So I was sitting awake in my bedroom with my brother at this ungodly hour, and we decided to watch the latest episode of Rachel Maddow to pass the time. Little did we know that by the end, we'd be laughing our asses off at another example of a Republican who, as Maddow puts it, "stops, squirms, and runs" when confronted with evidence of his beliefs.
Meet Art Robinson:
Art Robinson is a research scientist (EDIT: not actually a scientist, see update), as well as the founder of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, who is running as a Republican against Peter DeFazio in Oregon's fourth district. The fourth is rated as a 100% chance of a Democratic win in November by FiveThirtyEight, and the reasons for that become clear when Art gets on camera. But before we get to that, let's take a look at what our friend Art believes, courtesy of his opponent's extremely helpful campaign website, which contains a large archive of all the insane crap Art has spewed over the years. Feel free to check it out here.
Art believes that:
- Public education is "the most widespread and devastating form of child abuse and racism in the United States". Source
- Nuclear radiation is beneficial to human beings in certain amounts, making it safe to say, dilute it and spray it over the oceans or store it in the foundations of buildings. Source
- Financial reform was nothing more than an excuse for the government to grow itself and greatly increase its power. Source
- Social security is a Ponzi Scheme. Source
- The Bush tax cuts need to be expanded for all Americans, the most wealthy included. Source
...and a whole bunch of other really crazy shit.
Anyway, for some spectacular reason, Art decided it'd be a good idea to go on Rachel Maddow for an interview. It... didn't go well.
During the interview he is asked precisely four things.
- Is he disturbed by a 150,000 dollar attack ad buy on his behalf by an organization funded through anonymous donors?
- Does he believe global warning is made up?
- Does he believe exposure to low levels of nuclear radiation is beneficial to human health?
- Does he still believe AIDS is a myth created for political reasons by the government, a position he held in 1995?
He can not answer any of them, and in every case resorts to attacking either his opponent or Rachel Maddow for supposedly smearing him after he is no longer able to dodge the question effectively. I really can't describe it here and you'll have to see it yourself, but it's really quite entertaining, even if somewhat embarrassing to watch. It also gives me a glimmer of hope to know that this is what you're fighting against in November. As an observer from the Great White North, I wish you the best of luck in defeating these people a month from now. Trust me: pretty much everyone up here thinks they're crazy... not including our Prime Minister, but that's another story.
UPDATE: Turns out this guy isn't even a scientist at all. Thanks to kalmoth for filling us in.
Hasn't been one for at least the last twenty-nine years. He is one of the few people running a front for global warming denialists "Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine." His schtick before that was "Institute of Orthomolecular Medicine" that sold vitamins. He's a charlatan.
More info on his "research institute"
UPDATE 2: Here's his opponent's campaign website, that of Democrat Peter Defazio, if anyone would like to send him a few dollars. Yeah, Defazio is a shoe-in against this nutjob, but you never know what can happen.
http://www.defazioforcongress.org/