Politics Plus

Republicans seem willing to go to war at the drop of a hat.  Their War on the Poor, War on Gays, War on Workers, War on Women, War on Muslims, War on Minorities, and more demonstrate that point more than adequately.  But of all the Republican wars, the one that makes the least sense of all is their War on Science, as this piece by Paul Krugman indicates.

Earlier this week, GQ magazine published an interview with Senator Marco Rubio, whom many consider a contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, in which Mr. Rubio was asked how old the earth is. After declaring “I’m not a scientist, man,” the senator went into desperate evasive action, ending with the declaration that “it’s one of the great mysteries.”

It’s funny stuff, and conservatives would like us to forget about it as soon as possible. Hey, they say, he was just pandering to likely voters in the 2016 Republican primaries — a claim that for some reason is supposed to comfort us.

But we shouldn’t let go that easily. Reading Mr. Rubio’s interview is like driving through a deeply eroded canyon; all at once, you can clearly see what lies below the superficial landscape. Like striated rock beds that speak of deep time, his inability to acknowledge scientific evidence speaks of the anti-rational mind-set that has taken over his political party.

By the way, that question didn’t come out of the blue. As speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Mr. Rubio provided powerful aid to creationists trying to water down science education. In one interview, he compared the teaching of evolution to Communist indoctrination tactics — although he graciously added that “I’m not equating the evolution people with Fidel Castro.” Gee, thanks.

What was Mr. Rubio’s complaint about science teaching? That it might undermine children’s faith in what their parents told them to believe. And right there you have the modern G.O.P.’s attitude, not just toward biology, but toward everything: If evidence seems to contradict faith, suppress the evidence… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Photo credit: The PBH Network

Photo credit: Huffington Post

As a Christian, I see no conflict between scientific evidence and Genesis, because I see scientific evidence as the closest approximation we have to literal truth and Genesis as mythical Truth.  Homer said, “We are the stories we tell ourselves.”  In ancient times, story telling bestowed cultural identity.  Jesus used this technique frequently, as he often taught in parables, allegorical stories that taught a lesson without having to be literally true.  Since allegory is how Jesus taught, I consider it absurd to hold Moses to a literal standard.

My best guess is that Marco Rubio, along with most of the other Republicans who share Rubio’s overt position know that scientific evidence takes precedence over myth.  However they cannot say so.  Even worse, they have to govern accordingly, because failure to do so will cost them a large part of their voting base.  Since the only people Republicans truly represent are the 1%, they need dupe people into voting against their own interest.  Thus they have embraced, bigots, hate mongers, war mongers, seditionists, purveyors of violence, misanthropes, misogynists, homophobes, corporate criminals, racists, Teabaggers and supply-side pseudo-Christians, also attracting many decent people who have just never made the effort needed to overcome their own political ignorance.

They need the War on Science to keep the loyalty of supply-side pseudo-Christians, and they care more for power to represent the 1% than they do for the harm they are doing to millions of Americans.

One might think that, given their disastrous fate on Tuesday, Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians would back off their continuous stream of hatred toward and encouragement of violence against LGBT people.  Sadly, if one did think that, one would be wrong.

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) plans to expand its campaign to stoke homophobia abroad to undermine pro-equality American companies, according to audio of a conference call obtained by The American Independent. When asked during the call about Starbucks, which had spoken out against anti-gay ballot referenda, NOM President Brian Brown suggested his organization planned to intensify its campaign against Starbucks and other similar companies in countries where homophobia is pervasive:

Their international outreach is where we can have the most effect…So for example, in Qatar, in the Middle East, we’ve begun working to make sure that there’s some price to be paid for this. These are not countries that look kindly on same-sex marriage. And this is where Starbucks wants to expand, as well as India. So we have done some of this; we’ve got to do a lot more.

This strategy is incredibly irresponsible: by associating Starbucks with gay rights in homophobic countries, NOM is singling out Starbucks employees for anti-gay abuse and more generally stoking anger towards LGBT people. The broader Middle East is home to three out of the five countries in the world where homosexuality is punishable by death. Though Qatar specifically isn’t one of them, its government defends other countries’ right to execute LGBT persons and, according to the State Department, “there was an underlying pattern of discrimination towards LGBT persons based on conservative cultural and religious values prevalent in the society.”… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Please do not blame all Christians for this despicable behavior.  These bigots’ and their dogma have absolutely nothing in common with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ or authentic Christianity.

On days where a single story dominates the news, we can usually depend on the Bachmann wing of the Republican Party to do something or say something sufficiently outrageous to leave us shaking our heads in disgust.  Louie Gohmert stepped forward to fill the bill.

Fresh after his speech insisting that President Obama is reestablishing the Ottoman Empire, Texas congressman Louie Gohmert told [hate group delinked] anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney that the Obama administration is “getting advice on how to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood from people who are in the Muslim Brotherhood.” He claimed that the Obama administration is sending money to “radical jihadists” in order to “buy [them] off,” not understanding that they can only use “raw power” against those who worship “a radical, mean-spirited, hateful Allah that these people that twist Islam believe in.”

Gohmert, who signed letters with Michele Bachmann calling for an anti-Muslim witch hunt within the administration that were ultimately rejected but lauded by Gaffney and Newt Gingrich, charged that Muslim Brotherhood agents may be the ones shaping Obama’s foreign policy. Gohmert claimed that Muslim Brotherhood operatives are involved in Janet Napolitano’s “super-secret, trusted, Homeland Security advisory council” but said she won’t give him the names. He also criticized Napolitano for allowing an Egyptian lawmaker to meet with members of the U.S. government in Washington, even after he was vetted by Homeland Security, the State Department and the Secret Service, because he is a member of a political party tied to a listed terrorist organization that has since renounced violence… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Right Wing Watch>

Is it any wonder that Muslims, who are not familiar with the ins and outs of Republican InsaniTEA, think that this nation hates them, when they hear such statements from a sitting member of Congress?

Now, you may say that Gohmert is just one wing-nut, and should not be taken seriously.  However, if a member of the Democratic caucus were to make such hateful allegations, you can be sure he or she would be facing intense condemnation from the rest of the party in very short order.  Nevertheless, Gohmert still enjoys the full support of the Republican Party.  That provides Gohmert’s statements with a Republican stamp of approval.  Just like Todd Akin represents the Republican War on Women, Louie Gohmert represents Republican religious intolerance, ignoring the First Amendment.