Ronda Storms, Ronda Storms

As you know, your Curmudgeon is headquartered in the secret underground control room of the CITADEL, the Curmudgeonly Institute for Tactics, Advocacy, and Defense of the Enlightenment Legacy — the global nerve center for monitoring events throughout the Creosphere which threaten the values of Western Civilization.

We keep a vigilant watch on everyone’s favorite Florida creationist, Senator Ronda Storms. Here is a brief selection from Ronda’s dossier, which is part of our extensive archives:

Last year we named Ronda the Creationist Queen of the Florida Senate for her fanatical zeal in sponsoring one of those anti-science, anti-evolution, pro-creationism bills modeled after the misleadingly-named Academic Freedom Act, promoted by the neo-theocrats at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture (a/k/a the Discoveroids).

Then she promoted a Godly License Plate Bill, with a cross and “I Believe” on it. The bill failed, but we wisely preserved an image of the proposed plate. It now adorns this post. This is like saving your old neckties. Every now and then, one of them comes back into style.

Ronda reclaimed our attention this year by declaring war against the Dewey Decimal System. See: Florida’s Ronda Storms: Much More Than Creationism. That inspired us to write The Brain of Ronda Storms.

But there was more. Ronda’s next legislative initiative required us to write Ronda Storms Wants Prayer in School, in which we said that Ronda is is a one-woman Constitutional wreaking crew. It turned out to be another bill that went nowhere.

Well, she’s back again. This time Ronda shows us that not only is her mind infinitely creative, but it’s also equipped with a recall feature. She’s recycling an oldie goldie, one of our favorites from last year.

In the Miami Herald we read Florida would issue a license plate with the image of Jesus and another with a cross if lawmakers pass a bill now in the Legislature. Here are some excerpts:

If you want Jesus on your license plate, the Florida Senate is looking out for you.

Religious specialty plates offered by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, and Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, made it onto a bill Friday even though many members had not seen images of those plates and none were produced for the debate.

Siplin didn’t mince words when asked what his ”Trinity” plate looks like, saying: “It has a picture of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Siplin … another genius to watch. Addendum: According to Wikipedia, Gary Siplin “is the first convicted felon to serve in the Florida Legislature, and sponsored legislation that would restore voting rights to himself and other convicted felons.”

Let’s read on:

Storms’ ”I Believe” plate would benefit Faith in Teaching, an Orlando company that funds faith-based programs at schools. The design features a cross over a stained-glass window.

Sometimes things move quickly in Tallahassee. The article continues:

Before the day was over, the Anti-Defamation League and the ACLU registered opposition, and across the hall in the House, proposals for the same plates were withdrawn from legislation.

There’s another story on this in the St. Petersburg Times: Of God, the devil and license plates. It has an image of the proposed Jesus license plate. Here’s one excerpt:

Before it was all over, you had Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, invoking the devil to make her point: “What if someone comes next year and decides to vote on something that has the devil on it, and horns, horns on each side. I know that people are called the devil, but if the symbol of a devil is on it, I would not vote for that.”

Blessed with leadership like this, Floridians can be assured that their state is in good hands.

Copyright © 2009. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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McLeroy’s Days As Chairman May Be Ending

TWO new items in Texas newspapers add to the continuing saga of Don McLeroy, the creationist dentist whom Governor Rick Perry has re-appointed to another term as chairman of the Texas Board of Education (BOE). That appointment is up for confirmation by the Texas Senate.

An editorial in the Austin American-Statesman is titled End poor guidance of Texas education, and subtitled: “Texas Senate should put brakes on Don McLeroy’s nomination as chairman of the State Board of Education.” Here are some excerpts, with bold added by us:

It’s time for Don McLeroy to step down as chairman of the State Board of Education. Since he won’t go willingly (and Gov. Rick Perry apparently won’t remove his appointee), it is up to the Texas Senate to remove him from the chair.

That’s clear enough. Let’s read on:

At a time when education leaders are focused on raising science standards, McLeory led efforts to weaken the instruction of evolution. University of Texas biology professor David Hillis said the result of the board’s actions will be felt in classrooms: “Texas students now have a weakened science curriculum, and the science reputation of the state has been seriously injured.”

We continue:

It takes 21 votes in the Texas Senate to confirm a nominee. State Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, chairman of the Senate Nominations Committee, wisely indicated he would not permit McLeroy’s name to advance to the floor for a vote if that threshold were not met.

We can hope. Here’s the last paragraph:

It’s clear that the board’s dysfunction under McLeroy has done real damage to Texas public education. It is time to put a stop to it.

Sounds good to us. Now, in the Dallas Morning New we read McLeroy could be near end as SBOE chairman. Here are some excerpts, with bold added by us:

Senate Nominations Committee Chairman Mike Jackson said Thursday he’ll make a decision early next week on whether to send the troubled nomination of State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy (right) to the full Senate.

