KennethClark.us

By: CNN Political Reporter Peter Hamby

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) – Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann explained her skepticism of evolution on Friday and said students should be taught the theory of intelligent design.

Bachmann, a congresswoman from Minnesota, also proposed a major overhaul of the nation’s education system and said state administrators should be able to decide how they spend money allocated to them by the federal government.

“I support intelligent design,” Bachmann told reporters in New Orleans following her speech to the Republican Leadership Conference. “What I support is putting all science on the table and then letting students decide. I don’t think it’s a good idea for government to come down on one side of scientific issue or another, when there is reasonable doubt on both sides.”

Intelligent design suggests that the complexity of the universe cannot be explained by evolution alone, and must also be attributed to a creator or supernatural being.

“I would prefer that students have the ability to learn all aspects of an issue,” Bachmann said. “And that’s why I believe the federal government should not be involved in local education to the most minimal possible process.”

Bachmann said educators should be granted the flexibility – and the money – to make curriculum decisions at the local level.

The federal government, she said, should “block grant all money currently that goes to the states back to the states, so that Louisiana can decide how they want to spend the money, which may in fact be different on how Minnesota spends its money.”

She said her proposal would cut out “billions in dollars of bureaucracy” from the federal government.

Temple Mount in Jerusalem

One of the most prominent Israeli archaeologists declared today that remains from the First and Second Jewish Temple period – including the Second Temple itself – lie underneath the Temple Mount surface, just waiting to be excavated.

Dr. Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University accused the site’s Islamic custodians of destroying Jewish artifacts while attempting to turn the Temple Mount into a “giant mosque.”

“I think we will find all the remains starting from the First Temple period and remains of the Temple itself,” said Mazar, a third-generation archeologist. “I mean, no one took it out, it’s there.”

Mazar said she is “absolutely sure” remains from the First and Second Temple periods, including “the Second Temple itself,” as well as later remains from the Byzantine and early Islamic periods, are just under the surface of the Temple Mount.

Continued Mazar: “I am absolutely sure, in light of my very rich experience excavating Jerusalem for 30 years now, all these remains are waiting to be revealed. And if it can’t be done nowadays because of all kinds of sensitivities, at least we should take care that it won’t be ruined for future excavations when time comes.”