Conservatives - How to Win at Politics, and Fail at Reality

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Thursday May 05, 2011 · 11:44 AM PDT

2011/05/05 · 11:44

Many readers will remember Colbert's classic 'Reality has a well-known liberal bias" quote.

Like all the best jesters, Colbert was using truth-through-humor to make a valid point - which is that conservative talking points may dominate the media, but conservatives are frequently and objectively wrong.

The wrongness isn't a matter of partisan opinion - it's a verifiable fact that can be quantified and tested scientifically.

The basis of science is accurate modelling and prediction. If you make a prediction in science and engineering and it turns out to be wrong, you lose authority.

If you make a lot of wrong predictions, you're considered incompetent and potentially dangerous, and it's very likely you'll be out of a job. Mistakes mean that bridges fall down, planes fall out of the sky, and essential services fail. There may be explosions, death, and people getting hurt.

Bizarrely, the pundit business works the opposite way. The more often you're demonstrably wrong, and the more nonsense you spout, the more likely you are to have a prime media spot.

ThatBritGuy

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Thursday July 12, 2007 · 3:54 PM PDT

2007/07/12 · 15:54

How bad is it?

Damn bad, I think.

I also think this has been happening under the media's radar so far, which means that many people in the US have no idea what's about to hit them.

ThatBritGuy

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Thursday May 24, 2007 · 10:53 AM PDT

2007/05/24 · 10:53

It's no exaggeration to call the Capitulation Vote cowardly and even traitorous. The 'support our troops' lie has been debunked ably on the front page so I'm not going to repeat those arguments here. Instead I'm going to look forward to the likely consequences, and back at the opportunity that's being lost here.

ThatBritGuy

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Friday March 23, 2007 · 1:06 PM PDT

2007/03/23 · 13:06

This morning 15 diaries about Iranians rounding up 15 UK soldiers at gun point were rounded up at gun point.

soK, a blogistan spokespersona, was quoted saying "This could be the start of the war we've been waiting for."

The diaries, which apparently were unaware of each other, initially appeared to be congregating suspiciously on the New Diary list. A plot to take over the Recommended Diaries list was suspected, but so far no evidence has been found to suggest that this was ever likely.

It's not yet clear if the diaries will be released. Crisis talks have failed to reach international agreement about their precise legal and diplomatic status.

A White House spokespersona (no relation) said no options would be taken off the table. He added "We want the American people to know how proud we are that we have a table big enough to hold all of these options without any of them rolling off and - you know - getting lost on the floor, or something."

ThatBritGuy

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Thursday October 12, 2006 · 2:41 PM PDT

2006/10/12 · 14:41

General Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the British Army, has gone on the record in an interview with the Daily Mail.

He says clearly we should "get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems." "We are in a Muslim country and Muslims' views of foreigners in their country are quite clear." As a foreigner, you can be welcomed by being invited in a country, but we weren't invited certainly by those in Iraq at the time. "The military campaign we fought in 2003 effectively kicked the door in. Whatever consent we may have had in the first place, may have turned to tolerance and has largely turned to intolerance."

ThatBritGuy

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Friday September 29, 2006 · 6:03 PM PDT

2006/09/29 · 18:03

According to the BBC the Iraqi government has declared a total curfew - no pedestrians, no traffic - in Baghdad until Sunday.

"The government has decided to enforce a curfew on vehicles and individuals starting from Friday evening until 0600 on Sunday morning (0200 GMT)," the message said.
An unidentified official at the interior ministry told the Associated Press news agency that "intelligence information on the security situation" had made the announcement necessary.

ThatBritGuy

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Tuesday September 12, 2006 · 5:18 AM PDT

2006/09/12 · 05:18

Also available in blue at the European Tribune.

From The Register:

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the arguments in the case of Massachusetts vs the Environmental Protection Agency.
The suit, brought by Massachusetts and eleven other states, along with a few cities and environmental lobby groups, accuses the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of failing to regulate CO2 emissions from motor vehicles.
The legal action was brought after the EPA denied a petition asking it to intervene and set limits on vehicle emissions in 2002. It argued that it had no obligation to regulate CO2 emissions. It must oversee gases that represent an "endangerment to public health and the environment", but said that CO2 did not necessarily fall into this category.

ThatBritGuy

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Friday August 11, 2006 · 5:35 PM PDT

2006/08/11 · 17:35

I've been here a while now, and I see the same thing happening over. The Noise Machine launches an offensive - like the recent Dems = Taliban claim.

People get really upset about the offensive. Upset is good. But I'm not seeing so much understanding of how the game is being played.

Reality based debating tactics are a weakness in the current climate. To know your enemy you have to understand the MO. And while the GOP is a hollow shell, morally, ethically, and in every other way that matters, it still has a persuasive media presence that plays by its own unique rules.

While it's true that the wheels are coming off the wagon now, with poll numbers tanking, increasing frustration and disbelief, and the beginnings of a tidal shift, the talking points are going to keep on coming for as long as there's a playbook sock-puppet preznit to make the speeches.