Our intelligence-challenged president has finally weighed in on Intelligent Design, and has chosen the ‘teach the controversy‘ talking point.
“You’re asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes,” the president said.
Does that mean that we also teach the tooth fairy theory of dental hygiene? It’s certainly a different idea, and is backed by about the same amount of evidence.
Bush’s quote in the AP story is indicative of a neat little rhetorical parlor trick he picked up somewhere along the way, where he rephrases precisely what was not asked into a straw man question that he then answers in the affirmative. It’s entirely safe to say that none of the five reporters (all from Texas, btw) asked Bush whether “people ought to be exposed to different ideas”.
Of course, the issue is hardly about exposure to different ideas, but rather about scientific standards. And since this administration has all but declared war on science, it’s no surprise that they’d toss this salvo.
Whenever a president drops any calculated bomb/hint on a cultural issue, debate rises over the topic, and we collectively derail from some more important issue. Not that what we teach kids isn’t important — but there is simply no controversy over the factual basis of evolution except from people with noted religious agendas.
Anyway, it’s comforting to read the always rightously pissed PZ Myers in depressing times like this, so I suggest you do that.