We talked earlier about Mitt Romney's convention speech and its shortcomings, but I'd be remiss if I neglected to mention this 39-second portion that was genuinely painful.
For those who can't watch clips online, Romney said, "President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family."
That's great news for those of us who don't have families on this planet.
Now, as a factual matter, Romney's promise is itself rather strange. How "you and your family" will benefit from less access to affordable health care, less access to education, and fewer investments in roads and infrastructure is something of a mystery.
But even putting that aside, the aspect of Romney's comments that was simply astounding was the ignorance. The Republican treated rising sea levels as a punch-line, as if the very idea of addressing the climate crisis is ridiculous and those who take this seriously are fools worthy of mockery.
Indeed, the Republican audience took their cues, literally laughing at Obama's efforts to address global warming.
Also notice that, in Romney's mind, there's a distinction -- the nation can deal with the climate crisis or we can help families, as if the two have nothing to do with one another.
When people in the future look back at Romney's contempt for the idea of "slowing the rise of the oceans," and his party's willingness to bury their hands in the sand, history will not be kind.
