My latest for the Guardian takes a look at why Dennis Kucinich is being treated like a raving nut for saying he once saw a UFO, while no one bats an eye at Mike Huckabee’s rejection of evolution.
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Don (no longer) Fluffy
That’s because UFOs are imaginary, while evolution is a theory which is rapidly becoming discredited. Apples and oranges. . .
Dan Kennedy
Don’t read what MacLaine wrote. Read what Kucinich actually said. By definition, UFOs are not imaginary — they’re unidentified. As for evolution, whether it is being discredited or not, you can be assured it’s not because scientists have decided that Genesis provides a more factual explanation for how life came into being.
Anonymous
As you said in the article, he saw “something,” not that it was flown by another humanoid species. Just goes to show that the right wingers will stop at nothing, not even facts.
Shelby Meyerhoff
Dan, Right on! Too often media outlets misinterpret the concept of balanced reporting to mean that scientifically-flawed ideas (like “intelligent design”) must be treated in the same way as scientifically-sound ideas (like evolution). The whole “teach the controversy” frame is intended to obscure the qualitative difference between an idea that is not grounded in science, and an idea that is.
Robin Edgar
Isn`t former US President Jimmy Carter famous for claiming to have seen a UFO too? Anyway, as others have said, seeing an Unidentified Flying Object is one thing wheras claiming an alien encounter of some kind is quite another. Who has not seen an Unidentified Flying Object at some point in their life?
MeTheSheeple
Fluffy … Want to put your money where your mouth is?I have a proposal. We each scratch our skin. I get a dose of regular staph bacteria; you get what’s called MRSA. We each get topical antibiotics and a basic first-line oral antibiotic. I also get access to other antibiotics to combat the bugs you say cannot have evolved.First one to die loses. Death has a way of discrediting crackpot theories that other ideas are … crackpot theories.
jvwalt
But hey, Mike Huckabee is such a nice guy! Funny, too! He was on “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” a while back, and talked about how he pardoned Keith Richards. Somehow, Peter Sagal didn’t bring up the whole evolution thing. It’s kinda like how, in 2000, Dick Cheney was portrayed as the wise-old-owl who would rein in the newcomer, George W. Bush, and keep him on the straight and narrow. I don’t remember anyone mentioning how Cheney had been plotting Nixon’s Revenge, and the return of the imperial presidency, since 1974. Huh. Meanwhile, we pontificate on whether someone who laughs like Hillary is fit to be President.
Anonymous
Dan,It’s not just conservatives mocking Kucinich. Far left congressman Alcee Hastings, referring to Kuchinich’s Cheney impeachment proposal said the following,’Dennis Kucinich is on a quest of his own. He sees flying saucers and he acts like one, too’
Brian F.
Huckabee never rejected evolution -he just said that no one knows what happened.
Dan Kennedy
Brian — You answer the question, you put yourself on the record. From the debate transcript:MR. VANDEHEI: Senator McCain, this comes from a Politico.com reader and was among the top vote-getters in our early rounds. They want a yes or on. Do you believe in evolution?SEN. MCCAIN: Yes.MR. VANDEHEI: I’m curious, is there anybody on the stage that does not agree — believe in evolution?(Senator Brownback, Mr. Huckabee, Representative Tancredo raise their hands.)
lou
I hate the phrase “believe in” when used for evolution. Do we say that we “believe in” gravity? Or believe in the speed of light? And speaking of the speed of light, do anti-evolution people accept the speed of light? ’cause that means starlight we see can be billions of years old. and I wonder what they say about the recent discovery of other planets and solar systems, even.
Anonymous
Let’s not forget that Ronald Reagan claimed to have spotted two UFOs.
mike_b1
robin, Carter claimed to have been attacked by a giant killer rabbit. Reagan, on the other hand, saw red ghosts, which he sought to dispel by legally giving almost all our money to the military, and illegally giving the rest to the Contras.
Brenda Tucker
Sir: Can you write about my viewpoint – in an attempt to show credibility to “non-belief in evolution” due to a more “inclusive” theory of evolution being in existence that would balance the two viewpoints and combine them into one view? Please see http://community.myfoxla.com/blogs/Brendatuckerfor recent blogging. Thanks for your inquiries into the nature of existence.