Ted Crockett fails his saving throw against intelligence and is stunned by a fact from Jake Tapper! The stunned ox look is delightful.
I was also giggling at his sad, forlorn “Merry Christmas, Jake” as the clip ends. Sorry, Ted, that was a pathetic comeback.
Unfortunately, stupid might just be a winning strategy in the Alabama election.
Stumped by a basic fact. Scary and sad but yet very telling of the state of delusion that exists out there. I give my head a shake every time i think how much power they have at the moment. It is amazing he human race still exists.
So.. did he honestly not know that you don’t have to swear on a bible? I dont know why I should be surprised but … was Jack Tapper equally surprised?
A quick trip to Wikipedia shows that Jake Tapper is Jewish.
Man, you could actually see the gears grinding in his head there.
I have more stupid to add to the pile – Dave Daubenmire says it’s much better to lie, for god, y’know. And it’s biblical, so he takes a whack at all those ‘holier than thou’ christians who think lying is wrong.
https://freethoughtblogs.com/affinity/2017/12/12/its-best-to-lie-its-biblical/
What I think is remarkable is how he seems utterly ignorant of the thrust of the 1st Amendment, though presumably he is aware of it.
Vote suppression works. This is just another point on an arc of generations of corruption. Nobody from the US should be allowed to talk about “democracy” – there has to be some kind of truth-in-advertising law.
Sadly, I doubt that dumbfounded look was actually due to what we think it is. He was probably wondering how someone could believe such an “obviously false” fact. Like if I pointed at a blank piece of white paper and said “That is completely black.” People like him are utterly convinced of their “truths”.
It’s not just that he doesn’t know US history, or what is in the Constitution.
Even worse (if possible) is the fact that he clearly does not understand logic. He doesn’t get that an example of something happening one way is not by itself a disproof of all other possible ways. He doesn’t understand the interplay of concepts such as “necessary” vs. “sufficient”.
But he is tribal enough to be elected three times by his tribe of white Republican bigots in Alabama.
I used to have a job where I had to live in Alabama. I was so glad when I applied for jobs later and was able to get a good job outside of our deep South.
Some Republicans are playing dumb. And some are both playing and actually dumb. I would hate to criticize someone unfairly, but it seems the evidence is in with this guy. “Sad.”
Actually, the genteelness of Jake was quite notable, too. He spared Ted any further embarrassment by cutting it there.
Looks like Doug Jones is going to win :)!
It’s official, Doug Jones won! (the comment above mine.)
Yay! Only 49% of Alabamian votes are ignorant, abhorrent assholes! Rejoice!!!
Actually you don’t have to “swear” an oath of office at all. There are Christian cults in this country that object to swearing oaths and are not required to do so to hold elected office, serve on juries, testify, etc. There are also Christian cults that would not swear on the Bible because it’s blasphemy to do so. I’m fairly sure Muslims do not swear oaths on the Koran, or the Bible which they also hold to be sacred. It’s surprising…no it’s not…how ignorant Christians can be of Christianity much less other Abrahamic religions.
But the idiots gaped stare is worth the price of watching.
And yeah, Doug Jones wins. Thank goodness that it only took a herculean effort to defeat an ignorant bigot and accused pedophile by the thinnest of margins.
robro @14:
Remember that just a year ago, the state voted overwhelmingly for Trump.
I ordered steak at this restaurant. This means they don’t serve vegetarians.
But, do those people actually think that we’re offended by “Merry Christmas”?
And who says “Merry Christmas” 2 weeks before Christmas?
not very often
“Man, you could actually see the gears grinding in his head there.”
It is not possible to grind gears that have already been stripped; the gears in that moron’s head are completely toothless.
All I could think of when watching that stunned silence was “…these go to eleven”.
I’m less enthusiastic about the Alabama result than a lot of reactions I’ve seen. First, it should not have been close! Second, look at the racial breakdown of the voting. Jones won because PoC rescued Alabama from Moore. White voters, particularly white men, remained solidly behind Moore. The message the GOP might draw from this is that they can run transparently terrible candidates and still win, provided they can suppress the black vote enough.
Oh dog, that blank-eyed bovine gape is hysterical!
This isn’t a first amendment question, this is more about the No Religious Test Clause in Article VI, section 3.
There is also a relevant bit about the oath of office in Article II, Section 1, clause 8. This is where the “swear (or affirm)” language is found.
Use of Bible for the oath
Two bibles, eh? You know what this means: oath inflation. The next president will swear on four bibles; the one after that, eight. Eventually, the entire manufacturing might of the US (or China) will be devoted to producing nanoscale bibles for presidential-oathing.
I was going to mention Keith Ellison using a Quran for his swearing in, but it turns out that I was wrong: Congresscritturs don’t use any props for their swearing in.
And judging from this video, the same holds true for Senators.
That… was not a quick witted man. His gaping mouth as he tried to scan his brain for a distinct memory of being told that he HAD to use a Bible, and coming up blank. It’s like he realized he made an assumption, and that last bit was a last ditch effort to “drive home” that America is “A christian nation” by using Merry Christmas as a weapon instead of a kindness.
Moggie If oath inflation is exponential, we’ll run out of nanoparticles quickly.
Dark Jaguar
The same mistake all believers make: they take their beliefs for granted. Some day one told me a week has been seven days always and everywhere. An assertion easily refuted. They just don’t care to check their assumptions.