One of the highlights of Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech was the line, “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.”
Steve Benen at MSNBC doesn’t think that is funny.
For those who can’t watch clips online, Romney said, “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.”
That’s great news for those of us who don’t have families on this planet.
Now, as a factual matter, Romney’s promise is itself rather strange. How “you and your family” will benefit from less access to affordable health care, less access to education, and fewer investments in roads and infrastructure is something of a mystery.
But even putting that aside, the aspect of Romney’s comments that was simply astounding was the ignorance. The Republican treated rising sea levels as a punch-line, as if the very idea of addressing the climate crisis is ridiculous and those who take this seriously are fools worthy of mockery.
Indeed, the Republican audience took their cues, literally laughing at Obama’s efforts to address global warming.
Also notice that, in Romney’s mind, there’s a distinction — the nation can deal with the climate crisis or we can help families, as if the two have nothing to do with one another.
When people in the future look back at Romney’s contempt for the idea of “slowing the rise of the oceans,” and his party’s willingness to bury their hands in the sand, history will not be kind.
Maybe I should explain the joke to him. The reference is to this speech that Barack Obama made just before the 2008 election.
For a politician to claim that his election will stop the rise of the oceans and cause the planet to heal is insane. Obama should have been laughed off the stage for saying something like that. It sounds like Canute commanding the tide to halt, or something mad that one of the crazy Roman Emperors, who though they were gods might say. The fact that many of Obama’s followers really seemed to believe Obama was some sort of savior is disturbing. Sane people see such statements as ridiculous and worthy of derision.
Obama healing the planet.
Besides, like most people who are full of themselves, Obama has a very thin skin. If the Republicans keep teasing him, keeping it light and humorous, he will show the very ugly side of his personality. I am looking forward to the debates.
Related articles
- Romney mocks Obama’s pledge to control sea level: ‘Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet…My promise is to help you and your family’ (climatedepot.com)
- Remember That Time Barack Obama Stopped The Oceans From Rising? (minx.cc)
- Rising sea levels aren’t funny (maddowblog.msnbc.com) Well, neither is having a President who thinks he can control the tides.
