And just maybe, throw up a little in their mouths.
TPM caught this one, complete with the Barton spin:
Oh the (rare, but occasionally exceptional) joys of Twitter. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)--the ranking member on the House Energy & Commerce Committee--says (tweets?) "I seemed [sic] to have baffled the Energy Sec with basic question - Where does oil come from?"
He's referring to Nobel prize winning Energy Secretary Steve Chu, and this exchange.
Yeah, you "baffled" him alright, Joe. A Nobel Prize winner can't believe you were able to dress and feed yourself in preparation for asking that monumentally stupid question.
I can only assume that what Barton thought he was "proving" was that since the organic matter that creates oil and gas flourish in warmer climes, that must mean that the Arctic was once tropical, and therefore global warming is a myth, and everybody should burn everything they can get their hands on as a patriotic act.
The critical bit of science Joe has left out of the equation? Parts of the Earth actually move.
Hi! Welcome to fourth grade, Joe!
I have news for you. If you ask a scientist at a Congressional hearing to opine for you, in all seriousness, whether the moon is made of green cheese, that guy will also be "baffled," I assure you.