Proud Ignorance

Posted on 04/23/2009 at 12:41 pm by Bob Cesca

Plate tectonics is something we learn in junior high school. And yet Congressman Joe Barton (R-Super Stupid) thinks the idea is hilarious and silly.

Benen notes:

Shortly thereafter, Barton tweeted, “I seem to have baffled the Energy Sec with basic question – Where does oil come from?” Indeed, when Barton’s office posted the clip to YouTube, they included a message at the start of the video: “Where does oil come from? Question leaves Energy Secretary puzzled.”

Not only did Barton not baffle or puzzle Secretary Chu, but the above video in which Chu is clearly not baffled or puzzled was posted by Barton’s staff.

And Barton is an elected member of Congress.

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  • http://www.broadwaycarl.blogspot.com Broadway Carl™

    Of course, he thinks got the best of Steven Chu because Chu is relying on science and geological evidence when EVERYONE KNOWS that the little baby Jesus put all that oil under Alaska.

  • Elvis the Dingeldein™

    Please, Texas. Please. For the love of The Fucking God™, secede already. Just. Fucking. Secede.

  • gypsy

    carl, you’re right. jesus made the dinosaurs drag huge plastic barrels of oil to alaska. which is wrong on so many levels…

  • eve

    what a dumb ass — but please don’t make us secede because Joe is dumber than dirt (and arrogant about his stupidity!)– if states secede because they have an idiot in Congress — we would lose most states

  • Elvis the Dingeldein™

    I will be Twittering directly @RepJoeBarton throughout the day. The last two have been fun:@RepJoeBarton – Steven Chu: Nobel Prize Winner in Physics. You: MS in “Industrial Administration”. In a Science Argument, YOU WIN! Huzzah!@RepJoeBarton – HAHAHAHA! PLATE TECTONICS!? WHO HAS *EVER* HEARD OF SUCH A THING!?! WHAT? THE EARTH’S CRUST MOVES?? STUPID DEMOCRATS!

  • Elvis the Dingeldein™

    How about this one:@RepJoeBarton – Texas is ranked FIFTIETH in Peoples With The High School Diplomas (2004). You’re doing great, Congressman! Also: SCIENCE!Too much?

  • AC

    The north pole was so warm and toasty that Santa had a WAGON (on wheeeeels!) and had to give the reindeer HAIRCUTS so they wouldn’t overheat.Ad hoc ergo sum: Put that in your pipe and smoke it, “Dr.” Chu.

  • MZ

    What a dolt. Chu’s not a geologist, so he has to think about it a little, but he’s got a decent handle on how things work. His hesitation was probably less about uncertainty and more about surprise at a question that came out of the blue, a question with an answer that can be easily looked up. But because Chu’s answer wouldn’t make a good bumper sticker, he’s clearly “puzzled”.Someone should ask Barton how old he thinks the Earth is.

  • GermanQR

    Well, I think Alaska actually never drifted that far, and it was in fact located in the northwestern corner of Pangaea (250 mil years ago), close to the the Arctic Circle. The presence of oil in Alaska can be explained by the fact that Earth was indeed a lot warmer back then, so I guess the texan guy was well advised on this.What I don’t understand is why this was brought up during a congressional oversight session. What was the hearing about?

  • MZ

    GermanQR: Pangaea is peanuts. The planet’s over 4.5 billion years old, so what’s 250 mil?A useful site for maps of where continents may have been back through time is here:http://scotese.com/earth.htmHe's even helpfully pointed out Alaska for some reason. “Laurentia” = North America (or what there was of it at the time)

  • GermanQR

    MZ,The planet maybe 4.5 mill years old, but petroleum is not. Only continental drift within oil’s formation period is relevant. Alaska didn’t “move around” much during this period.Did you watch the whole thing? Do you know what the hearing was about? I’m mystified.

  • MZ

    You’re right, GQR, but do you know how old the rocks are that host the oil? I don’t, which is why I figured I’d take the long view just to be safe.This is all between us anyway, since the bigger issue seems to be that Barton doesn’t think plates move at all, which we can agree makes him stupid.

  • rogect8

    Time to enroll Representative Dumbass in GLY1000.

  • http://oneceltsview.blogspot.com/ Wolfe Tone

    The Energy Secreatary wasn’t puzzled by the question… he was puzzled by the stupidity.

  • camel54

    Wolfe is right. Chu appears to me to be stunned by the monumentally stupid premise of the question. How do you summarize for a layman the events of geo-time? Not only that, how do you answer a question that hardly makes sense as a question? It’s like asking how all this breathable air just conveniently gathered around earth for us.

  • http://www.xkcd.com/ • Silly Ratfaced Git •

    Wolfe has it correct. Dr. Chu was stunned by the ignorance of a U.S. Representative. Dr. Chu normally hangs with MIT types whose light casual conversation would be incomprehensible to Representative Ignorant Twatwaffle from Dumbfuck, TX. Yes, I am an elitist. I actually earned a real degree from a real school.Rep. Fuckwit probably thinks that semiconductors are magic. I wouldn’t want to have to explain the behavior of electrons near a PN junction to Rep. Not A Rocket Scientist.

  • https://www.coffeemakersetc.com/images/Paper_Filters.jpg Elvis the Dingeldein™

    More Twitters at Representative Dumb Stupid:

    @RepJoeBarton – If you asked HHS Secy “Where do babies come from” & HHS Secy was briefly stumped, would you say you’d “puzzled” her?@RepJoeBarton – Or would you just think the question was so astronomically stupid that it took her a moment to parse its stupidity?@RepJoeBarton – I’m sorry, forgive the use of term “astronomically”, that’s Science; I should say “astrologically stupid.” Adding: Unicorns!

    MAN I love it when the politicians Twitter!

  • http://www.podiumcafe.com Podium Cafe

    Indeed, Chu did seem baffled — by the idea that a member of congress was seriously asking this stoopid question.

  • an

    I thought Chu was baffled and was laughing over the statement that it was a “simple question.” It’s only really “simple” if you use Teh God™ for the answer, eh?

  • https://www.coffeemakersetc.com/images/Paper_Filters.jpg Elvis the Dingeldein™

    Adding: Y’all can follow me on Teh Twitters via username elding.

  • D. C.

    I really wish we could have a requirement that any member of Congress has to pass a basic test in science literacy before they could attend any hearing regarding science.If you’re just fucking stupid, you have to sit in gallery while people who know what they’re talking don’t have their time wasted.