Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii is a bit like failed 2020 Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke in that she is living proof that there is at least a grain of truth to even the wildest allegations leveled against the Democratic Party.
“No one is coming for your guns,” they said, “that is just a right-wing fantasy.” Then along came O’Rourke.
“Climate change is not a cult,” they said. Then along came Hirono.
The senator told supporters this week that they need to keep protesting so the Democratic Party can continue to be “committed to human rights, environmental rights, climate change — believe in climate change as though it’s a religion (it’s not, it’s science).”
There are two ways to translate Hirono’s comments. You can take her seriously and interpret her words to mean: We must treat climate change as seriously as people of faith treat religion. You can also take her literally and interpret her words to mean: Climate change is a cult and we are proud acolytes.
Either way, Hirono is not helping Democrats get away from the impression that they treat climate change like they are members of a wild-eyed, fringe religious group that routinely makes false predictions about the end of the world and now claims we have another 12 years left.
Hirono, who has tried to apply a religious litmus test against Catholics appointed to the judiciary, has given weight to the idea that Democrats generally dislike and distrust people of faith. She has since advocated for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh based on a poorly sourced and since-corrected book excerpt she read in the New York Times.
There is more where this comes from, but you get the point.
The political Right thanks you for your service, senator.
