Image from WUWT reader “Boudu”
This QOTW is from Congressman Henry Waxman, who is pushing (or maybe bribing) the carbon cap and trade bill through congress. The statement made by Waxman can be corrected by a third grader; it is that bad.
From an interview on NPR as relayed by Tavis Smiley:
“We’re seeing the reality of a lot of the North Pole starting to evaporate, and we could get to a tipping point. Because if it evaporates to a certain point – they have lanes now where ships can go that couldn’t ever sail through before. And if it gets to a point where it evaporates too much, there’s a lot of tundra that’s being held down by that ice cap..”
That’s probably the scariest statement on “science” ever uttered by a Congressman.
Let me go on record by saying Waxman is stunningly and stupidly misinformed and intellectually inadequate for the tasks at hand that bears his name: The Waxman-Markey bill
This is what Waxman works on in Congress:
Committee on Energy and Commerce (Chairman)
* Subcommittee on Health
* Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality
* Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Write or call your US representatives now.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
“Stunningly Stupid” seems to be a prerequisite for entering politics these days.
Even by politicians’ standards, that is stunning.
Stunning. What is the tundra gonna do? Fly off into space?
We elected these stunningly stupid politicians. We need to elect a few that are not so grossly ignorant. We have Waxman, Arnold, Pelosi and Obama to name but a few. We are now paying and will be paying for their actions as they drive the ship of state into a carbon abyss. I am sure that the tundra under the arctic ice cap will be studied with billions of our tax dollars.
You can see Waxman and Gore in a 18 part video series covering the recent hearing here:
http://algorelied.com/?p=1402
He must have learned communication skills from Miss South Carolina :
What Waxman should read in order to look less stupid:
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2009/04/some-global-warming-qa-to-consider-in-light-of-the-epa-ruling/
In the past, I used to think that Czech politicians – and not only politicians – were extraordinarily stupid. I no longer think so. The silliest recent example of ignorance we’ve seen was an interview with the #2 member of the Czech Green Party, Ms Kateřina Jacques, who was unable to clarify what biomass is and in what form it can be burned in environmentally friendly heating systems (gas? biowaste?).
But this Waxman dude seems much worse.
Proof positive that intelligence is not a prerequisite for being a member of Congress.
Waxman is stunningly stupid about science but thoroughly expert on the acquisition and use of power. With apologies to Tina, what’s science got to do with it?
Waxman is smart enough to take our wealth and freedom. Bad science is just a handy tool of convenience.
The Waxman-Malarkey bill
sums it.
from Webster.com:
Main Entry:
ma·lar·key
Variant(s):
also ma·lar·ky
Function:
noun
Etymology:
origin unknown
Date:
1929
: insincere or foolish talk : bunkum
Is Mr. Waxman smarter than a 5th grader?
We forget. Congresmen have lobbiests to tell them what to do. The rest of us depend on the newspaper.
Words failed me when I first read this quote. They continue to fail me today. There never was any chance of anything I have read anywhere since last Sunday ever being in the same horse race as this for Quote of the Week.
Andrew, if you are thinking of a Quote of the Year competition, please stop now; there is no point in continuing!!
But, fellow-sufferers, really do be afraid. If this is what US politicians genuinely believe and they do not have enough of an open mind to consider they may have got the facts wrong, then we are indeed doomed.
Congressmen, like reporters, are not picked for their ability to use logic. It is snowing again here in Montana today. Three days ago, I troweled concrete for a friend in a nasty snowstorm, complete with an icy North wind. Our Beartooth Mountains are still piling up more snow. Last week several elk herds came down to the lower country to escape the many feet of snow in the mountains. I have heard there is big snow in nearby Yellowstone Park-10 feet on the level in part of it. Al Gore is not revered much here.
The concept of savvy politicians is all wrong. Does anyone remember “Gulliver’s Travels?” Especially the part where the foreign king could not hear, until one of his servants smacked him across the ear with a soft baseball bat? And the king could not speak unless a servant smacked him across the mouth? (again, using the padded bat).
This is almost exactly what we have today, with elected officials hearing (and reading these days) only what their staffs have carefully filtered and allowed them to hear.
Politicians speak in carefully chosen words (written by their staff) and (usually) only when their staff and advisors have chosen the time, place, and manner. Even a supposedly “spontaneous” Town-Hall type performance is just that, a well-rehearsed and practiced performance sometimes worthy of an Academy Award.
It appears to me that Rep. Waxman deserves a Razzy, for bungling his lines so badly. Or a better staff, who can actually write.
Who can forget Billy Boy Clinton and his cronies yukking it up at a funeral, until they realized a news camera was rolling. They instantly jumped back into character, with long faces and sad expressions. Method acting, apparently? Another Razzy?
Stunning. What is the tundra gonna do? Fly off into space?
He is a little confused.
I gather that what he actually means is that tundra ground-ice will melt, releasing methane which will, in a manner of speaking, “fly off into space”.
Antarctica will soon reach the tipping point and evaporate, leaving a tinder dry tundra. Now, I must ask the question: Who writes Waxman’s stuff?
If we are to take his speech seriously, then:
Have Dorothy fetch that pail of ice water, the fire must be put out.
If you are the provider of money for a campaign….
Do you really want a candidate that thinks (let alone studies) for themselves?
Brings new definition to the label “Dumbocrat”.
Waxman would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.
How are those ships traveling across the tundra?
This man is a genius compared to our “primeminister” the one eyed scottish idiot.
Wax eloquent Waxman doesn’t.
Way OT – the last “swine flu epidemic” occurred when Jimmy Carter was president.