Democrats really need to message better on the fact that a climate-change-denying Republican numbnut from Texas is chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
Why should Lamar Smith, a guy whose brain routinely inhabits the Dark Ages, chair this important committee? Especially since he's trying to intimidate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — threatening NOAA's administrator with, um, something if she doesn't turn over a bunch of confidential internal documents on global warming.
Apparently Smith didn't like the fact that agency scientists chose to disagree with the clearly silly assertion that climate change had slowed over the last 10 years. So in the Republican playbook, McCarthyesque browbeating, even in the face of objections from the scientific community, is the way to go.
We cats are so tired of the GOP frantically fishing for evidence of things that never happened (e.g., "Benghazi") while maddeningly ignoring the environmental disaster that's unfolding right in front of them.
It's also pretty embarrassing that while Republicans are bullying scientists in this country, things are getting back to normal above the 49th parallel. Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have just lifted the Harper-era ban on government scientists speaking to the media. "Our government values science and will treat scientists with respect," announced Navdeep Bains, Canada's new minister of innovation, science and economic development.
Valuing science — what a novel concept! Until the Republicans come to their senses (unlikely), or until Democrats call them out for putting Neanderthals in charge of scientific committees, we cats HISS.
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