This is great! Just keep this dude talking. We don't even need Katie Couric - just put a mike in front of Texas Governor Rick Perry, and let him speak. If he were smarter he'd know how dumb he is - but he's not. So he says things like he did at his first ever national debate, Wednesday night at the Reagan Library.
This was after Jon Huntsman said, "Listen, when you make comments that fly in the face of what 98 out of 100 climate scientists have said, when you call into question the science of evolution, all I'm saying is that, in order for the Republican Party to win, we can't run from science. We can't run from mainstream conservative philosophy. We've got to win voters."
Yes. No applause from the L.L. Bean catalog audience. Silence on pro-science. A brave moment for Huntsman, fell flat (like the shape of the Earth). Then the question went to "Crotch:"
PERRY: Well, I do agree that there is -- the science is -- is not settled on this. The idea that we would put Americans' economy at -- at -- at jeopardy based on scientific theory that's not settled yet, to me, is just -- is nonsense. I mean, it -- I mean -- and I tell somebody, I said, just because you have a group of scientists that have stood up and said here is the fact, Galileo got outvoted for a spell.
Yes. Because zealot extremists doubted Galileo, the father of modern science (who, turns out, was right...and brilliant) - we should act like those zealot extremists?! What?
Remember Perry's Texas A&M transcripts are on the Internet. He got an AVERAGE D in science classes and C in history. But, like I said - if he were smarter - he'd be quieter. But he kept on digging:
PERRY: But the fact is, to put America's economic future in jeopardy, asking us to cut back in areas that would have monstrous economic impact on this country is not good economics and I will suggest to you is not necessarily good science. Find out what the science truly is before you start putting the American economy in jeopardy.
HARRIS: Just to follow up quickly. Tell us how you've done that.
Are there specific -- specific scientists or specific theories that you've found especially compelling, as you...
PERRY: Let me tell you what I find compelling, is what we've done in the state of Texas, using our ability to regulate our clean air. We cleaned up our air in the state of Texas, more than any other state in the nation during the decade. Nitrous oxide levels, down by 57 percent. Ozone levels down by 27 percent.
Bonk. Texas has the worst pollution in the country. "Texas Soup" is Houston's air.
This sums it up for me. I tweeted this during the second half of the debate:
BTW: I love Perry. He's awesome. He's like Palin without the charm, facts or brains. Love love love him. #reagandebate
I mean it. Let's give him the nomination already.
But speaking of science and math (classes Perry should have dropped before getting a grade in them) - just to cleanse your pallet - I'd like to share what a reader sent me this morning. It's his letter that was published in NYT:
To the Editor:
You do not study mathematics because it helps you build a bridge. You study mathematics because it is the poetry of the universe. Its beauty transcends mere things.
JONATHAN DAVID FARLEY
Orono, Me., Aug. 25, 2011The writer is an associate professor of computer science at the University of Maine.
Commie.
