The GOP has become known far and wide as the anti-science party. They don’t believe in climate change, evolution, you name it, they both diss and disbelieve it. Except, that is, when it suits their purposes.Enter extreme stage right, soon to be former Congressman Joe Walsh aka the Other Joe Walsh:
Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) had a Todd Akin moment of his very own Thursday
night when he said “advances in science and technology” have eliminated
risks for pregnant mothers and therefore done away with the need for
abortion exceptions.“There’s no such exception as life of the mother,” Walsh saidafter a debate
with Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth in Chicago. “And as far as
health of the mother, same thing. With advances in science and
technology, health of the mother has become a tool for abortions any
time, under any reason.”Asked if he believes there is never a medical need to perform an abortion to save a mother’s life, Walsh said, “Absolutely.”
Well, Walsh always has been an absolutist but he doesn’t say *what* medical procedures have rendered child birth so safe that nobody dies giving birth any more. The reason he doesn’t say is that his theory is piffle. poppycock and a variety of other words starting with the letter P. He’s also a prick, putz and poopheaded pustule.
The other thing that bothers me is that he’s filched a perfectly good name from rock icon Joe Walsh. I bet that teabgagger Joe Walsh cannot play slide guitar and lacks the sort of diplomatic skills required to deal with Glenn Frey and Don Henley’s gynormous egos. In fact, if the Real Joe Walsh wasn’t a legendary goofball and former druggie, he’d be a much better Congressman than this dumb ass fucker, who is *obviously* the Other Joe Walsh.
The Real Joe Walsh has endorsed future Rep. Tammy Duckworth and performed at a fundraising concert for her this summer. I hope he did this tune:
When is the pro-life side gonna wake up and figure out that the people making such stupid statements isn’t your friend but your enemy. Such stupid statements put you at the starting line with a weighted chain and a banner of “ignorant”.
Ask any OB. Even in the most ideal of situations (healthy mother, supportive father, ample resources including good insurance) there are risks in pregnancy to both the mother and fetus. Admittedly, the residents aren’t going straighy from the path lab to the delivery room without washing their hands (such as in the time of Sammelweiss). Medicine has done a lot to decrease the risks. But there are clearly risks.
You mentioned Todd “legitimate rape” Akin. I am still flabherghasted that when the repubs assigned committees to their house members, they thought Akin would be a good fit to the Science committee.
Also, within the last month, his campaign confirmed that he stands by his 2008 statement that doctors are performing abortions on women who weren’t pregnanthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/03/todd-akin-abortion-pregnant_n_1937001.html based on what appears to be a headliner from the Chicago Sunday Sun Times from 1978 http://dlib.nyu.edu/undercover/sites/dlib.nyu.edu.undercover/files/documents/uploads/editors/ChiSunTimes_1978Nov12_1.pdf (I’m not that familiar with the Chicago Press. Is this a reputable source? Is this a photoshop hack job …? )
Then in GA, rep Paul Broun (R -of course), has sparked a campaign to write in Charles Darwin on the ballot.http://global.christianpost.com/news/ga-congressman-paul-brouns-evolution-comments-spark-darwin-for-congress-campaign-83610/ Seems he told a crowd (quoted from link), the linked story also has a link to the church website with a video of his speech):
“All that stuff I was taught about evolution, embryology, the Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell,” U.S. Rep. Broun told those in attendance at the banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Ga.
Oh, did I forget to include that Broun is on the GA Science, Space and Tech committee?
Did I forget to include that Broun is a doctor?
Knowing how basic embryology is to so much of the practice of medicine… I could see a competent physician who doesn’t believe the “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” But to say that all embryology is from the pit of hell? Doesn’t sound very level headed. Plus so much of embryology is simply describing what is observed. A single cell divides into 2 divides into 4. Before long, the cells form 3 layers. Those cells in the 1st layer become … The ectoderm layer become… It is simple observation. But also important in that there are diseases (such as certain cancers) that tend to occur in clusters – such as multiple endocrine tumors.
And how much of the statement is out of ignorance. For example, the original theory of the Big Bang has been modified far beyond the initial theory. The initial theory leaves much to be desired and should be considered superceeded. So I could see calling the Big Bang a bunch of Hooey. However, the much improved theory is still the best description of what happened (although there are still holes in the theory. Such as one current area of active research is why is the universe basically flat instead of globular.
As someone else named Joe Walsh I am saddened that he is degrading our name. With luck he will be voted out we may never speak of him again.
Yes, a major portion of the Republican party is rabidly anti-science. It is as bewildering as it is exasperating. And, their Medieval thinking is now spilling over into women’s rights…legitimate rape, against equal pay, can’t make their own health-care decisions, and force them to bring a pregnancy resulting from rape to term.
Even more frightening, you have half the country ready to vote for these Neanderthals.
The Repugs put people like Akin on those committees because it devalues science. That’s the object. It’s the same impetus that put One-L on the Intelligence Committee.
If you want the opinions of your recently elected crackpot, drooling, backwoods cretin legitimized, and science devalued, why, you put him on the committee where he’s likely to do the most damage.
Who’s not on the Science Committee? Rush Holt, a former solar phenomena scientist and plasma physicist.
Defense of and promotion of special economic and religious interests today requires that Repugs devalue science, so that’s what they do. It’s why a corrupt clown like Inhofe is on the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate Change, and Nuclear Safety.
It’s not hard to understand, once the motives are clear.
But Montag, one of the modern mantras, on both sides of the aisle, is that our lead in science and technology is what provides the high-tech, good paying jobs that we want.
Admittedly, even when I was in a major engineering university 30 years ago, it was blatantly obvious that a large percentage of the student body, and especially at the Master’s and PhD level students, were from Asia with many on temporary permits so that they had to go back home after getting their degree. Of course this “brain drain” has led to conditions including increased science /tech overseas and even conditions overseas being more welcoming to the outsourcing of US jobs (I hate that phrase as if the jobs actually belonged to the USA by some divine right. And especially how those folks who cry free market harp on that phrase while not realizing that outsourcing jobs is a logical result of free market as applied to the world and without restraints).
Of course, I realize that the USA has fallen way behind other countries in science and math education. Of course I realize that what the pols tell us is not necessarily the truth.
(Oddly enough, one of the best lecturers I heard during my years there was a fellow whose english left a lot to be desired. But he was able to combine broken english with gestures to make it clear what he was saying.)
It’s a winning strategy, though, when 70% of the electorate believes the world is 6000 years old and that an imaginary sky daddy erupted women out of a spare rib.
This country is so fucking stupid it makes my head explode.