Very Possibly the Defining Stupidity of the 2014 Electoral Cycle

Maybe monumental stupidity in reckless lying is more of a Republican thing in general, instead of merely a foible of a small-time Republican calling for an American coup. The current stupidity comes out of Florida, where, as many of us have already heard and watched, incumbent Gov. Rick Scott (R) refused to take the stage for nearly seven minutes at the beginning of the debate, apparently complaining that former Gov. Charlie Crist (D, fmr. I, fmr. R) had an electric fan under his podium.

Yes, really.

Reporter Marc Caputo tweeted last night:

Privately, Republicans/Rick Scott loyalists are telling me the moment he didn’t go onstage over fangate was the moment he lost the election

Maybe so, but Gov. Scott and even surrogate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) decided to drive a couple more nails just to make sure.

Consider, please, the answer from Gov. Scott:

Well I waited to see if he—’til we figured out if we figured out if he was going to show up. He said he was going to come to the, uh—uh, he said he was going to come to the debate. So why come out until he’s ready?

And then there was Sen. Rubio to back him up:

Well, as you saw Governor Scott say, it wasn’t clear he was even going to show up. When I got here today for this debate, I was told that Charlie Crist was going to cancel the debate. Because unless there was a fan on that stage he would not come out. So I think that Governor Scott was waiting to see if Charlie would actually pull it off or not.

And, of course, there is a punch line: While Gov. Scott was apparently waiting to see if Crist showed up, Mr. Crist was standing onstage waiting for the incumbent to emerge.

Stupidity of an Unbelievable Magnitude

There is a strange phenomenon in American politics whereby something is true just because one said it, even if what says is observably false. We often miss it, and tend to notice it when the tacit standard spectacularly fails.

For instance, here’s a statement from a politician, as reported by Ed Mazza of Huffington Post:

“I just wanted to know what oath (the military) took,” Dunnegan told St. Louis Public Radio in a telephone interview. “I’m not calling the president a domestic enemy. I’m not calling the president anything. He is the president. Do I agree with what the president is doing? Absolutely not. Anybody that asks me, I’ll be happy to tell you that.”

In the first place, what, is this a helluva scandal, or just some petty back and forth? And in truth, flip a coin. Heads, it’s scandalous. Tails, it’s just another Republican in Missouri.

Debbie Dunnegan Waters the Jefferson County Recorder, also tweeted, “The rest choose to hate me w/o cause. Judge me on half truth and spins.”

So, we’re all up to date? She’s not calling the president a domestic enemy. People are hating on her without cause, and judging her according to half-truths and spins.

Yeah. You know there’s a punch line, right?

The statement in question:

I have a question for all my friends who have served or are currently serving in our military … having not put on a uniform nor taken any type military oath, there has to be something that I am just not aware of. But I cannot and do not understand why no action is being taken against our domestic enemy. I know he is supposedly the commander in chief, but the constitution gives you the authority. What am I missing? Thank you for your bravery and may God keep you safe.

(Boldface accent added)

Yes, really.