Darwin for Congress?

He’s not on the ballot.  He’s not even alive.  But Charles Darwin is campaigning for the US House of Representatives in Georgia.

After US Representative Dr. Paul Broun famously opined that evolution, embryology, and the Big Bang theory were “lies straight out of the pit of hell,” Georgia’s evolutionists decided to push for a write-in election for Charlie D.

Does Darwin stand a chance?  Maybe if given billions of years to evolve a campaign.

All joking aside, Representative Broun will win in a cake walk.  Even Broun’s most ardent foes are hoping for only a small symbolic protest vote for Darwin.

For those like me who hope to see better education in America’s schools–including better evolution education–Broun’s lack of opposition comes as a sobering reminder of the political nature of American education.  Those evolutionists such as Bill Nye who slam Broun’s credentials forget one crucial detail: Representative Dr. Broun was elected, and he’s going to be re-elected.  Signing a petition–as have roughly 85,000 people at Change.org–is not the easy way to remove Dr. Broun from the House committee on science.

The way to do it is to get involved in local and state politics.  Don’t just run a last-minute write-in campaign for a dead Darwin.  Seek out a plausible electoral alternative to politicians whom you don’t think are qualified to make decisions about science.