Why does the Texas school board keep attracting these kooks?

[Archae]

Texas State Board of Education Candidate is a Creationist Who Thinks Obama Was a “Male Prostitute”

February 13, 2016 by Hemant Mehta 100 Comments

The Texas Board of Education has long been a punchline for the rest of the country.

There was the time when it was led by Creationist Don McLeroy, who did all he could to dismantle the teaching of proper science in the classroom. There was the time after he left when the Board approved textbooks suggesting Moses influenced the writing of the Constitution. There was the time the Board was led by evolution-doubter Barbara Cargill. And we’re currently at a time when the Board is led by Liberty University graduate Donna Bahorich, who thinks so highly of public schools that she home-schooled her own kids before enrolling them in a private school.

Thomas Ratliff is one of the more moderate Republicans on the Board, but he’s not running for re-election. That means this coming year, there will be eight vacancies on the 15-member board. And one of the candidates trying to replace him is Mary Lou Bruner.

The Texas Freedom Network has the rundown on her, and it’s frightening:

Bruner has said evolution “is a religious philosophy with propaganda supporting the religion of Atheism,” and that scientists have ignored and hidden evidence that humans and dinosaurs walked the planet at the same time (screenshot).

…

Bruner thinks slavery was a minor issue in the Civil War. In July 2014 she wrote that historians were biased against the southern states and rewrote history books once everyone alive during the Civil War had died (screenshot). She also thinks there’s no need for Black History Month, Mexican-American History Month or any other formally recognition of the historical contributions of minorities to the United States (screenshot).

…

Why does President Obama support LGBT equality? That’s because the president is gay himself, Bruner says (screenshot)…

That’s just a sampling of her outrageous beliefs (and we haven’t even touched on her religious views). She’s a disaster in the wings for students in Texas, someone who could benefit from attending school, not running a statewide system of them.

Good luck with that, Texas. The Republican primary takes place March 1.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/02/13/texas-state-board-of-education-candidate-is-a-creationist-who-thinks-obama-was-a-male-prostitute/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=friendlyatheist_021416UTC050216_daily&utm_content=&spMailingID=50696231&spUserID=MTE4MTY1MzAzMTE5S0&spJobID=861751691&spReportId=ODYxNzUxNjkxS0

[HassleCat]

1. Texas has a power position.

They approve the text books for all the public schools in the state, and the other states pretty much follow their lead. That means a position on the Texas board influences what the kids read all over the country.

[HooptieWagon]

2. The religious right is active putting up candidates for school boards...

...and other local seats. And they turn out to vote for them, even in off-year elections. Dems need to do much better.