The timo-theocrats

Now that the president has endorsed equal time for teaching so-called "intelligent design" theory (sic) on the same footing with evolution theory, the takeover of this country by religious ideologues is virtually complete. If, as promised, Mr. Bush eventually vetoes on religious grounds legislation permitting [by precious little] expanded federal funding for stem-cell research, it's a done deal. For the first time in U.S. history, we will have, without doubt, a "timocratic theocracy" on our hands -- rule by the wealthy religious, or timo-theocrats, as we're dubbing them ("timocracy" = rule by the rich).

This is not the first time in history that some combination of piety and plunder has controlled the levers of national power. Our ancestors came to the New World in large measure to evade the tribulations of such rule, which invariably ends badly for a large segment of the citizenry, prompting either fleeing or fighting. Of course, Mr. Bush shows absolutely no awareness of the history of Western civilization or the dangers that his extremist policies pose to the fabric of our society. Even if he did, however, there's no reason to believe it would moderate his ideological arrogance. When you have both God AND Mammon on your team, you really have little incentive to second-guess yourself.

Ironically, given the historic instability of timocracies [popular resentment of hard-headed rich rulers inevitably leads to revolution], the Bush legacy likely will serve as counter-proof of any actual intelligent design in the universe. One must ask: If this bunch of timo-theocrats, for Pete's sake, is the best the universe can come up with at the end of these millennia of intelligent designing, just what kind of intelligence, pray tell, is in charge here?

["Intelligent design" is not a theory, by the way, and therefore is incapable of being compared to the theory of evolution. A theory, by definition, can be tested and conceivably falsified. "Intelligent design" is susceptible to neither testing nor falsification. It can only be asserted–which, when you think about it, is perfectly consistent with the operating style of the timo-theocrats running things these days.]