Let’s start with the chairman himself, Ralph Hall of Texas. Though he was once a Democrat, Hall was behind a 2010 effort by Republicans to cut off billions in funding for scientific research and math and science education. He did this by rather cannily tacking onto a bill a provision that would have forced Democrats to vote in favor of letting federal employees view pornography while on the job. Hall also once said of climate change: “I’m really more fearful of freezing. And I don’t have any science to prove that. But we have a lot of science that tells us they’re not basing it on real scientific facts.”
Yesterday I wrote about Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), an Evangelical Christian “who believes that cosmology, biology, and geology are, quite literally, ‘lies straight from the pit of Hell.’” Not the sort of person you’d think would be devoted to the pursuit of science…and yet he’s a member of the House Science Committee. It’s not unlike putting an arsonist in charge of the blowtorches and gasoline supply. If that doesn’t give you ample reason to fear for the intellectual future of our Republic, it gets even worse.
Upon further examination, it turns out that Broun isn’t the only intellectual (not so) giant on the House Science Committee. If Republicans can fairly be accused of trying to turn the federal government’s commitment to science into a faith-based initiative…well, they’ve got the right people sitting on the House Science Committee. Man, these folks make the Texas State Board of Edumication look like a disorganized collection of Cub Scouts.
The roster of rabid science-denying Right-wingers is a truly (not so very distinguised) rogues gallery. Who’s trying to push the Far Right’s agenda ofdisdain for science? Funny you should ask….
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), who drafted a resolution for Americans to “join together in prayer to humbly seek fair weather conditions” after a series of destructive tornados and droughts….
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who suggested “dinosaur flatulence” may have caused climate change 55 million years ago….
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who has characterized climate science as an “international conspiracy”….
Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.), who supports having public-school science teachers offer lessons on “theories that contradict the theory of evolution.”
Congratulation to voters in California, Texas, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Florida. You’ve sent people to represent you in Congress who reflect your beliefs…and that’s what scares the Hell out of me and most any American with a brain and the ability to distinguish between the truth and religious propaganda. The transformation of American democracy into an idiocracy is no joke, and people like the aforementioned Republicans are leading the charge. I suppose this is what the “dumbing down” of America is all about; there are those among us who seriously believe that the only textbook children need study is the Bible.
WE DESERVE BETTER…and so do future generations.
