Who will be the Repuke nominee for 2016?

[Nitro Express]

I'm going to take my pseudo-science cretin girl for a whirl.....

[Kristy]

Striber is actually worse than Noory. All of his claims of alien abduction aside, Striber rambles on and on like a street urchin paranoid schizophrenic only with a microphone and no one to challenge his absurd statements from the weather to politics. You'd think that would be some sort of quality entertainment to someone such as myself who thrives on unfounded paranoia but with Striber, it's just boring.

[Nitro Express]

Coast to Coast AM has too many commercials. It's hard to stay on the edge when Satan is about to gobble up the guy having the out of body experience when suddenly a half hour of commercials come on. George comes on. Then another half hour of commercials come on then it's back to the show.

[Nitro Express]

It's proof if you are good at marketing, you really don't need much of a product to make a lot of money. I mean the overhead on staring is quite cheap. Anyone good at staring in here? Let's take it on the road. You need someone exotic though. I should have found a Mayan and gone around a few years back. Missed that window. Dammit!

[Nitro Express]

The guy that is shameless on Coast to Coast AM is this Ed Dames character. He actually scares the shit out of the listeners saying that the sun is going to destroy most of the life on earth soon and if you are going to have any chance at living, you need to buy his remote viewing DVD set or attend one of his classes. LOL! Then he says he's using remote viewing to find gold and you can also predict the stock market. Well with that kind of knowledge you should be the richest person on the planet. I'm waiting to hear from some trillionare who just bought Hearst Castle from the state of California for a steal because the state is broke and needs the money say he was able to do it because of listening to Coast to Coast AM.

[Nickdfresh]

Are they all just creationist fuckwits?

Creationism Controversies The Norm Among Potential Republican 2016 Contenders
By Pema Levy | TPM – 3 hrs ago

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) raised eyebrows Monday when he told GQ he couldn't answer a question about the age of the earth because "I'm not a scientist, man."

Having a top prospect for the 2016 presidential nomination say the age of the planet is "one of the great mysteries" comes at an awkward time for a party attempting to rebuild from its Nov. 6 drubbing at the hands of voters turned off by the GOP's embrace of social conservatives. But Rubio is hardly alone among potential Republican presidential contenders. Other big names for 2016 have weighed in publicly at various times over the years to position themselves as supportive of creationism proponents.

To science education advocates, these public statements fall into two categories: craven political panders to the conservative base and expressions of actual doubt in basic scientific principles. Both are disconcerting, the advocates say, and whether or not a president stands up for science has a broader impact than the education battles where creationism most often comes up.

"It's important beyond whether somebody has a direct impact on evolution [education] because it's an indicator of the way they look at the world and who they accept as reliable guides and authorities on subjects," said Dr. Eric Meikle, an anthropologist and director of education at the National Center for Science Education. "It's very important in terms of that."

For the record, Mitt Romney actually accepted the science of evolution and opposed the teaching of so-called "intelligent design" theory in science classrooms when he was governor of Massachusetts. That puts him to the left of some of the men potentially vying to be his replacement on the ticket in four years.

A look at some big names in 2016 Republican presidential speculation and what they've said about evolution or creationism:

Gov. Chris Christie (NJ)

The oft-mentioned 2016 contender -- and self-described straight shooter -- has declined open up about his thoughts on evolution. "That's none of your business," Christie said in May 2011 when asked where he comes down on evolution versus creationism.

At a town hall a week earlier, Christie said that he believed the decision to teach creationism alongside evolution should be made at the local level. A week later, Christie clarified that this position was not an endorsement of teaching creationism. "That is not to say, as it was interpreted by some that I was advocating for the teaching of creationism," Christie said. "Folks never really have a hard time figuring out when I'm advocating for something."

The Wall Street Journal story at the time pointed out that Christie's non-answer on creationism is a departure from the governor's promise not to use an "escape hatch" on the issues:

For a politician who has built a national reputation for straight talk and not shying from a fight, Christie's demurral on creationism stands out. In the past, he has said people need not wonder where he stands on an issue.

"When you guys ask me questions, I'm going to answer them directly, straightly, bluntly, and nobody in New Jersey is going to have to wonder where I am on an issue," he said a year ago, adding: "I think they've had enough of politicians who make them wonder ... They make them wonder so they got an escape hatch. So they have an escape hatch. And I'm not interested in an escape hatch."

Gov. Bobby Jindal (LA)

Jindal, a committed social conservative, has emerged lately as the potential 2016er most ready to criticize the rhetoric of the last Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney. But Jindal is no moderate, especially when it comes to evolution.

In 2008, Jindal signed into law the "Louisiana Science Education Act," a law that according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune's Annette Sisco, "cleared the way for creationism to be taught in biology class." That led groups like the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to boycott the state as host for national conferences.

Jindal created a new firestorm around the evolution issue this summer when schools with bible-based curriculums ended up on the list of institutions included in the state's expanded voucher program. Under Jindal's education reforms, thousands of Louisiana students can use taxpayer dollars to attend schools that, as Lance Hill, executive director of Southern Institute for Education and Research, explained to Reuters in July, "use an evangelical curriculum that teaches that humans walked the earth 6,000 years ago with dinosaurs."

A biology major at Brown and a Rhodes Scholar, Jindal has endorsed the idea that local school boards should determine whether creationism or intelligent design should be taught in schools. "I don't want any facts or theories or explanations to be withheld from [my children] because of political correctness," Jindal said during a 2008 appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Sen. Rand Paul (KY)

Paul is expected to take up his father's libertarian-bent presidential crusade next cycle. And like his dad, Paul has often mixed a healthy dose of social conservative outreach in with his fiscal libertarian purity.

