Lamar Smith is a Texas Republican congressvarmint from San Antonio, even though he spends most of his time at his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts.  He only comes home to Texas for election purposes.

He’s so rightwing that he flies in counterclockwise circles.

His particular form of religion is Christian Science, which is neither.

The religion’s adherents, known as Christian Scientists, subscribe to a radical form of philosophical idealism, believing that spiritual reality is the only reality and that the material world is an illusion. This includes the view that sickness and death are illusions caused by mistaken beliefs, and that the sick should be treated by a special form of prayer intended to correct those beliefs, rather than by medicine.

As Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, he refused to let a bill out of committee giving regulation of marijuana to the states because …

Smith stated that “Marijuana use and distribution is prohibited under federal law because it has a high potential for abuse and does not have an accepted medical use in the U.S.”

Lamar, Honey, you don’t think there’s any medical use for aspirin or penicillin so maybe you shouldn’t be speaking so sassy about marijuana.

And Now he’s gone all Mr. Science Guy on us.  He has introduced a bill called The High Quality Research Act, which ain’t any of those words.  Well, except maybe for the The and that’s still under suspicion.

The bill says that any research done using federal funds (which is the majority of research done in the United States) must have its results and finding approved by the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives. If the findings are not agreed to, the research is taken from the researchers and disposed of by Congress as it sees fit.

And guess who is Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology?  Lamar Smith.  The committee also includes 5 other Texas Republicans, the sanest being Steve Stockman.

Now there are those who say that Smith opposed letting states decide on marijuana because one of Smith’s largest contributors is the alcohol lobby.   I guess we just have to hope that the funeral home industry doesn’t start throwing money at him.

Thanks to Craig for the first heads up.