Darwin is Responsible for . . .

I have a Google News Alert that doesn't seem to be working well.  I have it set that anytime the Discovery Institute posts something newsworthy, it should go off and I would get an email notification.  The problem is that it keeps going off even if they aren't posting anything worth looking at.

I won't give you a link this time because they have done nothing more than repeat a tired old line of theirs.  I'll give you a hint.  If we held a contest and tried to determine who is the single most reprehensible figure of the 20th century, who do you think  would win?  Yes, you already know the name, and he doesn't work at the DI.  Of course, he does appear to be some sort of hero for them because they cannot stop writing about him.  Not only that, but their pet 'historian', you know who I mean as well, has now tried to associate Darwin with the cause for not only the Second World War, but the first one as well.  They even had one of their own 'executives' produce a 12, or so, minute video explaining this most recent 'revelation'.  Of course everything their pet 'historian' has accomplished has met with a much success in historical circles as their pet team of crack 'scientists' has met in scientific circles will never deter the DI from continuing to post foolishness.

So, if you haven't heard by now, the Discovery Institute seems to blame Charles Darwin for the Civil War, WWI, WWII, disease, racism, poverty, crime, infidelity, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, divorce, the sub-prime mortgage debacle, the assassinations of Lincoln, both Kennedy's, and King,  the lack of Congressional term limits, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Rush Limbaugh, and the failure of the Chicago Cubs, to name a few.

I may have to cancel my Google News Alert because it's sure not doing it's job!  Maybe I'll just set it to go off once a year and hope for a change they actually post something worth reading at once in a given year.  I know, I am being way too optimistic!

Political Pandering in Illinois

I have mentioned a few times the concept of 'pandering politicians', more specifically I think I have referred to a number of politicians, by name, as pandering to the conservative right in order to get votes. Of course none of the politicians we know would do such a thing? Sure!

Here are four folks running for a school board just north of Chicago. Each was asked about supporting Creationism and all 4 made statements supporting it. Was this pandering? You tell me -- after reading "All four Dist. 95 candidates back teaching creationism in science classes"

"All four candidates for the Lake Zurich Unit District 95 school board believe creationism should be taught alongside evolution in science classes. One, Chris Wallace, went so far as to say creationism is fact and evolution is just a theory."

So are they pandering or is this how they really feel? Another question you might consider is are they representing their constituency with these comments? Well to help you answer these, and maybe other questions, you need to see what happens when the local paper runs the interviews and includes quotes from these 4 office seekers? My guess is they received a certain volume of feedback and started back-peddling furiously, well three of the four start back-peddling. The fourth seems to think he may not have understood the question. Take a look at "D95 candidates back off creationism comments"

What I personally would like to see in a politician is one who is in touch with their constituents needs and desires and when asked about a subject would be able to place their personal religious beliefs off to the side to more accurately represent their constituency. I don't think this happened here. I think what happened is either they made an assumption about their constituency OR they let their own personal views color their answers. Back-peddling, while is fun to see, is fairly disheartening in a political candidate.

I mean, honestly, this is a topic that has been making headlines across the country for the past decade. Why weren't these candidates better prepared? I would have assumed they might have noticed the impact of such decisions on school boards in Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas for example. If you were running for a political office, wouldn't you have been familiar about the types of decisions that tended to cost one the office? Especially in like of how such an action, the one they originally supported, is against the US Constitution?

Along the same lines, I have to question their minimum knowledge of an important curriculum area. One of them calls Creationism a fact and Evolution only a theory. Another referred to Creationism as 'theory of creationism'. Now you don't expect school board members to be up on the latest and greatest areas of all scientific disciplines, but this stuff is elementary school science stuff. I was very disappointed in all of them.

Now, three of these pandering politicos are seeking re-election, the 4th is a newbie. But this does require another question to be considered, and one I think their constituency might have started asking them. How will this impact their ability to perform as a member of the school board if this becomes as issue, such as in Mt. Vernon Ohio' s John Freshwater, or Pamela Hensley of the North Johnston Middle School in North Carolina? Are any of these four someone that can be relied on to not only stay within the letter and intent of the law, but properly represent the interests of their constituents and their constituency's children education? That is a question for the voters Lake Zurich, and I wish them the best of luck!

Roger Ebert on Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly is not one of my favorite people. I know, he's not losing any sleep over it, but then neither am I. His position on Intelligent Design shows that he either is not well educated, seriously un-intelligent, or pandering for a specific audience. In my opinion he's usually pandering!

Back a couple of years ago he did a talking points that equated 'not teaching intelligent design' equated to 'fascism'. (God Vs. Science). He is equating a scientific theory as being a form of belief and that other 'beliefs' have just as much a right to be taught. He did say something he apparently doesn't believe:

"Public schools have an obligation to present all subjects in perspective"

because if he did believe this to be true he would realize that Intelligent Design is perfectly within perspective, that perspective being 'not in science class'. If he is serious about not teaching intelligent design as being equal to fascism, then why isn't he out campaigning for Astrology or Numerology? That's why I think Bill is doing nothing but pandering to an audience and he will say anything he thinks his audience wants to hear -- regardless of facts. You can watch him sucking up to Ben Stein in this YouTube clip.

One of his latest targets is the Chicago Sun-Times. Apparently the S-T had the audacity to drop his column, a move that met with . . . well apparently not much noise.

Roger Ebert is one of my favorite people. Not because I agree with his review of many movies, in fact Roger, '12 Monkeys", did you and I see the same movie? Aside from that Roger did review the Ben Stein mockumentary and his review is incredible! I mentioned it "The final word on Expelled: The Mockumentary".

I guess Roger has posted a little column addressed to Bill that you should read. It's hilarious, especially the ending. It hasn't changed my opinion of Bill, I have frequently thought of Bill as nothing more than a Ann Coulter for people who don't read. But the mental image of him as Squeaky the Chicago Mouse is perfection! Read it for yourself over at "Thoughts on Bill O'Reilly and Squeaky the Chicago Mouse".