Bill Maher Debates Climate Change w/ GOP Rep. Jack Kingston, Turns It Into Heated Evolution Debate

[Sky Masterson]

Run time: 09:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwdSoEPsNfE   Posted on YouTube: January 29, 2011 By YouTube Member: Born2WinMai Views on YouTube: 304   Posted on DU: January 29, 2011 By DU Member: Sky Masterson Views on DU: 2073

 

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Having a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent is a huge waste of Maher's time and energy.

[MrModerate]

18. Maher pulls the wings off dumbfuck flies for big bucks. It's not a waste of time . . .

If it makes you millions of dollars.

[maxsolomon]

2. It boils down to The Divine Spark

His pea brain (and DL Hugley's) simply cannot (or will not) comprehend the span of geologic time in which today's animals evolved from the primordial soup. They cannot accept that it is possible without the interference of the hand of God, and further, the implication that Mankind is JUST ANOTHER SPECIES OF ANIMAL.

We have consciousness, therefore we cannot be THE SAME as other animals. We are special because God made us so.

And you cannot convince them - they won't listen.

[Sky Masterson]

3. I think that they know.

It is a tough gig meshing together different beliefs. DL Hugley is a very smart man who believes in god. To say that he believes we evolved from earlier lifeforms(Even though I think he believes it) would be to admit that maybe god doesn't exist. I saw a struggle in him..

[tclambert]

5. Whatever inconsistency in the religious narrative is another opportunity to say, "It's a miracle!"

Fossils of dinosaurs? God miracled them into geologic strata that He made to appear millions of years old.

Light from galaxies billions of light years away? God created the universe with the light already on the way so it would appear billions of years old. It's just another miracle.

Chimpanzees share 98.5% DNA with us? A miraculous coincidence.

Archaeologists find bones from the "missing link" between humans and apes? Well, now you just have two more missing links--one between apes and the newly found species, and one between the newly found species and humans.

[bulloney]

4. Notice how Kingston sides with corporations whenever status quo is questioned.

The talk about addressing climate change is a threat to the huge profitability currently enjoyed by oil companies and other energy corporations. Reduced use of antibiotics threatens profits for pharmaceuticals.

Kingston isn't a Christian or climate change denier per se. He just wants his corporate buddies to continue making tons of money under the current system regardless if it's done unethically or illegally.

Then Kingston throws out that canard that there's no evidence of a link that evolution has occurred. Where's the evidence that we were created by a god? We're all here, but that doesn't prove how we got here. All he has is the Bible and other religious statements that have been interpreted and re-interpreted for thousands of years.

[Volaris]

11. I was going to say something about this exactly...

(and without trying to turn this into a thread about the state of education in this country...)

SCIENTIFIC literacy is no different than any other kind of literacy. We can no more force the good Congressman to learn Science than we can force him to learn Math, or Music, or Latin or Architecture, and we most certainly cannot UN-make his choice to NOT learn those things. As far as <I> am concerned, his choice to be stupid is irrelevant. This does not mean he is off the hook, I DO think he needs to answer Bill's question about how much money he got from the Oil and Gas lobby....
Let me put it another way...I don't care how much of a Dumb Whore he chooses to be, but (as an Elected Official) he damn-sure needs to answer the question of WHOSE whore he is....

[Enthusiast]

6. Embarrassing ignorance exposed on stage.

That Kingston is a numb skull. He is so fucking uninformed that he thinks fossils represent a complete record. He has no inkling that fossils are only formed under an unusual set of favorable conditions and because of this every minute stage of evolution is unlikely to be represented. Even so, many transitional species fossils have been discovered.

When we examine the fossil record and compare it with the molecular-genetic evidence it demonstrates that evolution is a veritable certainty.

Kingston is so misinformed that he perceives evolution as one species suddenly popping into another species. You can read these guys very quickly as they refer to transitional fossils as 'missing links'. Typical ignorant Republican. This level of ignorance in an elected representative is contributing to a weakening of our educational system.

[tblue37]

7. Right. The idiot actually said he didn't believe some creature

crawled out of the ocean and suddenly became human--as if anyone has ever suggested such a ridiculous scenario.

[Richard D]

17. How can so much stupidity exist in one person and HTF did he get that "Rep." in front of his name.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Ok, I feel a bit better now.

[Enthusiast]

19. And this is what we face in this country.

I live every day in the hope that somehow knowledge will overcome this widespread ignorance.

