Despite the recent and seemingly never-ending influx of dumbasses on the GOP side in the Senate, James Inhofe continues to make a strong case for retaining the title of "Stupidest Member of the Senate." And even in the wake of a tragedy like the devastating tornadoes that have ravaged his home state, he hasn't failed in continuing to demonstrate his idiocy, most notably over the differences of red state/blue state disaster relief funding and maintaining his climate change denial with all the stubborness of a religion fanatic on the way to being burned at the stake. But for sheer pettiness, this one deserves mention.
Last Saturday, Inhofe gave the Republican response to Obama's weekly address. For once, it was non-political on both sides, with Obama giving thanks to fallen U.S. troops and their families for Memorial Day and Inhofe speaking about last week's events in Oklahoma. As Steve Benen put it, it was fairly normal:
And when I watched the Republican clip over the weekend, it seemed pretty straightforward. Inhofe talked about the various agencies at the federal, state, and local level tending to the needs of affected communities. "Oklahoma has been hit hard, but we're not knocked out," the senator said, adding, "I can speak for all Oklahoma today when I thank you for your continued thoughts, your prayers, your support as we begin the recovery process. Oklahoma is grieving and in pain, but the devastation such as this tends to bring us closer together as a country."
Except, as he noted, for one thing: Obama was not mentioned. No big deal, you might think. But then Inhofe explained
why there was no mention of the President in his comments:
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said on Monday that he didn’t mention President Barack Obama’s name in his rebuttal to Obama’s weekly presidential address about the Oklahoma tornadoes so that the White House couldn’t “pull a Chris Christie” on him.
“I was not going to let the White House pull a Chris Christie on me,” Inhofe told Newsmax.
Some conservatives criticized the GOP New Jersey governor for being overly effusive toward Obama in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which ravaged parts of New Jersey just ahead of last November’s presidential election.
Ah yes, that's why. Inhofe didn't want anyone to think he was getting soft and palling around with the President like that New Jersey Judas is.
I'll let Benen explain just how idiotic this move is:
As it happens, if Inhofe hadn't addressed this at all, no one would have given this another thought. It's not as if omission from his YouTube video was noticeable and there was chatter about the senator leaving the president out. No one cared.
But Inhofe felt compelled to tell a right-wing website what he was thinking -- while the senator was talking about a tragedy bring Americans "closer together as a country," he also ensured that his comments excluded President Obama so no one could characterize the response to the disaster as bipartisan.
Even by 2013 standards, this is unusually petty and small.
Yes it is. And quite stupid. But all of those are traits Inhofe embraces.