And on the eighth day, God created Sarah Palin

John McCain, did you know?

Everyone is abuzz about the latest revelations about your VP pick, Sarah Palin. She was a dark house, but she wasn't entirely off the map -- hell, a commenter pimped her on this very blog just nine weeks ago:

Most importantly, any Vice President should be ready to step up and serve in the event she is needed. Frankly, who is really ever ready? Gov. Palin is as ready as anybody, she is a quick learner, and in her public career has exhibited the courage and decisiveness needed for a great leader.

But now her candidacy is drowning in controversy as more about her comes to light. And the question to you, Sen. McCain, is: Did you know that Sarah Palin advocated teaching creationism in science class?

Oh sure, there's her teenage daughter who demonstrated the efficacy of her abstinence-only sex ed. And there's what the media is calling "Troopergate," which is really a less-spicy Electric Boogaloo compared with Bill Clinton's original. 

But those are not the most important issues. The former is just proof that even the most privileged and sheltered Christian kids are gonna bone each other no matter how often you tell them not to. The latter is at worst a personal abuse of power, similar to the ones you and most of your colleagues have enjoyed many times over your decades in the US Senate.

More troubling, with little vetting and only two personal meetings, you chose a candidate who while running for governor said -- not off-the-record, but in a televised debate -- that primitive religious mythology should be taught as science in public schools:

"Teach both [evolution and creationism]. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both."

Now, perhaps she's just mimicking the Alaska Republican party platform:

The Republican Party of Alaska platform says, in its section on education: "We support giving Creation Science equal representation with other theories of the origin of life. If evolution is taught, it should be presented as only a theory."

Sen. McCain, did you know you were choosing a running mate who doesn't acknowledge science, even as her state government's coffers fill with wealth generated by ever-improving oil and gas extraction technology? If so, are you comfortable having someone like her a 72-year-old-heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world?

Because we tried that already.

***

Yes, those are quite the 20 months Sarah Palin had as governor of America's fourth-smallest state. For example, there's that command of the Alaska National Guard they're touting. What exactly has the governor done with said command? Campbell Brown demonstrates some rare guts from CNN. Fast forward to the 3:13 point of this video to see the claws come out as Brown tries to get McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds to claim one decision Palin has made.

Comments

[Shimmy]

“Don’t be afraid of information,” Sarah Palin said. “Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both evolution and the Babylonian account of creation, ‘Marduk Creates the World from the Spoils of Battle.’”

[Podgers]

That was a shockingly bad argument on Bounds' part. Seamus, how are you handcapping this election, right now, September 2nd?

[seamus]

Podgers: Still McCain by 3. I'll post on this later this week.

[Rox]

What's so wrong about allowing healthy debate in the classroom? Hearing multiple theories, whether about evolution/creation or death penalty/not (or whatever), can only enhance kids' education. A lot of so-called liberals wish to "hide" the fact that some very smart, also liberal people actually do practice religion. What's the cost to anyone's child to present that there are different beliefs? To me, this debate represents what I hated about our alma mater: it's a lot of liberals saying "believe what I believe or I'll mock and dismiss you." Well, I'm a well-educated, left-of-center Christian, and I do not fear or have a problem with teachers welcoming discourse on competing theories of evolution in the classroom. Science doesn't have to be pitted against religion; and our kids can decide what they believe just like we have.

[seamus]

Rox, creation is not a theory. It's a mythology. Evolution is a theory.

Teaching a religious mythology as an "alternative" to a scientific principle in science class isn't anything like a real debate. There is no actual debate about evolution, which is the only testable and tested scientific theory of life. We should no more teach flat-earth, or geo-centrism, or any other pre-scientific mythology in science class.

If a Christian organization wants to question the validity of science by presenting its mythology as an alternative, they have a way to do that every Sunday morning.

[Rox]

While you do make a good point regarding Sunday mornings, I offer that there is room in science for the existence of God, too. In science as in faith, the world begins with an act of creation. Most believe in the Big Bang theory; some believe, like George LeMaitre, the Catholic priest and physicist who authored it, that something caused the Bang. The origin of the universe is thus best explained by creationism, which has both scientific (Bang!) and religious bents. No, there is no scientific proof for the existence of God, but there are many scientists who account for the possibility. IMHO, good discourse on science cannot leave that possibility out and cannot ignore the scientific fact that the origin of the universe cannot be proven by observational or other data. Read "God and the Astronomers" written by an agnostic scientist -- fascinating stuff!

[Podgers]

Here's my latest beef with Palin and the Christian Conservatives: I have heard numerous interviews where delegates at the convention are excited about Palin's kid's kid. WTF? Talk about inconsistencies! So, they praise her for not having an abortion but no one has the self-reflection or introspection to understand that this problem was totally self-created. A number of the interviewees kept talking about how "kids will be kids" and "there is really nothing you can do." How is this not an indictment of abstinence-only sex ed? Just give teenage kids some birth control! And how is it OK for a white teenage girl in Alaska to have a baby and not an African-American girl in Chicago?

And I do agree that candidate's families should be kept out of the spotlight... UNLESS THESE CANDIDATES MAKE "FAMILY VALUES" PART OF THE DEBATE! I totally believe that Palin's kid is fair game because the social conservatives have made these personal choices so much a part of the election. Kinda like you made this bed... now suffer the consequences as your children go have unprotected sex in it!

[jjm]

Perhaps we should give fair and balanced air time to all the various creation myths that exist in various cultures around the globe, and then let our children decide what they believe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_myth

[jjm]

In other news, I'm puzzled that McCain didn't pick Colin Powell or Kay Hutchison. Even Condi would have more substance to add.

[seamus]

JJM: McCain was constrained by the Republican Christian base, which has often been at odds with him for decades. Powell has hinted that he's liberal on social issues. Hutchison is unabashedly pro-choice. Condi is an original Bushie.

[ccw]

I hope everybody can make my special guest lecture at Wasilla High's history class next week: "'Star Wars': It Really Happened," because a healthy debate about the existence of Chewbacca is so important. Don't be afraid of information.

[Dan]

Do either evolution or creationism sufficiently explain, in a scientific matter, the origins of life?? According to scientific standards, neither does.

Then why should either be taught in the science classroom??? It's such a double standard to say that creationism is unscientific because you can't replicate it but I have yet to see any replication of the big bang theory, or the transition from inorganic to organic.

Science: the religion of hypocrisy.

[seamus]

Correct, evolution does not explain the origin of life. I remember that from fifth grade.

[wangdingdudle]

"God made us" isn't testable.

Even if it were true, its not science for that reason.