Seems like a pretty common Republican strategy. “I’m going to say something incredibly stupid, in a completely serious setting, so then I can say I was just joking later when called out on it.”
Guys, you don’t understand how Gohmert’s voter base functions. They are going “hur, hur, ol’ Louie SCHOOLED them greenies, making them admit it’s impossible to change the climate. LOL. MAGA!”
He is not trying to sound good or sensible to US. He is scoring points with his hurhur base he doesn’t give a rat’s ass if he sounds stupid to us.
Which to me is even worse than not knowing science.
@AlsoNamedBort well yes: they are trolling. That’s what they’ve been reduced to.
Like my mom used to say……”He’s just doing that to get a reaction from you”.
Gohmert was trolling, pure and simple. He is an idiot. He might believe the underlying theory that orbital shifts are responsible for global warming, even though he doesn’t believe in global warming. Now, that’s total cognitive dissonance on the level of “I didn’t do it, and if I did it’s because a Democrat made me do it” but the GQP is really good at that.
But I really don’t believe he thinks that BLM* has an ability to change the orbit of the moon. I think he just has so much contempt disdain for science in general and climate science in particular that he thinks he’s ridiculing the scientists when he asks that question.
*BLM, in this context, stands for the Bureau of Land Management, which is the federal agency that manages government owned land holdings, mostly in western states. These holdings are substantial, IIRC over 80% of the land in Nevada is owned by the federal government. They are also the biggest right-wing bogeyman in the West (unlike the other BLM, which is the bogeyman of the South) and a prime target of the Bundy style anti-government groups.
I’ve said this before, except was applied then to racist comments: Schrodinger’s Joke. It’s a joke or not depending on the listeners’ reaction to it when it was uttered.
It looks like “they” are starting to apply the concept to everything they say, not just racist stuff.
Well, Archimedes said he could do it. Anyone want to argue with that?
True. Although Archimedes, clever bastard that he was, put a doozy of an pre-condition on his climate/orbit-altering plan. Gohmert … not so much.
Making crazy shit up isn’t a “point.”
If that wasn’t a sincere question, he’s a damn good actor. He doesn’t seem to be making much of a show asking such an over-the-top question, as if he thinks it’s a perfectly reasonable tactic to consider.
Fair enough. Then someone should start a thread talking about how a denial of human based climate change is “crazy shit” instead of this intellectually dishonest idea that Gohmert believes that the United States Forest Service may be capable of changing both the earth and moon’s orbits.
Like a prior poster, I am amazed that anyone on this board would disagree with me about this.
I do think you are most likely correct. However, it makes perfect sense to me why people would take this comment at face value. If you aren’t familiar with some of the nonsense that the right says about climate change, then this just comes off like a profoundly stupid statement.
And, when we’ve had to deal with a sitting congressperson who genuinely believed in “Jewish space lasers,” and 1/3 of Republicans think Trump will be back in office before Biden’s term is up, it becomes a lot more reasonable to think that he wasn’t joking. I will admit it was only the fuller quote mentioning BLM that clued me in, and I am aware of the nonsense.
What nonsense? The idea that the moon’s orbit has any reasonable affect on climate change. The idea that the earth’s orbit has change. Or that sunspots are a signficant issue. If you didn’t know about these supposed “explanations” for climate change, then the whole thing doesn’t make sense.
His gotcha requires believing some pretty stupid shit for it to make sense as a gotcha. That this was missed by several people does not surprise me.
His supporters will eat it up though. They (well some of them) will believe that the Forest Service could fix climate change by modifying the orbits of the moon and earth, but the nasty Dems won’t let them do it because of socialism or something.
The truth is, climate change is a very real problem, caused at least partially by man, that needs real, serious solutions, and whether he’s trolling or not with his question, he needs to shut up when the adults are talking.
Yup, his only concern is if his stocks will go up or down. HIs grandkids (if he has them), well, fuck em’.
Wouldn’t that make him smarter?
I was going to suggest that since he is already the equivalent of a block of concrete Q wouldn’t do anything, but I like yours better.
Sure, but the problem is that with Louie Gohmert, that line is very, very fine.
The 7 Batshit Craziest Statements of Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert | Hornet, the Gay Social Network
Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day: Louie Gohmert- 2019 Update (dailykos.com)
If that’s his point then he’s mistaken. The earth is moving away from the sun as are all the planets, due to the sun’s gravity weakening slowly as it loses mass. Moreover, as the earth’s rotation slows due to tidal effects from the moon, it must necessarily move away from the sun to conserve angular momentum.
Gohmert is as dumb as they come. That someone so lacking in intellect is in the US Congress makes us all look dumber.
It sounds like he heard that notion at some conservative shindig, didn’t understand it, and let it pinball around in his noggin until it emerged in this form.
Whether or not Gohmert believes they can do that - and with Louie Gohmert you should be very careful about assuming he was kidding - the idea that the climate change problem is caused by changes in the orbits of celestial bodies is stupid shit. Whether his question was serious or ironic, it was stupid.
Agreed. I watched the video of him asking the question last night, and either:
a) He has an outstanding poker face as he’s trolling, or
b) He’s sincere