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n2doc

(47,953 posts)
Mon Mar 31, 2014, 06:11 PM Mar 2014

The House of Representatives Committee on Science is turning into a national embarrassment

By Ashutosh Jogalekar


A few days back I wrote a post explaining why I am all for private support of basic science, especially in an age when government funding and support is flagging. My feelings were simply reinforced when I came across this news piece documenting the shameful behavior of Republican members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology in denying climate change and harassing John Holdren, President Obama’s science advisor.

The debacle was part of a hearing in which the members were supposed to discuss the upcoming 2015 budget with Holdren. Instead the proceedings turned into a mixture of hostile heckling and insulting sarcasm. This was black comedy that would have been mildly humorous had it not been real. The Republican members of the committee made it clear that not only do they lack the slightest interest in addressing climate change but they are about as ignorant about the nuances of science as a stone. Leading the charge was Texas congressman Randy Weber:

Several members, for example, appeared to be trying to mock rather than engage Holdren on climate change. “I may want to get your cellphone number, Dr. Holdren,” said Representative Randy Weber (R–TX), “because, if we go through another few cycles of global warming and cooling, I may need to ask you when I should buy my long coat on sale.”

Weber, a freshman from the Galveston area, began his interrogation by asking Holdren whether “when you guys do your research, you start with a scientific postulate or theory and work forward from that? Is that right?” Holdren gamely played along, explaining that “it depends on the type of science, but the notion of posing a hypothesis and then trying to determine whether it is right is one of the tried and true approaches in science, yes.”

But Weber’s question was really just a setup for his concluding statement. “I just don’t know how you all prove those theories going back 50 or 100,000 or even millions of years,” Weber said.




more

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/2014/03/31/the-house-of-representatives-committee-on-science-is-turning-into-a-national-embarrassment/

There is no "Turning into". It already Is A National Embarrassment.
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The House of Representatives Committee on Science is turning into a national embarrassment (Original Post) n2doc Mar 2014 OP
How do these dumb-asses even get on the Committee in the first place? arcane1 Mar 2014 #1
Repukes get their "science" from the Bible. Scuba Mar 2014 #2
In finding out more about this Weber clown, in Wikipedia it says (and tell me this is a put-on) CurtEastPoint Mar 2014 #3
Sounds like he's letting go of some of that hot air now. eom Blanks Mar 2014 #9
Is it ever... Muthana Mar 2014 #4
k&r n/t RainDog Mar 2014 #5
You say that like it's present-tense mindwalker_i Mar 2014 #6
LOL, They had Todd Akin on that committee. JaneyVee Mar 2014 #7
Here are the R members 3catwoman3 Mar 2014 #8
We are in trouble, big trouble, and we have idiots in charge of the ship ... nt MindMover Mar 2014 #10
 

Scuba

(53,475 posts)
2. Repukes get their "science" from the Bible.
Mon Mar 31, 2014, 06:17 PM
Mar 2014

You know, talking snakes, guys living inside whales, stuff like that.

CurtEastPoint

(18,549 posts)
3. In finding out more about this Weber clown, in Wikipedia it says (and tell me this is a put-on)
Mon Mar 31, 2014, 06:21 PM
Mar 2014

" In 1981, he founded a small company focused on producing hot air for the state of Texas."

3catwoman3

(23,815 posts)
8. Here are the R members
Mon Mar 31, 2014, 07:26 PM
Mar 2014

Republican Members (22)

Democratic Members (18)


Lamar Smith, Texas*
Dana Rohrabacher, California**
Ralph M. Hall, Texas+
F. James Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin
Frank D. Lucas, Oklahoma
Randy Neugebauer, Texas
Michael T. McCaul, Texas
Paul Broun, Georgia
Steven Palazzo, Mississippi
Mo Brooks, Alabama
Randy Hultgren, Illinois
Larry Bucshon, Indiana
Steve Stockman, Texas
Bill Posey, Florida
Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming
David Schweikert, Arizona
Thomas Massie, Kentucky
Kevin Cramer, North Dakota
Jim Bridenstine, Oklahoma
Randy Weber, Texas
Chris Collins, New York
VACANCY

Paul Broun - the MD who says embryology and evolution are lies from the pit of hell. SERIOUSLY???!!! And Stockman, the effing idiot who thinks fetuses should pack heat while still in utero. JHC on toast!

Shouldn't one at least believe in science if one is going to be one the science committee?
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