Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is pounding away at rival Rick Perry's skepticism of manmade global warming and criticism of the nation's central banker, saying those stands hurt the GOP and make the Texas governor come off as a not so serious national figure. Huntsman, a former Utah governor who was President Barack Obama's first ambassador to China, has trailed in early polls nationally and in early voting states, leading his campaign to pledge more aggressive attacks on the top candidates. Perry, who entered the race last weekend and has surged to a prominent role, has provided Huntsman with an ample opening to take shots. Perry said in New Hampshire this past week that he didn't believe in manmade global warming, branding it an unproven scientific theory. He also defended the teaching of creationism in schools because evolution "has some gaps to it." Huntsman responded in a tweet, saying "To be clear, I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy." "When we take a position that isn't willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Science has said about what is causing climate change and man's contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position," Huntsman told ABC's "This Week." Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_932263.html
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... I guess I don't quite understand the attack. I share a lot of the skepticism that Perry does, so I'm sure I'm biased. But if you're going to "attack" someone because they don't agree with a large majority of scientists' opinions, then why don't we just say "Perry (and a lot of the others) profess to believing that a being no one has ever seen has allowed another deity to assume the punishment of all the sins on earth in order that their post-mortem souls may reside in a place of perfection removed from the constraints of this universe, and because of this pledge their devotion to Him and His causes on Earth?" I mean, you're hypocritical if you think a professed belief in Jesus is ok, but speaking out against man-made global warming or the evolution theory mean you're batshit crazy and unfit for leadership.
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... Agreed. I think any one of those things should be a disqualification. barfo
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... there you go. And while I obviously disagree, I can at least respect the view that there's a consistent worldview that that position entails. What Huntsman's doing (and, to an extent, the op/eds with similar views) seems to me to be more disqualifying than a belief in the Spaghetti Monster or global warming
Re: Lord help us http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/author/chris-moody/ The guy is infatuated with writing negative things about republican candidates.
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Religious_Test_Clause
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... I didn't mean they should be legally barred from running. I just meant that they don't deserve votes. barfo
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... I don't care what they did in the past, unless it's 180 degrees opposite what they propose to do if elected. And I certainly don't care if a person elected is spiritual/religious. Brian's a pretty good example of a believer who also seems to show good judgment when it comes to running his part of a nuclear sub.
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... Well, we don't know that. Brian may hold the all-time record for most subs wrecked. It seems dangerous to me to give power to someone who might make decisions based on faith rather than evidence and reason. Although obviously it is a problem I'm stuck with, since there aren't a lot of admitted non-religious candidates. barfo
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... W didn't make decisions based upon faith, nor did JFK or any other president. I SERIOUSLY doubt any of the republican candidates or Obama would do likewise. The only thing Bush did that I remember as having a hint of religion was the mass they had at the National Cathedral for those who died on 9/11, and even then he made sure there was a Rabbi and an Imam among a few religions represented.
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... How do you know? I'd say the weapons-of-mass-destruction was pretty much faith-based decision making. It might not have been religious faith (although that may have played a role). But it certainly wasn't rationality that won out that day. As for the current candidates, I'd have to say Michele Bachmann would be highly likely to make decisions based on faith. barfo
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... So which is it.... global warming or climate change?
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... I saw Huntsman today and was shocked at how negative he went. I guess that's a measure of the desperation his campaign must be feeling.
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... Reason, in and of itself, seems a bit subjective to me.....as does faith, itself. Evidence? I'm a skeptic of so-called evidence. Evidence of what? And maintained by whom? I'll take my chances with faith. Everything I've read in the "Book" seems to take mankind's best interests in mind.
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... What an imagination the British government has. Here's a map from their Weather Office I ran across yesterday. Check out the tiny numbers with the fake temperature increases. Click on the little plus signs around North America. Multiply by 1.8 to convert to Fahrenheit. "Northern USA/Canada: Even the most benign projections give increases of 4 to 6 °C." Yeah right. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change/guide/impacts/high-end/map Scientist liars are jealous of businessmen because businessmen were the dumbshits in high school but they made more money later. So they made up this stuff to get them back.
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... Like faith that aliens can conquer the world easier due to global warming, as scientists recently claimed? As for WMDs, just about every nation that has intelligence agencies were telling us Saddam had WMDs, and Clinton bombed the shit out of Iraq during the Lewinsky debacle, claiming he had enormous amounts of WMDs. Hillary took to the senate floor and made similar claims during the debate over giving the administration authority to act against Saddam. W gave a number of reasons to take out Saddam in his State of the Union speech, and none had anything to do with his faith.
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... I think you are misrepresenting. Some scientists speculated that that *might* happen. They didn't claim anything. barfo
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... No, I don't have to have faith. It's a possibility they are, it's a possibility they aren't. I don't know of any scientist who would claim otherwise. barfo
Re: Others attacking Perry for his "scientific" views... You're going to call out Bush and Bachmann for making decisions not based on fact or reason, yet you leave out Obama and his economic policies that are based on nothing but his beliefs, ideals and "principles". I shouldn't be surprised...you make Shooter look non-partisan.