Republican judge rules against Intelligent Design

MSNBC reports on the latest triumph of reason over superstition.  The story also notes that U.S. District Judge John E. Jones is “… a Republican and a churchgoer appointed to the federal bench three years ago.”

(link to a PDF of the judge’s ruling)
Some choice excerpts:

Jones decried the “breathtaking inanity” of the Dover policy and accused several board members of lying to conceal their true motive, which he said was to promote religion.

“[Intelligent Design] violates the centuries-old ground rules of science by invoking and permitting supernatural causation.”

“…singles out the theory of evolution for special treatment, misrepresents its status in the scientific community, causes students to doubt its validity without scientific justification, presents students with a religious alternative masquerading as a scientific theory, directs them to consult a creationist text as though it were a science resource and instructs students to forgo scientific inquiry in the public school classroom and instead to seek out religious instruction elsewhere.”

I wonder how this principled judge ever managed to slip through the White House vetting process.