If you had your money on Glenn Beck being the first big-name, far-right icon to conclude that the tragedy in Japan is God’s punishment for (insert reason here), come on down and claim your prize.
Archive for March, 2011
Beck Adds Insult to Tragedy
March 16, 2011Travis DA: No Problem with Ratliff on SBOE
March 14, 2011Far-right members of the Texas State Board of Education are steamed that Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, defeated their ally Don McLeroy, R-College Station, in the March Republican primary last year. Since at least last November, they have been insisting that Ratliff’s status as a registered lobbyist makes him ineligible to serve on the board under state law. Things got particularly nasty at the January board meeting, with far-right members like Terri Leo, R-Spring, openly criticizing Ratliff’s presence on the board as a violation of the law. Far-right pressure groups joined in, with one asking the state’s attorney general to investigate.
Ratliff replied by requesting that board chairwoman Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, ask for a formal opinion on the matter from state Attorney General Greg Abbott. He also asked the Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office to look into the matter. Abbott has yet to issue his opinion, but the Travis County DA’s office just did.
In a letter released today, Susan H. Oswalt of the Public Integrity Unit explains that her office has reviewed the relevant statute, examined all of the available evidence and discussed the matter with the chairs of the House and Senate education committees. She also points out that Ratliff has disclosed his clients, amended his contracts to make clear that he will not represent them before the state board and has recused himself from voting on measures that might give even the appearance of a conflict of interest for him. In her letter, Oswalt writes that she found nothing wrong:
“Based upon all the above facts, we have determined that it does not appear that any crime has been committed over which our office would have jurisdiction and venue. We are formally closing our review of this matter with no further action to be taken by this office.”
Oswalt also notes that Ratliff isn’t the first lobbyist to serve on the board anyway. But the state board’s far-right members will almost certainly continue to complain about Ratliff’s presence on the board — at least until Abbott issues his formal opinion. In fact, considering their past contempt for opinions from the AG’s office, we expect they’ll keep complaining regardless. For them, the State Board of Education is all about playing politics, not educating Texas kids.
Terry Jones Returns
March 14, 2011Terry Jones must have noticed the fame clock was about to strike 15 minutes. The Florida pastor at Dove World Outreach Church who last year gained international fame when he vowed to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is at it again.
The H-Word
March 14, 2011Elizabeth Swanson would like you to stop using the H-word. Put it in that storage locker next to the N-word, lock it up, throw away the key.
Sen. Deuell: Lowe Unlikely to Be Confirmed
March 11, 2011It is looking like the tenure of Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, as chairwoman of the Texas State Board of Education is in deep trouble.
Earlier today, state Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, the chair of the Senate Nominations Committee, told the Texas Tribune that while Lowe could survive a hearing in the nominations committee, she is not likely to have enough votes to be confirmed by the full Senate. Sen. Deuell said to the Tribune:
“Why go through a committee meeting, which can be uncomfortable, if she doesn’t have enough votes to be confirmed?”
Bill Analysis: Ten Commandments in Schools
March 11, 2011Because of the evolving body of case law and complicated constitutional issues surrounding the posting of the Ten Commandments in public spaces, TFN Insider asked one of the nation’s top First Amendment scholars, Steven Green, to take a look at state Rep. Dan Flynn’s problematic legislation promoting the Ten Commandments in Texas schools. Here is Dr. Green’s analysis of House Bill 79 in the Texas Legislature.
Analysis of Texas HB 79
By Dr. Steven K. Green, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Religion, Law & Democracy at Willamette University. Dr. Green is the author of several books on the religious liberty provisions of the First Amendment, including most recently The Second Disestablishment: Church and State in Nineteenth Century America (Oxford, 2010).
As currently written, HB 79 would prevent any school district from prohibiting the posting of a copy of the Ten Commandments in a prominent location in any public school classroom.
The bill does not state who may post the Ten Commandments in a classroom, but the assumption is that it would be done by a public school employee, as public school classrooms are not public forums and are otherwise unavailable for the posting of items by private individuals. Even if the bill could be interpreted to allow a posting by a student or a non-school person with school permission, that factor would not affect the analysis discussed below. (more…)
‘Drug-based Sex Education’?
March 10, 2011On Tuesday we saw this absurd headline on the blog of one of the most extreme right-wing groups in Texas:
“Planned Parenthood & Texas Freedom Network Team Up to Push Drug-Based Sex Education”
“Drug-Based Sex Education”? Good grief.
The headline referred to TFN helping high school and college students from around Texas advocate that day at the Capitol in Austin for responsible sex education in public schools. An in-depth TFN Education Fund report in 2009 revealed that more than 95 percent of public school districts in Texas teach abstinence-only or nothing at all when it comes to sex education. That statistic is especially alarming in a state with one of the highest teen birthrates in the nation. Clearly, keeping young people ignorant hasn’t been an effective sex education strategy. In fact, ignorance puts teens at serious risk and threatens their health and their futures.
But rather than debate a serious issue in a serious way, right-wing pressure groups and abstinence-only ideologues rely on lies and fear-mongering.
Bad Science and Persecution Complexes
March 9, 2011Disingenuous efforts by creationists to portray themselves as persecuted in mainstream academia for their anti-evolution beliefs are getting a boost from a Texas lawmaker. State Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, has filed legislation in the Texas House of Representatives that would make a mockery of the terms “higher education” and “research.” From his House Bill 2454:
“PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON RESEARCH RELATED TO INTELLIGENT DESIGN. An institution of higher education may not discriminate against or penalize in any manner, especially with regard to employment or academic support, a faculty member or student based on the faculty member’s or student’s conduct of research relating to the theory of intelligent design or other alternate theories of the origination and development of organisms.”
Courting John Hagee
March 7, 2011You would think that when the last guy to finish second in a presidential election rejected your endorsement, the next time around candidates for the nation’s highest elected office might be a little less willing to embrace you.
You would think. But you’re not Texas’ own John Hagee.
The Constitution vs. the Bible?
March 6, 2011A March 4 e-mail from the Houston Area Pastor Council demonstrates the religious right’s insistence that our nation’s laws be based on narrow religious beliefs. The e-mail features an essay by a pastor who argues that President Obama is guilty of pitting “the Constitution against the bible on a matter of fundamental human morality.”
Send Rick Perry a Birthday Message
March 4, 2011Right-wing groups are directing folks today to a special web page to wish Texas Gov. Rick Perry a Happy Birthday. But you can also send him this important message: Withdraw your appointment of Gail Lowe as chairwoman of the State Board of Education and appoint a new chair who will finally put the education of Texas schoolchildren ahead of personal and political agendas.
Click here to use your Facebook account to send Gov. Perry your message.
Primer: ‘Self-Replicating Life’
March 4, 2011This is Part IV in a series of four posts in which TFN Insider had university scientists analyze problematic changes the State Board of Education made to science curriculum standards for Texas public schools in 2009. This year publishers will submit — and the state board will approve or reject — instructional materials based on these flawed standards. The following entry examines the current version of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (9)(D), which reads as follows:
(9) Science concepts. The student knows the significance of various molecules involved in metabolic processes and energy conversions that occur in living organisms. The student is expected to:
(D) analyze and evaluate the evidence regarding formation of simple organic molecules and their organization into long complex molecules having information such as the DNA molecule for self-replicating life.
(Other entries in series: TEKS (3)(A) – All Sides of Scientific Evidence; TEKS (7)(B) – Sudden Appearance; TEKS (7)(G) – Complexity of the Cell)
Jesus Wept
March 3, 2011Talking Points Memo reports on what far-right demonstrators did when they saw a Muslim man praying in front of the White House today.
