Anyone see Al Gore on Conan O'Brien a while back? He claimed that the Earth's core was millions of degrees. ROFL.

You don't need to be bright to be a politician. I remember a US President who claimed he was campaigning in all 57 States. And another who gave condolences to the 10,000 people killed in a small town by a tornado the day before (it was really 10).

I thought they started using inner tubes for that now?!? :06:

Maybe that's why the Japanese ran to cliffs and jumped off when we invaded various islands—the US troops were obviously towards the other side, if all the japs jump off that are balancing the other side, the island capsizes, and they win!

LOL :DL

He was speaking figuratively. Referring to the islands infrastructure collapsing with the addition of 8,000 marines.

Now I don't defend democrats often but Ive read the details on this story and he was being sarcastic.

I watched the entire video. I don't think he was speaking figuratively.

Had he said, "April Fools," I'd have laughed. But figuratively? No. Nor did anyone else hear it that way.

The after the fact statement that it was figurative sounds like damage control to me. Did you listen to him trying (poorly) to articulate the dimensions of the island? He then asks about the area after he gives a width and length. Yeah, it's not a rectangle, but he goes on about it being something like 7 by 24 miles, why would he then not just call it 168 mi^2? Or can he not multiply two small numbers in his head (he certainly could in the time it took him to spit out the rest of that).

Sorry but I had a vision of this poster in my head all day at work and had to make it...
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/56/guamcapsizing.jpg

Maybe he's from Houston or some other flat area and has never seen a hilly before. Then he saw a picture of Guam, noticed the landscape slope up from the shoreline, and added two and two together.

With a pencil-scribbled note saying "China, North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam and Imperial Japan" along with an arrow pointing west?

I agree with Freiwillige. He had to have been speaking figuratively. Nobody is that stupid, not even a politician. Either that, or it was a joke. Clearly, Representative Johnson isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I refuse to believe that anyone who doesn't have a certifiable mental disability could be that stupid.

One way or the other, the real joke is the idea that the additional garrison would capsize Guam's economy, infrastructure, or whatever he was referring to. Hong Kong has about 8 times the population density of Guam and it's fine. The only way Guam could run into trouble from overpopulation and serious environmental degradtion is if the US government interferes heavily in its economic policies (which it does), or if Guam's legislature continues to emulate restrictive US trade policy and continues to rely too heavily on the tax-supported tourism industry.

:har:

If only we lived in a world where that were true.

I'm not disputing your contention that this particular guy was speaking figuratively, but a large part of my job falls into the category of "customer service." I run into persistent ignorance and advanced stupidity on a regular basis. And these are people who, by and large, somehow manage to hold down jobs and occasionally very high profile (for our neck of the woods) "professional" jobs. That an elected official serving on that level could be that stupid wouldn't surprise me at all.

It looked to me like the good Congressman was stoned out of his gourd.

Again the man is very sick with Hepatitus B and may very well be on some sort of painkillers.

I dont buy this abu him speaking figuratavely thats just damage control from the media.

Ive heard the exchange several times now and if he was joking it certainly was not apparent.

I do believe the General's response was a bit of a joke with "We dont anticpate that happening".

Well, working in customer service, I can certainly see how you might get that impression. I've certainly had my share of stupid customers in the past, including one who complained for nearly an hour because the 2x4s at Home Depot measured only 1 1/2x 3 1/2 inches.*

I'm also no stranger to stupidity in high places. I've been fairly active in munincipal and county-level politics for some time, and I've been especially critical of the patently stupid decisions made by our school boards. As I write this I am drinking water from a cup that proudly proclaims: "Keller Indedpendant School District - Provern Winners - National and State Champions". Too bad that's not the stupidest thing they've done.:88)

But, in my nearly three decades on this Earth, I have never met a person who was what I would call "stupid". Considering that I grew up surrounded by rednecks, that's saying a lot. What I have seen a lot of is people who are very poor liars and/or say stupid things when they are ignorant on a subject but do not want to appear so. My feeling is that Rep. Johnson falls squarely into that category.

Odds are, somebody, or more likely, some interest group, does not want 8,000 additional Marines in Guam. For what reason, I cannot say, but somebody, at some point, got a lobbyist to speak with one of Johnson's aides. The aide compiled a report, and Johnson, acting in the capacity of representative, attempted to represent that view in the legislature.

Of course, he did a very poor job of it, because, being a Democrat and a populist, opposing a government initiative is somewhat counterintuitive to him. This is evidenced by the fact that he actually serves on the armed services committee, and consistently supports initiatives aimed at helping servicemembers and their families.

In short, he's just another politician. He has a set of values, but he has to reconcile them with what his constiuency and supporters demand. He's inept at representing views contrary to what he believes because he isn't a good liar. He said something stupid because he didn't know what to say. Politicians do it all the time.

Of course, this is mostly theory. The reason why Johnson said such a stupid thing is anyone's guess, but I'd bet a Benjamin that it's because he simply did not believe what he was saying. That's our political system at work, America. It's just too bad that all politicians aren't bad liars; It'd be a lot easier to spot them.

All of us encounter "stupid" people on a regular basis, whether it's our boss who asks us to perform some impossible task, or that idiot who cuts us off on the freeway, or that congressman who votes for some ridonkulous bill full of pork. There is a reason why people do these things, and by ignoring it, we are the ones who are behaving stupidly.

*for those of you who are not familiar with carpentry, most companies produce what is called planed lumber. The 2x4 starts out being 2" by 4" but it is roughly hewn and not suitable for construction until it is dried an planed, making the actual dimensions somewhat smaller. The term "2x4" is used only for convenience, as saying one-and-a-half-by-3-and-a-half is just too annoying.

Look at some "man in the street" question and answers sometime. The responses that they get are STUNNING. Never underestimate the likelihood of human ignorance.

Of course they cherry pick those man in the street questions. They'll interview 100 people. 99 of them know that France is located in Europe. The one who thinks it's located in New Jersey is the one who gets put on TV so we can all laugh at how stupid people are.