Congressional Tipping Point: Not an April Fools Joke

From the “you just can’t make this stuff up department“, something so outrageously stupid, you wonder how the Navy Admiral being interviewed by congressman Hank Johnson (D) GA kept himself from busting out laughing.

It should be an April fools joke, but isn’t. Watch the video below.

h/t to Bruce F.

Get notified when a new post is published.
Subscribe today!
0 0 votes
Article Rating
256 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dave McK
April 1, 2010 2:32 pm

[Invalid email, sorry Dave against blog rules. I’ll be trashing a bunch of your comments. Sorry we didn’t notice sooner. ~ charles the moderator.]
[Now I see I warned you over a month ago. Continuing to trash ~ ctm]

Dr T G Watkins
April 1, 2010 2:46 pm

The gentleman is clearly unwell and needs sound counsel and help. I have too much respect for the US electoral to come to any other conclusion.
Echoing Kate earlier. Richard North is correct.(euroreferendum). The underlying political agenda has not even been dented. They ignore the overwhelming evidence that CO2 is at best a minor player in climate and press on with ‘environmental’ legislation.
One of the difficulties facing many of us who contribute to WUWT and other blogs is that ‘science folk’ are generally not politically focused. We assume that ‘truth will out’, which of course it will eventually.
Legislation is coming into effect, or soon to be passed, NOW.
There has been no coverage at all about CRU inquiry on main BBC news and a tiny inside paragraph in the Daily Telegraph.
A leader(s) on both sides of the pond is Urgently needed. Legislation ,once passed,is very difficult to repeal.

Tom in Florida
April 1, 2010 2:47 pm


Sick or not, a person in this state of mind should be removed from voting on anything.

Mark
April 1, 2010 2:50 pm

Wow!!! I almost spit out my food when I heard that…!

RHS
April 1, 2010 2:52 pm

Comments/speaches like that lead to posters like this:
http://www.despair.com/government.html

pat
April 1, 2010 2:53 pm

LOL. He is too stupid for private employment. So he became a politician.

April 1, 2010 2:53 pm

Lay off this poor man. Joseph Mendiola has already confirmed from >WESTPAC TREMORS AND SHAKING GOING ON
?MANDONA? 1980 et. al. = PENN STATE
tl;dr
Guam is a Lily Pad of Ghaia

ErnieK
April 1, 2010 3:01 pm

In a way he is correct – Congress is indeed at it’s tipping point.

Christopher
April 1, 2010 3:01 pm

For those who say that he has cognitive impairment due to illness (implied is that it’s a temporary). I’m sorry that can’t explain his belief that island can tip over due to overpopulation. It’s one thing to think that cognitive impairment may keep you from learning new math, reading complex writing quickly, or engaging in witty conversation. But temporary cognitive impairment doesn’t induce you into thinking fantastical thoughts or view the world like a 5 year old. For example, I may have 5 drinks, get drunk and be cognitively impaired, but it doesn’t mean that I start believing in Santa Claus, or that the moon is made of green cheese, or that rain is God urinating on us. You don’t start lose your sense of reality or start believing in fantasies that you should know not to be true after you exit childhood.

DirkH
April 1, 2010 3:14 pm

“Christopher (15:01:50) :
[…]
You don’t start lose your sense of reality or start believing in fantasies that you should know not to be true after you exit childhood.”
You obviously don’t go out often. I’ve seen cases of temporary cognitive impairment, man… but then, i’m in Europe.

Ricardo
April 1, 2010 3:16 pm

“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”
Mark Twain

Benjamin
April 1, 2010 3:18 pm

Wow. That was hillarious _and_ horrific!
Anyway, I think what the admiral should have said was this Monty Python line (just substitute Guam for castle and ocean for swamp, and you’re all set!)…
“When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up!”

RWS
April 1, 2010 3:20 pm

Neo-neocon has an explanation, it is supposed to be an inside joke.
When you read her text, it is pretty funny.
http://neoneocon.com/

DR
April 1, 2010 3:21 pm

Is it my imagination or does one side of the political spectrum in Congress have a monopoly on saying dumb things?

April 1, 2010 3:24 pm

My compliments to the Admiral.
A perfect place to apply the Precautionary Principle.

David Alan Evans
April 1, 2010 3:25 pm

Christopher (15:01:50) :

I may have 5 drinks, get drunk and be cognitively impaired, but it doesn’t mean that I start believing in Santa Claus, or that the moon is made of green cheese, or that rain is God urinating on us.

Damn! 2 illusions gone in one day. I have to admit I was beginning to have doubts about the latter as I couldn’t imagine the reason that God would be ticked off at me as to give me a golden shower that often. After all, I’m not a bad guy really! 😛
DaveE.

Stephen Brown
April 1, 2010 3:25 pm

Drunk, drugs or illness; it matters naught. The man is incapable of fulfilling his role as a lawmaker and as an adjudicator of the appropriateness of the laws upon which he is called to decide. On the basis of this ‘performance’ he should be removed from his seat of power forthwith.
And here was me thinking that our Millipede in the UK was a blithering idiot! I feel sorry for the USA, you are worse off than I could ever imagine.

wayne
April 1, 2010 3:27 pm

As far as Congress goes, it’s worse that we thought!
Vote em out people!

David Alan Evans
April 1, 2010 3:29 pm

I meant 3 illusions shattered. It’s WTWT!!
DaveE.

Jon
April 1, 2010 3:32 pm

I have to apologize to Congress. For a long time I have been saying that politicians only support man made warming, wind and solar because they are tremendous pork for them. I now know they really are dumb enough to actually believe.

MattA
April 1, 2010 3:35 pm

A new pressident for the IPPC

bikermailman
April 1, 2010 3:35 pm

His explanation is that he was making a metaphor. Bravo Sierra. He mentions the tipping and capsizing, and makes a tipping motion with his hand. The admiral answers the concern. The Congressman then adds “And also, things like the environment…” That necessarily implies that the environment is another concern along with the dreaded capsizing.

David Alan Evans
April 1, 2010 3:42 pm

RWS (15:20:49) :
neo-neocons post was a spoof. 😀
DaveE.

George E. Smith
April 1, 2010 3:45 pm

I’m not about to poke fun at somebody who has a serious health impairment.
Having survived a brush with some quite unidentified and unidentifiable brand of Hepatitis, many decades ago; I don’t joke about health issues.
I am concerned that someone so impaired, would occupy one of the 435 precious decision making spots in our government; when we need all the capabilities we can muster. I’m extremely concerned that anyone in such a condition would be in any way involved in decisions that involve the very front line National Security of the USA, and by association, of many of our allies.
The United States Congress is not like some old boys tiger hunting fraternity; or veterans of The Kandahar Ski Club (there was such a club). These people are asked to deal with very serious issues. They may not do that so well these days, but that doesn’t lessen the import of their deliberations.
We shouldn’t have Admirals subjected to such silliness.; when our outer perimeter defence is at issue.

Dave F
April 1, 2010 3:52 pm

Hahaha!!! I saw this at Reference Frame earlier, but I watched it again just for another laugh. What a maroon.
JT Justman (11:41:27) He used the word ‘capsize’, so I am not buying that at all. He really ought to just admit that he is either:
A) A total idiot.
B) Drunk on the clock.
C) Part of an elaborate April Fool’s hoax.

1 3 4 5 6 7 11