Almost exactly like Rubio did this week, Paul demurred on the question of the earth's age back in 2010. Taking questions from a meeting of the Christian Homeschool Educators of Kentucky during his Senate campaign, Paul declined to answer the question "how old is the world?"

"I forgot to say I was only taking easy questions," Paul said. "I'm gonna pass on the age of the earth. I think, ah, I'm just gonna have to pass on that one."

Sen. Marco Rubio (FL)

Rubio's comments to GQ were unsurprising when compared with Rubio's rhetoric on creationism in the past. Facing creationist protests, the Florida Board of Education wrestled with curriculum standards in 2008 that accepted evolution as scientifically sound. Eventually, the board ruled that evolution should be taught, but only as a "scientific theory." It was a compromise decision that drew criticism from the scientific community who said it underplayed evolution's acceptance as the basis for biological science and criticism from creationists worried that it didn't go far enough to allow their theories about the creation of the world into the mix. Then-state House Speaker Rubio was on the side of creationists.

After the state Board of Education ruling, Rubio told the Florida Baptist Witness that he'd support legislation modeled on a proposal allowing teachers who so desired "to engage students in a critical analysis" of evolution. His reasoning, from the Witness:

The "crux" of the disagreement, according to Rubio, is "whether what a parent teaches their children at home should be mocked and derided and undone at the public school level. It goes to the fundamental core of who is ultimately, primarily responsible for the upbringing of children. Is it your public education system or is it your parents?"

Rubio added, "And for me, personally, I don't want a school system that teaches kids that what they're learning at home is wrong."

Rubio then "made a comparison to the strategy employed by the Communist Party in Cuba where schools encouraged children to turn in parents who criticized Fidel Castro."

"'Of course, I'm not equating the evolution people with Fidel Castro,' he quickly added," according to the Witness.

Yahoo Link

[jhale667]

Anyone who advocates the teaching of creationism in schools should be severely beaten about the face and neck.

[ZahZoo]

I don't know about that J... Creationism has enough deep roots in western culture that it shouldn't be ignored. I think presenting the whole historic picture on the concepts of how life on Earth started both scientific and spiritual is reasonable... just don't slant the presentation in any one particular angle. Let each person decide for themselves...

[Nickdfresh]

I don't know about that J... Creationism has enough deep roots in western culture that it shouldn't be ignored. I think presenting the whole historic picture on the concepts of how life on Earth started both scientific and spiritual is reasonable... just don't slant the presentation in any one particular angle. Let each person decide for themselves...

You should know, old man. What was it like walking with dinosaurs?

[sadaist]

You should know, old man. What was it like walking with dinosaurs?

Be nice or he'll throw his cane at you.


Za is so old.....his family photo album is hieroglyphics.

Za is so old.....the first family pet is now a fossil.

Za is so old.....his social security number is 1.

Za is so old.....he has an autographed Bible.

Za is so old.....

[Nitro Express]

I don't know about that J... Creationism has enough deep roots in western culture that it shouldn't be ignored. I think presenting the whole historic picture on the concepts of how life on Earth started both scientific and spiritual is reasonable... just don't slant the presentation in any one particular angle. Let each person decide for themselves...

All you have to do in the educational setting is teach creationism from a historical and sociological perspective. Also, it's called the THEORY of evolution for a reason. It's a theory so teach it as such.

Yes, religious beliefs run deep and they aren't just going to disappear overnight. What I'm seeing is the old religions will just reform to modern times and people will invent new silliness to believe in. I don't buy that the human race is really all that enlightened. I think we are still plenty screwed up.

[BigBadBrian]

The "I know you are but what am I" defense. Classy.

You first. You're long overdue.

Of course Repukes would support all the shitty candidates you just mentioned.

You're an idiot. Fuck off.

Wow, you used a lot of brain-power on that intellectually-worded response, didn't you?

[Nickdfresh]

All you have to do in the educational setting is teach creationism from a historical and sociological perspective. Also, it's called the THEORY of evolution for a reason. It's a theory so teach it as such.

That's bullshit! The overall idea of Evolutionary Biology is a "theory", but observable natural selection and resulting change is considered scientific fact.

Wiki

Biologists agree that descent with modification is one of the most reliably established facts in science.[7] Discoveries in evolutionary biology have made a significant impact not just within the traditional branches of biology, but also in other academic disciplines (e.g., anthropology and psychology) and on society at large.[8][9]

Yes, religious beliefs run deep and they aren't just going to disappear overnight. What I'm seeing is the old religions will just reform to modern times and people will invent new silliness to believe in. I don't buy that the human race is really all that enlightened. I think we are still plenty screwed up.

So we should waste peoples' time by teaching myths as some alternative, religiously influenced science while other countries laugh at us as their children excel in the sciences? Why not teach Greek Myths, too? They are also creation theories...

[Seshmeister]

I don't know about that J... Creationism has enough deep roots in western culture that it shouldn't be ignored. I think presenting the whole historic picture on the concepts of how life on Earth started both scientific and spiritual is reasonable... just don't slant the presentation in any one particular angle. Let each person decide for themselves...

Bullshit.

Why not just teach kids that 2+2 may be 11 as well, it's an alternate point of view and as such has to be given the same weight as the truth.

There should be a law against these people using fossil fuels, that would at least make it more difficult for them to get around...

[Seshmeister]

All you have to do in the educational setting is teach creationism from a historical and sociological perspective. Also, it's called the THEORY of evolution for a reason. It's a theory so teach it as such.

An oft quoted and fundamental misunderstanding of the word 'theory' when used in the context of science.

The irony is that you are showing the weaknesses in the US education system in the process of trying to defend it.

You take the Jindal path and your country is fucked, game over for the American empire...