Cal Thomas, you ignorant putz

The BBQ Pit
1

So this morning I pick up the newspaper all Iowa wastes its time on and find that our old friend Cal Thomas has seen fit to stick his nose into the brewing defugelty in Cobb County, Georgia. Here is what old Cal has to say: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/ct20020827.shtml
I did manage to read the whole thing despite the polka dots that kept swimming across my field of vision as my frontal lobes sought to defend them selves from what was being fed up the optical nerves. The temptation to scream at the newspaper may have slowed my comprehension, too. As I understand it, the mouth piece for the fragment of the Republican Party holed up in the Third Baptist Church of Cow Flop, Alabama (with branch offices in the Cobb County Board of Education) thinks that (1) the county school board’s purported decision to require the inclusion of The Book of Genesis’ story of divine creation in the County School’s biology curriculum is a triumph for academic freedom and (2) the whole body of scientific thought that sprang from Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species is really a religion masquerading as science.

This is an approach to the insinuation of religious education into the public schools discussed in these boards frequently. My purpose in not to stimulate intellectual discussion of the nature of academic freedom or of the biological sciences simply because Old Cal obviously has little understanding of either. My purpose is simply to throw rocks at the author of this ignorant and wrongheaded pile of claptrap. I’m not very damned happy with the D.M. Register for publishing an op-ed piece that is so obviously lacking logic, understanding and honesty. If this is what passes for informed opinion around here what the Hell are we coming to. I next expect, in all honesty, a Cal Thomas column whopping it up for a demand that the Sun centered theory of the Solar Systems yield equal time in public schools for advocates of an earth centered universe because Joshua(?) caused the sun to stand still in the heavens.

Why do people put up with ignorant, opportunistic charlatans like old Cal; or is it just further proof of H.L. Menken’s adage that no one ever went broke betting on the ignorance of the American public?

2

I’m not quite sure how this double posted. The first time I rried to submit the “this page cannot be displayed” screen came up. If someone in authority would clean this up I would be greatful.

3

Hey, I waste my time on the Hawkeye, Iowa’s oldest newspaper.

And it is a waste of time.

4

Hmm, the only Iowa newspaper I waste my time on is the Ames Tribune. Apparently they won the Pulitzer Prize, sometime, as they remind us often. (They still suck, but fortunately that doesn’t affect the classifieds.)

I know, people like this make me nuts. “I demand equal time for my wacky, boneheaded theories that have a basis in faith, not science, in a science class. I am sure the evidence will be put forth in a neutral way by these teachers and each student will have an opportunity to make a balanced judgement about whether or not to accept the best theories of science or the creation myths of ancient Middle Eastern nomads. Of course, we will only be teaching about my myths, not anyone else’s.”

5

I first noticed Cal Thomas when I started working at our local newspaper’s advertising department as a teenager. The first time I read one of his columns I thought it was a joke. I wish I had been right.

6

I gather that old Cal doesn’t like the ACLU? So? Most people don’t. :smiley:

Otherwise… who cares? The kids will just memorize what they must, barf it out on the test, and not let such trivia pollute their brains again. Seriously, I mean.

7

You guys are lucky that you only get to *read * his columns. Back in the mid-late 1980’s Cal had a commentary spot on WTTG Channel 5 in Washington DC. It was actually kind of funny because everyt single one of his commentaries would be preceeded by the news anchor saying words to the effect of, “The words spoken and the views expressed by Cal Thomas DO NOT (Their emphasis) represent the views of anyone at this television station except Mr. Thomas.”

Then Cal would launch into a diatribe against the latest evil thing that the Democrats were doing to try and undermine the Republicans.

8

Cal Thomas has a history of misrepresentation, spin, and outright dishonesty. He has never been above cheap theatrics to score points with his fans, and has never had any desire to do anythign but preach to the choir. He has no interest in dialogue, and is not worth any more of my time.

9

What an idiotic, disgusting column by this nationally syndicated columnist. It’s also disingenuous in not explictitly pointing out that the school board’s action really amounts to requiring the teaching of a religious view of genesis in the public schools.

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Just further proof.

11

Some time back I posted to the effect that while Cal’s views are dumb, he wasn’t quite as loony as he’d been in the past.

