There are many ways to be stupid, but today we have an account of a truly spectacular public display of world-class stupidity. And more. Much more. Stick around.
Steve Beshear is the Governor of Kentucky. In the Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky we read Beshear to announce ‘Ark Encounter’ theme park to be developed by N. Kentucky Creation Museum.
Note: That story’s been pulled and a different one was substituted in its place. Our humble blog may be the only record of the original story. Here are some excerpts from the now vanished story, with bold added by us:
Gov. Steve Beshear and Answers in Genesis, which operates the Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky, will unveil plans Wednesday for a creationism-themed amusement park.
Good lord! This guy is the Governor, and he’s working with Ken Ham‘s Answers in Genesis (AIG) and the mind-boggling Creation Museum.
The paper says the new theme park will be called Ark Encounter, with a full-scale wooden ark, a museum, and other facilities. They estimate the place will attract 1.6 million visitors a year, and it’ll cost $24.5 million to build the place.
One last excerpt:
Joining Beshear [at the plan unveiling] will be Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum, and Grant County Judge-Executive Darrell Link.
These things speak for themselves. Kentuckians can be proud!
Whoa! Just as we were about to publish, we checked our links for the last time. The newspaper pulled the story we had written about and at the same link they have a new story with this headline: Proposed creationism theme park to seek tax incentives from Kentucky. Maybe the original story was too embarrassing for the Governor. The new story says:
Operators of the popular Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky are seeking state tax incentives to build a creationism theme park at a nearby site — a project that Gov. Steve Beshear officially will announce Wednesday.
If the people of Kentucky are willing to elect a full-blown creationist moron like Beshear, they ought to be willing to shell out for Noah’s Ark. What else does the new story say?
Beshear spokeswoman Kerri Richardson declined to answer questions Tuesday about possible incentives for the project.
We’re guessing, but she’s probably the one who had the original story spiked. If so, she’s hoping that the story was killed in time. Sorry, Kerri, but your humble Curmudgeon noticed it. You should have acted sooner.
Anyway, here’s what’s going on behind closed doors:
The developers are seeking incentives under the Kentucky Tourism Development Act, which allows up to 25 percent of the cost of a project to be recovered.
Under the law, the state each year returns to developers of approved projects the sales tax paid by visitors on admission tickets, food, gift sales and lodging costs. Developers have 10 years to reach the 25 percent threshold.
Good deal! Hambo gets to collect sales taxes, and then the state lets him keep them until he’s recovered 25% of his development costs.
There’s a lot going on here. Tax incentives, political connections, pulled press stories, and Noah’s Ark too. We’ll stand by our original title: Kentucky’s Governor is a flaming idiot.
Update: See Ken Ham Announces Noah’s Ark Theme Park.
Update: See Editorial Opposes Gov. Beshear & Noah’s Ark.
Copyright © 2010. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.
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The Sensuous Curmudgeon 
You know. I hope they do build it… then we can get the Louisville zoo to bring all their mammals over (http://www.louisvillezoo.org/collection/animals/mammals.htm) and we’ll just see how long it takes them to fill the place with poo. Then we can see if the gubner and Hambo with their wives can keep all the animals fed for 40 days and nights*.
* Great experiment idea, but I’d hate to make the animals suffer. I propose that we get an equivalent number of creationist museum supporters and make them all stay in the ark for one year… and forget to let them out at the end.
Then we can see if the gubner and Hambo with their wives can keep all the animals fed for 40 days and nights*.
Two years, actually. Not that the end result will be any different, mind you–it’s just that I’d hate to see creationists not take the Bible literally.
I’d like to see them *try* to get two of each species of animal on the ark (don’t forget the dinosaurs!), along with all the necessary food and fresh water. (Capturing rainwater wouldn’t begin to supply enough; moreover, Noah would have had to store water for the period of time between the rains stopping and the waters receding.)
Oh — just realized Noah would have had to have had way more than two each of certain animals on board. The lions and tigers would not have been feeding on hay — not to mention T. Rex.
First up….dont you have that bit in the Constitution that says government shall establish no religion? What the hell is giving tax incentives to a bunch of literalist Buckle Hat loons to build a xtian themed amusement park then? I know we are separated by one common language, but surely “establish no religion” doesnt mean “give em great big wodges of tax money”.
