Not Just a Political Philosophy — A Way of Life!

(Cross-posted at The Blue Herald)


Denial.

For Republicans of all sorts, it's more than a rhetorical strategy to deflect empirical facts. It's more than a political philosophy that ignores the reality of others' experiences. It's a way of life, dammit.

Not that Republican pundits have ever clamored to recognize the suffering of the poor, or are in the habit of arguing honestly — but it's hard to ignore that a sizable portion of the Republican party is just not part of the reality-based community. And just like the kid who brags about not reading any books, they're awfully proud of it.

Consider, for example, Robert Novak still insisting that Valerie Plame Wilson was not a covert CIA agent, even though she testified under oath that she was, she was a NOC, CIA spokesman Bill Harlow told Novak not to reveal her identity, and the current, Bush-appointed head of the CIA Michael Hayden definitively stated she was covert (Novak even tries, laughably, to assert that Hayden is a Democratic stooge). Of course, Novak is a vile, partisan hack — but he's also been horribly reluctant to admit that the Republican's growing unpopularity might have something to do with a little thing called Iraq.

As Glenn Greenwald demonstrates, the National Review's Cliff May repeatedly denies objective reality — and Instapundit Glenn Reynolds decides to ignore the evidence as well. As Greenwald remarks:

Just think about that: the lesson which right-wing, Bush-following war supporters drew from the mountain of empirical evidence in this post, as well as from this entire day-long exchange with Cliff May (to say nothing of the November, 2006 election), is that Americans support the War in Iraq and do not want to withdraw the troops. That is beyond jarring.

I suppose it's academic as to whether they're hacks or delusional, but it's likely some special blend of the two.


Meanwhile, Oliver Willis weighs in with "The Deniers." And he doesn't even hit the frightening statistics on evolution deniers (48% of Americans, according to Newsweek), or the creationist Christians who have built a museum teaching kids that dinosaurs and humans coexisted — that would be roughly 6000 years ago, when God created the world.

Please, Republicans — for the sake of the children, the poor, innocent children — stop the insanity. You cannot show us fear in a jar of peanut butter, only your own painful stupidity. Please. Put down the Kool-Aid. Take the Red Pill. Cast off your shackles and emerge from Plato's cave. There's a whole, wonderful world out there waiting for you.