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Sarasota News Leader OPINION November 23, 2012 If he truly believes that, he is not fit to repre- sent the people of Florida, much less become President of the United States. It is ironic that Republicans lambasted Presi- dent Obama throughout the recent campaign for his unwillingness to embrace their belief in "American exceptionalism" — that the United States is the greatest nation on earth. Yet, how can our nation be "exceptional" — at least in a good way — when, according to a recent Gal- lup poll, 46 percent of the American people believe, in contravention of all established sci- entific evidence, that the planet is only 6,000 to 10,000 years old? Incredibly, this conversation is being had in the 21st century, not the Middle Ages. Every achievement of the past hundred years — medical breakthroughs, space exploration, even skyscrapers — is rooted in the intricate interconnection of bedrock scientific princi- ples. Physics, biology, paleontology, geolo- gy, chemistry — all are contingent upon the scientist's understanding and acceptance of the physical properties of the planet and all life that exists upon it. To limit oneself to the belief that our planet literally was created in six days only a few thousand years ago is the scientific equivalent of entering a track meet with one's right hand roped to one's left ankle. In other words, failure is the inevitable result. If the United States is even to survive in the global economy — let alone be the greatest na- tion on the planet — it must produce the most capable physicists, mathematicians, chemists, biologists and engineers, providing the nation Page 46 with an insurmountable advantage in techno- logical advancement. Such a feat, however, is not possible if our government leaders are al- lowed to pander to the perpetuation of super- stitious nonsense about our biological origins and the nature of our physical universe. While Rubio has embarrassed the people of Florida with his recent remarks, he has help- fully brought front and center the need to ad- vance the incorporation of science, technol- ogy, engineering and math — ironically, just as our governor, Rick Scott has advocated — into the education curriculum, ensuring that the next generation of Americans will be equal to the task of competing with all other na- tions. Otherwise, "American exceptionalism" will be merely a wry euphemism for American ineptitude. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Sarasota News Leader wel- comes letters to the editor from its readers. Letters should be no more than 300 words in length, and include the name, street address and telephone number of the writer. Letters should be emailed to Letters@SarasotaNewsLeader.com, with "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. Let- ters actually printed will be selected based on space available, subject matter and oth- er factors. We reserve the right to edit any letters submitted for length, grammar, spell- ing, etc. All letters submitted become the property of The Sarasota News Leader.