"But watching evolution happen takes rather more. The American public does not have much of an attention span. Certainly not enough to become educated about such a long-term process like evolution. "
You don't actually mean to imply we're stupid?
Stupidity and ignorance are two completely different things. The most intelligent specimen on the planet can also be the most woefully ignorant.
> You don't actually mean to imply we're stupid?
Not generally. Just misinformed, and largely uninterested in complex scientific and mathematical issues. How many Americans have a realunderstanding of the motions of tectonic plates, or the mechanics of storm supercells? Either of these is quite a bit simpler than evolution. Cripoes, just look at how much money quacks make selling magnetic bracelets and the like. It's easier to trot out a few lines of gibberish about how magnets, or reflexology, or chiropractic make you healthier; it's a lot harder to explaisn why those don't work. Similarly, it's alot easier to say "God did it" than to explain the vast and subtle evidence for evolution spread over a number of fields of study.
Does this mean people are stupid? Nope. Just means science ain't for everybody. The same guy whose eyes would glaze over if I started to prattle on about asteroid deflection methodology via nuclear pulse driven momentum transfer, could probably talk me into a coma about football, tax law, selling insurance, farming or church politics.