In a special election and against long odds, Bill Foster has been elected to the house of representatives from Illinois. Not only is it another addition to the coming Democratic conquest of Washington DC, but the guy is a physicist. We need more scientists stepping into political leadership!
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
And record turnouts for the WY caucuses. Dare we allow for hope?
I’m near the district holding the election (not part of it so I couldn’t vote) and the slime groups like the Heritage Foundation used against him was disgusting. Those conservatwits actually, with full knowledge and malice, took a sliver of one of Foster’s speech and edited it so it looked like he was a “tax and spend liberal” even though he said it was a bad government philosophy. Casual TV watching I saw it at least 6 times a night this last week. I’m so glad the commercials are over. Basically Foster said, “The idea that we can solve problems by throwing money at them is ridiculous.” And the other side took the middle part “we can solve problems by throwing money at them” and played it near continuously. Then Oberweis had the nerve to complain about dirty tactics (ie Foster telling the truth about Oberweis’s business practices).
Way to go, Bill! Tell the voters they’re patterns of matter and energy in space, and by golly they will act like they’re patterns of matter and energy in space!
My entire nuclear family (and many extended family members) live in the district that was voting. I grew up there. I never thought there’d be a day when a Dem could win in that race, but boy am I glad to see it. Incidentally, every single person I know (who made it out to vote) in the district (and I mean EVERY person) voted for Bill Foster. Oberweis has a very, very bad reputation. I also never thought there’d be a day when my parents and us kids (a 28 yo, a 26 yo, and a 20 yo) would agree on a candidate (my parents are pretty dyed-in-the-wool GOP fans), but they are both a) supporting Bill Foster again in November and b) supporting Obama in the primary and general election, as we kids are. Insanely world changing, for this big kid.
Yeah, I heard radio versions of the ads myself, Alverant. I figured that was what had to be going on, but then, I’m used to it from the CreoCon Right. I wonder how many voters bought it. Maybe not many, given the result. That’d be nice.
Oberweis is a perennial Republican candidate, and is quite rich, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him around in some political capacity eventually. Dunno where he stands on science today. Last I heard he didn’t approve of ID and actually dared to speak up for evolution, but that was a few years ago.
Makes good ice cream, though.
Gads! I wish Foster would sue that group. An example really needs to be made of these lying bastards, and I hope someone holds the Heritage Foundation accountable for their slander.
the guy is a physicist
Well, sure, I’m happy for him, even if I am of a different religion…
P.S.: Worth noting: The Democrats grabbed the seat of the former Republican Speaker of the House. What a sweet prize!
P.P.S.: All chubby-chasing homoerotic overtones in the previous postscript were entirely unintentional.
From what I hear the vote was 52/48 so I think some people bought the lies Oberweis told. But then it’s a heavy GOP area so maybe some of those votes were “I’d vote for a dishonest Republician over a Democrat any day of the week” which is just as bad (and maybe worse since they won’t even consider changing their minds). And believe me, Overweis’s reputation is well earned. This is what his 4th loss in 6 years.
I don’t know if 4% is a lot in politics. To me, that’s close and I’m sure Oberweis thinks he has a chance there if he keeps trying. The ironic thing is that the left-leaning newspaper Chicago Sun Times endorsed Oberweis while the far-right-leaning newspaper Chicago Tribune endorsed Foster. I’m thinking each paper had their own reasons. For the Times, Foster was too nice to make it in Washington. I think the Tribune wanted Foster to win so they can hound him until November.
We need more scientists in Washington, people willing to consider the other side of issues and vote on the facts and not dogma.
I live in that district and was absolutely thrilled to cast my vote for Foster. I honestly never expected there to be a viable Democrat running for that seat.
This makes Oberweis a four time loser for elected office. I have to wonder about the ego of a guy who keeps throwing his money down the drain like that. Perhaps he’ll see this as some kind of message from god and quit this bizarre quest of his. I will say this for him, he makes damn fine ice cream. I’m glad he’ll now be able to renew his focus on his strong suit.
