See if you can decode this statement by John McCain to an MTV audience:

“Every young American should be exposed to every point of view. I’m not saying [intelligent design] should be taught in science classes. But I’m saying young people should be exposed to it. I also believe that God had a hand in creation. I certainly don’t believe the Earth was created in seven days. But when I stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon and look at that grandeur, I detect the hand of God there in the time before time. I see no reason why students should not be exposed to all theories, recognizing that Darwin’s theory’s certainly one that is generally accepted in most of the scientific community. I think it’s not inappropriate to say there are also people who believe this. Let the student decide.”

This is what I hear: “Intelligent design blah blah blah I’m not getting behind this BS but I want to at least minimally please the right wing core blah blah blah students rock.”

I mean, really–“let the students decide”? Decide what? Not whether to have ID in science class according to his earlier statement, but if not that, then what? Or is this code for “ID is not science and doesn’t belong in the science class but let’s get it in anyway wink wink”? In a true academic environment, the students don’t decide the curriculum–but then, McCain’s statement was probably never intended to mean that students should have any say, but rather that parents, and through them, right-wing school boards and churches should. Steve Benen commented on this aptly:

In related news, McCain said he’d like to see students decide whether to believe the earth is flat, the South won the Civil War, the value of pi is exactly 3, and one can contract the AIDS virus through tears and sweat.

Maybe all the parents who want their children to learn only what is popular and/or approved by the church or the right wing should get together and occupy a deep-red state so only their kids get this claptrap. And then they can collectively wonder at why their kids score lowest on tests, and can’t think straight or get jobs when they grow up.

On the other hand, probably McCain’s “let the students decide” is more like a general utterance designed just to please students and the MTV crowd. Just as the “ID is not science” to please those who want science to be secular, and “the hand of God” to please the fundies. You can’t please everyone but it really sounds like McCain is trying.

That makes you believe he’ll probably try a run for the presidency in 2008. And he’d be the smart choice for the GOP–but he also clearly is not willing to give the fundies what they demand, which is full obeisance and compliance. They’re willing to forgive a veneer of independence, but not nearly as much actual free agency as McCain would probably need. Which means they may get Frist and trash McCain, in the style of when they backed Bush. Which would be great; while McCain is probably the least objectionable Republican to Democrats, he’s also too much of a party man and a GOP apologist to stem the tremendous damage that the GOP would continue to inflict on the country. He’d be a hundred times better than Bush, but he’d still be bad as he’d fully enable the GOP. And if someone like Frist were the candidate, the Dems would stand a much better chance of winning.