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Saturday, April 18, 2015
Bill Maher: zombie lies - environmental edition
Bill Maher is not a very good spokesperson for science. He needs to listen to himself when it comes to vaccines, for example.
But on something like this, he does a very, very good job. So I'm going to post it. Maher is flawed - like all of us, I suppose - but when he's good, he's superb.
Dumb question: What's with the Republicans playing the "I'm not a scientist" card? The only thing I can come up with is that they're "talking in code" again.
Well, Jeff, that's common, as your link shows. But in this case, I think it's simpler than that.
Many Republicans know that they'll look like complete morons if they flatly deny scientific reality. Sure, that will be no problem for the GOP base - and no problem with Republicans who really are complete morons (Louie Gohmert? Jim Inhofe?) - but it might turn off other voters.
So they play the "I'm not a scientist" card. That still implies that there's doubt about climate change and other settled scientific issues - and doubt is all they really need in order to keep anything from being accomplished - but it's also factually accurate. They're not scientists. So who can object to that?
It's cynical. It's dishonest. It's harmful to our country and the world. But for a politician who wants to keep getting money from the Koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry in general, it works.
Well, it works as long as our media let it work. But I don't think they have to worry much about that, huh?
Dumb question: What's with the Republicans playing the "I'm not a scientist" card? The only thing I can come up with is that they're "talking in code" again.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sodahead.com/united-states/cracking-the-conservative-code---the-true-meaning-behind-their-code-words-and-talking-points/question-2340937/
Well, Jeff, that's common, as your link shows. But in this case, I think it's simpler than that.
DeleteMany Republicans know that they'll look like complete morons if they flatly deny scientific reality. Sure, that will be no problem for the GOP base - and no problem with Republicans who really are complete morons (Louie Gohmert? Jim Inhofe?) - but it might turn off other voters.
So they play the "I'm not a scientist" card. That still implies that there's doubt about climate change and other settled scientific issues - and doubt is all they really need in order to keep anything from being accomplished - but it's also factually accurate. They're not scientists. So who can object to that?
It's cynical. It's dishonest. It's harmful to our country and the world. But for a politician who wants to keep getting money from the Koch brothers and the fossil fuel industry in general, it works.
Well, it works as long as our media let it work. But I don't think they have to worry much about that, huh?