Alverant,
Funny you should mention that attack ad. I saw it the other day with my wife (we live just outside of Chicago). I believe the quote was something to the effect that “there’s no problem that can’t be solved by throwing money at it.”
The ad used it over and over and over again, ad nauseum (hee hee!) so much so that even though it was obvious that it was totally out of context, the liberal (Oh, I’m on a roll!) used of it made it glaringly obvious that it was misused. I didn’t know the real context of the quote, but both my wife and I deduced that it was preceded by something like “…and their philosophy is that…”
Thanks for setting the record straight. And good job Bill!
And I thought a hard science degree, outside of engineering, automatically disqualified one from national elected office!
And I thought a hard science degree, outside of engineering, automatically disqualified one from national elected office!
It does. This guy’s a
natural philosopherphysicist. Weren’t you paying attention ;-)What?! NO WAY! I grew up in that district, and it’s so Republican that they don’t allow elephants in the zoos!
Seriously, this is wild … My parents still live in Oswego; I’m pretty sure they didn’t vote in this election as they’re visiting me here in Texas this weekend (unless they were able to vote absentee in this or something). I will definitely have to collect their take on this tomorrow morning. Amazing.
Hey, Observer–congratulations on taking your chance to help out the good guys. Have you lived in that district long enough to remember when Hastert was an honest, hard-working public servant?
It’s been a great night.
I met Foster in 2006, when he up and left his business/science career because he had gotten fired up about helping the Dems in 2006. He ended up volunteering for the campaign of Patrick Murphy, a first time candidate and Iraq War Vet in another district that leaned nominally Republican. Winning that campaign was a rush, and now two years later he’s a Congressman himself. And he’s going to make a great one: another scientist in there can’t help.
Of course, it’s not over yet: he basically has to do the same race all over again in November in order to win the full term, and in a federal year (which makes things harder in a Republican year with lots of lazy straight ticket voters). But it’s a giant coup regardless. The RNC blew tons of money on this race. And their press release tonight trying to play down the loss was embarrassing.
Coming out of lurk to give an example of how not to choose a scientist for public office:
Margaret Thatcher – a chemist.
and a current Australian example
I refuse to link to his own site – such egregious spin (his “vision” changes with the publicity winds) isn’t deserving of publicity.
To the extent that the USA has any non-conservatives in the Democrat party or the Republican party for comparison with the Australian spectrum, the Australian Liberal Party is on the conservative/right part of the political spectrum, and Jensen is on the conservative/right part of the Liberal Party.
He is unfortunately one of those people who believes that attacking New York NY changed all the rules for a social or even a liberal democracy.
So far, he’s getting away with it.
@Nan McIntyre: Thatcher’s work in chemistry was of a very applied type to do with making ice-cream. To my mind that’s engineering, not science. She also had a law degree which is like the anti-science.
@me (#16) HAS a law degree.
I think it best not to analyse that slip too much.
OT – but Thatcher was a graduate student in crystallography under Nobel laureate Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (Chemistry, 1964).
i think he’s actually the *second* physicist in Congress – Rush Holt from Princeton, NJ, being the first.
This is great news and bodes well for November, but I’m a little worried about the increasingly-negative (on one side, anyway) presidential nomination. It’s one thing to argue why you’d make a better president, but it’s entirely different when you praise McCain over your own party’s likely nominee and when you try to win using Karl Rove-style dirty tricks. Gawd, and then to hear all this talk about a ‘shared ticket.’ I could gag! Well, I was glad to see that Barack Obama helped Foster with a campaign commercial. I’m really glad he won it.
I know there’s a Battlestar Galactica joke in here somewhere…
Re Hillary Rettig
Vernon Ehlers, a Rethuglican congressman from Michigan is also a physicists.
@me (#16) HAS a law degree.
I think it best not to analyse that slip too much.
It’s ok. I danced when Reagan kicked it. Ditto Pinochet.
I’m throwing a fucking party when Helms does.
