Completely Depressing

So in this morning's paper (and online news sources) covered the first Republican primary "debate". 10 of the 13 declared Republican candidates were there including all of the "big names". Normally, it would be alittle too early (!) for me to start monitoring these events in much detail, but the teaser on the front page forced me to read the extended article and coverage inside (and then seek out online accounts to see if it was true) The teaser said something to the effect that one participant expressed support (or at least a willingness to accept) Roe v. Wade (not at all surprising...Giuliani) but here comes the kicker three declared that they did not believe in evolution. Here's the quote from the Tribune (although you can find similiar at any news agency) "The field split on another issue, with Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo raising their hands when moderator Chris Matthews asked who did not believe in evolution."

These are three men that arguably think they are qualified to run the country and (if you read Drew's blog) be the most influential person in the world (which I would agree with... I think the president of the United States is clearly pretty influential) Back to the point, these three men think that the are smart/experienced/insightful/logical enough to run the country/world. And yet, do not believe in evolution.
As someone who is currently spending hours on a take home midterm on human variation which includes alot of really complicated and difficult formulas measuring different things (ALL RELATED TO EVOLUTION), I'm struck dumb. I thought, well, maybe I should just turn my midterm in and write on it, I don't believe in this. This is the second class I've had that is devoted to understanding/analyzing/studying human evolution/demographic history as it is important in studying disease to understand how disease alleles originate and their frequency. However, in the fall, I took a class ENTITLED molecular Evolution. I didn't learn aton... but Here's the point: there is No debate whatsoever about "does evolution exist". Saying you don't believe in it makes you sound asininely stupid. Makes me wonder what the heck am I doing. My thesis (and if not mine all of the others in the department) will have a large component dealing with evolution or the evolutionary signature of a particular gene. It just boggles my mind. And arguably being president probably doesn't require an in-depth scientific understanding. However, that fact that you would say you don't believe, for example, "the earth is round" in my mind makes me question your overall ability to make good decisions.