Florida Republican Concerned About Aliens. No, Not The Real Kind.

Hey, whatever keeps her from doing anything useful.

We really do need to start watching more House Oversight Committee meetings, because you never know what is going to come out of one of them. They are turning into better entertainment than half of Netflix. Last week we got to watch Rep. Jasmine Crockett snatch Marjorie Taylor Greene’s wig like they were on an old Jerry Springer episode. Then this week we got to see sentient hairbrush Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida flap her gums about the United States government covering up the existence of UFOs.

It is as if we’re home sick from school and Mom is letting us watch trashy daytime TV but the only channel we’re picking up is C-SPAN.

The purpose of the committee hearing, ostensibly, was for Republicans to grill Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm about the Biden administration’s alleged “war on energy.” As Paul Waldman notes over at Heatmap News, there is not actually much of a war going on. The Biden administration has, thanks in part to environmental programs in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, done more to bring green energy online than any administration preceding it. At the same time, the nation is exporting more oil than ever and has become the leading producer of liquefied natural gas.

These facts mean the Republicans, robbed of some of their favorite anti-Biden talking points, can mostly just sputter and spasm and foam at the mouth like a bunch of rabid hillbillies with a serious case of tetanus. Or they can make like Luna and demand more information about the UFOs. Luna’s part starts around 1:36:17:

“There have been persistent claims and reports, including those from credible whistleblowers to this committee, suggesting that the US government potentially, including the Department of Energy, has been involved in reverse engineering technologies recovered from UAP [unidentified aerial phenomenon]. … Can you clarify whether the Department of Energy has been involved in any such efforts either historically or currently to analyze reverse engineering materials from [or] related to UAPs.”

Granholm responded that she “had no knowledge of that, but go ahead and ask your next question, Art Bell.” Okay, okay, we made up everything after that comma.

[Editrix’s note: I am with the UFO people — and Harry Reid! — on this. But Gary is allowed to have his own opinion calling us all stupid idiots, because I like Gary.]

Luna went on to ask about drone incursions over DOE nuclear facilities like the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Which actually sounds like an important security question! Yr Wonkette does not want any random weirdos flying explosives-laden drones into nuclear reactors like we’re all in hour 9 of a season of 24.

Oh wait no, our mistake, she’s yammering about UFOs:

“I reviewed some unclassified materials from around the ‘40s and ‘50s and so they weren't just being reported as drones back then, and I encourage you to look over those materials because I think that you guys should be upgrading that program to cover down on UAPs.”

So the Department of Energy should upgrade its programs to defend against whatever it was that crashed at Roswell? Anyway, UFOs weren’t being reported as drones in that era because a) the idea of aerial drones wouldn’t really gain much cultural relevance for another 75 years, but magazines like Science Fiction Adventures did exist, and b) UFOs were mostly a cultural phenomenon driven by Cold War paranoia about the Soviets, Luna’s surety that they actually exist nothwithstanding.

History! It’s neat!

Well Sheeeit Y'all, House Oversight Committee Got In A Actual Jasmine Crockett-And-AOC-On-Marjorie Taylor Greene Catfight!

Luna went on to note there have been sightings of “metallic spheres” flying over DOE facilities, then added in an almost smarmy aside, “If you want to call them drones in this instance.” Can drones not be sphere-shaped?

It’s fun to watch Luna pretend to be an actual congresswoman. On the other hand, if UFOs really are that interesting to her and chasing government cover-ups she heard about on Quora message boards keeps her far, far away from any actual governing, we’re probably all better off.

[Heatmap News]

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