Valin Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 The Weekly Standard: It’s not the Democrats, despite their self-flattering claims JEFF BERGNER Sep 22, 2014, Vol. 20, No. 02 It has become a staple of the political left to brand Republicans the anti-science, anti-reason party. This narrative congealed in a breathless 2005 book by journalist Chris Mooney entitled—does the phrase sound familiar?—The Republican War on Science. Those fueling the narrative today seize on occasional unfortunate remarks about rape or evolution by Republican fringe figures, as well as on the skepticism of many Republicans about man-made global warming, to make their case. The narrative, however, also taps into a deeper and more sinister view of conservatives that dates back at least to Richard Hofstadter’s 1964 article “The Paranoid Style in American Politics.” Hofstadter painted conservatives as conspiracy-minded, change-resistant authoritarians fearful of the liberating power of knowledge and unable to entertain a world in which many answers are provisional and not absolute. It takes no talent to cherry-pick examples of ignorance from either Republicans or Democrats. More worthwhile is a systematic look at some major fault lines between the two political parties. Let’s consider four significant domestic policy areas where Democrats and Republicans differ—the economy, energy, global warming, and abortion—and see which party can fairly lay claim to being the party of reason. We will see a pattern. In each case, Democratic thinking will unfold in three stages: (1) Policy is predicated on reality as one wishes it to be, not as it is. (2) That policy fails. And (3) its advocates explain the failure by demonizing their opponents. The demonization of political opponents to cover policy failures is an all too reliable indicator that the policies rest on unsound, anti-scientific, irrational foundations. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyber_Liberty Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 This is a long, but very good read. I recommend it. In fact, I've emailed it to some friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 This is a long, but very good read. I recommend it. In fact, I've emailed it to some friends. RACIST! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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