This little drama will drag on for days. Let’s read on:

“I’m going to let everything cool down a little bit, then we’ll decide what to do with him next week,” Jackson said. “If the Democrats decide they’re going to block the nomination, then we’ll deal with that by not going through the committee process because there wouldn’t be any point in doing that.” If McLeroy is not confirmed by the Senate, he would have to give up his chairmanship in June and Gov. Rick Perry would pick another member of the education board to serve as chairman.

We won’t be sorry to see him go, but Governor Perry can choose from some other full-blown creationists on that board who may be even more extreme than the creationist dentist. One more excerpt:

McLeroy, who was elected to the board, would continue to serve as a member even if he loses the chairmanship.

So even if he ceases to be chairman, we’ll still have McLeroy on the Texas Board of Education.

Copyright © 2009. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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ICR v. Paredes: Second Impressions

The Institute for Creation Research has sued the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. They want the Board to be ordered to give their graduate school a Certificate of Authority to grant Master of Science degrees in Science Education.

The pleadings in this case can be read here, and an OCR version of the 68-page complaint, from which you can cut and paste, is here.

We wrote about our first impressions in this earlier post. There’s also a good blog article by a litigation attorney who rips the ICR complaint apart here.

We’ve been giving this matter some additional thought. We observe that the attorney for ICR in this case is James J. S. Johnson. He’s rather closely associated with his client’s views, as can be seen from three articles which he previously wrote and which are posted at the ICR website:

The Graffiti of Judgment, a curious essay about what the author says is a scriptural precedent for the events allegedly described in Expelled, the Ben Stein documentary.

How Young Is the Earth? Applying Simple Math to Data Provided in Genesis. This is standard young-earth material.

To Tell the Truth: The danger of accommodating Darwinism through false testimony. This is interesting in the context of the ICR litigation. Johnson argues that because creationism is Truth, any support of Darwinian evolution is false testimony.

There’s an old legal maxim that says: “A man who represents himself has a fool for a client.” In this case, because Johnson’s own ideas are so inextricably bound up with those of ICR, he’s going to have a problem in professionally evaluating his position, and he will likely be unable to take a reasoned look at the arguments of his opponents.

Additionally, Johnson has written an article about this case, which is also posted at the ICR website: Censorship in Texas: Fighting Academic and Religious Discrimination. He mentions an earlier case that ICR “won” in California. We can’t find the opinion, but it’s this: ICR Graduate School v. Honig, 758 F. Supp. 1350, 1354 (S.D. Cal. 1991).

The Honig case is discussed as background in A Setback for the ICR in Texas at the site of the National Center for Science Education. They say that ICR settled for a religious exemption, which is not exactly the judicial victory Johnson suggests. Besides, ICR now wants to be recognized as an institution authorized to grant degrees in science education.

Then Johnson describes the current case like this:

Now a similar controversy in Texas hinges on whether a private graduate school is allowed to call its privately-funded Science Education program “science,” while simultaneously declaring its viewpoint that Darwin was wrong.

Hey, that’s not the issue! ICR has been calling their viewpoint “science” for decades, and they can continue to do so. The actual issue in the Texas case is different — ICR wants the Higher Education Coordinating Board to officially certify the Science Education degrees they offer. In other words, ICR can call their offerings anything they like, but asking the state to certify that an orange is an apple is a whole different matter.

Here’s more from Johnson’s recent article:

Of course, the controversy is not unique to ICR’s graduate school. Scientists and professors who are Christians, and even non-Christian academics, continue to face persecution from science censors. Ben Stein’s Expelled documentary in 2008 clearly demonstrated that even highly-qualified scientists in secular institutions are facing various forms of expulsion simply because they question “recognized” Darwinian beliefs and the tenets of evolutionary science.

Ah yes, so perhaps we should call this case “Expelled Goes to Court.” If that’s what ICR’s litigation is all about, then we can predict that Expelled will “win,” because ICR is virtually certain to lose. Big time.

Another excerpt:

… Commissioner Raymund Paredes insists that the 27-year-old Master of Science program at ICRGS cannot possibly be “science” because its professors hold a biblical Christian viewpoint about the origin of the universe and the origin of life on earth. Call it something other than science, he and his board members suggested, and ICR can move its school to Texas.

Paredes is correct. If ICR would settle for granting a Master of Creation Science degree, there would probably be no issue. But while ICR insists that their young-earth, Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark teachings are genuine science, they’re going to be “expelled.” And correctly so.

Then Johnson says:

I still remember from my boyhood the days of racial segregation in America, and walking past public bathroom doors labeled “Men,” “Women,” and “Colored.” Discrimination was ugly then, and discrimination is just as ugly today.

