GOP denial of science is frightening

About 5,000 years ago there was a great Egyptian empire. They created some really cool things. They used pulleys and levers to create massive buildings and monuments. They used rope trusses to strengthen their ships. They made paper and pottery. Glassworks, medicine, and astronomical mapping were all commonplace. And some believe that they even had working batteries and electric lights. That was all thousands of years before the birth of Christ.

Other empires built on what the Egyptians did for a while. And then *poof* — suddenly technological advancement stopped. Hello, Dark Ages. Somewhere around the 5th Century A.D., people just stopped being smart. And then there was a point where being smart was absolutely frowned upon. Smart people were obviously heretics because God likes us stupid — or something.

Fortunately, we found our way. Art, architecture, and industry all advanced eventually and now we have computers and space ships and cures for all sorts of diseases. Knowledge is power. And it makes us better.

But alas, some out there think that knowledge is dangerous and technological advancement and scientific learning are something to be feared — or at least ignored. Those people, I have found — by and large — are mostly Republicans.

Yes, I’m picking on Republicans again this week. They just make it so easy.

I type in my Google search bar “Republicans deny” and the autocomplete gives me some very interesting options. The first five in order are:

• Republicans deny global warming
• Republicans deny science
• Republicans deny climate change
• Republicans deny funding for embassy security
• Republicans deny evolution

Trying the same thing with Democrats, nine of the first 10 options were either “God” or “Jesus Christ.” I’m not sure what that says about Democrats but at least they don’t deny science.

So my thought here is that if Republicans get their way, we’re headed back to the Dark Ages. We’ll be refusing technological advancements left and right while teaching our children the Bible in science class.

Personally, I am a man of faith. I believe that there is a God. I also believe in evolution. Not necessarily that we “came from apes,” as the anti-evolution crowd likes to say, but that we are not the same beings were were millions of years ago. Mind you, I think that “millions of years ago” existed and the world was not created a mere 6,000 years ago as some radicals would insist. And not only would they insist it, they would insist that my children be taught such drivel — in science class!

There’s nothing that says that you must choose between God and science. There’s room for both. But one is a matter of faith and the other is, well, science. One should be taught at home. And the other should be taught in school. Faith should be explored. While knowledge should be expanded.

What I want to know is how does “the Earth is flat party” keep getting elected? How dumb do you have to be to vote for someone who doesn’t believe that dinosaurs were real? Yes, I realize that not ALL Republicans deny science, but a Gallop poll from three years ago says that 52 percent of Republicans polled believe in “strict creationism” and that the earth is less than 10,000 years old.

And we elect these people to make decisions for us …

Scott Leffler believes in dinosaurs, evolution and love. Also, Twitter. Follow him there @scottleffler. 

Looney GOP keeps playing same Tunes

Shouldn’t there have been a point at which Wyle E. Coyote — super genius — realized that maybe he wasn’t actually that bright and was never going to catch and eat the Road Runner?

Over the course of about 50 cartoons, that stupid coyote devised more and more elaborate plans to catch his nemesis — or on a few occasions, Bugs Bunny. On a few occasions, the coyote was actually able to catch the Road Runner briefly, but he always got away.

The coyote was always his own biggest enemy, oftentimes falling prey to his own traps and looking foolish in the end.

In his book “Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist,” Chuck Jones said that there were certain rules to the Road Runner/Wyle E. Coyote cartoons which he and the writers strictly adhered to. One of those rules was that “The Coyote could stop anytime — if he were not a fanatic.” According to the book, "A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim."

Jones also said that the coyote should be a sympathetic character. He wanted us to want him to catch that Road Runner. He wanted us to feel bad when he fell off cliffs. Or dropped a boulder on his own head.

I guess I should have read the rules when I was a kid because I didn’t feel bad for the coyote. I never wanted him to eat the Road Runner. Just like I never wanted Sylvester to eat Tweety. Or Tom to eat Jerry. Or the dog to get the best of Foghorn Leghorn. Or … well, you get my point.

I just got increasingly angry with the coyote for being such a numbskull. I mean, how many times do you have to make yourself look stupid before you realise that you look stupid? Can we agree that 50 times is enough? What about 40?

Allow me to introduce you to House Republicans — super genuis.

Since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act was signed into law three and a half years ago — and more importantly since the GOP took the House in 2011 — there have been 40 separate votes to essentially kill Obamacare.

In fact, a story in The New York Times stated that the House has spent as much as 15 percent of all of its time on the floor focused on repeal. Fifteen percent of Republican congressmen’s salaries over that time cost us about $17 million, based on numbers from the Congressional Research Service.

But they’re hoping that the 41st time will be the charm. They feel that they’ve devised a newer, bigger, better, faster, Rube Goldberg machine that will drop everything they need into place and allow them to finally get their way with that stupid Road Runner … er, Obama.

This time they’re offering up the entire economy in exchange for Obamacare, threatening to allow the U.S. to default on its loans unless the Democrats willingly give up their prized healthcare reform.

