Even Santorum isn’t willing to go there

August 5, 2005

You know the president’s remarks about teaching kids about intelligent-design creationism are wildly off-base when Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum distances himself from the comments.

A leading Republican senator allied with the religious right differed on Thursday with President Bush’s support for teaching an alternative to the theory of evolution known as “intelligent design.”

Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, a possible 2008 presidential contender who faces a tough re-election fight next year in Pennsylvania, said intelligent design, which is backed by many religious conservatives, lacked scientific credibility and should not be taught in science classes. […]

“I think I would probably tailor that a little more than what the president has suggested,” Santorum, the third-ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate, told National Public Radio. “I’m not comfortable with intelligent design being taught in the science classroom.”

Keep in mind, Santorum is not exactly known for his knowledge or credibility on this issue. In 2001, he pushed for a provision in Bush’s No Child Left Behind legislation that was intended to promote discussion of creationism in public schools. In fact, Santorum’s measure urged public schools to expose students to “the full range of scientific views that exist” and to “help students to understand why this subject [evolutionary biology] generates so much continuing controversy.”

And yet, a few years later, Santorum publicly distances himself from Bush’s support for intelligent-design creationism. Did Santorum change his mind about modern biology? Does he reject IDC because he prefers more old-school (young-earth) creationism? Is this just an effort to appear more moderate?

I’m not sure, but it is entertaining to see Bush taking heat on this, especially from someone like Santorum.

Damn it, all this flip-flopping is giving me a headache!

Or did he remember to take his meds? That might explain these bipolar swings…

  • Isn’t Santorum completely against public schooling? His book indicates he thinks all schooling should be done at home by a stay at home parent because schools cost too much money and don’t even properly socialize children.

  • Is this just an effort to appear more moderate?

    Yes.

    Santorum currently trails Casey by double digits in opinion polls. He’s gotta figure that the Bible Thumpers will stand by him while he tries to regain some lost support from the center.

  • The Discovery Institute is backpedaling on wanting “Intelligent Design” to be taught in school. They seem to be afraid that screw-ups in cases like Dover are going to get them tarred with the creationist brush, and thus banned from the science curriculum. The current talking point is “teach the evidence both for and against evolution.” Apparently, Santorum read the memo, but Bush didn’t.

  • Having heard the interview my feeling was that Santorum tried to appear “moderate” but hardly succeeded. He still came across advocating the idea that evolutionary theory was incomplete and contained errors. In his mind that was why it was important to bring in ID. The interviewer did not ask him to cite one specific, so his assertions went unchallenged.

    His comments on ID followed comments on his book. He asserted that liberalism was an ideology of “individualism.” He derided the idea that raising children “takes a village” by arguing for the necessity of not only the family but also of churches and other organizations and people in the community. So how exactly he differs from the “village” perspective was never explored either.

    Good old NPR does it again.

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