The Republicans are up in arms over the fact that Obama is taking a ten day vacation with his family. One of my favorite quotes on the matter comes from former Presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has courageously resurfaced after making such an ass of himself earlier this summer, when he said that he believed Obama, despite the evidence to the contrary, had been born in Kenya. Trump had the following to say to Greta Van Susteren on FOX.

Well, the fact is, he takes more vacations than any human being I’ve ever seen. They used to complain about George Bush, but I understand he’s already exceeded George Bush and we’re not even through the year. So he likes vacation.

This is, of course, completely wrong. At the end of this vacation, Obama will have spent 70 days away from the White House. By the same point in his Presidency, Bush had been gone 225. And, speaking of those lengthy vacations on the family ranch in Crawford, Texas, it was there that, almost exactly ten years ago, Bush was handed that security brief entitled Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US. He, as we now know, chose not to act on the information, but to focus instead on clearing brush. Fortunately for all of our sakes, though, that attack never happened… at least under Bush’s watch. (That was sarcasm, by the way. If you follow the last link, you’ll understand.)

Naively, I though that Republicans would embrace reality again in the wake of the 2008 Tea Party tidal wave that brought the likes of Sarah Palin and Christine O’Donnell to the shores of American popular culture. I really thought that the Republicans, in shame, would seek out candidates who understood at least had a rudimentary understanding of American history, and an appreciation for science. That, however, didn’t happen. In fact, I believe, of all of those running in the GOP Presidential primary, only Mitt Romney has come out saying that he believes that global climate change exists. If I’m not mistaken, he’s also the only candidate to state that he believes in evolution. That, I think, is a terrifying fact.

Speaking of Republicans running for the Presidency, and their questionable handle on the facts, I was just reading yesterday that Texas Governor Rick Perry has come out railing against a new federal regulation put forward by the Obama administration that would force farmers to get commercial drivers licenses. The only problem is, no such regulation exists. But I guess that doesn’t matter to the Republican base.

And, as long as we’re talking about Perry, did you know that he pals around with evangelical religious leaders who, among other things, believe that the Statue of Liberty is a demonic idol? It’s true… But I don’t imagine that it will matter much for Republican voters. It’s not like he’s friends with religious leaders, like Jeremiah Wright, who believe truly outlandish things, like that African Americans have historically been fucked over by white people… Now, that would be something that should preclude someone from serving as President.

So, I guess the takeaway message here is this – never misunderestimate the Republican contempt for facts, or those “elitists” who have the audacity to share them. The prideful ignorance of the Republicans is only surpassed by their hypocrisy.

update: Maybe all is not lost. Republican Jon Huntsman just called his fellow candidates out on their disbelief in science. Here’s his tweet.

He also had the following to say on ABC’s Sunday Morning news program This Week.

…The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party – the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012. When we take a position that isn’t willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Science – Sciences has said about what is causing climate change and man’s contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position….

Hopefully the Republicans rally behind him and Romney, and put an end to all of this anti-intellectual foolishness once and for all.