Tag Archives: Perry-Rick

Romney Leads For Iowa, but numbers suggest he is not really a favorite

The Iowa Caucus (not to be confused with the mostly bogus Iowa Straw Poll, where Michele Bachmann bought herself a good lead) will be held Tuesday. A Caucus is an actual political event and it is not insignificant. If you hear someone say “Oh, caucuses don’t mean anything” or “A caucus is not a real thing” or whatever, start asking them questions and you’ll quickly learn that they don’t know much about the political process. Very likely, they’ve never been to one. Have you? If you haven’t, and your state has them, give it at try!

Amazingly, Mitt Romney is in the lead according to a recent poll by the Des Moines Register, going into Tuesday’s caucuses, but the lead is slim. And the configuration of the field seems at least a little stable. The CNN poll of December 28th shows this pattern: Continue reading Romney Leads For Iowa, but numbers suggest he is not really a favorite

Rick Perry is “going to do away with education and … uh …. duh …. um …. education and …. I can’t … uh … I can’t remember … um …. uh…”

Rick Perry’s strategy is to appear as much like George Bush as possible. He’s pretty much nailing that.
Continue reading Rick Perry is “going to do away with education and … uh …. duh …. um …. education and …. I can’t … uh … I can’t remember … um …. uh…”

Sarah Posner on Perry’s Galileo Moment

Is Rick Perry the New Bachmann? There is a distinct possibility that this is true.

Sarah Posner, author of God’s Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, has this to say:

In last night’s debate, Rick Perry, stumbling over his answer denying the science of climate change, opined, “Galileo got outvoted for a spell.” Of course Galileo, considered the father of modern science, wasn’t “outvoted” by other scientists, he was subjected to an inquisition by the church for being a heretic.

That post is here, but also look at this post.

Clayton Williams: A Reasonable GOP Voice

At least with respect to one issue: Science.

You all know that Texas had a messy Board of Education fight over whether to teach good science or something else (creationism) in Texas schools. You also know by now what Texas Governor Rock Perry, whom we count as a presidential contender, made the statement in public that “we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools — because I figure you’re smart enough to figure out which one is right.” (This is totally incorrect, of course.)

Perry is now raising funds in Texas for his run at the Oval Office, and there is a fundraiser coming up hosted by wealthy Texan and former GOP gubernatorial nominee Clayton Williams. It turns out that Williams was concerned some time back about the effects of hitching the statewide Republican Platform to the anti-science unicorn, and told Perry this in a letter, which said:

“If Texas enters into a debate on the teaching of fundamental religious beliefs in public schools, it will tarnish our strong academic reputation, set our ability to attract top science and engineering talent to Texas back decades and severely impact our reputation as a national and global leader in energy, space, medicine and other high tech fields … Governor, this is a very important issue for Texas. I urge you to quell this issue quietly, firmly and permanently.”

Perry ignored this advice.

The story is here. That news site allows comments, so you may consider taking the opportunity to put a word in for science!