Obama's Decisions So Far...

I have never made it a secret that I supported Obama and I'm thrilled that he was elected. It was strong statement from the majority of the country that we had gone too far down Bush and Cheney's rabbit hole of cronyism, abuses of power, warrentless wiretaps, torture, mismanagement of this war, etc.

So now that he's in office how do I feel about it and his decisions so far?

1. The Inauguration - I was not a fan of Obama picking Rick Warren to give the prayer. Warren is a bigoted evangelical nut who stands contrary to everything Obama was running against. But I think Obama understands this and is a smart guy who's not going to burn bridges. As Andrew Sullivan put it, "He realized that Rick Warren was an egomaniac and wanted some kind of platform, so he gave him a largely symbolic role at the inauguration and allowed Warren to preen" When the LGBT cried out (and rightfully so) he brought in other less divisive ministers rather than oust Warren and cause a row within the christian right. I still would have preferred no prayers at all since this is a secular government but that will remain my wish for now. At the VERY LEAST he mentioned non-believers in this speech which was a baby step in the right direction. But don't be surprised that Huckabee and Fox News managed to make an issue of it and try to stir controversy where there was none.

2. Appointment of Timothy Geithner for Secretary of Treasury - Over all I'd say it was a smart pick. The guy is extremely talented and has unique skills for the job. Do I believe for a second that he didn't know he should pay taxes? Absolutely not. But he has at least paid it back with interest and if we weren't in the economic crapper I'd probably not support the appointment. But it sounds like we need this guy. Besides, I would much prefer Obama's picks based on experience and skill to Bush's picks based on who had been his buddy the longest.

3. Dennis Blair for Director of National Intelligence - His hearings before Congress only threw up one red flag with me and that was his refusal to classify water boarding as torture. He did say that under his watch there would be no torture and no water boarding but wouldn't say that one was the other. The suspicion is that he doesn't word it this way because it would be giving more weight to the argument that CIA operatives who water boarded prisoners are guilty of war crimes and should be prosecuted. I have a feeling this kind of thing will come out in the wash anyway and if they are guilty then they are guilty and Eric Holder will prosecute. Oh and if you're really naive enough to not think it's torture try reading these accounts by two guys who, for whatever reason, put themselves through it.

4. Revoking global gag order on all funding to international groups that support, promote, or even mention abortion. This was a smart move. This is a very short sighted and narrow minded policy to begin with. In many cases it would remove budget support to a group even if the money was directed only to health care practices. It didn't matter. But that's the problem with many issues around abortion and reproductive rights. People have trouble seeing it in shades of gray. Their church tells them that a fertilized cell is a person and suddenly they're comparing it to the Holocaust (something I find endlessly insulting to the people who lost their lives in Nazi Germany). Never mind the violence of killing doctors or blowing up clinics. In this video you see the kind of disconnect in their logic. They haven't even considered the logical conclusions of their own convictions. If it were as clear cut as they say they believe then why do they have difficulty answering the question?

5. Closing Gitmo - This was a LONG time coming. Bush should have done the right thing and closed it but he couldn't because then where would he put his 'enemy combatants' and still torture them and hold them indefinitely without trial. These military tribunals were the biggest cluster f*ck I've ever seen. And the fact that Gitmo was rife with accusations of torture and other human rights violations is more than enough reasons to close it. If I hear another conservative mouth piece compare closing Gitmo to giving the prisoners more comfort or sinking into hyperbole like O'Reilly (something about giving them all a Laz-E-Boys and wind chimes) I think my ears will start bleeding.

This has never been about making them more comfortable. It's about basic human rights and holding true to the values and the Constitution of the United States. Guantanamo Bay is a black eye on the country. The rest of the civilized world has less respect for the US for allowing the abuses that happen there. Maybe if supporters of torture and Gitmo would stop watching episodes of '24' and read some research in interrogation or talk to actual intelligence experts they would learn two things. Torture isn't an reliable way to get accurate information. And holding terrorists in a 'special prison' with no rights turns them into martyrs for their ilk and energizes them. It won't be easy because it's tough to prosecute someone when the evidence you got on them was through torture. In fact you can't do it at all. But the ones we know are guilty should be put in a regular maximum security prison and prosecuted with all speed. Those that are innocent should be set free. There are other cases that would have to be considered by military justices. This fixes both problems. It starts repairing the damage to our reputation as a civilized nation that respects human rights and it turns these terrorists into common criminals in the eyes of their sycophants. Of course they won't be common criminals but they'll be locked up just like everyone else who breaks the law and will meet justice.

So 'all in all' I'm happy with where Obama is headed. If he keeps his promises to increase funding for basic science (and give it some proper respect) and restore funding for stem cell research I'll dance a jig. The country has finally elected someone intelligent enough to lead the country back to the middle and restore some integrity to the office and on top of it he's a unifying persona who actually energizes and inspires people. Last time I checked this was a quality to be admired, not bemoaned.

Skeptologists

With all the pseudo-science shows on TV this would be a welcome addition.
Jump

'Biblically Correct' Tour Guides for Jesus

This is a completely appalling video of home schooled christian children being subjected to a kind of child abuse. They are systematically being stripped of rational thought by their parents and these hucksters who take them around a natural history museum and teach them that it's all wrong. They're creationists tour guides for Jesus. Fortunately the news report isn't exactly sympathetic to them but that doesn't make it any less disturbing.

