Thursday, July 06, 2006
Hall Comes Out of the Closet -- On Evolution
RSR was the first to break the story that Jesse Hall is running as a stealth candidate for state school board against moderate Janet Waugh in District 1 located primarily in Kansas City, Kansas.
Now, without crediting RSR, the Lawrence Journal World has picked up the story. According to the Journal World, Michael Peterson, chairman of the Wyandotte County Democratic Party, says that Hall is being used by the “radical right.”
“I assume he is being recruited by outside influences,” said Peterson, who is also a state legislator. “For some reason he has affiliated himself with the radical right.”
In the Journal World story, Hall comes out of the closet for the first time about his anti-science beliefs:
Hall tells the Journal World he supports the science standards adopted by the 6-4 radical right majority that criticize evolution.
“The way it was set up, evolution was the only thing that could be taught. That doesn’t allow a child to step outside the box so that they themselves learn how to think,” Hall said.
Even though they didn't credit us, RSR is glad that the Journal World is now covering the story. It's extremely important to get the word out about Hall. No supporter of public education should assume that just because Hall hasn't left his living room during this campaign that he -- like Iris Van Meter before him -- isn't raising scads of money and that his candidacy isn't being touted in certain right-wing circles and fundamentalist churches.
In fact, when Van Meter ran in 2002, she never appeared in public or spoke to the media and yet she out-raised every other candidate.
Supporters of Janet Waugh and public education in Kansas should not rule out a last minute slander campaign from Hall's right-wing friends, either.
Just a week before the 2002 election, a shadowy group called Truth in Politics sent a mailing to voters in the board's 9th District that called Van Meter's opponent, Val DeFever, an anti-President Bush liberal supported by an atheist organization.
Now, without crediting RSR, the Lawrence Journal World has picked up the story. According to the Journal World, Michael Peterson, chairman of the Wyandotte County Democratic Party, says that Hall is being used by the “radical right.”
“I assume he is being recruited by outside influences,” said Peterson, who is also a state legislator. “For some reason he has affiliated himself with the radical right.”
In the Journal World story, Hall comes out of the closet for the first time about his anti-science beliefs:
Hall tells the Journal World he supports the science standards adopted by the 6-4 radical right majority that criticize evolution.
“The way it was set up, evolution was the only thing that could be taught. That doesn’t allow a child to step outside the box so that they themselves learn how to think,” Hall said.
Even though they didn't credit us, RSR is glad that the Journal World is now covering the story. It's extremely important to get the word out about Hall. No supporter of public education should assume that just because Hall hasn't left his living room during this campaign that he -- like Iris Van Meter before him -- isn't raising scads of money and that his candidacy isn't being touted in certain right-wing circles and fundamentalist churches.
In fact, when Van Meter ran in 2002, she never appeared in public or spoke to the media and yet she out-raised every other candidate.
Supporters of Janet Waugh and public education in Kansas should not rule out a last minute slander campaign from Hall's right-wing friends, either.
Just a week before the 2002 election, a shadowy group called Truth in Politics sent a mailing to voters in the board's 9th District that called Van Meter's opponent, Val DeFever, an anti-President Bush liberal supported by an atheist organization.
