Sen. Claire McCaskill’s gift of Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) is a gift that simply keeps on giving. Previously Akin alienated the GOP leadership and most of the known world with comments that, in cases of legitimate rape, women often do not get pregnant because “the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down.” He also claimed that doctor routinely performed abortions on women who are not pregnant. Now, at a Tea Party meeting in Jefferson City, Missouri, Akin has said that that there is no science behind evolution. Akin sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
Akin’s remarks not only leave doubt about his knowledge — or ability to understand – science but also what he considers “the thing” that he is supposed to do in Washington:
I don’t see it as even a matter of science because I don’t know that you can prove one or the other. That’s one of those things. We can talk about theology and all of those other things but I’m basically concerned about, you’ve got a choice between Claire McCaskill and myself. My job is to make the thing there. If we want to do theoretical stuff, we can do that, but I think I better stay on topic.
Of course, such comments could be used by some to disprove any evidence that we have evolved intellectually. Frankly, whenever I hear Akin speak recently I too begin to doubt evolution in the human species.
Notably, Akin sits on the committee with Rep. Paul Broun, the chairman of the House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight. Broun made headlines this month with the following statement: at the 2012 Sportsman’s Banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Georgia on September 27th, he said this:
God’s word is true. I’ve come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell. It’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior. You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I’ve found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don’t believe that the earth’s but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That’s what the Bible says.
As many of you know, I have shown equal disregard for both of the main parties that hold a monopoly on power in the United States. Indeed, the low quality politicians that we see in both parties is the very danger of all monopolies — once protected from competition, the quality of a product declines. The political monopoly in this country is the ultimate example of that phenomenon. What we need is a Sherman Act for politics, starting with the eradication of the electoral college and the establishment of a new rule on general elections.
As for Republicans, I have many friends from that party who are intellectual and honest. These characters are destroying the credibility of their party which often appears anti-intellectual and anti-science.
Woosty,
Is that a Walmart warehouse in the video?
Elaine M.
1, October 15, 2012 at 2:50 pm
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well, that’s pushing the envelope biologique…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=1uSjfot6FWU
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uSjfot6FWU&w=560&h=315%5D
Woosty got there first. Good post.
“Elaine M.
1, October 15, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Woosty,
Both Romney and Ryan believe that fertilized eggs are people with rights. Ryan even cosponsored personhood, ultrasound, and “Let Women Die” Legislation.”
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When do they get the right to vote? Red, of course.
Woosty,
Here’s an excerpt from a post that I wrote last year about a Republican state legislator from Georgia:
Just yesterday, I read about State Rep. Bobby Franklin of Georgia who is introducing legislation in his state that would require proof that a miscarriage—aka a spontaneous abortion—was the result of natural causes. If this legislation passes, there would have to be proof that a woman’s miscarriage was the result of natural causes. If a woman can’t prove that—she might face felony charges!
From a piece in Daily Kos: “Franklin wants to create a Uterus Police to investigate miscarriages, and requires that any time a miscarriage occurs, whether in a hospital or without medical assistance, it must be reported and a fetal death certificate issued. If the cause of death is unknown, it must be investigated. If the woman can’t tell how it happened, then those Uterus Police can ask family members and friends how it happened. Hospitals are required to keep records of anyone who has a spontaneous abortion and report it. Yup, we’ve been waiting for someone to suggest this–and Franklin has.”
Here’s the link to Franklin’s bill:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display.aspx?Legislation=31965
There are millions and millions of American women who suffer/have suffered miscarriages through no fault of their own. Suffering a miscarriage can be an emotionally wrenching experience for a woman. Imagine losing a much wanted pregnancy–and then having to prove the miscarriage was the result of natural causes. How does a woman do that, Rep. Franklin? Can you explain to the women of Georgia how they should go about gathering evidence to prove that they haven’t committed a felony when they have a miscarriage?
By the way, Rep. Franklin also introduced a bill to change Georgia’s criminal codes so that victims of rape, stalking, and family violence could only be referred to as “accusers” until defendants have been convicted.
http://jonathanturley.org/2011/02/19/the-rights-war-on-women-continues-at-the-state-level/
Elaine M.
1, October 15, 2012 at 2:28 pm
Woosty,
Both Romney and Ryan believe that fertilized eggs are people with rights. Ryan even cosponsored personhood, ultrasound, and “Let Women Die” Legislation.
http://jonathanturley.org/2012/08/18/romney-vp-pick-paul-ryan-cosponsored-personhood-ultrasound-and-let-women-die-legislation/
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So if I get in the path of a spilled roving sperm, I would claim the deduction right away?…should I also apply for the ballooning eggs SS card (to be issued retroactively to the moment of conception…) and maybe the best time to vaccinate the little bugger is in utero….BEFORE s/he gets contaminated by the worldly cauldron of frothily mutating germs? (Rumsfeld and Gilead would be ecstatic…) ?……..responsibly yours…..
ps. in the future, why not register all the lil eggs BEFORE they get utilized, that would not only be pro-active but potentially fiscally illuminating as well!
Bob Kauten,
I knew I would be called on that. Right you are. There ARE some forms of life who don’t have nucleii or DNA, but we don’t have much to do with them.
