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Monday, September 22, 2014

"Highly educated"

Hey can we dispense with the obligatory aside about how smart and well-educated Bobby Jindal is whenever we write about his latest pander to one or another GOP anti-science constituency?
But what happens when a highly educated guy who did study science in college wants to run for national office in a party that increasingly stands against facts and science? In the case of Louisiana Governor and perennial presidential wannabee Bobby Jindal (R), you act dumb and make tortuous statements.
How dumb?

At a breakfast organized by The Christian Monitor, Jindal was introduced as a biology major, Rhodes Scholar, and former President of the University of Louisiana System. Naturally, at one point HuffPost’s Howard Fineman said, “I want to ask a couple of science questions.”

Jindal cluelessly fails to see what’s coming and excitedly interjects “I’m a biology major.” Fineman is happy to repeat that point and, of course, then asks him a bunch of obvious science questions, including whether he accepts evolution.

So Jindal now feels compelled to explain, “I was not an evolutionary biologist.” Yeah, Jindal apparently got one of those Biology degrees from Brown University (with honors at the age of 20!) that doesn’t require learning about evolution — the central organizing principle of modern biology.
Jindal clearly doesn't want people to think of him as a smart guy anymore.  So let's just stop describing him that way.  From now on, these stories (and there will be more of them) need only read, "Plumb stupid Governor Bobby Jindal talked up his staggering ignorance of basic 7th Grade level scientific concepts today."  That's obviously what he's after there, anyway. 

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