Sen Tuberville (R-AL) is a world-class idiot. He thinks the Senate and House are separate branches of government. He does not know the difference between a judicial opinion and a bill — perhaps because he is unaware the judiciary is part of the government. He cannot identify who America fought in WWII. He has little idea of how IVF works. And he thinks Latinos are atheists — or something.
The man makes his hero, Citizen Trump, look intelligent. So, we should not be surprised that his problem-solving strategies are biblical rather than helpful. And his knowledge of the religious practices of Latin Americans is deficient.
Anyone with a favorable opinion of Tuberville’s intellectual attainments cannot blame the Senator. He reminds people of the full scope of his superstitious ignorance every time he says something. A good example is the analysis of the state of affairs in the US he offered in a recent interview.
He starts by demanding that “we” must appeal to a mysterious entity conjured into existence in the pages of an ancient Middle-Eastern text.
“We need to ask God for help because our country needs help. We’re in a tough situation right now. I'm right here in the middle of it. I get to see it every day.”
He is talking from the Senate, so I will agree with Tuberville that he is in the middle of a tough situation — only it is one he and his teammates have created. But I suspect he is not talking about the chronic and calamitous inability of the GOP to pass laws.
Next, Tuberville peddles a thoroughly debunked American creation myth.
“And you're exactly right, we live in a constitutional republic that’s trying to do things without our judo-Christian values. And that’s how this country was built.”
(BTW, that’s not a typo. He did say judo-Christian)
He then demands we return to a place we have never been — with a warning of the dire consequences of failing to achieve that impossibility.
“And we've got to get back to that. If we don't, we won't make it.”
He plays the GOP’s well-worn favorite card — and offers white bread platitudes as a substitute for original thought.
“The biggest thing right now, I will tell you, is what's going on at our southern border, when you've got a country with that borders, you don't have a country.”
He returns to his celestial security blanket — and freights the benighted divinity with a laundry list of responsibilities. Because Republicans do not know the difference between right and wrong unless some celestial scorekeeper gives them a list.
“And it goes back to one thing, God is not in this building. We’ve gotta get God back in this building. We've got to get God back in our country. We’ve gotta get God back in the nuclear family. We have to get moral values back into our country.”
Tuberville finished by explaining that the future of morality in America is on shaky ground because immigrants are irreligious ignoramuses.
"You can't do that when you have a million people every couple of months coming to this country that know nothing about God. That know nothing about our laws and Constitution.”
It would be snide for me to say that if the average immigrant knew little of the laws and Constitution of the United States, they would still know more than Tuberville — so I won’t. But I will say that Tommy maintains his zero intellectual batting average when it comes to his knowledge of religious observance in the Americas.
He did not explain why he thinks Latinos — who live on the second-most Christian continent — do not know anything about religion. (I bet he will also be gobsmacked to discover that Africa is #1). I can only think he is under the impression all the immigrants crossing the border are godless Chinese and Islamic (not a true religion to Tuberville) terrorists.
Or maybe he believes Catholicism is illegitimate Christianity — which would ignore the increasing evangelicalism of Latinos south of the border. (Not so fun fact: Evangelicals now represent 41% of Brazil’s population.)
Most tiresome about the grindingly ignorant Tuberville is his belief that the fix for an ailing country is a ‘cure’ that has produced dismal results in his home state. Alabama has no shortage of Tuberville-style Christians. They infest all branches of the state government.
This contagion raises the question, which metric can Tuberville point to that proves Alabama is better off for its religious indoctrination? I can find nothing in social or economic statistics. Alabama is near the worst in divorce rate, percentage of single-parent households, STI/STD/VD rate, murder rate, overall crime rate, education, and life expectancy.
There is one piece of good news. Alabama has one of the lowest unemployment rates. However, those workers do not earn much. And the state’s per capita GDP is pathetic.
Hell, if I lived in Alabama, I might start praying. Although the data clearly indicates that is a pointless exercise for social improvement. Although, anyone who prays for their personal fulfillment has my blessing — not that they need it.
