Anti-Science Candidate Susan Hutchison Mocks Richard Dawkins

October 22, 2009 By Guest Contributor 18 Comments

A couple months ago, I posted about Susan Hutchison, a former news anchor from Seattle, Washington who is running for King County Executive (sort of like a mayor). This is a position that has given rise to future governors of Washington state, so it’s not a seat to be taken lightly.

What was weird was that her bio said the following:

Since leaving KIRO Hutchison has been very, very busy. She has her own consulting business. She is the executive director for the Charles Simonyi Fund for the arts and sciences which among other things, supports the work of atheist Richard Dawkins. She’s also served on the board of the Discovery Institute, which promotes the idea of intelligent design…

So is she for good science or against it? Who knows.

One thing’s for certain: She isn’t a fan of Dawkins. There’s video of her telling a story of Dawkins getting “unglued” as she testifies about how God created everything and how Jesus let us know about him…

A few students made an ad showing the video of her talk, adding in a few dramatic reenactments :)

I think it makes for a more entertaining campaign ad, to say the least.

She’s obviously conservative — a Sarah Palin in waiting — but in this context, I’m concerned about her views on science.

She doesn’t accept it. That alone should make her unqualified to run for public office.

I don’t care so much about her faith — plenty of Christians accept evolution — but King County residents should publicize her anti-science views as much as possible. Someone ask her how old the Earth is. Ask her why she worked for the Discovery Institute. Ask her what she plans to do for science education in the Seattle (and surrounding) area. Get it on videotape.

There’s plenty of time to make sure Hutchison doesn’t get elected to the position she wants.

(Thanks to Valerie for the link!)

Filed Under: General, Politics, Pseudoscience 18 Comments
  • muggle

    Why in hell would anyone seize on a fancy dinner as an opportunity to expound on God? Christ, almighty! Does the woman have any class?

  • http://christyagonzalez.blogspot.com/ Christy

    She took his face in her hands?! Who does that? That is so inappropriate, I can’t understand why anyone would admit this so cavalierly.

  • River

    I wish I could vote against her, but I live in a neighboring county. I’ll tip off my friends to her anti-science views, though I don’t think any of them would vote for her anyway.

  • http://www.spaces.live.com/awaypoint Valerie Tarico

    This woman spoke at the “Governor’s Prayer Breakfast” right before declaring her candidacy. Her speech would have made Rick Warren proud. I actually used it as the basis for a recent Huffington Post article: Speaking Evangelese – Tips for Politicians. She’s the real deal.

  • MacCrocodile

    “Vote for the other guy.” Nice. It’s really sad that it’s his greatest qualification that he’s not Susan Hutchison. His name is Dow Constantine, by the way, and he actually is qualified, but not as much as Susan Hutchison is wildly under-qualified and over-popular. I am so scared the voters are going to fall for it.

    In fact, there are four major items on my ballot this year (Referendum 71, I-1033, Seattle mayor, and King County executive), and only one of them–Ref. 71–leaves me confident that it’ll go the right way, based on polling. Democracy makes me sad and tense.

  • justanotherjones

    I think the only reason she’s so popular was because she was on teevee for awhile and has some name recognition.

    I, too, live in another county so I won’t be able to “vote for the other guy”, either. I have been listening to her interviews on NPR, though, and I really don’t think she’s qualified for the job. Her answers to questions are often vague.

  • Colin

    Could someone like this really win in Seattle? I’ve always thought of the city as something of a liberal hub…

  • Matt
  • Fastthumbs

    Yes, someone like this could win in KING County.

    As progressive as Seattle is, King county tends to be the opposite.

    Not exactly the King County executavie seat, but in 1988, the WA state Republicans chose Pat Robinson (not Bush Senior) for the presidential candidate… Shows you how ass backwards the Republicans tend to be here.

  • http://hoverfrog.wordpress.com hoverFrog

    I love how “Sarah Palin” has become an acceptable phrase for anyone who is religiously embarrassing to the point of insanity. I wonder if she will find herself in the Oxford English Dictionary one day. ;)

  • GullWatcher

    It doesn’t often get made this simple. If he’s telling the truth, I most certainly won’t vote for her. If she’s telling the truth, I most certainly won’t vote for her. It’s a win/win situation, or possibly more of a lose/lose one in her case.

    One thing not mentioned here is how she has fought to distance herself from the Republican party. She insists she herself is a moderate, and not a Republican, rejecting the label repeatedly in interviews. Her positions and history says otherwise.

    Well, except possibly in one regard – despite her newfound interest in politics, she has seldom bothered to vote for the last eight years.

  • AxeGrrl

    Perhaps this is superficial of me…..

    but I’m automatically ‘suspect’ of anyone who has that many DaVinci veneers.

    Combine that with being a Dubya supporter and my “Danger, Will Robinson!” meter goes off the charts.

  • http://musingsbye.blogspot.com e

    I have filled out my ballot, and even the Republicans I chat with at my gym are not voting for her (I am clinging to the notion that this means something).

  • Mike

    Her story is obviously largely fabricated. Her story has grown a lot more grandiose with each telling and she has told it a lot of times. No one puts their hands around the face of a stranger in a public setting and lectures about the importance of Jesus. I’m sure the audience loved it, but it just didn’t happen that way.

  • Karen

    Evangelicals believe that the name of Jesus has special powers and that it provokes the ungodly into fits of rage (it’s really the demons inside them, you know!).

    Her assertion that Dawkins came unglued when the name of the savior was mentioned falls right into that meme. I’m sure her audience was eating it up.

    The comparison with Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann seems right on – attractive, camera-ready airheads who look harmless but are really dangerous religious activists.

  • http://mattstone.blogs.com Matt Stone

    That alone should make her unqualified to run for public office.

    Why? It may ensure she looses the race but why should it exclude her from the race? Could you cite a legal principle on which you would base this suggestion?

  • Mark

    The video has been removed, due to a ‘copyright claim by the Washington Public Affairs Network’. Anyone got an alternative link?

  • http://friendlyatheist.com Hemant

    Why? It may ensure she looses the race but why should it exclude her from the race? Could you cite a legal principle on which you would base this suggestion?

    Matt — I don’t mean that, legally, she shouldn’t be allowed to run. I mean that in the voters’ eyes, her anti-science views should make them not want to vote for her.