Bradley Byrne, Alabama Gubernatorial Candidate, Attacked For Supporting Evolution (VIDEO)

In most of your local and regional races, when a Republican group wants to assail its Democratic opponents, it's a good bet that it will lead off by mentioning support for tax increases. Not so in Alabama! In that state, taxes take a back seat to your opponent's claim that science is real.

That's what's going on in the Alabama gubernatorial race, where Republican candidate Bradley Byrne -- who switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP in 1997 -- is running in the GOP primary against about a half dozen others, including Ten Commandments fetishist Roy Moore and C-list xenophobe Tim James. But the latest bedeviler of Byrne is the True Republican PAC, which has released an ad criticized Byrne for supporting evolution.

Actual adults did this:

Of course, Byrne has degrees from Duke University and the University of Alabama, and he most recently served as the Chancellor of Alabama's Community College System, so I'm sure that he is going to respond to this nonsense in a manner befitting a modern educator who matriculated at some serious academic institutions, right?

As a Christian and as a public servant, I have never wavered in my belief that this world and everything in it is a masterpiece created by the hands of God. As a member of the Alabama Board of Education, the record clearly shows that I fought to ensure the teaching of creationism in our school text books.

Well, fantastic.

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Comments

[Deckard1138]

01:36 AM on 06/20/2010

Wow, some of these Taliban folk sure do talk funny.

[JustlikeMercury]

10:03 PM on 06/02/2010

When I saw this ad, I feared that it would get out of state. Now he's in the run-offs. Glad I'm a little blue dot in a big red state.

[Bruckley]

07:16 PM on 06/02/2010

When will all the old rural evangelicals just die already?

[derekc06]

06:47 PM on 06/02/2010

scary..

[gulfcoastgull]

03:05 PM on 05/19/2010

There are progressive democrats in Alabama, but they don't make the headlines because they are not a good story. This story is much more about the gop than about Alabama.

[xmlman]

03:45 PM on 05/18/2010

What do you want?? It's Alabama. First in teenage pregnancy, first in high school dropouts. "Hey, we're number one." Where else can you go in the US where having an edumacation is actually minus on your resume.

[gypsylcd]

01:36 PM on 05/18/2010

Evolution isn't the best explanation for whoever dreamed up this ad.

[caterpol]

03:02 PM on 05/17/2010

When logic and reason are seen as detriments, you can bet this country is in trouble.

I'm quite sure that fancy book learnin' leads to dancing with the devil in Alabammy, but here in the real world, book learnin' is considered part of a well-rounded education.

How scary that any American would consider voting for a candidate who thinks that smart people---that ideas----are inherently evil.

[TeraWatt60]

01:33 PM on 05/17/2010

In Alabama when/if kids watch Flintstone reruns I wonder how many GOP parents yell at them to stop watching "them boring documentaries, if I want to listen to them I'll go to church"

[hagagaga]

11:41 AM on 05/17/2010

Creationists are morons.

[319]

04:07 PM on 05/12/2010

Creationist should be required to wear some kind of symbol to allow people whose brains haven't been washed to be aware of the ignorance around them.

flat-Earthers were common and fought the truth just as these creationist do. People who denounce evolution do not want to know the truth. They are blissful in their ignorance. It sad that in the 21st century there are still candidates who fear telling their potential constituents that they believe in evolution.

When will science be respected again. Without science, a large percent of our technology, medical advancements, and our understanding of nature and the universe would never have occurred. We would still be living in the dark ages just as those conservative idiots from Alabama are if science were rejected 30 years ago like it is today.

[hagagaga]

11:41 AM on 05/17/2010

No, creationists shouldn't be required to wear such a symbol. That's a Nazi plan.

Creationist should only be educated out of society.

[Soulf2]

04:14 PM on 05/18/2010

Ohh the irony... No one is requiring creationists wear such a symbol. That would truly be and evil thing to do. Besides, most creationist already have volunteered and DO wear their symbol. Many even add a symbol to their vehicles so you can recognize them from a distance.
;)

[StarrGazerr]

03:17 PM on 05/12/2010

I'm not sure which is a better indicator of the complete lack of rational thought in the state of Alabama - that someone came up with this ridiculous attack, or that it worked! Kind of reminds me of the story that Claude Pepper won his first election by accusing his opponent of being a "practicing homo sapien".

[rbrown5518]

03:00 PM on 05/12/2010

***Based on U.S. Census data, Alabama's high school graduation rate – 75% – is the second lowest in the United States (after Mississippi)... but this dose not explain why Albanians want to dumb-down the next Gov.... it's like explaining Dinosaurs in the Bible!

The Behemoth and Leviathan can not be the answer

[Todd Surfs]

11:51 PM on 05/12/2010

"Alabamans" live in the state of Alabama, in the United States of America, on the North American continent.

"Albanians" live in Albania, a country in Eastern Europe.

However, I, too am baffled why Albanians would want to interfere in the government of a state located on a different continent from their own.

It would seem that an ability to cite data "dose" [sic] not indicate a familiarity with geography nor basic proofreading skills.

50 points for content / 25 for stylistic sloppiness. Don't "dumb-down" next time; instead, "wise-up" to avoid having basic theme rejected out of hand for sloppy errors.

C+

[Bama Girl]

04:15 PM on 05/17/2010

Danm if your gonna criticize my state AT LEAST SPELL DOES Properly

Dose is not DOES................

and I'm still trying to figure out what the heck Albanians have to do with Alabama

[Tyrione]

02:48 PM on 05/12/2010

Teddy Roosevelt would have a field day with the idiots in today's GOP. There was a reason he split with them in the early 20th century. Today he'd be despised by the Far Right and praised by the Left.

[JailNeoconVicts]

02:32 PM on 05/12/2010

Wow. Censored by telling it like it is: the sane US would be better off if the south just seceded again. We'd gladly let you go this time.

[Barnicle23]

03:18 PM on 05/17/2010

Since they take all our tax money and then whine about Gubmint spending, I am all for it!