[RBInMaine]

8. No, it was a big invisible man with a long white beard in the sky who waved his hands and said "Let

there be humans with billions of cells and huge physical variations from place to place, and let there be microbes, and let there be dinosaurs (just not forever), and let there be millions of species of life, but over time let 99% of them become extinct, and let there be plagues and famines and diseases and disasters and wars." (Now THAT is a one hell of a lot crazier than the idea that humans evolved over millions of years from lower life forms.)

[indimuse]

9. who knows...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd49l8AfnUw








;)

[sasha031]

10. how I hate republicans

same old rituals arguments.
kudos for Bill to be able to stomach them.

[BadgerKid]

12. "These people are so stupid, they make ME question evolution." -- Bill Maher. n/t

EDIT: Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CD2JR0Ih0M

[Ramulux]

13. I hate it when bill does this

He had such a great opportunity to humiliate that congressman and that asshole from the National Review and he fucking blew it like he always does. It pisses me the fuck off because these republican douchebags wont dare to go on any other liberals show's and for whatever reason they are willing to go on Bill's show. For some reason whenever he gets these conservatives on he never gets a good liberal to go on with them that could actually challenge them and expose how retarded their ideas are.

There were so many moments during this discussion when I would have killed to have been on that panel, I would have ripped Kingston and Mr. national review apart, they knew so little of what they were talking about and they set themselves up for an easy slam dunk so many times. Any liberal with half a brain would have tore them apart and it would have made for some great television, instead we get Bill sort of disagreeing with them but allowing them to basically talk shit without consequence.

Bill seriously needs to do a much, much better job deciding on his guests, its like he just picks some random names from a hat and goes with it. He needs to realize that he needs to take advantage of the fact that conservatives are actually willing to go on his show. His show could be so useful in helping people see how crazy the republicans are, but to do that he needs to have intelligent people on his show that can counter the right-wing crap.

Just look at what happened last week with Rachel Maddow, the asshole conservative starts talking about how great Reagan was and Maddow literally stands up and tells him to STFU. She embarrassed the shit out of him and made him look like the selfish lying douche he is.

[perdita9]

14. Evolution is NOT an Origin of Life Theory

That idiot Republican Congressman must have flunked basic science. Evolution only addresses how life changes to adapt to the environment. It does not hypothesize on how life began in the first place.

[underpants]

15. Kingston (who was briefly credible) just smiles, espouses BS, and rakes in contributions.

the groans of the audience diminished because people like Kingston and Cain wear them out with bullshit.

[truth2power]

16. Rep. Kingston is profoundly stupid. Maybe I should say that, judging

from that interchange, he showed that his IQ is quite limited. I simply don't understand how someone with such a demonstrable lack of higher-order thinking skills could have been elected to Congress.

First of all, at about 1:00 Kingston shows he in fact doesn't understand the difference between climate and weather, which is the question Bill asked, by denying that the world is "getting hotter".

Bill then gets derailed into defending the "world getting hotter and wetter" idea, the whole concept of "climate vs. weather" having fallen by the wayside.

Has Kingston demonstrated that he knows the difference between climate and weather? NO. And Bill let him slide.

This goes on for awhile, and then that woman sitting next to Kingston USES THE REPUBLICAN FRAME (global warming) at about 4:23. We should always be saying CLIMATE CHANGE.

She then asks (about 6:25) whether Kingston is concerned that we are creating drug-resistant microbes (to antibiotics). He is clearly out of his element by this time. You can tell. When the woman says that's evolution, he does a little lateral shift and starts talking about creatures coming out of the sea, missing links, and, having given himself time to recoup, "adaptation".

They do this every. time. They change the subject. We need to force them to answer the question asked and not go off on a tangent onto a subject they feel more comfortable with. He's an idiot.

Oh, and here's the difference between evolution and adaptation:

Adaptation refers to the process wherein certain groups or individuals change their ways in order to be better suited to their environment and habitat. This is change is needed so that they can survive and maintain normal functioning in their community. For example, during winters or cold days, individuals learn to alter their homes and personal clothes to be able to live through the chilling temperatures.
Evolution, though, takes a long time. It is a process in which the genetic structure and physical anatomy change in relation to the changes happening in the environment. It does not occur overnight, but invokes generations in order to turn out into the best being suitable. Human beings are indeed an example, as evidenced from our ancestors the Homo erectus, to Homo sapiens, or basically, us. We are the proof of evolution.
In closing, remember this. Individuals can adapt, but it takes a whole population to evolve. You can read further since only basic details are provided.
Summary:
1. All living things change through time in order to survive in their environment.
2. Adaptation involves short-term changes to suit the habitat and environment.
3. Evolution is a long-term process wherein changes occur in the genetic level for a better functioning and survival as a race.

http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-adaptation-and-evolution/