theyeti

I'd be willing to bet the latter. Most neocons don't really believe the crap from the religious right, they just cynically go along with it to maintain their power base. Lee Attwater, a former strategist for Regan, used to refer to the religious right as "the extra chromosome crowd". Now the extra chromosome crowd is calling the shots for the Republicans.

Keep in mind also that on Crossfire, Carlson is probably duty bound to take the conservative side, or at least make it look more respectable. He didn't really advance any arguments for ID, just the "why not give equal time?" argument, which seems like a reasonable compromise if you don't really care about science education to begin with. In all likelihood, Carlson accepts evolution but would be willing to let IDists get their foot in the door if it placates the religious right.

theyeti

bluefugue

It's a heavy burden, when one dons the George Will bowtie.

Grumpy

I actually quit watching after Paul Begala dragged out Dawkins' "creationists are stupid or insane" quote. The problem (as I feared) is that no one would address the subtlety of the ID tactic; they simply assumed it was equivalent to traditional religious creationism. It is, of course, but it would be wise to establish that fact first. Luckily (based on the transcript), everyone on the panel made the same assumption, so it was not a debateable point.

Technically, I quit watching after the FRC guy mentioned the "marketplace of ideas." This sounds like a wonderful concept to a lay-person, but is totally anti-scientific. Facts and theories don't compete for popularity like soda pop; they stand or fall based on the data. Good luck selling that idea to the public.