Actually, if you re-read you will see that the emphasis was on social evolution. It is not the same as biological evolution. And social evolution is what we are arging about constantly.
“science-minded Dem atheist would NOT survive….”
BBC report on Creationist Museum
I retract my previous views when comparing evolution and selection on general terms as I did.
In fact, there are environments which are conducive to survival of avarts who depart from the general one.
IE. Akins et al, exist in a social mileue conducive to their survival, where a science minded Dem atheist would
survive, even if he had merits of survivability exceeding that of the other competitor.
Where you are and when you are decides your fate in the local filter.
Last time I checked, bacteria had DNA, mutated, and passed on their genes. That’s how bacteria develop antibiotic resistance.
“Wait what? How on earth are microbes and humans NOT part of biological evolution?”
Answer: On this earth, they are part of biological evolution. No life escapes it.
Jus’ sayin’.
Woosty,
Both Romney and Ryan believe that fertilized eggs are people with rights. Ryan even cosponsored personhood, ultrasound, and “Let Women Die” Legislation.
http://jonathanturley.org/2012/08/18/romney-vp-pick-paul-ryan-cosponsored-personhood-ultrasound-and-let-women-die-legislation/
GeneH,
“Then you simply aren’t paying attention, nick.”
Nick would not be Nick if he were not as he is. A great guy who believes wholeheartedly in Ayn Ramd and libertarianism.
I find it simple, there is always a fight for headlines, and the Republicans are leading at this point. It is harder to be more stupid than they, and the lazy press encourages them. Eases their job.
Competing factions, you mentioned. Perhaps, or cooperating cartels.
“Microbes, while biological, do not pass on genes as typically DNA creatures do.”
So?
“Similarly, social evolution is not due to mutation, apparently not part of the selection process either.”
Behavior is absolutely selected for. What makes you think that it isn’t?
Elaine M.
1, October 15, 2012 at 12:55 pm
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According to the repubs embryoes are people with rights…the mothers are simply walking wombs (with the unfortunate addition of mouths and brain matter….). Corporations, are people too! What fun, they have rights (…but are so right they are self policing) and follow different rules….Apparently, according to the righteous right, the only people that aren’t real people….are people !
I went over to the Red State Creation Museum to ask how many Akinoids could fit on the head of a pin and got thrown out:
“Gyges
1, October 15, 2012 at 12:24 pm
“There is abiotic evolution, microbial evolution, biological evolution, and human social evolution.”
Wait what? How on earth are microbes and humans NOT part of biological evolution?”
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Microbes, while biological, do not pass on genes as typically DNA creatures do.
Similarly, social evolution is not due to mutation, apparently not part of the selection process either.
Witness our caveman social forms and interactions systems.
David Blauw 1, October 15, 2012 at 11:50 am
Dredd, ….AKINOIDS !!!!!
LMAO, How many Akinoids can fit on the head of a pin ??
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I will check on that over at Red State.
“These characters are destroying the credibility of their party [GOP] which often appears anti-intellectual and anti-science.”
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Appears? Really? Sadly, your friends are the exception. Akin is positively mainstream:
From the New York Times:
August 22, 2011, 1:13 PM
A Fundamental Republican Science Problem
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Many efforts to gauge why most Republicans reject or doubt the science pointing to risks from unabated emissions of greenhouse gases are issue-centric. It’s fossil fuel money. It’s disinformation campaigns that spin scientific complexity and some overheated warming rhetoric into a carbon-tax conspiracy.
Those factors are out there. But a more fundamental explanation is hinted at in polling on broader attitudes on science. The bottom line continues to be that belief, particularly religious belief, trumps data. (Keep in mind that belief sometimes trumps data for other political factions, as well, on issues like nuclear power.) [2:02 p.m. | Updated In a comment below, Dan Kahan, a Yale researcher who studies how values shape people’s perceptions of information, adds important context, asserting that religiosity, per se, doesn’t appear to be the issue.]
Gallup polling on evolution provides a useful lens. Frank Newport, Gallup’s editor in chief, reviewed the group’s findings on Friday after a week in which two Republican presidential candidates clarified their starkly different stances on global warming and evolution. (Hat tip to GOP12 blog via Politico.)
A 2007 poll asked respondents if they believed that “Evolution, that is, the idea that human beings developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life,” is “definitely true, probably true, probably false, definitely false?” (That’s a very odd and constrained definition of evolution, of course, but responses would still provide a useful view of broader attitudes on the theory.)
Newport said the 2007 survey found that 53 percent of Americans said this particular framing of evolution was either definitely or probably true, while 44 percent said evolution was definitely or probably not true.
Then he wrote this about Republicans:
Of importance to us here is the breakout among Republicans. We found in 2007 that a whopping 68 percent of Republicans did not believe in evolution when using this question wording.
…
ElaineH,
“The Republicans who are intellectual and honest should be speaking out against these Neanderthals! Why don’t they? They are letting the crazies lead the party.”
Per my previous post, they are useful tools who provide a necessary margin of winning by attracting the “crazy” voters. Does Akins really lead? Hope not.