Next….locking the Governor, the staff and Hambo in his boat with a few lions, tigers, panthers, crocs, hippos, snakes and babboons….. YES!!!!!! Ill buy a frickin ticket to that show.
F*ck…we could do a live webfeed….”Today in the Big Brother Boat the tigers ganged up with the lions and baboons and they attacked the Buckle Hattes and ate em all. Awwwww.”
Finally….big wooden boat? Well…if a big plastic Jesus goes whoosh when theres a lightning storm……fingers crossed!
The tax incentive is for developing tourist attractions, and the theme park will be a for-profit enterprise and probably will qualify.
However, being who they are, they are being rather deceptive in pretending to consider a location in Indiana, in order to bluff Kentucky into giving them the incentive. They also claim that they will get 1.6 million visitors per year, which is over six times the number of visitors their museum attracts. That’s about the number that would attend a upper end water park, which seems to me to be a stretch – unless their plan is to make a noah’s ark water park, of course.
Wait, they (may) want to put this thing in my home state?!? Oh, HELL, no! Mitch, Mitch, just say no! Please, do yourself and my beloved state a favor, will ya? Redeem the state’s past idiocy of “Let’s make pi equal 3”. Tell the creotards to keep their lunacy in Kentucky!
Gary says: “Tell the creotards to keep their lunacy in Kentucky!”
Too late. I suspect that many states will start building new schools as replicas of Noah’s Ark. That’ll keep the kiddies out of trouble.
Is he actually a Creationist? Or is he a standard-issue politician who is jumping on anything which might bring $$$ into the area?
SY asks:
Any governor would want to show up personally for the announcement of something important, like an aircraft factory or maybe Disney World. But I imagine Noah’s Ark is optional. He wouldn’t appear with Ken Ham unless he wants to be associated with his projects.
SY: Is he actually a Creationist? Or is he a standard-issue politician who is jumping on anything which might bring $$$ into the area?
Does it matter? I would happily take a creationist-at-heart governor who strongly respects the spirit of ‘separation of church and state’ over a non-creationist-at-heart governor who pays lip service to separation and bends it every time a religious group offers him a campaign contribution.
To misquote Billy Crystal – its not how you feel, its how you act, darling. (And he’s not acting marvelous).
Ed wrote, “… – unless their plan is to make a noah’s ark water park, of course.”
Eeewww! Just the thought of how all those critters on the ark would be polluting the water… If Ken Ham builds the ark to the original plans, it will not be equipped with a zero-discharge sewage-handling system. Just think of the mastadons, mammoths, African elephants, Asian elephants, wildebeasts, water buffalo, bison, zebras, horses, cattle, elk, moose, dinosaurs, etc., etc.
Any governor would want to show up personally for the announcement of something important, like an aircraft factory or maybe Disney World.
Well, if that park really is going to draw 1.6 million visitors, that would seem to qualify as “important.” To paraphrase an old saying, never ascribe a political action to stupidity when it can be explained by cupidity.
Sandman, I think you are a bit unfair to the original Buckle Hats, assuming I have the reference correct–they were very practical people ahead of their time in many ways. Not much like today’s fundamentalists, I think. Not especially tolerant, but well within the norms for their time.
Liberals fund “Piss Christ”, conservatives fund models of Noah’s Ark. Maybe, just maybe, we could leave art funding to private patrons? But that’s crazy talk, clearly.
Liberals fund “Piss Christ”
No. Liberals forced EVERYONE to fund Piss Christ. A liberal is someone who will gladly give you the shirt off someone else’s back.
Defund NEA. If Serrano can get a buyer for Piss Christ, more power to both of them. Same with the Ark- if people are stupid enough to throw their own money at it, voluntarily, fine. Using tax incentives is unconscionable.
Liberals forced EVERYONE to fund Piss Christ. A liberal is someone who will gladly give you the shirt off someone else’s back.
True; just pointing out that THESE conservatives are looking for tax breaks from the government for their Noah’s Ark. The trough has all kinds of snouts in it.