I was happy to hear yesterday that the Rs laid another goose egg in my home state, and an expensive one at that. But I did not know Foster was a physicist! I’m interested to hear his debate style on the floor now. ;)
Hey, Matt Heath
You’d better watch out mate – some upstart lady lawyer in Western Australia, whose first degree was a B Sc., has seen the gap and filled it.
Do you reckon she’s helping the law adulterate science or vice versa?
Those who are anxious to use their oscillation overthrusters to drive through the Margaret Thatcher legacy, she’s been in the news over her failing health the last couple of days. Real soon now, you heartless bastards ;-)
I danced when Reagan kicked it.
Speaking of insipidity…
What?!? You mean you are not going to party when Bill Clinton kicks it?
What?!? You mean you are not going to party when Bill Clinton kicks it?
Are you kidding? Bill was the most entertaining president in U. S. history. His on-again, off-again presence in the campaign of his “wife” continues the tradition.
He taught us all that oral sex isn’t really sex and that we need to re-define the word “is” to suit our purposes. Hilarious! Or is that Hillary-ous? I’ll miss him when he departs the scene.
Speaking of insipidity… it’s Joe Blow!
Janine, we have to introduce him to Eatin’ Keaton! Where the hell is Keaton when you need him?
Hey, Joe, maybe if you were part of a social minority that was written off as expendable in a “let ’em all die” kind of way by gentle Mr. Reagan, you’d understand the point of view expressed by those who felt no need to grieve at his passing. However, being a member of that social minority is not essential. Maybe if you had some compassion for members of that social minority who saw dozens, hundreds, thousands of their peers die while Mr. Reagan and his administration opted not to give a damn, you’d understand that point of view.
Of course, I wouldn’t expect a Compassionate Conservative™ such as yourself to actually exhibit any actual compassion.
Hey Janine, did you catch Douglas Hanson on “Nightlight”, “Meet The Press” and “The O’Reilly Factor” last week? That guy is awesome!
nothing insipid about it. After his reaction to AIDS, I just wish Reagan had suffered more.
MAJeff, re. Regan. I understand he did suffer; he died of Alzheimer’s. I can’t remember when symptoms began to show: Was it before or after he was elected president?
Kseniya, I have not watched Nightline since Ted Koppel hosted the show. Sundays, I am usually sleeping in. As for the Factor, I do enough hammering of my head following the links here to various creationists sites. I missed those completely.
As for Jeff’s wish, I will say this; I watched one of my grandfathers suffer with Alzheimer’s disease. There was much suffering to be had. When the moments of clarity came, when he knew how bad it was… Let us just say, if Reagan’s last years were like my grandfather’s, it was bad. My grandfather did not deserve his fate. Reagan did.
Tim, anyone who claims that members of the SS were victims of the Nazis either suffers from a lack of moral clarity or was forgetful. Make of that what you will.
Janine, I was being… coy. Hanson has never appeared on any of those shows; in fact, Joe seems to be one of the few people in America who’s ever heard of Hanson or cares what Hanson has to say. Review the “How much was this was?” thread for details. ;-)
Tim, it seems pretty clear that Reagan was beginning to lose track of himself while still in office. Reagan was a bit before my time and I see him as a more of an historical figure than many of the commenters here may be inclined to see him. Speaking for myself, I took no pleasure in Reagan’s illness or demise, and though his place in history is justifiably assured, it’s a for-better-or-worse. His reputation and achievements are over-rated by his supporters, and perhaps under-valued by his detractors, which leaves the truth, as they say, somewhere in the middle.
Ooops. Typo alert. Make that: “Review the “How much was this war?” thread […].”
I’m throwing a fucking party when Helms does.
don’t forget that D. James Kennedy kicked it last year (Darwin->Hitler fame).
that was certainly worth celebrating.
…and “moral majority” founder Falwell (9/11 was all your fault, Jeff!) croaked months before that, which is probably even more reason to celebrate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28620-2001Sep14
“God gave us what we deserve”
who knew God liked to hijack jet planes and crash them into buildings?
btw, how’s Robertson’s health these days?
