by Chris Bodenner Gays are either destroying the moral foundation of our country or don't exist: It’s unclear why Fox News ignored the story, since some Republicans have embraced Mehlman’s coming out. Current Republican Party chairman, Michael Steele, for instance, issued a supportive statement: “His announcement, often a very difficult decision which is only compounded … Continue reading Epistemic Closure Watch
Claire Berlinski tries to find a way out.
Frum responds to John Hawkins: Hawkins does not argue that these statements are false – that e.g. Glenn Beck is not a crank. His point is that regardless of truth, these criticisms should not occur. Or anyway, that no conservative should engage in them. Our job is to fall into line and not notice that … Continue reading Epistemic Closure Watch, Ctd
I'm not sure I could name a single policy question on which David Frum has seriously changed his mind in the last few years. He's still in favor of the Bush concept of the war on terror, he's still a neocon in foreign policy, he wants the right to prosper, he likes small government and … Continue reading Epistemic Closure Watch
"Orly Taitz, the original birther, may be the GOP nominee for Secretary of State in CA," – Ambers.
A reader writes: Check out this report (pdf) on tort liability by the Pacific Research Institute. Sarah Palin is now writing the forewords for "think tank" studies? Bruce Bartlett could not be more right about how intellectual void these organizations have become. At the very least, it just shows how relevant she is in the … Continue reading Epistemic Closure Watch
"I have never watched an episode of American Idol" – Ramesh Ponnuru. Just kidding.
Bernstein asks:
I was talking to a staunch Republican former student a couple of weeks ago, and mentioned that one of the biggest surprises to me during the Bush years was that Cheney had turned out to be a lot less capable than I had expected. My student was utterly shocked that anyone could think that.
From the NYT yesterday: “You cannot really engage in that conversation,” said Phillip Moore, a teacher in this Detroit suburb who has embraced strong opinions on many topics in his life — on politics, education, even religion — but avoids the subject of Israel at gatherings of his Jewish relatives. “You raise a question about … Continue reading Epistemic Closure Watch
If you missed it, check out one of the sanest, smartest conservatives today finally getting around to calmly dismembering Mark Levin's asinine tract, "Liberty or Tyranny." Jim Manzi, to National Review's credit, posted this at the Corner. It feels like a whiff of Clorox in a urinal. Money quote of Levin's take on climate change:
I’m not expert on many topics the book addresses, so I flipped to its treatment of a subject that I’ve spent some time studying — global warming — in order to see how it treated a controversy in which I’m at least familiar with the various viewpoints and some of the technical detail.
It was awful. It was so bad that it was like the proverbial clock that chimes 13 times — not only is it obviously wrong, but it is so wrong that it leads you to question every other piece of information it has ever provided.
