Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) made some astonishingly ignorant statements during a discussion about the Iranian nuclear issue on Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor Tuesday.
The pièce de résistance was him telling host Bill O'Reilly that the Nazis bombed Pearl Harbor (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CONGRESSMAN KEITH ELLISON (D-MINNESOTA): No, they [Iran] don’t have a weapon. They have not made a decision to do one. The inspections…
BILL O’REILLY, HOST: How would you know they have not made a decision to do one? How would you know that?
ELLISON: Because. I’m glad you asked. Because we have satellite technology. We have technology that can detect.
O’REILLY: They’re underground. The satellites can’t penetrate the earth. They’re underground.
ELLISON: We have inspections that have gone on.
O’REILLY: They won’t let the inspectors in as I’ve said three times.
ELLISON: Yes they have. There have been a number of inspections.
O’REILLY. No there haven’t. They went two weeks ago and they wouldn’t let them go in.
ELLISON: Well, Bill, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to back a war based on a maybe. 4,409 Americans are dead because somebody—
O’REILLY: Congressman, the reason we like you as a guest is because you’re an honest man, But I will point to history. I will point to history. The same mindset was taken when dealing with Nazi Germany. We’re not going to go in aggressive action. We don’t believe they’re going to do this. We don’t believe they’re going to do that. And they absolutely did everything. So I think you’ve got to learn from history.
ELLISON: Let me tell you in World War II, in World War II they attacked Pearl Harbor. That would be enough.
O’REILLY: No, this is the German theater not the Japanese.
The Nazis bombed Pearl Harbor?
As Boon told Otter after Bluto made the same stupid comment in the hit comedy "Animal House," "Forget it, he's rolling."
Of course, the truly delicious "Life Imitates Art" irony is that John Belushi's immortal John Blutarsky character ended up becoming a United States Senator.
I guess knowledge of history isn't a prerequisite.
(H/T NB reader Rob S for the story and NB's Clay Waters for the delicious "Animal House" reference!)
