Chris Jepson: Which is it, Sen. Rubio?

“The saddest thing about selling out is just how cheaply most of us do it for.” — James Bernard Frost

Sen. Marco Rubio wants to be president of the United States. I haven’t yet determined whether he is merely ignorant or opportunistic or some egregious combination of the two qualities. Sen. Rubio asserts that he is ready to be president because he is 43 and has a vision.

I voted for Barack Obama twice. I have been disappointed in his administration in many respects, but I would vote for him again, particularly in light of alternative Republican policies. My liberal friends vehemently defend President Obama, particularly in light of Republican intransigence to the legitimacy of his presidency. And, yes, some of that opposition has been undeniably racist.

A criticism I think historians will level against Obama will be the thinness of his professional resume before running for the presidency. Without a doubt, President Obama has the intellectual chops to be in the White House, with sufficient guts and political acumen to be elected and re-elected. Obama’s success at winning elections inspires all manner of imitation.

And out of the swampland of South Florida comes an inspired Marco Rubio, son of Cuban immigrant parents who fled Fidel Castro’s communist tyranny. Uh, whoops, Rubio’s parents left Cuba a full two years prior to Castro overthrowing Fulgencio Batista’s corrupt regime. It’s just a small exaggeration. Sen. Rubio is no doubt forgetful that they arrived in America in 1956, not 1959. Small matters.

Ask yourself this: What would you say or do to win public office? This is what I cannot quite figure out about Marco Rubio. Is he merely ignorant, or will he say whatever he “thinks” is necessary (pander) to win office? I have two examples that I believe accurately reflect the cut of Marco Rubio’s jib.

In an interview in Gentleman’s Quarterly, Sen. Rubio asserted that it’s unclear how old the Earth is, that it’s impossible to know and that “Whether the Earth was created in seven days, or seven actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.”

Except it really isn’t a mystery. Credible science has Earth approximately 4 1/2 billion years old. He subsequently recanted. I am reminded of the words of Confucius, “The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.” Sen. Rubio in his life has been a Catholic, a Mormon and a Baptist. No doubt, worried that he might offend the conservative GOP base, he equivocated. This is Marco Rubio.

The other example — also dealing with science — is climate change. Marco Rubio claims it is not caused by human activity. This is what I do not understand about Republicans. I get that there are going to be horrendous economic costs associated with correcting (ameliorating) the affects of climate change. We can debate the efficacy of this “program” or that “policy” but please do not deny credible, factually accurate science. Human industrialization is unequivocally warming the planet. Now what?

Sen. Rubio genuflects before — does the bidding of — the “Climate Deniers” (donors) within the GOP (big petroleum, coal industries, Koch Brothers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, etc.).

Marco Rubio can be cheaply procured (expensive, however, for America). If that is an unfair characterization, then he is a man with no intellectual integrity. Either way, with “leaders” such as Rubio, the United States loses.