Republican War on Science

Heitkamp & Manchin also voted to confirm Scott Pruitt to the EPAWednesday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was tweeting about the dangers of the Senate passing a series of regulatory rollbacks that House conservatives already passed in January.

Gaius was in L.A. this week. One night he and his wife came to dinner with Digby and I (Nerano-- unbelievable). At one point we entertained the idea that "the deep state" really is seeking to overturn the will of the people who put Trump in the White House.

It was a big ha, ha/LOL moment when the GOP House leaders decided to make crackpot Texas Christian Scientist Lamar Smith chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee. One Republican staffer told me "one of them" (presumably Boehner but he would;t confirm my suspicion) was "slightly drunk" and laughing so hard that he pissed in his pants and had to go change.

Texas has been ignored by the DCCC for too long. I fear 2018 isn't going to change much either, despite rumblings of some early interest. Is the new DCCC regional Vice Chair even paying attention-- or just running for governor of Colorado?

Today was the March for Science. It's kind of embarrassing we even need a march like that. But as Bill McKibben wrote in the NY Times this week, The Planet Can't Stand This Presidency. "Trump’s environmental onslaught," he wrote, "will have immediate, dangerous effects... [T]here’s an extra dimension to the environmental damage. What Mr. Trump is trying to do to the planet’s climate will play out over geologic time as well. In fact, it’s time itself that he’s stealing from us.

Every cycle I write this damn story. Maybe when Pelosi isn't Democratic Leader appointing her horrible losing DCCC chairs anymore, I'll be able to finally retire it-- maybe. For as far back as I can remember the self-loathing Democrats at the DCCC give potential congressional candidates extra points for serveral things-- being wealthy first and foremost, but being an "ex"-Republican a close second. In 2006.

My best friend Roland teaches science to elementary school kids in Compton, California. When he saw this headline Wednesday night he shook his head and asked me if I thought people around the world were going to see it too. Tim Cama's report for The Hill was mind-boggling; what century was he writing about!

And a delightful dining companion

In Trump World, an example of unsound science (source: National Academy of Science)by Gaius PubliusIs it an emergency yet?Trump's plans for changes t

Yesterday the House Science Committee-- the majority of whose members were chosen to serve by the GOP leadership because they don't believe in or understand science-- held hearings on electronic vulnerabilities of U.S. election systems to hacking.