The Palin Beastie Part 2

Amazing. One of the questions asked of Sarah Palin was:

" 11. Are you offended by the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I'll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance."

The joke is that the words of the Pledge were not written until 1892, and the words "Under God" inserted into it in 1954. What do the founding fathers have to do with it?

We've known for sure that she was a medieval theocrat already, now she proves her ignorance beyond any reasonable doubt. Is this what USA wants to stand by the presidential throne: an ignorant, oppressive, bigoted, theocratic idiot? The mind boggles...wobbles...toggles....

important issues

Presidential candidates (and, as of yesterday, several ex-candidates), on some important scientific issues here. The three questions asked specifically were related to stem cell research, global warning and the teaching of creationism in schools, and it is more significant to note those candidates that did NOT respond than those that did. In any case, looking at the candidate's campaign pages simply confirms for me that the Republican party has been taken over by theocratic authoritarian troglodytes. I can live with the Democrats, however, at least on the issues that involve some degree of empiricism.

Some not-so-random quotes for the candidates

"We have now, it seems, a national Bible Society, to propagate King James's Bible through all nations. Would it not be better to apply these pious subscriptions to purify Christendom from the corruptions of Christianity than to propagate those corruptions in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America?"

--John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson, Nov 4th, 1816

"If by religion, we are to understand sectarian dogmas, in which no two of them agree, then your exclamation on that hypothesis is just, 'that this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it."

--Jefferson to Adams, May 5th, 1817

Think about it, bozos. This does not only go to Republican candidates, by any means: Democrats have been spouting loads of god-talk themselves and need to pay attention too.

I, too, like Dr Seuss...

...a lot. But my favourite author? I don't think so:

“Who is your favorite author?” Aleya Deatsch, 7, of West Des Moines asked Mr. Huckabee in one of those posing-like-a-shopping-mall-Santa moments.

Mr. Huckabee paused, then said his favorite author was Dr. Seuss.

In an interview afterward with the news media, Aleya said she was somewhat surprised. She thought the candidate would be reading at a higher level.

“My favorite author is C. S. Lewis,” she said.

Huckabee go away!

Recursivity has a list of 10 reasons why Mike Huckabee should NOT be our next president. They are pretty obvious, but go there anyway, and give him some support already!

Here's a copy:

Ten Reasons Not to Vote for Huckabee

The picture that has recently emerged of former governor Mike Huckabee is that of an intellectually incurious, greedy, and corrupt fundamentalist Christian.

So here are just some of the many reasons not to vote for him.

1. He thinks that scientists believe the earth is "six billion" years old. He also thinks we "just don't know" how old the earth is.

2. He covered up an incident where his son hanged a stray dog.

3. He lied about having a theology degree.

4. He claims ‘‘The Holy Bible . . . has truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.’’

5. In 1992, he wanted to quarantine people with AIDS, even though it was well-known then that AIDS could not be spread by casual contact.

6. He improperly claimed furniture given to the governor's office as a personal gift and then didn't list it on an inventory of office items.

7. He freed criminals who committed heinous offenses if they said they had become born-again.

8. He wants a regressive national sales tax in place of a progressive income tax.

9. In 1998, he signed a statement saying that "A wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband".

10. He doesn't accept the theory of evolution.

idiocy all around

Mike Huckabee thinks that bumblebees can't fly, and believes he is not a primate. And this idiot--yes, idiocy is the only word appropriate in this context--is running for US presidency? WTF??? (Thanks to Recursivity).

I must then, together with many other bloggers and scientists, call for a presidential debate on science and technology. We cannot have a person ignorant of the basic facts of the universe we live in, the planet we are stuck on, and the way of thinking that is helping us uncover these facts (i.e., science) in charge of the most powerful nation on the planet. This job carries an awesome responsibility and an incredibly dangerous amount of power; village idiots need not apply.