It's sad that the debate over repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell" may be over, and we'll stop hearing comically bizarre arguments against repeal. So let's savor Rep. Louis Gohmert's theory of gays and imperial decline, while we still can.

Most politicians who say stupid things aren't actually stupid. They know what they're doing. Sometimes it takes an outlandish statement or two to move a debate in a particular direction. But Rep. Louis Gohmert does seem to be a legitimately stupid person. His floor speeches about the "terror baby" threat, or how giving a few bucks to China to preserve rare cat and dog species would be wasted on "moo goo dog pan or moo goo cat pan," don't move any national debate anywhere. They produce perfect clips for The Daily Show's "Moment of Zen," and that's about it.

Which brings us to yesterday's House "Don't Ask Don't Tell" debate, during which Gohmert was given floor time to say another stupid thing:

GOHMERT: To my friend who said that history would judge us poorly, I would submit if you would look thoroughly at history - and I'm not saying it's cause and effect - but when militaries throughout history of the greatest nations in the world have adopted the policy that "fine for homosexuality to be overt" - you can keep it private and control your hormones fine, if you can't, that's fine too - they're toward the end of their existence as a great nation.

He's not saying it's cause and effect! He's just... you know... he's just saying. He's just gettin' it out there, that the greatest nations in the world tend to self-implode once their Senates court enough moderate New England Republicans to break filibusters and allow openly gay people to join the military. Just sayin'!

We'd imagine that if repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell" wasn't on the legislative docket, the country would still be crippled by endless wars, debts, and polarization, the actual things that bring superpowers down.