Saturday, June 17, 2006

Co-signer of Ten Commandments Bill Can't Name Commandments

This is hysterical.



Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia was able to name three ("Don't murder," "Don't lie," "Don't steal") before giving up. This guy co-sponsored a bill which reads in part as follows:

Resolved, That if the Supreme Court of the United States holds in either the case of Van Orden v. Perry, 03-1500 (TX) or the case of McCreary County v. ACLU, 03-1693 (KY) that the display of the Ten Commandments in public places by State and local governments constitutes a violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States, thereby ruling against religious freedom and diminishing the importance of the Ten Commandments to the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall provide for the display of the Ten Commandments in the chamber of the House of Representatives.


Obvious: maybe he wants them posted because he can't remember them!

Can you believe this person is a congressman? I can see blanking on one or two of them if put on the spot, but giving up after three? Hysterical.

(via Boing Boing, among others.)

15 comments:

Vilda Chaya said...

That was awesome! Thank you for posting it.

CyberKitten said...

I wonder how many people can get all ten without looking them up... I certainly couldn't.

asher said...

Wait a minute...you thought this was real? You believed this? Along with a laugh soundtrack and the fact that no news show name was given.

And the interviewer..he looked like he was taking it all very seriously didn't he?

No wonder Farenheist 911 was such a hit; you people will belive anything.

Jewish Atheist said...

asher:

It's from The Colbert Report. The interviewer is a satirist, but the Congressman was for real.

Jewish Atheist said...

Here's his website.

asher said...

Ah the power of editing and putting in a laugh track. Did you ever wonder why a sitting congressman would agree to be filmed talking to a satirist?

Gullibility is just comical. But the laugh track made it real.

Jewish Atheist said...

Ah the power of editing and putting in a laugh track.

It's filmed live in front of an audience. I think the laughs are real and it doesn't seem to be edited.

Did you ever wonder why a sitting congressman would agree to be filmed talking to a satirist?

Yes. Every single time they do that segment.

esther said...

Thanks JA that was priceless.

Here's a link to the Comedy Central website, where you can see the full interview:

Colbert Report Site: Recent Videos

I think most members of Congress of aware that Colbert is a liberal satirist, hence most that have participated in his "Better Know a District" segment have been Democrats who are in on the joke. This guy's obviously several cards short of a full deck.

Ezzie said...

That's just sad. I wonder if it was cut at all... plus, where is don't lie in there? Ironic that you missed that as you made fun of him :)

Jewish Atheist said...

ezzie,

A lot of Christians seem to broadly interpret the ninth ("Do not testify as a false witness against your neighbor") to mean no lying.

Baconeater said...

According to George Carlin, it should only be two commandments. Click on the Google video (actually it is just an audio) here

Note: not the first video but the second one. scroll down.

Jewish Atheist said...

BEAJ:

Thanks, I love Carlin. :-)

Ezzie said...

A lot of Christians seem to broadly interpret the ninth ("Do not testify as a false witness against your neighbor") to mean no lying.

Interesting. I retract. :)

elf said...

To clear things up (or not): The interviews are "real" to the extent that the Congresspeople do sit down with Colbert and talk to him. They seem to be operating on the "no publicity is bad publicity principle" -- the audience of The Colbert Report is the widest most of them can hope to reach, and that's often worthwhile to a politician, even if he or she is going to be the butt of a joke.

However, Asher is correct that the interviews are often edited to produce laughs. (This is also true of Daily Show interviews.) You can read about it here.

When I first saw this interview, I was inclined to believe that Congressman Westmoreland really couldn't remember the commandments, but having watched the clip a few more times, I have to admit that it isn't clear. The camera cut away from the congressman a few times, and it is possible that something important (such as several commandments) was edited out. He certainly isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and the bill he co-sponsored is moronic, but I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt as far as his memory concerned.

That said, the clip is pretty hysterical.

Jewish Atheist said...

Thanks, elf. I didn't realize they were edited.