Reply #2: 'Fraid so! [View All]

[LongTomH]

Try these news stories:

Another 'new' Newt takes the stage

Could Gingrich Be Next GOP Challenger to Surge?

Coup d'etat? Try Coup d'Gingrich

The one about "Another new Newt" is worth reading. The undead are often shapeshifters and Newt the Impaler is a master of this. He can't change into a bat or a wolf; but, he has reinvented himself repeatedly, each time he went after a new 'base.' I remember back in the 90s when Newt showed up a a WorldCon, trying to win support from science fiction fans. And then there was that interview with Discover Magazine where he talked about his 'passion for science' and made this statement about evolution:

Do you view evolution as "just a theory" or as the best explanation for how we came to be?
Evolution certainly seems to express the closest understanding we can now have. But it's changing too. The current tree of life is not anything like a 19th-century Darwinian tree. We're learning a lot about how systems evolve and don't evolve. Cockroaches became successful several hundred million years ago and just stopped evolving.

On the issue of teaching 'intelligent design' in schools:

]Where do you come down on teaching intelligent design in schools? Do you think the ruling in the Dover, Pennsylvania, case was appropriate?
I believe evolution should be taught as science, and intelligent design should be taught as philosophy. Francis Collins's new book, The Language of God, is a fine statement that combines a belief in God with a belief in evolution. I do not know enough about the Dover case to critique the judge's decision, but I am generally cautious about unelected judges establishing community standards—that is the duty of elected officials.

Notice he left himself some wiggle room on the Dover decision. Now look at this post at Chris Mooney's Intersection science blog:

Newt Gingrich Misrepresents Stem Cells Science, Mocks Evolution

I always tell my friends who don’t believe in this stuff, fine, how do you think — we’re randomly gathered protoplasm? We could have been rhinoceroses, but we got lucky this week?

Children of the nights.....What music they make!