Tue
Apr 10 2012
04:24 pm
Haslam won't sign evolution bill
By: R. Neal

But won't veto it either. Will let it become law without his signature. Classic mushy middle dodge. (Yeah, I know Bredesen did it too. Your point?)

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R. Neal's picture

p. s. irony alert

Submitted by R. Neal on Tue, 2012/04/10 - 4:31pm.

If I'm not mistaken, during an election debate Haslam said schools should stick to teaching science such as evolution, and McWherter said he was fine with teaching intelligent design.

Pam Strickland's picture

You are correct, Bubba. It

Submitted by Pam Strickland on Wed, 2012/04/11 - 11:51am.

You are correct, Bubba. It was during the time when I was trying to figure out who to vote for and it gave Haslam points. But in the end the gun measures overruled.

Rachel's picture

Better than signing it, I

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2012/04/10 - 5:50pm.

Better than signing it, I suppose.

And yeah, when I was trying to like McWherter and failing, that was one of the reasons (among many similar ones).

Stick's picture

Do you ever get the feeling

Submitted by Stick on Tue, 2012/04/10 - 6:16pm.

Do you ever get the feeling that we're just circling the bowl?

cafkia's picture

By not signing it, he takes

Submitted by cafkia on Wed, 2012/04/11 - 1:03pm.

By not signing it, he takes that particular weapon away from the sane opposition when he runs for president in a few years. Expect more like this.

WhitesCreek's picture

Haslam lacked the backbone to

Submitted by WhitesCreek on Wed, 2012/04/11 - 4:32pm.

Haslam lacked the backbone to veto this. It's a sad time for Tennessee. I always wondered how the people of Germany could stand by and allow the Nazi's to rise to power and now I know.

The time for polite is drawing to an end. It's time to stand up and call people out. Conservatism is leading us down a dark path. It has failed the people.

pd246's picture

Evolution

Submitted by pd246 on Thu, 2012/04/12 - 10:12am.

A "word" issue that I have given much thought to over the years is that modern humans had "descended" from lower animals. I thought the process of evolving meant rising or ascending from what existed earlier. After watching the show in Nashville recently, I now believe "descended" IS the correct term.

Somebody's picture

I know you're partly making a

Submitted by Somebody on Thu, 2012/04/12 - 11:28am.

I know you're partly making a joke, but the word should just be evolved. As demonstrated by your punch-line, ascended and descended apply a value judgement that's not relevant to the science of it. There is no genetic goal being sought through natural evolution, aside from survival in the current environment.

As for judgement calls, it would appear that Haslam took the middle road, tacitly acknowledging that the bill was daft, or at best pointless, while also recognizing that a veto would easily be overridden, thus choosing not to make a more vigorous, but losing statement on the issue. You could call that wise or you could call it cowardly, but perhaps it's just an act of survival in the current environment.

Rachel's picture

You could call that wise or

Submitted by Rachel on Thu, 2012/04/12 - 3:05pm.

You could call that wise or you could call it cowardly, but perhaps it's just an act of survival in the current environment.

Or you could call it trying to please everybody. If that's the case, he probably just made everybody mad instead.

Min's picture

Sigh.

Submitted by Min on Thu, 2012/04/12 - 11:47am.

The Governor is the political equivalent of a doorstop, which does nothing, except prop the door open and let the crazy come through.

pd246's picture

Evolution

Submitted by pd246 on Thu, 2012/04/12 - 12:54pm.

"I know you're partly making a
Submitted by Somebody on Thu, 2012/04/12 - 10:28am.

I know you're partly making a joke, but the word should just be evolved. As demonstrated by your punch-line, ascended and descended apply a value judgement that's not relevant to the science of it. There is no genetic goal being sought through natural evolution, aside from survival in the current environment."

Well, Mr. Kettle, I certainly wouldn't want to appear to be judgmental...

Treehouse's picture

Evolution

Submitted by Treehouse on Thu, 2012/04/12 - 1:38pm.

We could say he hasn't "evolved" as a governor.

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