Courtesy of Politico:“There aren’t sufficient scientific facts to establish the theory of evolution, and it deals with the origins of man, which is more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint,” Pruitt said on an Oklahoma radio program in 2005. https://t.co/20oZv5lOG8 pic.twitter.com/i8QpcYvfkQ— POLITICO (@politico) March 2, 2018
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed evolution as an unproven theory, lamented that “minority religions” were pushing Christianity out of “the public square” and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005.
Pruitt, who at the time was a state senator, also described the Second Amendment as divinely granted and condemned federal judges as a “judicial monarchy” that is “the most grievous threat that we have today." And he did not object when the program’s host described Islam as “not so much a religion as it is a terrorist organization in many instances.”
The views he states, in discussions peppered with references to inalienable rights and the faith of the nation's founders, are in line with those of millions of other conservative, devout Christians. But they also show stances that at times are at odds with the broader American mainstream, and in some cases with accepted scientific findings — an issue that has more recently come up with his skepticism about the science behind climate change.
“There aren’t sufficient scientific facts to establish the theory of evolution (Actually there are.), and it deals with the origins of man, which is more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint,” he said in one part of the series (That is actually untrue as well.), in which Pruitt and the program's hosts discussed issues related to the Constitution.
Of course Republicans were quick to defend Pruitt and his primitive superstitious views.
Republicans in Congress defended Pruitt, saying his religious beliefs should factor into how he does his job.
"All of us are people of faith and obviously influenced by our faith and the role it played in our life … and continue[s] to play in our life on a daily basis," said Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees EPA. "It’s a part of who we are."
Actually since protecting the environment is an entirely science based policy, a person's religious beliefs serve only to interfere in their ability to understand the data they see in order to help direct their decision making.
ANY potential cabinet member who espouses such arcane and outdated opinions should NEVER be put in charge of any agency which requires at least some understanding and respect for science.
Period.
WATCH: Fox News can’t pretend all is well anymore, breaks down White House dysfunction in an amazing 7-point list
ReplyDelete...So it’s a little jarring to watch Chris Wallace and Shepard Smith pierce the bubble. And yet that’s exactly what happened when Wallace appeared on Smith’s show to break the whole mess down.
“Let’s just go through it,” Wallace said, before laying out a shockingly lucid analysis of Trump’s troubles.
1. “Hope Hicks has quit. She’s the person closest to the president in the White House.”
2. “The president hates his attorney general.”
3. The deputy attorney general now has to defend the hated attorney general “from the attack by the president.”
4. Trump’s top economic advisor is threatening to quit because of proposed tariffs, which he wasn’t consulted about.
5. “The president reportedly wants to oust his national security advisor,” the respected H.R. McMaster.
6. “Somebody is trying to get Jared Kushner.”
7. Trump wants to be rid of Kushner, his son-in-law, but doesn’t want to do it himself and so he’s also asked his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, to “help me Kushner and Ivanka out of here.”
“Other than that, it’s sweetness, light, puppies and unicorns here in D.C.,” Wallace said, wryly.
“Wow—that’s a nice clip for whoever picks up clips,” Smith said.
Indeed it is.
The clip is below.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/watch-fox-news-cant-pretend-well-anymore-breaks-white-house-dysfunction-amazing-7-point-list/
Didn't he forget that he wanted to fire Kelly or Kelly wants to quit?
DeleteSeems like a very short list.
Blistering column destroys ‘Princess Ivanka’ over ties to mobsters and shady business deals
ReplyDeleteIvanka Trump: Born to legitimize corruption and make the shoddy look cute
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-heffernan-ivanka-legitimizing-20180303-story.html
‘I take objection’: Chris Wallace rips apart Trump aide after he blames media for ‘fanning flames’ on trade wars
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/take-objection-chris-wallace-rips-apart-trump-aide-blames-media-fanning-flames-trade-wars/
As a degreed philosopher, I can attest that Pruitt is incorrect. Evolution is an established theory with much supporting evidence. As is gravity. Both exist. The science explains the how. Indisputable.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing metaphysical about either is choosing to tack on a "because god or turtle or flying spaghetti monster or [insert skybuddy preference here]
These two categories are not interchangeable.
Just wait until Pruitt gets a Constitutional amendment denying evolution and gravity.
