersecretary for science and innovation in a hearing on new energy efficiency standards.
The current Congress has been labeled the “most ineffective two years in American history”
House Republicans can’t get anything important done. But they are busy opposing Biden’s efforts to improve the energy efficiency or household appliances.
Recently they introduced the Refrigerator Freedom Act, the Hands Off our Home Appliances Act, the Clothes Dryers Reliability Act and the Liberty in Laundry Act. No, we are not making this up!
Lacking rational arguments against practical efforts to reduce energy consumption and save consumers money, Republicans resorted to emotional soundbites and misinformation.
Punishing the homeless
“The point is to make it uncomfortable enough for them in our city so they will want to move on down the road.” Lily Morgan, city council president, Grants Pass, Oregon
The Supreme Court on April 22 heard a case in which a lower court ruled it was cruel and unusual punishment to criminalize people for sleeping outside (Johnson v. Grants Pass). The absurdity of criminalizing people for sleeping outside, when they have no place else to go, is on trial.
The Grants Pass City code explicitly bars anyone from sleeping in public spaces, including parks, sidewalks and in cars, or using sleeping materials for the purpose of maintaining a temporary place to live, under threat of criminal and civil penalty.
In a just society the Supreme Court would not consider this case. Are you ashamed? Or are you going to vote Republican to make America great?
Pistol-packing teachers
“Armed adults frequently mishandle their guns in schools. Keeping kids safe means keeping guns off K-12 campuses.” The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Tennessee’s Republicans have enacted a law that would allow teachers and school staff to carry concealed handguns on school grounds and in the classroom.
The law requires training and approval of local school and law enforcement officials. It forbids disclosing which employees are carrying guns. Parents and other teachers would not know and have no say in authorizations.
Sadly, other states have similar laws. According to the Giffords Law Center there have been 100 publicly reported incidents of mishandled guns at schools in the last five years. There is no evidence that armed “resource” officers or teachers prevents shootings. And 70% of parents, 70% of teenagers and 80% of teachers oppose arming teachers.
But when has the will of the people ever mattered in America?
Pete embraces socialism
And let’s not forget our very own MAGA numbskull, 8th District Congressman Pete Stauber, who in November 2021 voted against the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, saying “I will not be complicit in paving a destructive and irreversible path towards socialism. This massive spending package is not about real infrastructure, and instead will make businesses less competitive, outsource jobs, saddle American families and future generations with more debt and higher taxes, send inflation soaring to greater heights, and completely devastate our economy.”
Fast forward to January 2024 when more than $1 million from that infrastructure bill was awarded to replace the Blatnik Bridge, and Stauber was quick to forget his rant about socialism in order to take credit for having “fought for these funds.”
What a maroon!