Must-See UPDATE to No Intelligent Life Here: Representative Paul Broun - R on Life As We Know It

UPDATE Friday, October 12, 2012 at 16:50 UTC.

You absopositutely must watch this clip from last night's Daily Show. Forgive the Ad.

This sorta thing makes me wanna puke, then find a country to live in that isn't overtly theocratic. Thanks to the Scientific American blog, Observations, and the Augusta Chronicle for this piece of good news on governance in the good ol' US of A.

The earth is about 9,000 years old, according to U.S. House Representative Paul Broun, who is also a physician and member of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology of the House of Representatives. 'There are a lot of scientific data that I’ve found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young earth,' Broun said in a videotape of the Sportsmen’s Banquet held on September 27 at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Georgia. 'I don’t believe that the earth is but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them.' (Scientific American)

'God’s Word is true,' Broun said, according to a video posted on the church’s Web site. 'I’ve come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell. And it’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who are taught that from understanding that they need a savior.' (Augusta Chronicle)

The most fascinating part of all this is that this guy thinks he's a scientist. According to the biography on his congressional web site, copied below, he went from being a jet mechanic in the armed forces to becoming a human body mechanic [A.K.A. M.D.]. Somewhere in there he must have found Science. Or, so he says. As you read the following, notice all of the stereotypically Republican associations. Ever wonder where stereotypes come from? Wonder no longer.

Rep. Paul Collins Broun, Jr. M.D. 

Representative Paul C. Broun, Jr. was elected in July of 2007 to serve the Tenth District of Georgia. Since his arrival in Congress, he has been appointed to the House Homeland Security Committee, the House Committee on Natural Resources, and currently serves as Chairman of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee for the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Dr. Broun grew up in Athens, Georgia where he attended Athens High School and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1967 with a B.S. in Chemistry. In 1971, he received his Medical Doctor degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. An internship at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon and a residency at University Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama followed. 

Dr. Broun served in the military as a jet engine mechanic in the U. S. Marine Corps Reserves and later received a commission as a medical officer in the U. S. Navy. 

For most of his career, Dr. Broun has practiced general medicine and, in 2002, he went out on his own, establishing a unique practice of full-time house calls. Dr. Broun enjoys the freedom of practicing medicine without bureaucratic encumbrances and has used his experience to introduce commonsense solutions to our nation’s health care financing crisis. 

Dr. Broun’s first exposure to politics came at the age of sixteen, when his father won a seat in the Georgia State Senate. Paul Broun Sr. represented the Athens area as a State Senator for 38 years. Later, Paul Jr. himself would become involved politically; first as a volunteer lobbyist for Safari Club International, a pro-hunting and conservation organization, then as a conservative Republican United States Representative. 

Dr. Broun participates in many diverse organizations and activities ranging from politics and religion to cooking and sports, including: the National Rifle Association, Gideons International, Rotary International, Trout Unlimited, Gun Owners of America and University of Georgia President’s Club. He was the founding President of the Georgia Republican Assembly, and President of the Georgia Sport Shooting Association (the NRA state affiliate). Dr. Broun is an avid outdoorsman, having a passion for conservation, hunting, fishing, and Second Amendment rights. 

Dr. Broun has been married to his wife Niki since 1985 and has two grown daughters, a son and two grandchildren. The Brouns are members of Prince Avenue Baptist Church in Athens, where Dr. Broun formerly served as an AWANA children’s ministry leader. He is active in the Gideon ministry and, in 2004, he participated in a mission trip to Iraq. 

As the 112th Congress moves forward, look for Dr. Broun to lead the charge for fiscal responsibility as he works to cut wasteful government spending, remove burdensome and unconstitutional mandates, and restores a constitutionally-limited government. (http://broun.house.gov/biography/)

Practices medicine free from bureaucratic encumbrances? You mean, like, guidelines and shit? After all, the AMA is a bureaucracy. Ethics committees? Bureaucracies. Golly! I wonder where he comes down on a woman's right to choose.

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