Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 11:27:30 am
Nevada Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle says she’s not going to have a political makeover. Republican Sharron Angle said Saturday she won’t change her staunch conservative views to win the U.S. Senate race, although she acknowledged softening some of her rhetoric to avoid giving Sen. Harry Reid and other Democrats ...

Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 10:44:43 am
It’s obvious why Nevada Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle’s GOP handlers try so hard to keep her away from inquisitive reporters: she’s nuts. Really, honestly nuts. Don’t want her talking to journalists, oh no. That’s no way to get elected. Today she’s back in the news for echoing reptilian Rep. Joe ...

Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 9:43:28 pm
The GOP in Texas pushed hard to get Thurgood Marshall removed from social studies textbooks, and today I watched in absolute disgust as the GOP in Washington actually smeared Thurgood Marshall during Kagan’s nomination hearing. Here’s Dana Milbank’s take on this appalling example of the complete degradation of the Republican Party: ...

Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 1:00:32 pm
The 2010 Texas Republican Party platform is in the news, as people notice that it’s an unvarnished far right document advocating atavistic policies across the board; creationism, climate change denial, historical revisionism aimed at erasing the separation of church and state, etc., ad nauseam. But some of the worst vitriol in ...

Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 3:20:59 pm
Here’s our periodic reminder that one way we pay the bills around here is through the support and generosity of our readers. We do a lot of work to write, maintain, program, and moderate this site, and we also now provide a custom-programmed blogging and commenting system for registered users ...

Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 11:19:56 am
New GOP Senate candidate from Nevada Sharron Angle is apparently trying to quietly toss the online records of her extreme nativist and John Birch Society-inspired positions down the memory hole. Sharron Angle—Tea Partier, Oath Keepers supporter, anti-fluoride crusader, and new GOP candidate for Senate from Nevada—is already demonstrating her solidarity ...

Fri, May 28, 2010 at 10:01:03 am
Using exactly the same deceptive “teach the controversy” tactics as creationists have for years, a Republican pressure group with the Orwellian name “Balanced Education for Everyone” is trying to force schools not to teach global warming in science classes: Push to teach ‘other side’ of global warming heats up in ...

Sat, May 22, 2010 at 12:19:16 pm
So long, Thomas Jefferson. Been nice knowing you, separation of church and state. Hi there, Joe McCarthy! I thought you were dead? In Texas, social studies textbooks get a conservative make-over. In a move that has potential national impact, the Texas State Board of Education has approved controversial changes to social studies textbooks ...

Sat, May 22, 2010 at 10:09:43 am
Rand Paul says he’s too exhausted to appear on Meet The Press tomorrow, but he’s not too exhausted to give interviews to the local Kentucky press, and he says Louisville is still segregated. Which means the Civil Rights Act didn’t work. (In Rand’s private universe, that is.) And in the same ...

Fri, May 21, 2010 at 11:52:22 am
The religious fanatics who dominate the Texas State Board of Education are now debating their attempt to rewrite American history for the social studies curriculum, in one of the most appalling attempted fundamentalist power grabs I’ve ever seen. The Texas Freedom Network is liveblogging this travesty again, and they’ve posted a ...

Wed, May 19, 2010 at 5:45:13 pm
The John Birch Society is exuberant at Rand Paul’s victory; they see it as a vindication of their ideology: Rand Paul Victory. (Google cache link.) Conservative, libertarian, and constitutionalist grassroots activists, who have coalesced to form not one organization, but a collection of like-minded groups collectively called “The Tea Party,” ...

Wed, May 19, 2010 at 11:43:39 am
Today the social conservatives, creationists and religious fanatics who dominate the Texas State Board of Education are continuing their deadly serious effort to redefine the Constitution as an explicitly Christian document and stop teaching children one of the key concepts behind the United States — the separation of church and ...

Sat, May 15, 2010 at 2:35:51 pm
If you thought it was bad when the Texas State Board of Education tossed Thomas Jefferson out of the new social studies curricula, just wait … because you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The religious fanatics led by creationist dentist Don McLeroy were only getting started. The Texas Freedom Network lists ...

Tue, May 11, 2010 at 4:47:42 pm
Today’s right wing jawdropper: in Alabama, the “True Republican PAC” is running an advertisement mocking Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne for supporting the teaching of evolution in schools. Yes, you read that right — these “True Republicans” are so proudly, invincibly ignorant that they’re making fun of a fellow Republican for ...

Mon, May 10, 2010 at 10:56:24 am
OK, here’s the “Wow!” moment of the day, as the Republican Party of Maine adopts a new party platform straight from the loony bin. The official platform for the Republican Party of Maine is now a mix of right-wing fringe policies, libertarian buzzwords and outright conspiracy theories. The document calls for ...

Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 10:25:51 am
Now that Arizona has enacted a repressive law conceived by people connected with white supremacist organizations, what’s the next step? Arizona legislature bans ethnic-studies programs, of course! But wait, there’s more! They’re on a roll. In another controversial shift in state education policy, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the Arizona ...

Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 2:24:32 pm
So here we go again with a very touchy Islamic group threatening “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker with death because the cartoon show dared to have a cartoon character version of Mohammed, the revered prophet of Islam, revered so much that if you don’t revere him some ...

Sun, Apr 11, 2010 at 2:06:03 pm
This week in Wausau, Wisconsin, organizers of a tea party rally had to cancel the appearance of a speaker from Alabama when it came to light that he had a history of speaking at white supremacist events. Attorney John Eidsmoe agreed to withdraw after another tea party speaker complained. Eidsmoe has ...

Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 7:28:09 pm
A short documentary film about one of the true heroines of American science, Genie Scott of the National Center for Science Education, who has dedicated her life to making sure that evolutionary science isn’t forced out of US schools by the dishonest creationist forces of darkness. Bravo, Genie! [Video]

Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 5:38:07 pm
Bad craziness is on the march in Wisconsin, where Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth is threatening to arrest teachers who follow a new law requiring them to instruct students on the use of contraceptives. Yes, you read that right. This district attorney is planning to prosecute teachers for obeying the ...

Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 3:08:20 pm
So, I turn on Fox News just to see what the Glenn Beck Comedy Hour’s topic for the day is, and here’s Beck ranting about the need for more religion in government, in front of two blackboards covered with pictures of the founding fathers — who are no doubt rotating ...

Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 11:35:27 am
The iPhone OS 4 event held this morning had some fantastic news for iPhone owners (which includes me), with a host of great new features including the big one: true multitasking. Apps running in the background will be able to use system calls to provide multitasking services, avoiding the performance ...

Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 12:49:21 pm
You probably heard about John McCain’s latest pathetic attempt to rebrand himself as a good ol’ right winger, by claiming he has never considered himself a “maverick.” Ahem. Worth the Fighting For: The Education of an American Maverick, and the Heroes Who Inspired Him, by John McCain. McCain’s primary opponent in Arizona, ...

Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 10:55:38 am
Here’s a picture of willful ignorance and appalling stupidity, as ABC News Nightline interviews young earth creationist Don McLeroy — the head of the Texas State Board of Education. Nightline correctly points out that the fundamentalist right wing agenda of Neanderthals like McLeroy is influencing education in the entire ...

Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 9:59:09 am
Texas State Board of Education member Mary Helen Berlanga walked out of the meeting today, in protest over the Republican religious fanatics’ attempts to turn sociology into a “whites only” course. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A longtime State Board of Education member accused her colleagues of “whitewashing” curriculum standards Thursday ...