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elfsIf you're not involved in the Evolution Wars and you're not quite as much of a political junkie as I am, this won't mean much to you.
John Boehner is the minority leader in the house, the lead Republican. He's developed a reputation recently for speaking too much and thinking too little, often accompanied by mockery of his tragically Oompa-loompa spray on tan. President Obama once said, "John Boehner and I have something in common, we are both men of color, although John's is not a color found in nature."
Boehner has supported the teabaggers, opposed the stimulus (he's even said that the stimulus made life more painful in the short term), and claimed that he's never met an American who wants the public option (although some of his constituents have tried to reach him and tell him they exist). He's lead nay-sayer of the "do everything to derail Democratic legislation," the head of the Party of No.
Back in 2002, Rick Santorum (remember him?) introduced an amendment to the No Child Left Behind bill that would "protect teachers who chose to discuss the controversies around biological origins." The amendment failed, although commentary intended to guide the courts should the law become controversial remains in the conference committee report.
What surprised me was to learn that what killed the amendment was a letter introduced into the House and Senate opposing it from hundreds of scientists and educators. The Senate version was introduced by Ted Kennedy (no surprise there), but the House version was introduced by... John Boehner?
This is especially weird since Boehner later went on to join Rick Santorum and Judd Gregg in telling the Discovery Institute that, although it didn't become law, the "conference committee report" was sufficient to cover the DI's backside should it decide to back school districts that chose to "teach the controversy."
Yeah, that went well in Dover.
John Boehner is the minority leader in the house, the lead Republican. He's developed a reputation recently for speaking too much and thinking too little, often accompanied by mockery of his tragically Oompa-loompa spray on tan. President Obama once said, "John Boehner and I have something in common, we are both men of color, although John's is not a color found in nature."
Boehner has supported the teabaggers, opposed the stimulus (he's even said that the stimulus made life more painful in the short term), and claimed that he's never met an American who wants the public option (although some of his constituents have tried to reach him and tell him they exist). He's lead nay-sayer of the "do everything to derail Democratic legislation," the head of the Party of No.
Back in 2002, Rick Santorum (remember him?) introduced an amendment to the No Child Left Behind bill that would "protect teachers who chose to discuss the controversies around biological origins." The amendment failed, although commentary intended to guide the courts should the law become controversial remains in the conference committee report.
What surprised me was to learn that what killed the amendment was a letter introduced into the House and Senate opposing it from hundreds of scientists and educators. The Senate version was introduced by Ted Kennedy (no surprise there), but the House version was introduced by... John Boehner?
This is especially weird since Boehner later went on to join Rick Santorum and Judd Gregg in telling the Discovery Institute that, although it didn't become law, the "conference committee report" was sufficient to cover the DI's backside should it decide to back school districts that chose to "teach the controversy."
Yeah, that went well in Dover.
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-13 06:05 am (UTC)Although in Nova Scotia, the last names "Butt", "Gay", and "Refuse" are well-respected.
Re:
Date: 2009-12-14 03:18 am (UTC)Sometimes, names become unpopular in their own right. Like Crapper. :)
Re:
Date: 2009-12-14 10:19 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2009-12-15 05:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-15 05:22 am (UTC)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorum_%28sexual_neologism%29
Funny, my memory indicates we were using that term in the gay scene in Halifax, Nova Scotia before 2003.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-13 06:07 pm (UTC)