Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Friday, March 11, 2011

REPRESENTATIVE ED MARKEY (D-Mass.), THE SMARTEST GUY IN THE ROOM

"MARKEY TAKES A STAND FOR SCIENCE (AND SARCASM).... A House Energy and Commerce Committee panel met yesterday to approve a ridiculous measure: members were asked, as Brad Johnson explained, to "overturn the scientific finding that fossil fuel pollution is causing dangerous climate change."







But before the vote was held, Rep. Ed Markey (D) of Massachusetts explained why his colleagues were making a mistake.






'I rise in opposition to a bill that overturns the scientific finding that pollution is harming our people and our planet,' the Democrat said. 'However, I won't rise physically, because I'm worried that Republicans will overturn the law of gravity, sending us floating about the room.






I won't call for the sunlight of additional hearings, for fear that Republicans might excommunicate the finding that the Earth revolves around the sun. Instead, we will embody Newton's third law of motion and be an equal and opposing force against this attack on science and on laws that will reduce America's importation of foreign oil.






This bill will live in the House while simultaneously being dead in the Senate. It will be a legislative Schrodinger's cat killed by the quantum mechanics of the legislative process. Arbitrary rejection of scientific fact will not cause us to rise from our seats today. But with this bill, pollution levels will rise. Oil imports will rise. Temperatures will rise.






'And with that, I yield back the balance of my time. That is, unless a rejection of Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity is somewhere in the chair's amendment pile.'






Soon after, the subcommittee's Republicans approved the measure. Markey probably talked over their heads."

h/t Washington Monthly

9 comments:

billy pilgrim said...

fossil fuel doesn't contribute to global warming and cigarettes don't cause cancer.

even if you throw global warming out the window there is still the little problem of spewing billions of tons of toxins into the atmosphere.

Sue said...

I think Ed Markey is wonderful, you are lucky to have him in your state!

Jerry Critter said...

Markey better be careful. The republicans probably thought he was proposing new legislation.

Leslie Parsley said...

Priceless. I wish there were more like him. Are you going to post on FB so we can share? I hope, I hope.

(O)CT(O)PUS said...

Has Rep. Markey said anything different from what Hillary said during the 2008 primary season about the Republican war against science?

Has Rep. Markey said anything different from what our best bloggers have said these past two years about the Republican war against the middle class, the Republican war against women, against unions and pension benefits, against healthcare, against the social safety net, as examples?

How about the Republican war against honesty and ethics? How about the Republican war against civilization?

You can't talk to ideologues and nihilists, or the village idiots who follow them willy-nilly. It is a total waste of time and about as productive as arguing with trolls or pulling wings off houseflies.

Want to accomplish something? Vote! Get active in your communities and local campaigns. And take nothing for granted.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

I wonder if former senator Bill Frist, the surgeon, ever had to show his republican buddies someone's insides and say with a straight face, "God made all this shit."

Shaw Kenawe said...

billy,

It is not in the best interest of certain corporations to admit that burning fossil fuels causes any problems with our atmosphere, therefore, the Kochistanianss will not tolerate discussion of the matter.

Sue and Jerry,

We folks in the People's Republic of Massachusetts do appreciate Markey.

tnlib,

Good idea. I'll do it.

(O)CT(O)PUS,

I can hardly keep up with all the issues that concern the well-being of US citizens that the GOP is AGAINST.

The only issue the GOP is firmly FOR is tax cuts for the Kochistanians. And make no mistake, that takes courage!

Shaw Kenawe said...

MDL,

LMAO!

Les Carpenter said...

Are the Kochistanians akin to the Sorosian?

Just saying