Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sat down for the inaugural "BuzzFeed Brew" at a Capitol Hill bar yesterday, fielding questions on a wide variety of topics. Rubio's opinions on music seemed especially well thought out -- the far-right senator prefers Biggie to Tupac, knows Pitbull's real name, and considers Jay-Z the "gold standard" in hip hop.
Rubio seemed less conversant on areas of public policy.
On the Violence Against Women Act, for example, the Republican made it seem as if he supports the measure, asking rhetorically, "Who's for violence against women?" What Rubio neglected to mention is that he voted against it last year, and was one of only eight senators to vote against the VAWA motion to proceed just this week.
On LGBT issues, Rubio said he's "against discriminating against people" and doesn't care "what people decide to do in privacy of their lives." He then proceeded to argue that discriminating against same-sex couples in immigration policy is fine, dodge a question on ENDA, and overlook the fact that he's been a long-time opponent of marriage equality.
But what really amazed me was Rubio's approach to science -- on football, he's for it, but on climate, he's against it.
The senator explained that he believes the scientific evidence that points to brain damage from concussions in the NFL. But on global warming, not so much.
"The fundamental question is whether man-made activity is what's contributing most to it. And I understand that people say there's a significant scientific consensus on that issue. But I've actually seen reasonable debate on that principle."
I'm honestly not sure what that last sentence is supposed to mean. He's "actually seen reasonable debate on that principle"? That doesn't say anything. The science says the planet is facing a climate crisis, and Rubio knows the science says that, but's "actually seen reasonable debate on that principle."
I suppose that means he cares about science as it relates to athletes' concussions, but has no use for science as it relates to Earth.
That probably shouldn't be too surprising, since he's "not a scientist, man."
Of course, Rubio's only a senator from Florida, and it's not like his home state has anything to worry about as a result of global warming, right? Oh wait.
Leave a Comment:
Ho-hum. Once more Ideology trumps Reality. Nothing to see here, folks- just another Tea Party pander bear.
It's math a la carte for the GOP. All numbers shall be even, and any number not even shall be rounded up to the next even number. Some numbers are more equal than others.
and all numbers will be preceded by $$$
If Rubio is so doubtful of AGW maybe his constituents don't need any help when another normal, freakishly strong storm damages the Florida coast. After all, "I understand that people say" stronger storms are one of the results of climate change, but hey, can we really believe those nerdy scientists who probably don't even know who Jay-Z is?
The GOP rebranding is going into overdrive and this is just more evidence. Buzz Feed Brews? "Down" with Biggie and Jay-Z? Why be honest about your real stance when you can gloss it over with pop culture references? Embarassing...
Well considering that the house band at the republican national convention was the oak ridge boys I would consider this a step forward...
Rubio like the rest of the GOTP can't square their ideology against the reality of FACTS, so their incoherence on real-world issues while not understandable is all that they have.
When you've pursued & courted the crazy, religuluous zealots, and put the fear of "other" into people, you can't just turn around and ignore them by speaking logical and reasonable. Just remember "Fatal Attraction" and that boiling rabbit.....
As always, we have hypocrites like Rubio, who just love science as long as it makes them comfy but attack the same science when it shows that what they claim is wrong. Oh, to be able to put twits like this on a deserted island, and forbid them everything that has been advanced from, say, 800 years ago to the present.
Biggie and Tupac aren't my demographic so I can't really judge him. Now, if the interviewer asked him Dave or Sammy, then I'd be able to form an opinion.
I have a feeling he is a Sammy guy...
or maybe that guy from Extreme...
If he would pick Gary then that would really tell me something about him.
Weasel words... the man wants to run for POTUS so bad he can't be tied down to anything. This does not bode well for Immigration Reform, because when the #%&%# hits the fan you need a real pointman, not a weasel...
Well, it sounds like Rubio is trying to avoid sounding like the stupid party. But maybe they also need to decide not to sound like the ignorant party, because that's how these comments come across.
Another GOP dumbbell, but this one gets attention because he's not a WASP and has a pretty face. God help us!