Dineysore Park Exerts Bizarre Influence Over Politicos

What is it about the Flintstones Truther Dineysore Park planned for north-central Kentucky that turns smart politicians stupid and stupid ones even stupider?

The latest official to pledge allegiance to the freakazoids is state Sen. Damon Thayer, who represents the county where the park supposedly is to be built. Thayer is not actively stupid, like Rep. Jim Gooch, but he's a repug of the Limbaugh variety with too-visible ambition. He may be eyeing the Senate Presidency in the hope the current incumbent, David Williams, either wins the gubernatorial race or loses so horrifically he has to resign.

None of which explains how he can actually believe the bullshit he's spouting about the Ark Encounter.

Media Czech:

Here's State Sen. Damon Thayer gushing to Ryan Alessi yesterday about Ken Ham's giant boat with dinosaurs on it (up to 2:36 below):

Nice to know that Steve Beshear can find common ground with Damon Thayer over something besides the coal companies' right to pollute Kentucky as much as they want to without the EPA getting on our back.

As for those of you who thought facts and reality might prevail in the supposedly non-political precincts of the Tourism Development Finance Authority - what state did you think you were in?

Media Czech was there and witnessed:

Just returned from Frankfort, where the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority just unanimously approved up to $43 million in tax breaks for Ken Ham to build a giant boat with dinosaurs that a 600-year old man herded onto it, plus an estimated $11 million in tax payer money to build road improvements for it.

Take a bow, Steve Beshear, take a bow.

The meeting began with independent consultant Rob Hunden presenting his findings on Ark Encounter. His precise mission was to see if Ark Encounter met the requirements of the Kentucky Tourism Development Act so that it could receive up to $43 million in tax breaks.

Long story short, Hunden said that it met the requirements, and the board unanimously approved the motion to green light Ark Encounter after 2 minutes of questioning. Jobs and boats and Tower of Babbles and dinosaurs for all!

But here's the long story.

SNIP

Based on these fantastical numbers, Hunden gave it a full thumbs up, and the Authority's board quickly voted in favor of approving Ark Encounter's application unanimously.

SNIP

I spoke with Gil Lawson (KY's Tourism spokesperson) and asked if there was any concern about damaging the reputation of Kentucky by giving a government stamp of approval and tax breaks/funding towards building a giant boat with dinosaurs on it. He claimed that it shouldn't be an issue, because there are lots of different successful parks, including ones that have talking mice with big ears. The only problem with that line of thinking, though, is that a park with a talking mouse is presented as fantasy, and it's also more plausible than a 600-year old man herding a saddled T-Rex onto a giant boat a few thousand years ago. So there's that.

SNIP

So there you have it, a proud day for Kentucky. And a proud day for Steve Beshear's re-election campaign this year, as he is very busy creating jobs. Jobs on a boat with dinosaurs.

Take a bow, take a bow.

UPDATE: Americans United for Separation of Church and State released this statement:

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today blasted officials in Kentucky for their decision to award more than $40 million in tax incentives to a theme park centered around Noah’s Ark.

A fundamentalist Christian group sought the aid to erect a so-called “Ark Park” in Williamstown. Gov. Steve Beshear backed the scheme, saying it would bring jobs to the state.

Americans United says that’s not a good enough reason for the state to promote a religious enterprise like the Ark Park, which is being constructed in conjunction with evangelist Ken Hamm’s Answers in Genesis ministry.

“The state of Kentucky should not be promoting the spread of fundamentalist Christianity or any other religious viewpoint,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Let these folks build their fundamentalist Disneyland without government help.”

The controversial park will include a full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark and models of dinosaurs, which Hamm insists were carried on the famous biblical boat. Answers in Genesis, a prominent creationist ministry with an annual budget of $20 million, believes that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, that dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time and that unicorns once existed – ideas utterly rejected by mainstream science. (Answers in Genesis already operates a Creationism Museum in Kentucky.)

The state aid to the new park is coming mainly in the form of tax incentives under the Kentucky Tourism Development Act. The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority met this afternoon and approved the aid.

Lynn said AU will investigate whether the tax package violates the constitutional separation of church and state. But the funding is bad policy, he said, regardless of the legal questions.

“Beshear wants to launch this ark on a sea of tax breaks – money that will ultimately have to be made up by Kentucky taxpayers,” Lynn said. “This misguided project deserves to sink.”

Lynn added, “I feel sorry for the children of Kentucky. At a time when they should be learning modern science, their public officials are subsidizing fundamentalist religion.”

Read the whole stunning thing.