Republican (d)Evolution

So, last night marked the first debate for the ten Republican candidates who aspire to the Presidency. I couldn't watch, of course, because my wife didn't want to listen to me scream obscenities at the TV or clean up the vomit from me getting sick over the candidates' comments. (I preferred to read about it later.)

They showed their typical conservative feathers, trying desperately to woo centrist voters without alienating the right-wing, Christian voting bloc so important to electoral success in the South and Midwest. They paid proper homage to the legacy of Ronald Reagan - significant since the debate was held at the Ronald Reagan Library. John McCain likely upset some right-wingers when he voiced support for stem-cell research . . . but doubtless made Nancy Reagan happy, since she's become an outspoken supporter of this research in the wake of her husband's battle with Alzheimer's.

For me, however, the highlight of the evening came when the moderator asked which of the candidates did NOT believe in evolution. THREE raised their hands: Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, and Tom Tancredo. THREE!! At that point, the moderator should have excused those three and informed them that they would not be allowed to continue to the next round of the campaign. How can one claim to have any intellectual credibility and then admit that you don't believe in one of the most basic scientific ideas of the last 150 years? Instead of promising leadership into the 21st century, these knuckleheads promise to drag us back to the 19th century.

No doubt Huckabee, Brownback and Tancredo will attribute their views to a conservative Christian outlook. That's their right. But to me it's not about religion ultimately. Their views - Christian or otherwise - underscore a fundamental anti-intellectualism that increasingly plagues this country. Having been raised in a Christian environment that also valued education and intellectual rigor, I can also note that one can subscribe to Christian principles and espouse a belief in evolution. But these guys just don't get it. Their world view is so myopic that they have no business whatsoever running for president. And considering the status of the Huckabee, Brownback, and Tancredo candidacies, I suspect they will soon join the ranks of the also-rans. We can only hope.

Can you tell I'm upset? This kind of stupidity gives me fits! The fact that millions of voters will agree with the three Republican "Stooges" only makes me scared for our future.