We’ve been here before. The GOP has threatened to shut down government on a number of occasions. They’ve even succeeded a couple times. But just like the Road Runner, the government always seems to get away in the end. Just as it will this time.

Is there going to come a point where House Republicans realize they look stupid spending all their time focusing on one bill that’s now been law for three and a half years while refusing to do anything to actually fix the healthcare system, help the economy, or the long forgotten middle class?

"A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim."

Maybe not.

Scott Leffler loved Looney Tunes growing up. And as an adult. He also thinks that most cartoons are smarter than House Republicans. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler. Beep. Beep.

Can the GOP please flip the ticket?

I was a bit confused that Mitt Romney announced (via leak) his new running mate late Friday night. It was as though he didn’t want anyone to know. Friday night is when government types release data they want to hide — not when they announce their running mate for the road to the White House.

The official announcement was no better — a Saturday morning on the penultimate day of the 2012 Summer Olympics — when anyone who might actually be watching TV was most likely watching America win at life. If you wanted to watch the Olympics and it got pre-empted by politicians, would you be more or less inclined to vote for them?

My favorite Mark Twain impersonator and TV meteorologist, Mike Randall, suggested to me via Twitter that maybe the plan was “designed to take over the Sunday news shows.” Maybe he’s right, but I don’t tend to think of “real” people as watching those shows. And really, it’s real people that Romney needs to win over.

That leads me to believe that either Romney is embarrassed by his new running mate … or he’s just really bad at this whole “running for president” thing. Considering he introduced his selection as “the next president of the United States,” I’m inclined to think it’s the latter, which is exactly why I’m excited he’s added Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to the ticket as his VP candidate.

I’m not a huge fan of Ryan’s fundamental principles, but at least I’m aware of the fact that he has fundamental principles, unlike Romney. Oddly, though, Romney announced his disagrees with the thing Ryan is most known for — his budget plan — which conservatives love and liberals hate.

In other words, Romney tried to buy some conservative credibility by partnering up with Ryan, while distancing himself from the thing which would help the most in that aspect. Put another way, Romney wants to ride Ryan’s coattails and denounce his core philosophy — simultaneously.

Again, I say, Romney is really bad at this whole “running for president” thing.

It makes me wish the ticket were flipped. I’d much rather see this a Ryan/Romney ticket than Romney/Ryan. At least then I would know what it stood for — even if it was something I don’t myself support.

Until recently, I had been mentally comparing the Romney campaign with the McCain campaign of four years ago. He seemed clueless and flailing. A decent guy (maybe) who had no idea what to do when put on the national stage and whose handlers should have all been fired.

It has come to my attention, however, that maybe Romney is actually John Kerry circa 2004. He a wishy-washy flip flopper with little charisma and no real plan for the future, hoping to energize his campaign with a younger better looking rising star from within in party.

I went with a friend (and former Greater Niagara News employee) David Winters to see John Edwards speak in Rochester in 2004. He was impressive. He was put together. He was enigmatic. He was apparently too good for the Democrats.

ASIDE: As a reminder, I supported Howard Dean in 2004 then dropped the Democratic party because they freaked out over “the scream.” I didn’t want to be associated with a big bunch of losers. So now I’m a registered Libertarian — a much smaller bunch of losers.

Long story short (I know, too late), it’s nice to see someone with principles in the race. Even if they’re principles I disagree with.

Scott Leffler would have rather written about #SharkWeek but then Mitt Romney went and announced a running mate. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler where you can find the Twitter handles for everyone mentioned in this column.

Random thoughts on state of society

The debate over health care in this country has gone from bad to worse, with accusations bandied about by both sides, saying that the GOP hates women and that the left hates religion.

Personally, I think both sides might be oversimplifying the issue a bit and everyone needs to step away from the microphone until cooler heads prevail.

I can say this however: Few things sicken me more than the number of people who hate in the name of their God. I say “their God” instead of just “God,” because it’s obviously a different God than the one I know.

Using religion as a means to attack someone just seems to go against everything religion is supposed to mean. It’s as though some people’s Bibles only came with the book of Leviticus. None of that feel-good New Testament stuff. It’s maddening.

•••

The Republican race for the White House continues to muddle along, ever closer to what almost looks like a guaranteed brokered convention. As you may know, I’m a Ron Paul fan, but he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance, so I basically don’t have a horse in that race. Come April 24, I won’t be able to vote in the New York primary, but I have to imagine it will actually count this year, something it seldom does.

•••

My oldest daughter was telling me the other day that she’s scared for the future because she’ll be voting in four years, but doesn’t know anything about the current race for the White House. She then named the four GOP candidates and stated briefly what they stand for — or at least what they are perceived to stand for.

Personally, I don’t fear for the future. I fear for the present because my 14-year-old daughter who considers herself uninformed knows more about the contest than most of my adult friends.

•••

I’ve long suggested that there should be an entrance exam to the voting booth complete with five basic questions about the candidates themselves. They should be factual questions that anyone who’s voting would know the answer to. Your grade on the exam would be equal to how much your vote counts. If you get only one question right, your vote only counts 20 percent. If you get them all right, your vote counts 100 percent. This would ensure that the most important decisions made in this great nation of our are being made from those in the know.

