forwarded the fruit of its not-too-streniiousrnlabor to the ten-member KBE for thernrubber stamp. But the KBE (or “layrnboard,” as the “experts” contemptuouslyrndubbed it) held certain reservationsrnabout the wisdom of conforming Kansasrnto a nationalized educational standard ofrnthe “Goals 2000” variety. Furthermore,rnsome members objected to the presentationrnof the theory of evolution as one ofrnfive “fundamental” concepts uniting allrnscientific disciplines.rnAs the vote approached last May, KBErnmember Steven Abrahms presented arnslightly modified version of the standardsrnthat allowed for an exploration of the fullrnrange of theories about origins and biologicalrnchange, including the involvementrnof an “intelligent designer.” Fivernconservatives rallied around this revisionrnand five liberals (or as the media wouldrnsay, “moderates”) opposed it. Thus beganrna long, hot summer of deadlock thatrnculminated in a revealing public hearing.rnFor two consecutive days, Kansansrnof every sort—from Mennonite farmersrnto pin-striped professionals—took turnsrnat the microphone to voice their supportrnfor the conservative modification. A farrnsmaller number—typically condescendingrnacademics—expressed their outragernthat the ignorant masses should dare tornquestion scientific orthodoxy, meddlernwith public education, or otherwise takernseriously the prerogatives of citizenship.rnThis was apparently enough to drive thernmild-mannered vice chairman of thernKBE, Harold Voth, to break ranks andrnwork out a deal with conservative membersrnSteven Abrahms and Scott Hill. Thernnew standards passed by a vote of six tornfour on August 11.rnThe substance of this accommodationrnwas apparently too subtle for most reportersrnto grasp—much less explain. ThernKBE recognized a logical distinction betweenrn”microevolution” (meaning observable,rnadaptive changes within arnspecies) and “macroevolution” (meaningrntheoretical changes of greater scope). Inrnthe end, the board simply voted to leavernthe issue of macroevolution to the discretionrnof each of the state’s 304 school districts.rnThe KBE’s chairman at the time,rnLinda Holloway, summed it up: “I thinkrnlocal people can make good decisions.”rnBased on previous coverage, I expectedrnto find word of this result buried thernfollowing day on page 6B of the KansasrnCity Star, but instead it made the frontrnpage. Then the New York Times turned itrninto a lead story, and the call for a massiverncounteroffensive reverberated throughrnthe foreign press. The BBC aired anrneight-minute feature. Back home, editorialistsrnfrom coast to coast had fits. Therntalk-show comics started in. Televisionrnphilosopher Hugh Downs wrote a personalrnrebuke. Roger Ebert emerged fromrnhis screening room to ball a chubby fist.rnFashionable academics everywhere gavernnotice that people educated in Kansasrnwere soon to become a backward tribe ofrnstinkards unfit for college admission. Arncompany out on the left coast soundedrnthe call to divest and avoid doing businessrnwith Kansas altogether. Assortedrncranks vowed never to drive through thernstate again. On August 23, Time devotedrnits cover and most of its ink to a “How WernBecame Human” issue featuring a tediousrnseries of articles packed with pseudoscientificrnspeculation about the lovesrnand lifestyles of extinct apes. And, ofrncourse, the ACLU threatened to sue.rnIn short, almost anybody worth havingrnfor an enemy has taken potshots atrnKansas over this, and that’s made mernproud to be here. For in the annals of thernLong Rout that is the Culture War, thisrnrepresents one of the few success storiesrnfor friends of the Old Republic. Given itsrninauspicious start as an asylum-like territoryrncrawling with warmongering socialrngospelers, transcendentalist Red Republicans,rnand spirit-rapping Yankee schoolmarms,rnKansas has had nowhere to gornbut rightward. Today, the state is rifernwith homeschoolers, pro-lifers, and taxresisters.rnThere’s even a group of westernrncounties that has hatched a secessionrnmovement. Not content with one of thernmore conservative congressional delegationsrnin the nation, the social conservativesrnof the state Republican Party havernmore than once allowed a Democrat tornwin an election rather than compromiserntheir principles with the liberal, countryclubrnRepublicans who still hold most ofrnthe money and power here.rnOf course, those liberal Republicansrnare still sufficiently unctuous and NewrnEngland-addled to side with the statistsrnand trendy intellectuals on this issue,rnas on most everything else. Gov. BillrnGraves called the KBE’S decision “terrible,rnembarrassing.” “Boy, Kansas is reallyrnthe laughingstock of the world now,”rngroused state Sen. Rich Becker. “Therernhas been a serious breach of commonrnsense,” contributed state Rep. RalphrnTanner, before joining a delegation thatrnran to the governor with a scheme for appointingrnthe KBE instead of electing it.rnPerhaps realizing that he and his croniesrnhad been installed by those same moronrnyokels who had elected the school board.rnGovernor Graves prudently curled intornthe political equivalent of the fetal positionrnand left Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer to takernthe cake with a remonstration worthy of arnNew York neocon: “Literally, I cannotrnoverstate how damaging this is to the staternin terms of business.”rnYes, well. On top of that impossible-tooverstaterndamage, the involvement ofrnparents in the schooling of their ownrnchildren, and the public challenging ofrnscientistic authorit}’ on matters ontological,rnthe rulers found themselves treatedrnto the totally unexpected failure of theirrnmost powerful ideological weapon: thernInherit the Wind m}’th. Normally, whenrnone of these hearings comes up, all thernpowers-that-be need do to shame thernpeasants into submission is frame the debaternin the terms of that preposterouslyrninaccurate Broadway play about the 1925rnScopes trial. And considering that itsrn1960 cinematic knockoff was shown to sornmany of them in public schools as a documentary,rnwhat other outcome couldrnthey imagine but a reprise of the scenernwhere Frederic March, as William JenningsrnBryan, apoplectically croaks of arnfundamentalist fit right there on therncourtroom floor? Never mind that it didrnnot happen. The evangelists of evolutionrnare not known for attempting to offer arnsystematic, empirical case for theirrnclaims when a lie, a smear, or a cheaprnshot will do the trick. But this time it didrnnot. To the frustration of the elites, andrnthe obvious chagrin of their amen-shoutingrnaccomplices in the media, the localsrndid not stick to the script. Instead ofrnswearing the earth was flat and handlingrnpizeri snakes, these no-nonsense peoplernof the plains onlv proved to be civil, articulate,rnand eager to grapple with the controversyrnat the local level.rnBy itself, this was not enough to sendrnthe elites into a panic. What really gotrnthem was the realization that their invinciblerntrump card—a judicial smackdownrnof popular will based on a lunatic-left interpretationrnof the First Amendment—rnwas not up to the job of gagging the dissenters.rnBecause the KBE didn’t vote tornrequire schools to teach that God createdrnmatter, the earth, life, or mankind—andrnbecause it never voted to prohibit teachingrnthat these things evolved through random,rnpurposeless natural processes, eitherrn—the usual anti-Christian litigationrngroups have had to content themselvesrnlULY 2000/37rnrnrn