Tennessee! Motto: Don't Throw Me In That Briar Patch Brer Fox

Frequent reader(s) of this blog know disappointment is the handmaiden of existence...erm...we mean know we hale from the great state O' Tennessee. West Tennessee to be exact, so close to the Mississippi we could spit in it on a windy day. That right there is one of them Tennessee tall tales. Well, we tell you this because our home state is once again in the news for their commitment to cutting edge 19th century educational practices.

Tennessee's Republican-dominated House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would protect teachers who want to challenge the theory of human evolution.

OK, we think we see your problem there Republican-dominated House of Representatives. See, "teachers" who want to use their classrooms to challenge the theory of human evolution are not "teachers." They're evangelists. Hope this clears up your confusion.

Thursday's 70-28 passage of HB 368 was hailed by sponsor Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, who said the proposal was designed to promote "critical thinking" in science classes.

Oops. Guess not. Now, Mr. Representative Bill Dunn, R-Knothead, one does not promote "critical thinking" by espousing blind adherence to bronze age dogma in the face of over 150 years of evidence to the contrary. Your position would be more appropriately described as...ah...somewhat uninformed dunderheadery, also, too, hysterical flailing at a world you feel has spun out of your control. Not to put too fine a point on it.

House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, was quoted by the Chattanooga Times Free Press drawing a connection between the proposal and the the trial of teacher John Scopes for teaching evolution depicted in the film "Inherit the wind." "I remember ... where Spencer Tracy at the end, he had that book called 'Origin of Species' and looked at it in one hand and had the Holy Bible in the other. He glanced back and forth and he put them both together and walked out of the room. This has never been a problem for me. So I guess I'm having a little bit of a problem in wondering why we're doing this."

Point taken Mr. Fitzhugh. One would think in a state with the 9th highest poverty rate in the US, the sixth most dangerous state to live in according to CQ press crime state rankings, and a literacy rate of 47%  the legislature would have a few more pressing issues to deal with than preserving their own ignorance for the next generation.

Wait a minute. Wait just a minute. Oh, you guys are good. Here you come with that old country bumpkin, aww shucks, corn pone act and all the while you've been running a game on us. We see what you're up to. You found out MacDonald is going to hire 50,000 workers and you're thinking if you can create a school system that stifles curiosity, punishes critical thought and discourages questioning while teaching students to accept the word of their betters as final, your kids will rocket to the top of the list. Brilliant!