Unfortunately, it’s not that way and everyone’s vote counts the same meaning our decisions are being made by the dumb masses.

•••

I understand political expediency and the art of compromise, but I’m disappointed that Gov. Andrew Cuomo caved on his promise to veto the legislative district lines if they were not drawn by an independent (non-partisan) panel. As such, we are doomed to 10 more years of near-guaranteed incumbency protection.

The same people who have gotten us into the mess that we’re in are pretty much a shoe-in to keep us wallowing in the same mess for another decade.

GOP: Desperately seeking someone

So, Rick Santorum. Huh. Why not?

The former senator from Pennsylvania seems to be the Republican party’s flavor of the week in a game they’re playing called, “Which one of you is not Mitt Romney?”

I’ll give Senator Santorum this: He believes what he says. Of course, that’s the difference between liars and mad men. Liars know they’re full of it, while mad men completely believe the crazy things they say.

Take the latest example of “Republicans saying stupid things,” which Santorum provided during an interview with Bob Schieffer of CBS’s Face the Nation: “The bottom line is that a lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortions.”

This is Santorum’s response to President Obama’s suggestion that birth control and many types of pre-natal care should be provided free of charge by employers and health insurance providers.

For so many in the leadership of the Republican Party, “family planning” and “abortion” are synonyms. From their perspective, the only purpose for Planned Parenthood is to provide abortions. Never mind the fact that 97 percent of what the organization does is everything else. All that matters is that three percent of the time, they perform abortions every time.

I’d like to state two facts, one which is readily apparent and the other, which anyone who’s followed my career already knows.

1) I am not a woman.

2) I’m pro-life.

That said, as much as I abhor abortions, I also abhor the divisive politics being played here by Senator Santorum.

To make a parallel-logic statement, if you find out you’re suffering from a deadly disease, you may engage in risky behavior, so you shouldn’t be screened for certain types of cancer.

Of course, that sounds stupid. But following the if-then schematic laid out by GOP flavor No. 5, it’s pure logic.

Of course, if you really follow their logic, you should be forced to smoke non-filtered cigarettes first, too.

At some point over the course of the past decade or so, knowledge became the enemy to the Republican Party. For many of the rank-and-file, science is evil and facts just get in the way of a good invasion, so they encourage that we bury our heads in the sand and not offer pre-natal screening or birth control.

The scariest part for me is that an increasing number of people seem to agree with Santorum’s view.

I’m all for replacing Barack Obama come November, but only with someone better. And the GOP hasn’t found that person yet. It sure isn’t Rick Santorum.

Cain's departure makes GOP field less entertaining

The field of Republican presidential candidates narrowed slightly over the weekend as Herman Cain “suspended” his campaign.

For Cain fans, don’t let that fool you into believing he may unsuspend it at some point. He’s done like dinner.

And honestly, that’s a shame. I liked Cain. He added some entertainment to this race, and in truth, I thought he had some good ideas.

But he also had some really bad ideas — like being “friends” with a woman for 13 years and giving her what amounted to an allowance for that period of time without telling his wife.

What is with these candidates and their inability to understand that they can’t have these “friendships” with women who are not their wives? You would think that after all the outrage displayed by both parties with the whole Monica Lewinsky thing, politicians would have learned that they just can’t get away with that sort of behavior — especially with the limelight that is cast upon them in a presidential race.

Personally, I’m inclined to believe that a politician’s personal life should be allowed to be kept separate from his or her public persona. As long as they can do their job, what they do when they’re not at work shouldn’t much matter — except their belief that they could keep anything like that hidden displays a delusion of grandeur that should cause concern.

With Cain officially out of the race, that makes Newt Gingrich the latest not-Mitt Romney. It’s hard for me to believe that as hard as Gingrich fell following the Contract with America, he was able to get back up. His rise should give hope to the Eliot Spitzers, John Edwards and Herman Cains of the world. In politics, apparently, nothing is unforgivable — with the appropriate amount of time.

That’s both heartening — knowing that in time, wrongs can be righted — and disheartening — knowing that there are apparently no better candidates than the ones we have before us.

Personally, I continue to have my eye on Ron Paul. Yeah, he’s quirky. And a lot of people don’t take him seriously. But he may be the only one of the lot that’s actually read the Constitution and has any plan to follow it.

The GOP primaries start in less than a month. And when they do, that list of candidates will whittle down quickly. I imagine it will whittle down to Romney and someone else. I don’t think it will be Gingrich. Nor to I imagine it will be Paul.

Of course, I won’t be voting in the Republican primary. It may be hard for some of you to believe, but I’m not a Republican. I also won’t be voting for Obama. Because I’m also not a Democrat.

I’m always amused when those on the left tell me I’m a crazy right-winger. I’m equally amused when those on the right tell me I’m a crazy left-winger. This just goes to show that both extremes of the political spectrum agree on one thing: I’m crazy. And I’m OK with that.