Watch as they feed the children factually inaccurate information and ignore displays that explain the 'supposed' problem they just identified. Be amazed as they claim that people regularly lived to be 800 years old in the old testament. Gasp as they tell the kids that Tyrannosaurus Rex had to have been a vegetarian before the fall of man in the garden of eden.

The ignorance is astounding but as curator of the museum says, "Regardless of what those tour guides say, some of those kids are to start thinking for themselves."

Actually the bigger problem to me is the home schooling of children. That some states allow this and do not regulate is a problem. If a parent has the option of keeping their children home to educate them, then those children should be entitled to the same educational standards as those in public school. Which means that if the state has a set of science standards that includes teaching evolution as central to biology then the parents should be required by the same standards to present that information. Testing could be conducted to verify if the children are getting that education. You can't feasibly regulate so that the parents don't spin the information but if you at least present the information to them then hopefully the kids will have half a chance of undoing the damage. These children are prisoners of ignorance and are being disenfranchised by their own parents who I'm sure love them but are still royally screwing them out of the development of rational thought.

Teaching Darwin: The Huckabee Factor

This could be bad. Huckabee had hoped to gain ground in Texas by marshalling evangelical voters. However, it looks like McCain will pull out the win and clench the Republican nomination. Honestly, I thought he already had it.

Evangelicals don't like McCain. That's something we can at least agree on although I'm sure we have different reasons. Their boy is Huckabee but he isn't going to be president. That doesn't mean he can't still rally his whackjob supporters. And that could have a serious impact on a crucial issue in Texas.

Next year the Texas State Board of Education will be writing the science curriculum standards for Texas public schoolchildren, and Huckabee may bring enough conservative fundamentalist voters to the polls on March 4 to swing the balance of power on the board to the supporters of creationism. "If Huckabee marshals the religious right in Texas, particularly in North Texas, it has profound implications for the state board," says Kathy Miller, executive director of the Texas Freedom Network (TFN), an Austin-based advocacy group whose stated goal is to "counter the religious right" in public policy issues, particularly education.

We shouldn't have to go over this again but don't forget what happens when religious conservatives get elected to school boards and start tinkering with science standards. But Texas is different.

Given the Lone Star state's influence as the second largest purchaser of textbooks nationally, any changes likely would have had a ripple effect across the country. Miller says she is concerned that if the social conservatives gain the upper hand they may try to reassert that influence by drawing up a conservative curriculum that would necessarily have to be addressed in textbooks. "One vote, one member, could be the difference between kids getting a 21st century science education or a 19th century education," Miller said.

Jump

Well this is good news...

This sounds like a great idea. I just wonder if anyone will show up to actually debate.
Jump

Official Leaves Post as Texas Prepares to Debate Science Education Standards

Here's a nice summary of all the controversy over what has happened recently in Texas. I blogged about this a few days ago and offered several links to different blogs about the story. The NY Times piece does a good job of pulling it all together including something I had not read yet.

The standards, adopted in 1998, are due for a 10-year review and possible revision after the 15-member elected State Board of Education meets in February, with particular ramifications for the multibillion-dollar textbook industry. The chairman of the panel, Dr. Don McLeroy, a dentist and Sunday School teacher at Grace Bible Church in College Station, has lectured favorably in the past about intelligent design.

So when they come up for review next year a bible thumping dentist with a creationist agenda is going to be at the helm. This is dangerous. Texas is a huge market for textbooks and anyone who has bought them can tell you they are expensive as hell. It's a huge industry with a lot of money being spent and if they start writing books that are 'Approved for Texas' (assuming McLeroy has his way) then it will have a farther reaching effect on the country. Now would be a good time for school boards and science teachers to sit up and take notice. When approving science books for their class examine them carefully.

Texas should not be allowed to wield this much influence and any publishers who distribute books that would satisfy an id proponent or creationist should quickly be relegated to the fringes of the market place by rational people.

Jump.

Op-Ed in Courier Journal criticizes Creation Museum

Titled: "Is creationism museum good for kids?", James Willmot does a great job slamming Answers in Genesis and their ignorant pseudo-science bologna. His real concern is what it's doing to the children. More and more conservative christians are resorting to homeschooling their children. And that's dangerous in this state.

The Kentucky home-school statutes are terribly vague. In fact, science education is not even mentioned in the regulations.

He's right and he doesn't pull many punches. This is a dangerous institution that lures children and parents into a place that does nothing more than serve to dumb down our population. In this day and age we should be moving forward and improving science education. We're going to need it. But AIG would prefer that we regress to biblical times and beliefs. If we allow them to take children on this little journey it hurts us all in the long run.

Some more fun quotes from the editorial.

There is a great educational injustice being inflicted upon thousands of children in this country, a large percentage of whom come from the Kentucky, Ohio and, Indiana areas. The source of this injustice is a sophisticated Christian ministry that uses the hook of dinosaurs, the guarantee of an afterlife, and the horrors of hell to convince children and their families to believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. The tax-exempt ministry, Answers in Genesis, and its new $28 million creation museum in Boone County has become the de facto source of science information to thousands of Christians who are throwing away reason and 500 years of scientific inquiry and replacing it with ignorant dogma.

and...

We do not need citizens who are closed-minded, anti-knowledge fundamentalists who want to see the world move closer to the Biblical prophecies of an Armageddon. (AIG also believes in a literal interpretation of the Book of Revelation.) Unfortunately, the creation museum in Northern Kentucky has been very successful at encouraging their non-thinking, anti-reasoning philosophy, especially among young, dinosaur-loving children. Inaction in this matter may come back to haunt us in the future.

Jump.