What Johnson doesn’t grasp is that there are indeed genuine instances of irrational, unjust discrimination; and then there are situations where distinctions are very real, and recognizing them makes perfect sense. Knowing the difference requires what we call thinking.

Creationism isn’t science and it never will be. ICR is a religious operation, and they’re perfectly free to teach their creed. But creationism is what it is; therefore — to borrow an expression from Johnson’s inappropriate analogy to racial discrimination — ICR should learn to mind its place.

Johnson finishes his article like this:

Expect to see more about ICR in the news as we seek justice. Now is a good time to pray for ICRGS, for due process, and especially for the God-ordained leaders involved in applying the law to the facts that are placed before them [scriptural reference].

One can indeed pray for both ICR and for due process. We hope that ICR will find the humility to accept the inevitable result.

In conclusion, we note that as of this writing, the blog of the neo-theocrats at the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture (a/k/a the Discoveroids) hasn’t said a word about ICR’s suit. Imagine the Discoveroids’ anguish. Just when they were on the verge of convincing everyone that Intelligent Design is science, those primitive young-earth-creationists burst out of their trailer parks waving their bibles around. They’re going to ruin everything! This is sooooo embarrassing!

Copyright © 2009. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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McLeroy Confirmation Hearing Update (23 Apr ’09)

Science Tortured in Texas

Attention all literalists: this is satire. The dentist in that picture isn’t Don McLeroy; it’s Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man.

Background: Don McLeroy is the creationist dentist whom Governor Rick Perry has re-appointed to another term as chairman of the Texas Board of Education (BOE). Now that appointment is up for confirmation by the Texas Senate.

The creationist dentist may yet be confirmed, but at least we have a moment of doubt as his confirmation is delayed. Here are excerpts from some of this morning’s news coverage, with bold added by us:

In the Longview News-Journal we read Education board chairman’s confirmation in jeopardy, subtitled: “Perry’s GOP appointment needs two-thirds vote of skeptical Senate.”

The Texas Senate’s confirmation of State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy, R-Bryan, could be on shaky ground.

McLeroy, who was nominated chairman by Gov. Rick Perry in 2007, faced searing questioning during his lengthy confirmation hearing Wednesday at the Nominations Committee.

Chairman Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, said afterward that McLeroy might not have the support to be confirmed. The 12 Democratic senators could prevent him from getting the needed two-thirds vote of the 31-member Senate. And Jackson noted there are Republican senators, as well, who have filed legislation stripping key powers from the State Board of Education because of concerns that the board has become hyperpoliticized.

There’s the math. This nomination just might die.

The Dallas Morning News has this one: Texas Board of Education appointee denies pushing creationism. It should have been subtitled: “Bear denies voiding bowels in the woods.”

Under sharp questioning from members of the Senate Nominations Committee, the College Station Republican said that although he holds creationist views – such as that the earth is only 6,000 years old – he has never acted to have creationism or “intelligent design” taught in science classes or textbooks.

“I don’t see any way that I am trying to impose my religious views on anyone,” he said.

This is one strange dentist. It’s difficult to avoid concluding that either he’s lying or he’s a lunatic — but we’ll leave that up to you, dear reader. Let’s go on with the article:

“Is it your mission on the board of education to take all students in the state of Texas down the path of your religious beliefs?” asked Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, citing repeated efforts by McLeroy to water down teaching of evolution in science classes.

McLeroy responded that has never been his intent. “We did not put creationism into the [science] standards. We did not put intelligent design into the standards,” he said of the board’s adoption of new science requirements in March.

Yes, and that ol’ bear keeps insisting that it never — honestly, never! — excreted waste in the woods.

Here’s one more article; it’s in the Houston Chronicle: Education board chief’s confirmation doubted.

State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy, under fire for his leadership, may have trouble getting the required votes needed to secure confirmation to keep his post, the chairman of the Senate Nominations Committee said Wednesday night.

[...]

Getting at least 21 of the 31 Senate votes needed for confirmation could be difficult, Nominations Chairman Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, said. “It’s my preference, if that is going to be the case, that we don’t bring him forward (to the Senate floor). There’s no sense in doing that,” Jackson said.

This nomination could die in committee! Let’s read on:

McLeroy acknowledged that he is a “young Earth creationist” who believes the Earth is about 6,000 years old. But McLeroy emphasized that he has not pushed his religious viewpoints into public education policies.

We’re left in suspense about two things: One, will McLeroy’s nomination even get out of that committee so it can come up for a vote in the Senate? Two, if it does get voted on by the Senate, will he be confirmed?

We already know what bears do in the woods, so there’s no suspense about that one. Hey, we’ve got a potential substitute for the bear cliché — Does a creationist lie under oath?

Copyright © 2009. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.

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