$#*! Your Congressman Says: Devin Nunes' Wild Rant on California Water

I know that civility is increasingly scarce in our public discourse. Some people are trying to encourage a return to actual discussion. Others: not so much. Maybe it's always been this bad and I never noticed. But I don't think so. I think the Tea Party mentality and the current tilt toward right wing bloviation on cable TV have made it so that even Congressmen (and Congresswomen: I'm sure readers can find good examples of "$#*! Your Congresswoman Says") think they need to say stupid, outrageous, rude, and ignorant things to get noticed.

It certainly worked here: Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA 21st) has apparently lost his mind, or at least any sense of civility. Perhaps he comes from a district so absolutely safe that feels he can say anything at all and still get re-elected. That's probably the case. But it is no excuse for a public official to run so far off the rails.

What did Nunes say? He put up a post on his blog yesterday that managed, in a few short words, to compare several of his fellow Congressional representatives, both California Senators, environmental scientists and advocates, and millions of "valley democrats" to Nazis. At the same time, he compared some Central Valley farmers and irrigation districts, including the hardly politically progressive Westlands Water District, to Nazi appeasers and Neville Chamberlain.

But even that wasn't enough: Nunes went on to insult the families and fishermen who depend on the "billion dollar salmon fishery" wiped out by the collapse of the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta ecosystem. Even the title of his post ("Westlands Water Boarding") seems to suggest that he thinks applying torture techniques to the managers of the Westlands Water District would be a good idea. The post is a perfect example of saying outrageous, rude, and stupid things for no apparent reason other than, well, I can't think of one.

First of all, we must more aggressively invoke "Godwin's Law," (which in its clearest form states that as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1) and in particular, its major corollary, which states that when such a comparison is made, whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically "lost" whatever debate was in progress. Under this rule, Nunes lost his argument immediately, when he trots out the Nazis in the very first sentence (actually, the ninth word). Not that he's really making any logical argument anyway.

But most importantly, his constituents should ask, what's the point of his post and his insults? Is he trying to change anyone's mind about water issues in central California? Is he hoping to convince his fellow Representatives of the strength and intelligence of a position on water policy? Is he trying to be more effective in his job? Is he trying to inform the voting public about issues? No, none of these things.

It seems that all this particular Congressman is trying to do is be even more outrageous than talk show hosts and political extremists. Perhaps that plays in his district, but it does nothing to actually work to solve California's water problems, the challenges facing farmers, or the loss of the state's commercial fishing communities. That would require a different kind of politician.

 

 

 

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Comments

[Peter H. Gleick]

07:11 PM on 10/04/2010

CalFarm Girl, the problem is not whether California should grow food, or that water is needed. No one (or at least, not I) disputes this. The problem is the incredible nasty personal attacks completely unrelated to policy that Nunes launched on his blog site. Go to the link in my post and read it. It is absolutely unacceptable for an elected official of any kind to say these things, like this.

[CalFarmGirl]

01:00 PM on 10/04/2010

I live in Nunes' district and if you knew him you would know that he is not rich and far from spoiled. Fact is... the types of politicians Gleick says we need we have had. Capitulating and politically correct is not what we need anymore. I dont care if its a small farm or a corporate farm... we need US Grown food and we need water to grow food. The "impoverished" towns are a far cry from the cardboard box houses many of the community members had in Mexico. Now they are being forced to go back to their cardboard box towns. Devin does have a "safe" seat but has put money behind and recently re-introduced a bill to end the gerrymandering that created and keeps his seat safe. Bottom line is he believes we need US grown food and jobs and will do whatever he can to help get that done.

[JScott]

11:17 AM on 10/04/2010

Yep this is how Westlands Water District works-appease and get what you can because you may get less if you don't and they you buy a guy like this into Congress/legislature in a secure district who as the post pointed out rant about how they REALLY feel about it. Let's get real here-Westlands Water District is controlled by corporate ag.-namely Boswell Ranch, Harris Ranch, the alternating railroad sections owned by the RXR's et al-so it's their way of keeping control of the water as much as possible, Devin is just their mouthpiece. Not to mention they repeatedly violate the 1902 Reclaimation Act of family farms to 160 acres-this they DON'T do they use 'exemptions' to get around the law ANYTHING to keep control of the water rights. Look at a map that area of the WWD is the most empty-all big farms no small towns and what ones they are are impoverished (much the same situation exists in the Imperial Valley as well).

[thebigbike]

11:16 PM on 10/02/2010

mr. nunes comes from the reddest part of the red belt of california-- there ain't much in the way of "purple" it's just plain scarlet, and as one of the "up and coming" "young guns" we can expect a lot more of that attitude and language - his knowledge of california water issues ( and they are many and as seemingly complex as string theory physics) is abysmal, but he's in the business- farming- that he should have a LOT better grasp-- and coming form the party of family values, it would, seem that he might be a little more temperate in his language.....but I'd be an idiot to expect it from that crowd

[mamacat]

08:37 PM on 10/02/2010

If I lived in Mr. Nunes district, I would very happily vote for someone else. Anyone else, probably, as long as they could maintain a half-way civil discussion without insulting the people they are talking with.

[Purring Oaks]

06:14 PM on 10/02/2010

Devin is a spoiled little rich kid who has never had to worry about a job, his district voters, excluding rich voters. The district boundaries are so drawn that the author is 100% correct. We have a crappy democracy. Poor Meg is so rich she buys her votes, has a law firm so huge they can't seek out an undocumented worker, and is to powerful to vote. Go figure.