This column proves that he is, in fact, nuttier and more offensive than he’s ever been.
But maybe he’s got a neat idea here. Why not teach a variety of “alternative” theories to students in numerous disciplines? We could let engineering students decide which design principles are most likely to produce a bridge that’ll hold up under traffic. And it’s wrong to teach medical students only the prevailing doctrine about cancer causation and treatment. Let’s demand equal time for antineoplaston therapy and laetrile! Surely the students are smart enough to decide for themselves.
Cal, you are an unmitigated ass.

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While I, although an ass, do have some mitigating qualities.

Kal

13

You have to admire the boldness of a man whose only authorities for arguing against evolution are an ex-nazi rocket scientist (von Braun) and an early-17th century mathematician/physicist (Kepler). Because they are obviously the world’s greatest experts in the field of modern biology.

His actual arguments are less convincing (cite: http://www.talkorigins.org/).

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No, actually, you don’t. Especially since neither the Kepler nor the Von Braun quotes Cal supplies actually have anything to do with creationism. He quotes Kepler as saying,

All this says is that Kepler believes in God. Although, in fairness, there’s a good chance he believed in Creationism, as he died a good two centuries before Darwin sailed on the Beagle. Up next, Cal Thomas uses the writings of Hippocrates to show why the Concorde can’t fly.

Von Braun not only doesn’t support Thomas, he’s actually lumping him in with the atheistic scientist Thomas so loathes:

So I’m left with the question: Is Cal Thomas really this stupid, or is he just slow-pitching to his microcephalic readership?

15

Cite?

:smiley:

16

Yes, Cal Thomas is either that dumb, or that deliberately dishonest, it’s hard to tell which. His columns are interesting to parse:

This makes it sound like Totalitarian Liberal Bureaucrats had mandated evolution as the only allowable theory of origins, and that the Cobb County School Board is striking a blow for intellectual freedom.

In fact, it’s the opposite: the theory of evolution, of course, won the day in the scientific journals in the late 19th century. Nothing was ‘mandated’; no educational bureaucrats are going to tell scientists which way to jump in a scientific debate.

The only thing that appears ‘mandated’ is the proposed alternative to evolution, which is always either Biblical creation, ‘intelligent design’, or some other evangelically-correct theory of origins. It’s never a Hindu or Mayan theory of creation, for instance.

Nothing like argument-by-ridicule. As andros said, Cal preaches to the choir, and this sort of stuff clearly wins points among evangelicals.

Ah, the Big Lie - or one of a number of evangelical Big Lies, really. Is there, anywhere, an evangelical leader who can distinguish between what individuals are free to say, and what the government may say, about God?

I think Jackmanii has already handled this one. Let me add that we should also give equal time to the idea that the square root of 144 is 15. :smiley:

They never said any such thing, Cal. Nobody has a problem with scientists believing in God. Evolutionists only have a problem with those who translate their belief in God into a claim of scientific support for creationism. And such people cease to be scientists when they take that step.

But expecting Cal Thomas to make such subtle distinctions is like asking a pig to derive the quadratic formula.

I guess reams of detailed, evidence-supported arguments in scientific journals over the past 150 years constitute ‘faith’.

17

It’s not that I want to extend this lousy excuse for throwing a hissy fit beyond its natural life, it’s that Old Cal has passed another gall stone and it has shown up on the editorial page of my morning paper. This time our friend has gotten his undies in a bunch over the Archbishop of Canterbury. Now, you might expect Cal to wax histrionic over the fact that the new archbishop is a foreigner, or maybe an Anglican, but that isn’t Cal’s heartburn this time. Cal carries on for the required 800 words or so to point out that all Western Civilization is imperilled because the new archbishop in a leftist pinko humanist who once chanted psalms at a nuclear facility and was arrested! Good Lord, can we expect an all powerful and vengeful God to withhold judgement in the face of this abomination.

In his own little way Cal has crossed a line on this one. Usually he goes after politicians and public officials for not conforming to his own particular brand of Christianity —represented by the Cal Thomas Trinity of Father, Son and whoever the current Republican candidate for President of the United States might be. Now he is taking on Christian denominations for not reading Cal’s mind when they select their prelates. I fully expect Cal to demand a seat in the College of Cardinals when the time comes to select the next Pope. I can accept Cal ideology ridden view of the world, but this time he has passed from ideology directly to theology without even making a pretense of finding a connection to any political question that might possibly be of concern to readers of the newspaper that part of Iowa wastes it time on, or any other question that is any of his damned business. I can only think that Mrs. Thatcher does not approve of the new archbishop.