The wild-eyed creationism of Georgia Congressman Paul Broun, a Republican whose district includes Athens, where the University of Georgia is located, said that evolution and the Big Bang theory are “lies straight from the pit of hell.” He made that statement at a sportsman’s banquet, which explains the background you’ll see in that video, which we first posted back in 2012 — see Congressman Broun on Evolution & the Big Bang — but it’s worth putting it up here again.
According to Wikipedia, the man is a medical doctor, and in Congress he’s a member of the Committee on Science and Technology and also the Committee on Homeland Security. Isn’t that wonderful? But that’s not all. As we reported in February of last year, Paul Broun Running for a US Senate Seat. He hopes to take the place of retiring U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss.
Well, how’s he doing? In the Marietta Daily Journal of Marietta, Georgia we read Tea party split over Senate race. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us:
Republican Rep. Paul Broun may be known as the conservative firebrand in a crowded race for Georgia’s open U.S. Senate seat, but he has yet to cement support among the state’s active tea party crowd. In an increasingly volatile Republican primary, tea partiers remain just as divided as the rest of the GOP electorate. And a big reason is the evolution of the tea party itself, with activists now weighing which conservative candidate stands the best chance of being elected in the fall.
A refreshing touch of sanity! We’re also told:
“Electability is now an important factor for us,” said Sal Russo, chief strategist for the Tea Party Express, one of the largest tea party groups in the country. “We’re not just here to wave the flag.”
As we mentioned earlier, that’s the Buckley rule — William Buckley always said he was in favor of the most conservative candidate who is electable. Here’s an article about it by Charles Krauthammer: The Buckley rule, which he wrote about the disastrous campaign of Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell. Let’s read on:
The race in Georgia is one of the most closely watched this year as Republicans make a push to seize control of the Senate. Republicans need to gain six seats to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats and can’t afford to lose Georgia’s seat. And party insiders have expressed concerns a weak Republican candidate could open the door for Democrat Michelle Nunn, the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn, a moderate who represented Georgia for years.
It was similar in 2014, when the Republicans lost a few Senate races they could have won, if they hadn’t run candidates who were obviously insane. We continue:
Broun and another Republican in the race, Rep. Phil Gingrey, have stoked fears of a repeat of Todd Akin, a 2012 Senate candidate in Missouri who won the primary with conservative support but lost the general election after his comments on abortion and rape.
Aikin was only one of the GOP’s crazy candidates that year. Although there are degrees of lunacy in both parties, Aikin and O’Donnell were too far over the top by any standard. There was also Sharron Angle in 2010 — see United States Senate election in Nevada, 2010. Will Broun be another one this year? Here’s more:
But Broun, who has lagged in fundraising, could have a tough time rallying establishment support and emerging from a likely runoff. The state primary is May 20 with seven Republicans and four Democrats on the ballot for the Senate seat.
The primary election is 20 May — only three weeks away. We’ll try to keep an eye on it. Stay tuned to this blog!
Copyright © 2014. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.
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The Sensuous Curmudgeon 
Is there a potential conflict betwixt The Buckley Rule and The Curmudgeon Imperative, which behooves us to show
I think Rep. Broun should set his sights on the White House…
There is a inherent flaw in democracy if people like this managed to get elected to congress.
Democracy has many inherent flaws. Winston Churchill recognized this situation when he said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
Latest polls have the primary as Perdue 19, Kingston 15, Broun 11, Gingrey 9, Handel 13… so perhaps we’ll not have Mr. Broun to kick around much longer. Similar issue in NC with Brannon now falling well behind Tillis.
How does a guy like Broun get appointed to the science committee?? Sheesh and we wonder why Repubs can’t attract a broader swath of the population. Look no further than idiots like Broun and Aikin and Angle and our fave…the “witchy woman”.
On the + side…looks like now Michigan and Colorado are in play with moderates in charge of the proceedings.
I pity you, SC. You may foster some strange biases towards lefties, you are still a reasonable conservative. I had a great-aunt who was; I liked her very much. Now what’s a reasonable conservative going to do in the USA? Not that The Netherlands is any better in this respect. Maybe you should move to Germany.
Broun considers himself a scientist because he is a medical doctor. I am a medical doctor too but I am no scientist and certainly not an expert on the Theory of Evolution or the Big Bang theory. An MD is a professional degree, not an academic degree. It is intended to teach us how to pursue an occupation. In medical school we received some training in the Life Sciences and none in the Physical Sciences like Astronomy.
This guy is an embarrassment. It is unfortunate that so many Americans consider medical doctors and engineers scientists because they receive some basic instruction in science as part of their educations. I have no data to back it up but it seems like of all the people with college degrees, it is medical doctors and engineers who are the most likely to be taken in by pseudo-sciences like creationism.
“I am a medical doctor to but I am no scientist”
Dunno. You run tests, don’t you? You formulate hypotheses, don’t you? That sounds very scientific to me (granted; I’m not a scientist either).
It’s just speculation, but I think it explainable why relatively many medical doctors and engineers reject Evolution Theory. They use scientific knowledge to design and extrapolate this to the entire Universe. Thus they (but of course far from all of them) tend to forget that their designs are founded on well tested hypotheses.
The seems to be further evidence that the inmates are running the asylum.
In some sort of Rational World, appointments to the Committee on Science and Technology should demonstrate some knowledge of either science or technology (to demand both would leave too many vacant seats).
Wait – there is hope:
“And a big reason is the evolution of the tea party itself, with activists now weighing which conservative candidate stands the best chance of being elected in the fall.”
Even the tea party can evolve!
orchardist156 claims
But…but…if Tea Partiers came from Republicans, why is there still a GOP?