7.20.2007 | The lunatic fringe just got broader

I'm assuming that a columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a mainstream media outlet in guess where, would be considered, likewise, "mainstream." But it appears that the NutRoots run deep, and have infected at least one columnist. The newly-annointed NutRoots columnist is one Dan Simpson, and he gives obeisance to the Cindy Sheehan wing of the left wing of the left-wing party in this column.

Simpson's thesis appears to be that Dick Cheney has, somehow, ruined the 2008 election. Not by running -- but by not running. Then the man goes on to insult the Republicans running:

Instead of having an obvious man-in-waiting with bona fide White House experience to put forward with a decent prospect of winning in 2008, they have instead a large collection of flawed, unconvincing characters, three of whom don't believe in evolution, with a television actor who hasn't even declared as their great white hope.

Only a secularist would write that someone like Sam Brownback doesn't "believe" in evolution.

Some fact checking is in order. Here's what Sam Brownback has written recently about evolution:

The most passionate advocates of evolutionary theory offer a vision of man as a kind of historical accident. That being the case, many believers — myself included — reject arguments for evolution that dismiss the possibility of divine causality.

Ultimately, on the question of the origins of the universe, I am happy to let the facts speak for themselves. There are aspects of evolutionary biology that reveal a great deal about the nature of the world, like the small changes that take place within a species. Yet I believe, as do many biologists and people of faith, that the process of creation — and indeed life today — is sustained by the hand of God in a manner known fully only to him. It does not strike me as anti-science or anti-reason to question the philosophical presuppositions behind theories offered by scientists who, in excluding the possibility of design or purpose, venture far beyond their realm of empirical science.

Now, I'm hardly a fundamentalist, but I am a believer in God. And this statement by Senator Brownback is both logical and consistent with science.

But, hey, when you're a newly installed member of NutRoots, logic doesn't count for much. Finally, here's where Simpson joins the conspiracy branch of the NutRoots. Seems that George Bush and Dick Cheney are planning a coup:

There is also the late-at-night, eerie concern that Mr. Bush has in his head some sort of scenario where, for reasons of national security -- real or drummed up -- the '08 elections will have to be postponed and he will get to stay on. My suspicions have at their base the feeling I have that, given their operating style now, this bunch will not leave the White House easily in 2009.

To the barricades! NutRoots, grab your weapons. Oh, that's right. I forgot. You don't have weapons; only us members of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, us knuckle-dragging troglodyte believers in God have weapons.

Note to the NutRoots: go away, go someplace where they might appreciate you. Iran, perhaps? Understand that Cuba has some nifty health care if you've got U.S. dollars.