Matthew Ygelsias points us to a particularly dopey passage in a recent speech by RNC chair Michael Steele:
Democrats in Congress want a one-trillion dollar spending bill. You’ve heard about the pork-barrel programs they want to fund… 45 million dollars for ATV trails and removal of fish passage barriers is one that caught my eye. Exactly what is a fish passage barrier and why does it cost 45 million dollars to stimulate the economy with it?
As Yglesias asks, if Steele didn't know what a fish passage barrier is, why didn't he look it up instead of asking all of us? (Of course, he did know what it is.)
The proper thing for Steele to do was to pose the question, pause to let it sink in, then answer it. Presumably, he could have said something like, "I'll tell you what a fish passage barrier is. It's something that interferes with the upstream movement of fish! Now, why on earth would we care if a species of fish can't reproduce? Don't we have enough fish as it is? Can't they pay for the removal of a fish passage barrier if it bothers them so much?"
Evidently, he thought it better to leave us in the dark. And I'm sure he didn't mean to falsely imply that it would cost $45 million to remove "a" fish passage barrier (as in just one of them).
