An Austin American-Statesman editorial comes out, reluctantly, for Barbara Cargill’s confirmation to another term as chair of the Texas State Board of Education. The newspaper’s reasoning:
“(R)eality is that Cargill appears to have the votes. Were the nomination to be rejected, the question becomes whom the governor would nominate next. Two names that immediately surfaced were David Bradley, R-Beaumont, and Ken Mercer, R-San Antonio, perhaps the most conservative of the board’s ultra-conservatives.
Both Republicans have the seniority as well as the conservative credentials to be considered backups should senators ‘bust’ the Cargill nomination. Those two prospects were giving Cargill critics pause — as well they should.
Under intense questioning from state Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin — the nomination committee’s sole Democrat — Cargill said this about the ongoing controversy about teaching the theory of evolution in Texas classrooms: ‘In biology class and in science class, I want to stick just to the science, like I did when I was teaching. The other (creationism) needs to be taught at church or in the home.’
Her Monday appearance and wariness about whom the governor would appoint should Cargill fail the Senate test undoubtedly cinched committee and full Senate approval.
It is up to the Senate, however, and Texans in general to make sure Cargill follows through on the commitments she made to transparency and conducting the state board’s business fairly.”
7 Comments
The Statesman has been soft on this whole ridiculous creationism bloc all along. McLeRoy only made their paper a few times, when they should have been screaming about him. They’re not the sharepst crayons in the box over there when it comes to creationism.
Cargill is a bad choice. I agree with diocbill. Lets get an even bigger idiot like Bradley in there next. The more press they get, the more they hurt themselves.
Again, Cargill cannot be trusted. She is a creationist. She proves by that that she is neither a scientist or an honest person.
I do not trust cargill. She is a creationist.
In order to be a creationist, you have to be a liar. Did she say “the other(creationism)”?
or did she say “the other” and The edior at The Statesman added creationism in parentheses? Thats an important distinction because cargill has repeatedly shown by her statements that she is a creationist. So, her staement could just be an affirmation that she WILL support creationism(as she always has), not a denial of that. I think hoping she will not be a creationist supporter is wishful thinking. Bad news ahead.
It’s a double bind situation, a choice between evils otherwise the AA would not so Rx. The real problem is the highjacking of the GOP by the RR so that the political power is vested in those pushing for fiction over fact.We can only hope that there are enough straight shooters in the opposition to negate the attempts to control. We can help by working through the TFN and with letters and emails to our congessmen, committe chairmen, letters to the editor etc. Stay alert for opportunities.
Cargill is a liar. You can hear it in her voice as she desperately scrambles to synthesize a story in her mind. She can’t tell the truth, what she really believes because that would scuttle her Chair in a microsecond. However, if you’ve seen videos of her speaking in church basements she’s smooth as silk. Cargill is a creationist and a liar for Jesus. She stutters and scrambles for words and is as articulate as fellow liar David Barton because she doesn’t have a straight story.
Pitiful that Texas would put this ideological dolt as chairman of state education.
No, you can’t trust Cargill because she’s a sociopath and a liar. Tweak DNA to get monkeys or fish? Seriously? I say dump her and let Perry pick someone even more stupid which will do his 2016 ambitions a lot of good!
TBOE as it is currently = very bad for our children and the children of the rest of the US because as our text books go many others follow.
Cargill: “In biology class and in science class, I want to stick just to the science, like I did when I was teaching. The other (creationism) needs to be taught at church or in the home.”
This is a crock. Cargill taught high school biology and left out instruction about evolution. This constitutes not teaching science by omitting an important part of high school biology.
During the hearing, Cargill mentioned that she founded a summer science camp called Wonders of the Woodlands that now has a staff of thirty. I investigated this program years ago. The Woodlands Science Camp is a Summer Science Program and outreach ministry of Cargill’s church, The Woodlands United Methodist Church. Creationism is taught in all the science programs. This constitutes not teaching science by teaching Creationism.
As I have said, Barbara is deceptive and duplicitous. I don’t believe anything she says and neither should you or the Austin American-Statesman.
Perry = bad for Texas