Day: January 7, 2008

There’s This Newfangled Concept That Might Be Coming to Florida Schools — “Evolution”

Buck Banks

There’s a debate going on in Florida right now about the terminology that should be used in teaching public school science courses, specifically biology. I guess I wasn’t paying close enough attention because somewhere along the line, the word evolution was banned from Florida public school science curricula.

It was replaced with, and I am not making this up — ”biological changes over time.” Hmm, sounds kind of like the same thing, only longer, and dumber.

The reason it’s being discussed now is that somebody somewhere noticed that Florida’s public schools are turning out the next generation of idiots because the standards of science taught in our public schools are abysmal, mainly because Bible-thumpers have dumbed the curriculum down to the level of the Good Book.

The state board of education is weighing the matter, taking public comment and is slated to vote on whether Florida continues to be a laughingstock among educators or if the state can actually biologically change over time into a post-Scopes trial, reasoning beast.

As a native Floridian educated in its schools and a long-time resident of the state, I’m thinking it’s just as God made it, and chances are slim to nil that it will evolve into the 21st century.

If Huckabee Loses New Hampshire, Is That God’s Will Too?

Jon Ponder

It was just a month or so ago that Mike Huckabee, the former Baptist preacher and Arkansas governor, claimed that the hidden hand of God was behind the surprising success of his candidacy:

“There’s only one explanation for it, and it’s not a human one. It’s the same power that helped the little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of 5,000 people. And that’s the only way our campaign could be doing what it’s doing.”
– Huckabee

MIKE HUCKABEE: There’s only one explanation for it, and it’s not a human one. It’s the same power that helped the little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of 5,000 people. And that’s the only way our campaign could be doing what it’s doing. I’m not being facetious, nor am I trying to be trite. There literally are thousands of people across this country who are praying that a little will become much. And it has. And it defies all explanation. It has confounded the pundits, and I’m enjoying every minute of their trying to figure it out. And until they look at it from an experience just beyond human they’ll never figure it out. And that’s probably just as well.

That’s honestly why it’s happening.

Of course, no pundit has ever been even slightly confused about the reason for Huckabee’s success. It is quite simple: Christianist voters rejected the other candidates one by one — Giuliani, McCain, Romney, Brownback and Thompson — because they found them all to be insufficiently doctrinaire about the rightwing’s bizarre hate-filled version of Christ’s teachings. Huckabee became their only choice by default.

But now Huckabee is trailing at a distant third in New Hampshire in a series of polls:

An American Research Group poll of 600 likely Republican voters, McCain is at 35 percent, Romney 27 percent, Mike Huckabee 12 percent, Rudy Giuliani 10 percent, Rep. Ron Paul 7 percent, Rep. Duncan Hunter 2 percent, Fred Thompson 2 percent, and Alan Keyes 1 percent.

A CNN /WMUR poll of … 341 likely Republican voters, McCain leads with 32 percent, followed by Romney, 26 percent; Huckabee, 14 percent; Giuliani, 11 percent; and Paul, 10 percent.

A McClatchy /MSNBC poll of 400 likely Republican voters, McCain is at 32 percent, followed by Romney, 24 percent; Huckabee, 12 percent; Giuliani, 9 percent; and Paul, 8 percent.

A Rasmussen automated poll of 1,240 … 1,102 likely Republican voters, McCain is at 32 percent, Romney, 30 percent; Huckabee, 11 percent; Paul, 11 percent; and Giuliani, 9 percent.

If Huckabee comes in third in New Hampshire tomorrow, it would be nice to think that a reporter would ask him to explain why it was God’s will for him to lose in the Granite State. Don’t hold your breath, of course.

Huckabee would do well to look at George Bush’s claim in 2005 that God told him to invade Iraq and Afghanistan:

[…]

Novak Says Obama Is ‘Clean’ Not a ‘Stereotype African-American’

Jon Ponder

Bob Novak, the Republican propagandist, exposed the latent, virulent racism that lies just below his party’s psyche over the weekend when he said this about Barack Obama:

Q: What is Obama’s potential Achilles heel?

NOVAK: I think the only potential Achilles heel is in a general election, if there is some racist prejudice. I’m not sure there is. He’s, as poor Joe Biden said, he’s clean. He isn’t a stereotype African-American. And I think he’s a very strong candidate.

Novak tried to lay blame on the use of “clean” on Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), who used the same adjective to describe Obama last year. But Biden was roundly criticized and apologized for it in late January.

Only in the all-spin world of the GOP noise machine can you get away with excusing a racist comment by “wink-wink, nudge-nudge” quoting a racist remark by someone else, even though the quotee apologized for said remark.

No one has asked Novak to explain what he meant by a “stereotype African-American,” however. Presumably he’s referring to the other black presidential candidates who didn’t win a primary season vote: Frederick Douglass, Shirley Chisolm, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Alan Keyes.

Huckabee Calls for Soldiers in Christ’s Army to “Obey Orders”

Trish

They’ve got it bad for each other.

Mike Huckabee proved Sunday he is just a little too comfortable fighting for souls for Christ. He delivered the sermon at an evangelical church in New Hampshire, and his words should leave non-Christians and reasonable people of every faith troubled.

Huckabee has the glint in his eye of a man who sees things the rest of us don’t, like Satan and spirits and Holy Ghosts. And he trots out Chuck Norris, aka “Huckabee’s Oprah,” just in case you don’t believe him.

“When we become believers, it’s as if we have signed up to be part of God’s Army, to be soldiers for Christ,” Huckabee told the enthusiastic audience…

“When you give yourself to Christ, some relationships have to go,” he said. “It’s no longer your life; you’ve signed it over.”

Likening service to God to service in the military, Huckabee said “there is suffering in the conditioning for battle” and “you obey the orders.”

Mother Mary. Do we really want a president who believes he signed his life over to Christ? Or anyone else, for that matter? I mean at least Bush makes it clear by both word and deed that he doesn’t actually believe all that God and heaven and hell stuff.

But Huckabee does. He has the glint in his eye of a man who sees things the rest of us don’t, like Satan and spirits and Holy Ghosts. And he trots out the born-again Chuck Norris, aka “Huckabee’s Oprah,” just in case you don’t believe him.

…a church official invited members to attend an event a mile away, where Huckabee held a rally with actor Chuck Norris and where free clam chowder was served.

Faithful (not in the Huckabee sense) Pensito Review readers will recall that some have questioned Huckabee’s replacement of his wife with Chuck Norris at high-profile events, leading at least one commentor (O.K., me) to wonder if Chuck Norris is Huckabee’s wife. His behavior in New Hampshire would suggest it’s possible.

In his campaign stops in New Hampshire, Huckabee has generally focused on appealing to nonreligious voters, playing the bass guitar and emphasizing his support of small government, local control of schools and gun rights — popular causes among Granite State Republicans. Norris, who has endorsed him, has been at his side at nearly every event.

Interesting.