We told you that we didn’t expect the far right to take it well when they heard that students would be treated to science, and only science, in new instructional materials approved by the State Board of Education. But this we did not see this coming — the far-right embracing an entirely new standard of success for SBOE chair Barbara Cargill: pleasing us.
Archive for August, 2011
Religious Child Maltreatment
August 28, 2011We asked Texas-based author — and crack reporter — Janet Heimlich to prepare a guest-post for TFN Insider about her just-released book exploring the tragic connection that sometimes exists between religion and child maltreatment. Heimlich raises an important question — do certain religious cultures in America pose a particularly big risk to the health and safety of children? And this meticulously researched book argues that, in fact, children who are raised in religious authoritarian cultures are at a high risk for religiously motivated maltreatment.
Sadly, Texas is no stranger to this unfortunate connection. The cautionary tale of fundamentalist preacher Lester Roloff and his homes for troubled teens is a case in point. TFN lobbied for years for the Texas Legislature to suspend the alternative (and lenient) licensing program the state maintained for faith-based child care providers like Roloff. That program was finally allowed to expire in 2001, and the Roloff Homes moved out of the state.
As the book reveals, this is a topic that deserves far more attention. We thank Janet — who blogs at Religious Child Maltreatment — for sharing this with our readers.
The Week in Quotes (Aug. 21 – 27)
August 28, 2011Here are some of the week’s most notable quotes culled from news reports from across Texas, and beyond.
Easiest $500 Perry Ever Made
August 26, 2011Gov. Perry, we’d like to bring an exciting money-making opportunity to your attention.
Have you ever met Ken Mercer? You might have. Mercer is the District 5 representative on the State Board of Education and, proudly, a member of that body’s far-right bloc.
Last month when the SBOE debated adoption of instructional materials in science, Mercer made a very generous offer:
You show me one (science curriculum standard) where there’s God or Jesus, intelligent design, creationism. Show me that, and I’ll give you $500.
The National Center for Science Education has video of Mercer’s offer:
Now fast forward a few weeks, where you stated unequivocally:
In Texas, we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools — because I figure you’re smart enough to figure out which one is right.
Video here:
You and Mr. Mercer should talk about that $500 check. He doesn’t strike us as a welcher, so we’re sure he’ll hand that $500 right over.
A word of caution, though. A bunch of us fact-checked your creationism comment, and despite your assertion, we couldn’t find anything in the standards calling for creationism to be taught in public schools, probably in large part because it’s a constitutional no-no. Our guess is that Mercer doesn’t technically owe you anything. But since you’ve appointed most of Texas’ Supreme Court justices, you might be able force him to pay up, if you want to explore litigation.
Oh, and do you have the Texas Education Agency’s phone number? They need to hear about this offer, too.
Submissive Wives and Presidential Politics
August 26, 2011On the heels of its almost-endorsement of Rick Perry last week, David Lane and the American Renewal Project are back at it again. Our female readers might want to sit down for this one.
Lane is up in arms over a question asked of Michele Bachmann at a Fox News Republican presidential primary debate earlier this month:
“As President would you be submissive to your husband?”
It is a bit of a loaded question, but Lane isn’t arguing that the question is inappropriate or sexist — he’s upset that neither Bachmann nor any of the other candidates took the opportunity to make a case for full-blown wifely submission! So he decides to make the case for them.
The Return of James Leininger
August 25, 2011When one discusses Gov. Rick Perry’s rise to power, the name Dr. James Leininger has to be part of the conversation.
Dr. Leininger, a hospital bed magnate from San Antonio with a historical willingness to use his wealth to influence elections in favor of far-right candidates and causes, has been termed the “Sugar Daddy” of the religious right in Texas. For years his money has been a big influence on the State Board of Education and at the Capitol. And in Perry’s case, Leininger’s influence helped deliver the 1998 lieutenant governor’s race to the man who would become the state’s governor upon the resignation of George W. Bush.
Allen Parker Pwnd
August 25, 2011Federal District Judge Sam Sparks has had just about enough of attorney Allen Parker’s attempts to grandstand on the pending sonogram lawsuit (courtesy of BurkaBlog):
However, the Court is forced to conclude that Allen E. Parker, Jr., the attorney whose signature appears on this motion, is anything but competent. A competent attorney would not have filed this motion in the first place; if he did, he certainly would not have attached exhibits that are both highly prejudicial and legally irrelevant; and if he foolishly did both things, he surely would not be so prejudicial as to file such exhibits unsealed. A competent attorney who did these things would be deliberately disrespecting this Court and knowingly shirking his professional responsibilities, offenses for which he would be lucky to retain his bar card, much less an intact bank balance.
For Mr. Parker’s sake, and because the Court has not time to hold a sanctions hearing–in part because it must take time out of deciding the actual legal issues in this case to address the self-serving entreaties of attention-seekers like Mr. Parker–the Court assumes Mr. Parker is as incompetent as he appears. Rather than sanction him, the Court simply does what Mr. Parker would have done if he was a competent professional, and seals attachment 7 to his motion.
Ouch.
