There are times when you realize that the “I’m not a scientist” refrain from Republicans isn’t simply a weak rhetorical device to elide their unjustifiable positions on climate change and evolution. For many it seems that not only are they not “scientists,” they’re as ignorant as dirt. California Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is one of those fellows. When he isn’t singing the praises of ISIS (yes, the awful backwards murdering organization), he’s on the House Science Committee, asking science folk about science stuff. On Thursday it was NASA’s turn to give information about planetary exploration to the men and women who will decide on the budget that NASA receives in the upcoming year. When Rep. Rohrabacher got his chance to ask questions, he did what Rep. Dana Rohrabacher does—Tea Party-style bumbling. He’s a rambling sort of a man; but he finished strong.
Rohrabacher: You have indicated that Mars was totally different thousands of years ago. Is it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?
Scientist Kenneth Farley: So the evidence is that Mars was different billions of years ago. Not thousands of years ago, and there would be, there's no evidence that, uhh, I'm aware of.
Rohrabacher: Would you rule that out? See, there's some people--Well, anyway.
Farley: I would say that is extremely unlikely.
Arstechnica points out that the “some people” Rep. Rohrabacher may have been referring to was someone like Infowars’ Alex Jones who has had this conversation in recent weeks.
Alex Jones guest: Children have been kidnapped and sent to a slave colony on Mars
Jones: “Well I don’t know about Mars bases, but I know they’ve created massive, thousands of different types of chimeras that are alien lifeforms on this earth now”
Please. The red district Rep. Rohrabacher has won handily is supposedly “well-educated.” Someone send them a few Youtube clips like the one below.