DeleteEPA- extremely pro abortion? Nope that doesn't fit Pruitt. What is the connection between banning abortion and banning the environment?
ReplyDelete"All of us are people of faith and obviously influenced by our faith..."
ReplyDeleteFaith is belief without evidence.
Science is the opposite.
WHAT in the world is a person of faith doing running science-based policy?
I guess that's what makes this a great country:
Even crazy and ignorant people get to vote.
I define myself as faith-based, but I also find Pruitt's argument ridiculous. Does that even make sense?
DeleteThis is what shakes the faith of the pro-Trump media
ReplyDelete...Carlson was channeling the perspectives of Trump voters, but pro-Trump media is similar. The president's boosters in the press are generally willing to overlook the daily drama because they view (or at least portray) him as a defender of American interests and culture.
Thus, anything Trump says or does that appears counter to American interests and culture, as his supporters define those terms, can set off alarms. Here are some of those things:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/03/03/this-is-what-shakes-the-faith-of-the-pro-trump-media/
Theocratic fascists are thick throughout Trump's administration.
ReplyDeleteSee my prior threads on Trump Jr.'s secret trip to the UAE, Erik Prince's multiple ties to the UAE, and, days ago, my thread on the UAE and U.S. aluminum policy. Regular readers of this feed will not be surprised to see this New York Times story or the UAE-U.S. policy connection.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/970117894775476224
2/ Here's one of my prior UAE threads that you may want to check out, in light of tonight's breaking news from the NYT (this being a story about possible clandestine UAE-Trump ties that has still not been covered by major media):
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/970118909675360256
(THREAD) Yulya Alferova—ex-wife of Russian oligarch Artem Klyushin and a member of Trump's entourage in Moscow in 2013—is yet another witness who confirms, albeit inadvertently, Trump lied about what happened at the Ritz Moscow. The list of such witnesses is now very, very long.
ReplyDelete17/ But kudos to The Daily Beast for finding out that the word on the street in Moscow was that Trump was indeed being blackmailed: "Stanislav Belkovsky—a host at the independent Russian network Rain TV—said 'Prostitutes around the city say the golden-shower orgy story is true.'"
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/964976324749209601
Amerikkkans who voted for this fuck should be oh so proud.
DeleteFBI Agents May Be Lying About Arresting MS-13 Members Just To Get Trump Off Their Backs
ReplyDeletehttps://crooksandliars.com/2018/03/fbi-agents-may-be-lying-about-arresting-ms
Trump Targets MS-13, a Violent Menace, if Not the One He Portrays
...Few dispute the violent menace that MS-13 is to pockets across the United States. Its members wield machetes, kill with abandon and terrorize — for the most part in immigrant communities.
But law enforcement officials at local, state and federal levels describe the Trump administration’s hard-charging campaign against MS-13 as out of proportion with the threat.
www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/us/politics/ms13-gang-threat-trump-policy.html
1973
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Life_Amendment
'Section 1. Neither the United States nor any State shall deprive any human being, from the moment of conception, of life without due process of law; nor deny to any human being, from the moment of conception, within its jurisdiction, the equal protection of the laws.'
'Section 1. With respect to the right to life, the word 'person,' as used in this article and in the fifth and fourteenth articles of amendment to the Constitution of the United States, applies to all human beings, including their unborn offspring at every stage of their biological development, irrespective of age, health, function, or condition of dependency.'
Used to be the Catholic Church did not hold to the concept of personhood at conception. Can't remember which Pope but the "soul" didn't enter the body until, like 3 months or something. Something similar to the Jewish faith and a bit closer to the scientific definitions of timeline from zygote to fetus etc.
DeleteNow they've embraced the certified nutters because I have no idea. Evangelicals make so much sense? It's not like they're going to convert any of them to Catholicism.
Yeah.. I think human gestation used to be 12 months, but as we got smarter and our brains increased in size, we had to give birth sooner. The first three months in which survival is mostly due reflexive instincts and non stop attention is time we used to be growing. So it makes sense that soul woudd enter at three months, because that's when we were supposed to be born, if we didn't get such big brains.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQHImCFHipg
ReplyDelete'What's The Buzz / Strange Thing Mystifying _ {What a BUZZ}
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR'
A person in authority who does not understand science should not be allowed to comment on science much less make policy that depends on it.
