Awkward jokes, fantastical claims about planets highlights of recent GOP debate
No other way to put it: last week was not a great one for science in Minnesota’s 2nd District. The six (and counting) Republican primary candidates proved to voters that none of them should be taken seriously, especially not when it comes to facts. Asked what she would do to combat climate change – if anything – Darlene Miller decided to make a bad joke. And John Howe spouted off fantastical claims about planets – that were promptly shot down by an actual scientist.
All of which begs the question: Why would Minnesotans ever want these people in charge?
Darlene Miller resorted to a comedy act – to distract from the fact she has absolutely no idea what she’s doing:
Moderator: “How would you address the issue of climate change or global warming?”
Darlene Miller: “I’m all for climate change if it means Minnesota is going to get warmer!”
John Howe offers this patently false bit of scientific wisdom on the potential discovery of a new 9th planet:
John Howe: “We don’t know the gravitational effect that’s going to have on the Earth. The jury’s still out.”
Actual astrophysicist: ‘Scientists do know the gravitational effect the hypothesized Planet Nine would have on Earth: “None.”’
“I get it: it’s easier to crack jokes and fabricate science than do the actual work of learning what matters to Minnesota voters,” said Sacha Haworth of the DCCC. “Unfortunately, these comments from the clown convoy that is the Republican MN02 field are only a glimmer of what we’ve come to expect with Republicans in Congress: heavy on ‘truthiness,’ light on actual facts. It’s no wonder Republicans in Congress can’t get anything done when these are the people they recruit to run.”
Background:
Miller: “I’m All For Climate Change If It Means Minnesota’s Gonna Get Warmer.” When asked during the January 21 debate what type of policies she would support to address climate change, Miller said, “Y’know, I’m all for climate change if it means Minnesota’s gonna get warmer. (laughter) I would have to really work with experts in this area, I’m certainly not one, do not know any of the details. But to be perfectly honest, right now I think we have a lot bigger things at stake. I think the economy needs to grow, we’ve gotta get people to jobs, and we’ve gotta protect our country. So I would focus on that before I focused on climate change.” [The Uptake MN02 Debate Transcript, 1/23/16]
Pioneer Press: “Minnesota Candidate’s ‘Planet 9’ Claim Is Wrong, UMN Physicist Says.” “Howe showed off his attention to the latest scientific developments in Thursday’s Second District GOP debate. Unfortunately, Howe’s discussion of the possible new planet discovered in the outer reaches of the solar system got the science wrong, one scientist said. ‘We just found another planet,’ said Howe … ‘It’s going to take that planet 10,000 to 20,000 years to orbit the sun. We don’t know the gravitational effect that’s going to have on the Earth.’ But Terry Jones, a professor at the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, said scientists do know the gravitational effect the hypothesized Planet Nine would have on Earth: ‘None.’” [Pioneer Press, 1/22/16]