Parker runs the San Antonio-based Justice Foundation, a spin-off of the Texas Public Policy Foundation that litigates on behalf of far-right causes — especially abortion. He’s also been a prominent supporter of Gov. Rick Perry over the years and made news last month with his strident defense of Perry’s decision to limit his prayer rally to Christians only (h/t Right Wing Watch):
This is an explicitly Christian event because we are going to be praying to the one true God through His son, Jesus Christ. It would be idolatry of the worst sort for Christians to gather and invite false gods like Allah and Buddha and their false prophets to be with us at that time. Because we have religious liberty in this country, they are free to have events and pray to Buddha and Allah on their own. But this is time of prayer to the One True God through His son, Jesus Christ, who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.
About That Nonpolitical Prayer Rally, Ctd.
August 24, 2011The American Family Association isn’t the only one playing fast and loose with election law in their almost-but-not-really-endorsement of Gov. Rick Perry. The American Renewal Project — part of a shadowy network of state-based organizations, including the Texas Restoration Project, that supported conservative candidates in previous election cycles — does them one better.
Check out the email sent by the founder of the American Renewal Project on Saturday, August 13 — just hours after Perry formally declared his candidacy for President:
About That Nonpolitical Prayer Rally
August 23, 2011Gov. Rick Perry ignited a firestorm with his controversial and erroneous comments about the teaching of creationism in Texas public schools while he campaigned for Republican primary votes in New Hampshire last week. But while most of the press focused on Perry’s remarks, far less attention was paid to the actions of the American Family Association and how it basically confirmed our suspicions about the real intent of Gov. Perry’s Aug. 6 prayer and fasting rally.
TEA’s Ambiguous Creationism Statement
August 22, 2011Is the Texas Education Agency (TEA) climbing out on the limb with Gov. Rick Perry? The agency’s statement regarding Gov. Perry’s claim that creationism is taught side-by-side with evolution in science classes is a little ambiguous. And more than a little alarming.
The Week in Quotes (Aug. 14 – 20)
August 21, 2011Here are some of the week’s most notable quotes culled from news reports from across Texas, and beyond.
Contempt for Voters
August 20, 2011So what’s with the dishonest campaign to remove from office a State Board of Education member who had the gall to challenge — successfully — the re-election of a prominent member of the state board’s far-right faction in 2010? Just another example of the far right’s contempt for Texas voters.
We’re talking about Thomas Ratliff, a Republican from Mount Pleasant who defeated Don “Somebody’s Gotta Stand Up to Experts” McLeroy in last year’s GOP primary for the District 9 state board seat. McLeroy, a College Station dentist and self-identified “young Earth creationist,” had served as Gov. Rick Perry’s state board chairman from 2007 to 2009 and led efforts to dumb down instruction on evolution in public school science classes.
Ratliff’s victory over McLeroy infuriated other far-right board members and their supporters. But because voters clearly preferred a common-sense approach to education over McLeroy’s repeated efforts to promote his own personal beliefs in public schools, Ratliff’s critics have adopted a legal strategy to get him thrown off the board. They claim Texas law forbids Ratliff from serving on the board because he is a registered lobbyist. But that prohibition applies only to lobbyists who are paid to work on business related to the board’s operations. Ratliff has pointed out repeatedly that he does not.
In January, to settle the matter, Ratliff asked then-Chairwoman Gail Lowe — a member of the state board’s far-right faction — to seek an opinion from the Texas attorney general on his eligibility to serve on the board. Ratliff also asked the Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether he was breaking the law.
Last week Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office released an official opinion on the matter. That followed a finding from the Public Integrity Unit last March. Neither document says what the board’s far-right members wanted to hear.
Gov. Perry: We Teach Creationism in Texas
August 18, 2011For Gov. Rick Perry so loved the Constitution that he was willing to ignore it.
Gov. Perry must be so wrapped up in his recently-launched presidential campaign, that he’s starting to forget the Constitution and the oath of office in which he swore to uphold it.
In a galling display of irresponsibility, Gov. Perry today once again waded into the culture wars for political gain when he told a young boy while campaigning in New Hampshire that “in Texas we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools.”
Perry: Scientists Are Money-Grubbing Liars!
August 17, 2011Those weren’t the exact words Texas Gov. Rick Perry used, but that was the gist of his comments in New Hampshire this morning. Already an acknowledged evolution denier, Gov. Perry made clear that he is also an anti-science fanatic on the problem of climate change. A Union Leader editor tweeted the following quote from Gov. Perry:
Perry “I do believe the issue of global warming has been politicized”
The same editor, Drew Cline, followed up with another tweet about the governor campaigning in New Hampshire:
Perry says “a substantial number of scientists has manipulated data to keep the money rolling in.”
A New Hampshire public radio reporter also tweeted about the new presidential candidate’s science denial:
#perry on climate change: “Scientists are “coming forward daily” to disavow a “theory that remains unproven.”
It’s worth noting that at least two of the people Gov. Perry has appointed to chair the State Board of Education in Texas are also climate-change deniers. Just after presiding over the revision of controversial new science curriculum standards that called the existence of climate change into question in 2009, then-Chairman Don McLeroy, R-College Station, told a reporter:
“Conservatives like me think the evidence (for human contributions to global warming) is a bunch of hooey.”
After the Texas Senate refused to confirm Gov. Perry’s renomination of McLeroy to another term as chair, Gov. Perry appointed Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, in 2009. Lowe was already on the record as denying the science of climate change, telling a reporter in 2008 that she would vote to reject any textbook that discussed human actions that add to the problem of global warming:
“That’s another textbook that will be turned down by me — political agenda and not solid objective science.”