ReplyDeleteOh, and yeah, they probably shouldn't BE in a position of authority.
OT:
ReplyDelete""It's our belief that domestic steel supply can't support domestic consumption," "
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/california-steel-industry-rips-trumps-damaging-tariffs/
Duh.
DeleteAnd he's sinking those businesses that rely on imported steel and aluminum for manufacturing.
Aside from the one domestic manufacturer of beer kegs, who is this going to benefit?
Well, the more business people that realize Trump is a nutjob that is ruining their businesses, not "saving" them, the less likely they will be to back him or the GOP. They don't have to back the Democrats, just cease backing the Republicans.
but, but, but all those corporate tax cuts,
Deletetoo bad there won't be any corporations left to benefit from them
Tax cuts are kinda moot when you're not making a profit. Bankruptcy really saves on taxes.
Deletehttps://www.yahoo.com/news/kasich-praises-younger-generations-gun-reform-activism-bully-love-164436227.html
ReplyDelete"“Frankly, they put it to me every once in a while, and I try to explain to them the politics of why it’s so difficult. They don’t want to hear it. And you know? Good for them! Bully for them! I love them! I love the way that they are saying, ‘Let’s do the art of the impossible rather than the art of the possible.’”"When asked about Trump’s statement, Kasich said, “That’s not the way we’re going to do it,” adding that he doesn’t think “that’s where this would ultimately pass.” He said a package will only come about if “very strongly pro-gun” people who “think there ought to be limits” are involved in the process." aka NRA praise DOG.
OIL. "Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly shifted his focus in the ongoing Russia probe to a Lebanese-American businessman with ties to the United Arab Emirates who paid frequent visits to the White House last year. In recent weeks, investigators have questioned George Nader, who has presented himself as close to the Emirates' Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, The New York Times reports. Members of Mueller's team also sought information from witnesses on any attempts by the Emiratis to secure political influence with Trump by funneling money to his presidential campaign, sources told the Times. It was not immediately clear if this new line of inquiry has any links to Russia. Nader, an obscure figure who served as a back-channel negotiator with Syria during the Clinton administration, is thought to have been backed by either Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon or senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, according to two different sources cited in the report."
ReplyDeleteFB"Devin Nunes represents part of California.
ReplyDeleteBut as he repeatedly demonstrates, he has nothing but contempt for his own state. He tells his kids it's a "3rd world" country, because he's apparently teaching his own children, the next generation of Californians, the same contempt for their own home.
Those who have contempt for their homes, don't do much to take care of it. They don't give much of a damn about the future or their neighbors or anything but themselves.
This is a prime example of what happens when you elect people who hate and fear government to run government.
When you do this, what you get every single time is someone like Nunes, a man who who was elected to represent the average American and yet who demonstrates his hatred of the average American at every turn.
This is inevitably, every single time, a recipe for terrible government.
This is inevitably, every single time, how you get government that is openly hostile to its citizens. Every. Single. Time. No matter how many times you care to run the experiment -- and while experimentation is fine in pursuit of knowledge, it's often goddamned HARD on the lab rats. Give that some thought, while you're figuring out how many more times we're gong to have to go through this before you wise the hell up.
If you elect people who have nothing but contempt for their own country to government, you're going to get a government that has nothing but contempt for you.
Thus, if you want better government, you have to start by electing better people to government."<Jim Wright
He won't be representing California much longer.
DeleteIssa is already out. Rohrbacher won't be re-elected. Neither will Nunes. They may not be replaced with Democrats but they won't be back.
All three an embarrassment to the state.
But on the brighter side, we have Ted Lieu!
You lay with vipers, you will get bit. What we are witnessing is Christianity’s fight for survival. One or two generations is all they have left. People will not have time for that horseshit.
ReplyDeleteBack to the dark ages. And people thought we were making progress?
ReplyDeleteThey fled to this country to save their religious beliefs and now their religious beliefs are threatening our country's survival. Soon the inquisition will have been bought back and the burning of witches.
https://newrepublic.com/article/147198/scott-pruitt-vs-pope
ReplyDelete"Some Christians wrongly believe that this passage “invites us to subjugate the earth, the savage exploitation of nature would be encouraged, presenting the image of human beings as ruler and destroyer,” "
https://www.hcn.org/articles/blm-speeds-ahead-on-grand-staircase-escalante-plans