Texas Governor Rick Perry used the occasion of the Republican Presidential Debate & Quiz Show to announce his running mate:
“The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at . . . jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet, to me, is just nonsense I mean . . . and I tell somebody, I said, just because you have a group of scientists that have stood up and said here is the fact, Galileo got outvoted for a spell.”
– Rick Perry, via ABC News.
This is a controversial position for a Tea Party Republican in these sceptical times. It might even be taken to mean that Mr. Perry actually believes that the Earth revolves around the Sun, when anyone can plainly can see it’s the other way ’round. The Perry campaign has not responded to questions about those provocative implications.
Galileo Galilei, Mr. Perry’s designated running mate, could not be reached for comment, nor even located on the voters rolls. We may assume he is a Republican, as some of his relatives held high office in the Republic of Florence and he once worked in the Republic of Venice.
More:
“Rick Perry says more and more scientists are questioning global warming,” PolitiFact
Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-b4F
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Tags: "Tea Party", Climate Change, climate change denial, Galileo, Global Warming, global warming denial, GOP, Perry, Republicans, Rick Perry, science
September 8, 2011 at 9:22 pm
UPDATES:
“Gov. Perry, Inquisitor of Climate Change,” Kieran Mulvaney, DiscoveryNews
“Galileo Still Matters,” Galileo’s Pendulum
“A Stern Commentary: Howard Stern Calls Out Rick Perry for His Anti-Science Views,” Steve Mirsky, Scientific American blog
“A thought for Texas Governor Rick Perry about science,” Janet D. Stemwedel, Adventures in Ethics & Science
Related:
“Science, The Tea Party and The Dunning-Kruger Effect,” Dan Satterfield, American Geophysical Union blog
December 26, 2011 at 8:52 am
That picture is of Leonardo, not Galileo
December 26, 2011 at 7:12 pm
Steve:
Right you were. I’ve changed the graphic. Thanks.