First of all, there were only brief periods where the Senate had “fillibuster proof majorities” and even then they were scuppered by Blue Dogs.
Secondly, you can review Project Vote Smart and search according to specific issues, such as funding for medical and science research.
For instance, the votes on HR 5116 and HR 5325 are instructive.
What we need is a national petition to get Broun off the science committee (and then out of office). This man does not appear to know the first thing about the distinction between evidence and opinion and is hijacking an official government committee with the exact opposite of its purpose. This man shames our nation with his destructive ignorance.
I agree with the OP- every Republican on this board who votes for these ignorants is complicit in the enforcement of ignorance. I understand that is the only way the GOP can continue to win votes, but c’mon, where are your values, guys?
their goal is to rebuild the nation from its ashes.
Dunno, but it can’t dance worth shit.
Oh, I skipped over this one because others had addressed it, but now is not the time to alienate powerful allies. I must preface my comments - I am not committed to knowledge at the expense of all other pursuits. For instance, in an anti-Utilitarian thought experiment conceived of by Dawkins, a populace kept ignorant in a soporific stupor would be unconscionable to them. I hold the opposite view: a population growing increasingly more aware of their surroundings and yet more and more despondent would be the height of depravity. That said, I am an optimist. I believe increasing knowledge will always lead to the long term benefit of humanity, in any sphere.
Kenneth Miller, for instance, delivers a rousing condemnation of Intelligent Design and explains why it is synonymous with creationism here and he’s a committed Catholic. Bernie Sanders gives an impassioned plea for acknowledgement of the evidence for global warming here and he’s Jewish. On this board, from the top of my head, we have Chronos, Bricker and Measure for Measure who are religious (as far as I am aware) and firmly respect rigorous science.
Now for some extremely tangential points. My parents are both relatively religious, attending mass weekly. My father used to volunteer for the soup kitchen and as an Extraordinary Minister. Both have Graduate Diplomas in Law. My father reads Chomsky and is the deputy manager of his union. Neither of them would countenance voting for a Conservative (my father has voted for pro-life Labour and our MP is pro-life and Labour) and both - to the best of my knowledge - believe in evolution. As a further aside, I used to be subbed to the Richard Dawkins channel, but Dawkins started promoting a US politician named Sean Faircloth. A reasonable guy who was the first politician to my knowledge to raise the issue of soft drink machines in schools. However, I unsubbed when Faircloth started shilling Pepsi for no apparent reason, completely contradictory to his previous actions.
I don’t doubt it.
And if they had a more live-and-let-live attitude toward science, they might be able to figure out that ashes make an exceptionally poor building material.
After they started the fire.
I would ask the Congressidiot what the heck BBT, Evolution and embryology have to do with whether or not people need spiritual guidance? Sure, BBT and geology and even a back-of-the-envelope calculation of simple heat transfer all show the Earth is older than the sum of Biblical genealogies, but so what? Plenty of people who are not YECs believe in God, and many of them are Christians.
Every single thing in his statement is wrong. Who’s running against him?
The only quibble — and it’s a minor one — that I have with the OP is that its focus is too narrow. As has been said elsewhere, and by far better posters that yours truly, the war isn’t just on science, but on critical thinking*.
Two reasons for the animosity come to mind. For one thing, critical thinking might upset the upper class’s comfortable applecart (as George Orwell points out [via Emmanuel Goldstein] an educated proletariat may very well find their masters unnecessary). For another, to some it might lead people to question “That Old Time Religion,” thereby delivering them (and the country) into the jaws of Satan.
I’m sure there are many other reasons, but in the end none of them are persuasive to me. One of the ironies of my life is that the seeds of my departure from the RCC were planted at a Jesuit high school, the Jesuits valuing and encouraging critical thought. That didn’t mean they fostered theological rebellion, but neither did they promote the idea that the best way to serve God was robotic obedience. But apparently in the GOP of today, robotic obedience and slavish adherence to the orthodox worldview are sine qua non.
*A couple of caveats about the link: first, it’s specific to Texas, while the animosity toward critical thinking is by no means restricted to that state; and second, the animosity is not restricted to Republicans — nor does every Republican embrace it — though it’s found a much firmer foothold there than among Democrats.
and defunded the fire department.
Well, DUH! How else are they supposed to get ashes to rebuild the nation from?
Scrambled eggs. Once they dry, they are immutable and invulnerable to heat, abrasion, water, and prayer.
I appreciate the kind words about my post.
I do have to wonder: Where are the Republicans to defend their votes for ignorance while posting - sometimes prolifically - on a board with a mission to eradicate ignorance?
Where is OMG - A Black Conservative? Where is Bricker? Where is Shodan and his fucking regards?
Sarah Palin.
Stolen! Mine, I got here first, the rest of you back off!
Chiming in that I agree with the general premise of the OP, though I don’t think I’d go so far as blaming every Republican for this kind of ignorance. I do think it’s a good question, and I’d be interested in seeing how the conservatives on this board defend it.
That said, I really hope there’s no debate here. The Republican comments you posted include some scary fucking shit. We’ve gotten to this point that is beyond disagreement, a place where we have public officials who honest-to-fucking-god live in an alternate version of reality where feelings are facts. That is fucking horrifying.
Yeah, I see your points here, but the fact that they keep hammering on ignorance is best drives me nuts.
I don’t vote based on what candidates personal beliefs are. I like a strong government, good defense, good tax system, strong infrastructure, equal rights, etc. If you’re a candidate, tell me HOW and WHY you can help provide this in my country. Where does religion come into this? Never.
Science is what sent us to the moon, builds a better plane, bomb, bridge and maybe a wind and solar powered infrastructure, whatever. They’re proselytization mixing with education and spreading rumors only tells me that even their philosophies on how we should think and live our lives tells me they know nothing about meeting the qualification I listed above. I wouldn’t even blink if the next new party that shows up would be the Theocratic Party.
Or stockpiling yellowcake. We must do something about these fruit fly terrorist cells. They’re ubiquitous.
Stranger
Somewhere on this board someone mentioned that Tennessee had stopped teaching evolution in schools and that they wanted the national SAT and ACT tests revised to eliminate evolution so the Tennessee kids wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.
I believe the poster said ETS told Tennessee to pound sand.
I agree. I don’t necessarily consider a candidate’s personal beliefs either, unless they throw them out there in such a way that its obvious that their votes on legislation will be colored by religious bullshit thinking. This Georgia Republican’s comments in the OP are way beyond the pale though, so much so that its unconscionable to vote for such a person. The Republican Party has transmogrified from a party I could get behind into something I can no longer identify with at all. And to think this used to be the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Eisenhower. What a mess they’ve turned into.
Nobody is willing to admit it, but given these two choices, one is clearly superior.