Science denier Marco Rubio is a rising Republican star?

Marco Rubio’s willfully ignorant and craven denial about the age of the earth shows how captive the Republican Party is to the lunatic fringe and what a coward he is for not standing up to them. And he’s supposed to be the best and brightest of a new generation of Republicans?

GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?

Marco Rubio: I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.

Actually, it’s not a mystery at all. Something called “science” has a quite good answer to this puzzle which seemingly baffles Rubio. Actually, I don’t think he’s baffled at all but rather just a slithering little weasel of a politician not willing to speak truth because it might upset a few knuckle-draggers in his party.

EU journalist Andy Carling on Facebook.

This is the man tipped to be the moderniser of the Republican Party. They’re in worse shape than we thought. Note the ‘many theories’ bit. There aren’t. There’s one theory, which is tested against data. Then there’s unscientific nonsense.

Some used to believe (and maybe still do) that the earth rests of the back of a turtle and that it’s turtles all the way down. That they believe it does not make it so. “Every lunacy has a champion to defend it.”