Mike Argento, a columnist for the York Daily Record, the local newspaper in Dover, Pennsylvania, had some amusing thoughts on the testimony of Rob Pennock:
Wednesday morning, as day three of the Dover Panda Trial meandered into discussions of stoner logic and street cred, one of the lawyers for the school district, Patrick Gillen, asked Robert Pennock, a philosopher of science from Michigan State University and a serious, serious brainiac, whether the idea of "intelligent design" was a Big Ten theory.
Pennock -- who, I can't stress this enough, is an incredible brainiac -- looked puzzled. It was clear that he had never heard of any connection between the idea of intelligent design and what some consider the best college football conference in the country. He paused for a moment and then spoke, kind of haltingly.
"As a member of a Big Ten school, I should know that," he said.
Gillen clarified.
"I said 'big tent,'" he said.
But when you think about, in the context of Pennock's testimony and his academic cred, intelligent design really isn't a Big Ten idea. It's more of a Conference USA idea.
I guess the gushing over Rob's intellect suggests that he did pretty well on the witness stand. That's certainly no surprise to those who know him. Rob is undoubtedly one of the smartest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. All I can say is it isn't gonna get any easier for the TMLC attorneys. I know most of the experts for the plaintiffs and as a group they are scary smart. When Ken Miller, a man who is truly a genius, is your leadoff hitter, you've got a hell of a lineup. And just once, wouldn't you love to see "Serious Brainiac" on a resume or curriculum vitae?
Thank you for covering this trial Ed.
We've got our own ID fight going on here in KS, so I'm paying close attention to this.