Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

I'm really starting to worry about the mental health of many Republicons. Now some are delusional enough to believe crude oil grows on trees:

Rep. Bill Sali (R-ID), who is participating in the GOP’s ongoing “Drill Now” energy stunt, has a unique idea about how to bring down gas prices: extracting oil from trees. In a meeting in his Capitol Hill office, Sali reportedly told a candidate for Idaho’s House of Representatives, Byron Yankey, that there “‘could be up to 40 barrels of oil‘ in a single tree.” Yankey wrote on his campaign blog:

Congressman Sali informed us that a solution to the high price of gasoline was to make petroleum from “all those trees in our forests.” … He continued by saying there “could be up to 40 barrels of oil” in a single tree.

Um.... Mr. Sali, some trees do indeed have oil in them, but it's the wrong fucking kind of oil.

Think Progress was kind enough to devise a simple tutorial for the Congressman:

Sali is apparently confusing cellulosic ethanol with oil, so let’s review the differences for the representative:

– Cellulosic ethanol is a renewable fuel “derived from the stalks and stems of plants.” Sali voted against cellulosic ethanol tax credits.

– Oil is a nonrenewable fuel found in the ground. Sali received $35,000 in campaign contributions from oil and gas companies since January 2007.

If this doesn't help, I'd advise kind friends and family members ensure he gets good psychiatric help as soon as possible - or get him into a remedial education program asap.

Other Republicons who need mental health care include John McCain, whose memory problems seem to get worser and worser with every passing day:

Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) begins his Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “We Are All Georgians” with a warning about the seriousness of the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia:

For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call.

Perhaps McCain is giving himself a wake-up call, since just yesterday he seemed to have thought that “stark international aggression was a thing of the past.” In a press conference with reporters, he said, “In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.”

He can't remember what he said yesterday. On top of this, he seems to have forgotten the small fact that in the 21st century, a nation indeed invaded another nation - that would be America invading Iraq. A war he voted for and supports, no less. So either he's forgotten what century we invaded Iraq in, or he doesn't think Iraq's a nation. Either way, that makes him the last fucking person we need as President of the United States.

And then there's Jerome Corsi, Swift Boat Veterans veteran, lying sack of shit, and author of a new "book" full of lies, vitriol and smears on Obama. Let's see how mentally stable he is:

And as long as Corsi is renewing his disgusting efforts, his own credibility is, unlike four years ago, getting some attention. The Politico’s Kenneth Vogel noted that Corsi has “a trail of wild theories, vitriol and dogma that have called into question his credibility.”

Jerome Corsi, who rose to prominence as the co-author of a book attacking 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, penned another tome asserting oil is a nearly infinite resource that continues to generate naturally, and posted a series of online comments through 2004, including suggestions that Hillary Rodham Clinton is a lesbian and Muslims worship Satan.

In an interview with Politico, Corsi pointed out that he’s apologized for Internet postings ripping Muslims and Catholics, and said they don’t undermine the integrity of his new book.

“I wrote those to be provocative and I said I would not use that kind of politically incorrect language again, and I don’t believe I have,” he said. […]

Failure on a myriad of fronts. Failure to recognize the difference between reality and his own deranged fantasies, failure to realize that you can only spew so much easily-debunkable shite before people realize you're full of - well, shite - and get wise, and failure to realize that what he's doing is using "that kind of politically incorrect language again."

Yup. Definitely another candidate for the psychiatric ward.

Is it just me, or does it seem like nearly every nationally prominent Republicon is a raving lunatic?