Walker Gets Punt'd

As the gentle reader is surely aware of, Scott Walker took a taxpayer-funded jaunt over the pond to merry old England where he proceeded to embarrass himself (and us) by refusing to answer some simple questions, like whether he believes in evolution.

As I wrote at Crooks and Liars, while Walker is hoping that this would all go away, he gets called out by his 73 year old high school science teacher:

Among those who questioned Walker: the chair of his high school science department, Ann Serpe, 73. “Answer the question when they ask you!” Serpe said in an interview. “He could have manned up a bit. That’s what I would tell him.”

Serpe, who taught chemistry and chaired the math and science department at Delavan-Darien High School in Delavan, Wis., before her retirement in 1998, now lives in nearby Elkhorn. She recalls that Walker, her pupil and an advisee in student government, was a bright, committed participant in class. Walker graduated in 1986.

What would Walker have learned in high school? “We taught the theory of evolution, and human evolution, as a prerequisite to understanding biological classification. I went out and looked at my biology textbook just to make sure.”

Adding to Walker's chagrin, I also cite an English commenter who nails it:

What does one expect from an uneducated toff who is little more than a factotum for the Koch brothers? What is most unsettling is that there are all to many American voters who do not recognize they are dealing with a male Sarah Palin. The fact he duped a majority of Wisconsin voters to re-elect him reveals how dangerous Walker is, how politically stupid and indolent the American voter is, and suggests that the spirit of Joe McCarthy thrives in its home state.

What a bloody embarrassment Walker is.

Compare/ Contrast - Reality!

There is the Republican version, as voiced by Republican Congressman from Georgia, Paul Broun!

Rep. BROUN: 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. And 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.

And what I've come to learn is that it's the manufacturer's handbook, is what I call it. It teaches us how to run our lives individually, how to run our families, how to run our churches. But it teaches us how to run all of public policy and everything in society. And that's the reason as your congressman I hold the Holy Bible as being the major directions to me of how I vote in Washington, D.C., and I'll continue to do that.

Then there is the reality version for the rest of us.

Bill Nye: Denial of evolution is unique to the United States. I mean, we're the world's most advanced technological—I mean, you could say Japan—but generally, the United States is where most of the innovations still happens. People still move to the United States. And that's largely because of the intellectual capital we have, the general understanding of science. When you have a portion of the population that doesn't believe in that, it holds everybody back, really.

Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology. It's like, it's very much analogous to trying to do geology without believing in tectonic plates. You're just not going to get the right answer. Your whole world is just going to be a mystery instead of an exciting place.

Keep Creationism Away From the Children!

Get these guys to West Bend Pronto!