Intelligent designs
Congress returns for its lame-duck session this week, and the time is right to chip at abortion, writes the KC Star's Matt Stearns. Sen. Sam Brownback said abortion-rights supporter Arlen Specter's spot on Senate Judiciary is a hot topic among his constituents. He's also expressed hope his Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require any woman considering an abortion to be told her fetus might feel pain during the procedure and that an anesthetic be offered for the fetus if the woman is 20 weeks or more pregnant, will have a better shot at passing the next Congress, though no action is expected this week.
Let's hear it for the school board of Dover, Penn., which is mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" along with evolution in schools! The rural district 20 miles out of Harrisburg (hometown of crypto-Christian '90s alt-faves Live) maintains it just wants all points considered, while a good portion science teachers think they're nuts. More importantly, this guarantees that should the Kansas Board of Education do the same thing -- a real possibility -- they won't be alone in facing ridicule among national media. Always good to have friends.
David Broder injects reason into the "omigodbushwonnowwhat?" sentiment:
The exaggerated reaction to the election among many liberals was set off by the belief that Bush owes his victory to a bunch of religious zealots bent on imposing their views on the whole society. That impression was based on exit polls showing that Bush won overwhelmingly among the 22 percent of voters who said moral values were the most important issue to them.
But as columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. has pointed out, even if he had won every vote in that bloc, Bush wouldn’t have gotten close to a majority. The real Bush success was in fighting John Kerry to a near-standoff among self-described moderates.
And the Washington Post recently had an excellent piece about all the post-election e-mail forwards, including "Sorry, Everybody," "Jesusland," the vote conspiracies, etc. I assume all that will fade, though not soon enough. And Republicans will figure out what to do with increased power, and Democrats will figure out how to temper it while restocking themselves for '06. And we can hope people act for the best, and thump 'em when they don't, and The Republic Shall Survive.
Let's hear it for the school board of Dover, Penn., which is mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" along with evolution in schools! The rural district 20 miles out of Harrisburg (hometown of crypto-Christian '90s alt-faves Live) maintains it just wants all points considered, while a good portion science teachers think they're nuts. More importantly, this guarantees that should the Kansas Board of Education do the same thing -- a real possibility -- they won't be alone in facing ridicule among national media. Always good to have friends.
David Broder injects reason into the "omigodbushwonnowwhat?" sentiment:
The exaggerated reaction to the election among many liberals was set off by the belief that Bush owes his victory to a bunch of religious zealots bent on imposing their views on the whole society. That impression was based on exit polls showing that Bush won overwhelmingly among the 22 percent of voters who said moral values were the most important issue to them.
But as columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. has pointed out, even if he had won every vote in that bloc, Bush wouldn’t have gotten close to a majority. The real Bush success was in fighting John Kerry to a near-standoff among self-described moderates.
And the Washington Post recently had an excellent piece about all the post-election e-mail forwards, including "Sorry, Everybody," "Jesusland," the vote conspiracies, etc. I assume all that will fade, though not soon enough. And Republicans will figure out what to do with increased power, and Democrats will figure out how to temper it while restocking themselves for '06. And we can hope people act for the best, and thump 'em when they don't, and The Republic Shall Survive.
posted by Alan Bjerga @ 7:59 AM
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