Forget about Republicans throwing Grover Norquist overboard. Something more profound is shaking the philosophical foundations of the GOP. I'm talking about a tumult of Biblical proportions...
Remember a little while back how Marco Rubio responded when asked if he knew how old the Earth was?
I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says...
I can tell you what the folks at
The Atlantic say. They say all you have to do is look at cave paintings to know we go back at least 34,000 years -- so the whole 6,000 year young Earth canard should be cause for pause. But why waste time on logic when you have some pandering to do?
Looks like someone is going to have to break the bad news to Mike Huckabee. That row is going to be a bit harder to hoe the next election cycle. And we owe the evolution of this "debate" to none other than Pastor Pat Robertson himself!
Think I'm kidding?
Pat Robertson has explicitly derided the belief that the Earth is only 6,000 years old as false.
Look, I know that people will probably try to lynch me when I say this, but Bishop Ussher wasn't inspired by the Lord when he said that it all took 6,000 years. It just didn't. You go back in time, you've got radiocarbon dating. You got all these things and you've got the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time out in the Dakotas.
If anyone is qualified to speak on the topic of dinosaurs, this old fossil sure is. Listening to the tape, leaves little doubt Robertson has fond memories of riding his dinosaur, Susie, to school. He never mentions what type of dinosaur she was, but I bet the cool kids all ran around on Velociraptors while the nerds lumbered along on Phosphatheriums they borrowed from Neanderthals. Good times.... But, hey, don't take my (written) word for it. Let's go to the tape:
Time to cue the chorus of clucking clergy ready to ridicule Robertson as they cynically suggest he has slid into senility. I don't know what exactly this marks the end of (Robertson's career? The GOP's embrace of anti-intellectualism? Huckabee's viability?) but whatever it is, you may as well get the popcorn ready, because you know this isn't going to end quietly :)
1:42 PM PT: We're talking a potential struggle for the GOP soul of Biblical proportions!
(h/t to Crashing Vor for digging up the proper citation :) )