I drank to Falwell’s demise, but I think Hitchens got him good.
Seriously, folks. Watch my blog the day Jess Helms kicks off. Whereever I’m living, I’ll be making plans to meet folks in my Iowa State sweatshirt and Twins cap (seems good identifiers) at a bar in the city in which I am located. I’ll be drinking to that motherfucker’s demise the entire night.
I remember seeing Lea DeLaria (I fucked up the spelling) at an NGLTF conference several years ago, when it was announced Jesse had cancer: “We should all send him a pack of Marlboros. We’ll be supporting his corporate supporters and ourselves at the same time.”
I will laugh the laugh of the righteous when he kicks off. The world will be a better place when Jesse Helms is no longer part of it.
I still wish I could find a print of that old (controversial) image from Benneton’s Colours magazine that showed Reagan with Kaposi’s.
damn….two links…
No likes mod.
Oh geez. I’d forgotten that Kennedy was “called home” recently too.
BTW, it wasn’t God who caused 9/11 … it was God who allowed it. He “raised the curtain” of protection, which enabled the terrorist plot to succeed. Because we deserved it. Because of all the liberals and gays and shit.
We deserved it, said the honorable reverends Fuckwell and Robberson. I can’t effing believe that those assholes didn’t get called out on the carpet by everyone from Michael Moore to Vladimir Putin for that. Meanwhile, more thoughful folk were pounded into the sand and labeled “terrorist sympathizers” for daring to suggest that decades of US foreign policy had anything whatsoever to do with the motives behind the attacks, which were nothing more or less than the work of “cowards” and “madmen” with no motive other than “their hatred of freedom.”
I dunno. Call me crazy, but whatever those hijackers were – and there are plenty of nasty names we can legitimately call them – “cowards” doesn’t quite fit.
Kseniya, please do not forget we feminists.
BTW, it wasn’t God who caused 9/11 … it was God who allowed it. He “raised the curtain” of protection, which enabled the terrorist plot to succeed.
well, you say “tomato”…
I say he has a joystick he uses when he wants to play “Microsoft Flight Simulator” for reals.
those assholes didn’t get called out on the carpet by everyone from Michael Moore to Vladimir Putin for that
the funny thing was, they did. Even Bush made a half-assed attempt to chide these two for their idiocy right after.
funny how it all gets so quickly forgotten in the wash?
It’s all love between Falwell and the rethuglicans again now.
Kseniya, please do not forget we feminists.
And abortionists and liberals…weren’t pagans in there somewhere too? I wish I could find another independent citation for this, but this quote from Sedgewick’s Epistemology of the Closet sums up Robertson’s entire career perfectly: “AIDS is God’s way of weeding his garden.”
These folks make me wish there were a Hell. It is for them that such a torture would be appropriate.
the funny thing was, they did. Even Bush made a half-assed attempt to chide these two for their idiocy right after.
Emphasis on half-assed.
It is for them that such a torture would be appropriate.
I thought we covered this in the other thread?
Hell is a wonderful place; lots of great film festivals and all you can eat buffets. You’re getting a mistaken impression from those that have only visited the mentally ill ward.
granted, it’s quite large, but there’s other stuff, too.
plus, it’s never cold!
(Satan approved this message)
Emphasis on half-assed.
hey now, that’s at least twice as good as his normal response.
makes it noteworthy.
wherever I end up will have an incredible buffet. I’ll finally get to pursue that catering career.
It’s all love between Falwell and the rethuglicans again now.
er, make that Robertson.
otherwise there would be the needless questions about Rethuglicans and necrophilia
I’ll finally get to pursue that catering career.
we’ll slip an extra prawns on the barby for ya.
We can always use good cooks down here.
How are you at preparing long-pig?
How are you at preparing long-pig?
I can learn. Not something that’s often called for in urban Boston.
Not something that’s often called for in urban Boston.
…that you know of, you mean..
aw, now I’m all hungry.