Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Santorum Breaks With Christian-Rights Law Center
haha, oh my, surely you jest. An uptight, self-righteous Conservative politician is trying to distance himself from the loonies in an attempt to run for higher office? He just MIGHT not have the courage of his convictions? You're crazy!Santorum Breaks With Christian-Rights Law Center
Associated Press
Friday, December 23, 2005; Page A11
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 22 -- Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) withdrew on Thursday his affiliation from the Christian-rights law center that defended a school district's policy requiring the teaching of "intelligent design."
Santorum, the Senate's third-ranking Republican, is facing a tough reelection challenge next year. Earlier, he praised the Dover Area School District for "attempting to teach the controversy of evolution."
But the day after a federal judge ruled that the district's policy on intelligent design is unconstitutional, Santorum told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he was troubled by testimony indicating that religion motivated some school board members to adopt the policy.
Santorum was on the advisory board of the Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, which defended the district's policy. "I thought the Thomas More Law Center made a huge mistake in taking this case and in pushing this case to the extent they did," Santorum said. He said he will end his affiliation with the center.
The leading Democratic challenger in Santorum's 2006 reelection bid, state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr., accused him of backtracking. Casey spokesman Larry Smar said that Santorum's statements were "yet another example of 'Election Year Rick' changing his positions for political expediency." Casey has led Santorum in recent polls.
Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the center, said Santorum's withdrawal came as no surprise because, several weeks earlier, the senator had indicated that he was unhappy with the center's involvement in the case. "It is a very controversial issue, as you know, and he is involved in a very hotly contested Senate race, and it's probably in his best interest," Thompson said Thursday.
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III ruled Tuesday that the Dover district's policy of requiring students in biology class to hear a statement about intelligent design is "a pretext . . . to promote religion in the public school classroom." The statement says Darwin's theory is "not a fact." It refers students to an intelligent-design textbook.
Intelligent design's proponents hold that living organisms are so complex they must have been created by a higher force rather than evolving from more primitive forms. Critics, including those who challenged the district, say it amounts to a secular repackaging of creationism, which courts have ruled cannot be taught in public schools.
In 2002, Santorum said in a Washington Times op-ed article that intelligent design "is a legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in science classes."
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I think Santorum will be thoroughly ousted by Casey no matter whos ass he's kissing.
I find it ironic that Santorum sounds similar to Sanitarium. Hmmmm.
Ohmigosh, I thought his whole appeal was his looniness. Won't he alienate his base if he stops being loony?