As everyone is all too aware, this has been the week of Kavanaugh versus his accuser. It now looks as if this farce will continue for at least one more week, and possibly more of bitter debate between the major US political parties. As a result it is much harder to learn about the “ordinary” events of the week, including even alleged climate change as a result of increasing worldwide emissions of CO2. This has never been a hot news topic even in the quietest of weeks. But with every added bit of news concerning an alleged almost sexual encounter by a proposed new Supreme Court justice during high school 30 years ago, the alleged potential terrible events on an unknown night in an unknown place by unknown people takes on increasing significance, and the alleged terrible (but actually good) increase in temperatures due to human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide lessens.
As noted last week, if attention is devoted to what is actually affecting the climate as measured by careful econometric analyses, rather than what could be happening based on what is allegedly theoretically possible, the basis for a bitter political divide would be greatly reduced in the case of climate. Similarly, if attention were devoted to the virtues of the legal philosophies of proposed jurists rather than their alleged high school social life, we would all be better off.
Fortunately, science provides a method for determining what the major effects of increasing CO2 are, but no one can reconstruct what actually happened 30 years ago at an alleged but forgotten high school party no matter how many FBI background investigations are carried out.
The Unfortunate Spread of Unproven, Theoretical Beliefs to Other Areas Besides Climate
Unfortunately, as modern US politics has become steadily more polarized and less and less based on an objective analysis of real, verifiable events, the dominant role of theoretical, unproven beliefs found in the climate debate appears to be spreading to other areas of substantial uncertainty and political conflict. It is hard to believe that confirmation of a Supreme Court nominee would take more than two weeks of undivided attention by the national media. But then it was and is difficult to believe that the country would spend several decades debating the proposition that climate is determined by changes in human emissions of a trace gas fundamental to life on Earth rather than changes in our source of warmth and light, the sun, and other astronomical bodies and what effects changes in CO2 has had on temperatures (apparently no significant effect). And that the two major political parties would have significantly different political views on any of these topics.
But such is the current reality. Scientific beliefs and long forgotten high school parties have become the basis for political beliefs rather than the subject of science and the scientific method and timely police investigation of alleged crimes.
But such is the current state of national political debate. It appears likely that the situation will grow worse rather than better as long as the two parties are so close in terms of relative power and influence but so far apart on so many issues, each with its own segment of mass media supporters. What is needed is more attention to verifiable information as to what actually happened and less to theoretical but unproven hypotheses as to what may have happened.
The Dems are suffering depraved indifference to facts and reasoning. Global warming makes this crystal clear.
I am not sure it is mad, it seems deliberate on the part of leading hoaxers. It is just wrong. Trump is correct to brand them as the party of crime.
They are busy doubling down on branding themselves as the party of dishonesty and stupid.
The good news is they cannot change course until they experience a lot of losing.
I was happy to remember the term, depraved indifference, the other day. It applies.
Global Warming provides a powerful perspective on politics more broadly. Knowing it to be a dishonest insult to real science and rationality, it is very hard to respect any of the rest of the agenda of a leftist politician. The klu mate hoax is corrosively bad for the credibility of Democrats across the board on all issues, because it illustrates their depraved indifference to honesty and reality. A false science narrative takes precedence for Dems. Disgusting!
A lot boils down to credibility. Republicans said they could improve the economy by cutting business taxes; it worked. Trump said Klimate Change caused by c02 was bs; it has not hurt the USA to exit the Paris process. The republicans nominate a good judge, the democrats libel him.
Time and again the Democrats disregard the truth. They have no practical ideas, giving them little reason to employ truth. it’s all mud and false narratives.
Gradually this should diminish their credibility with independents, plus those who abandon the party in understandable disgust. The democrats have collapsed in terms of policy ideas.
One similarity between Kavanaugh and Klimate change is the reliance of Democrats on false certitude. Ford claimed 100 percent accuracy in her 36 year old memory, surpassing even Al Gore’s mythic 97 percent agreement among climate scientists.
Klimate Change is Kargo Kult science broadcast by the Fake News to the klueless tribe of Democrats. Accuser Ford offers another far fetched narrative pumped out by the same Fake News to the same tribe of the clueless.
The scientific method provides a way to handle Klimate Change. The theory has failed based on insufficient real world evidence. It must be rejected.
The Kavanaugh soap opera will continue a little while. Senator Flake is retiring, hence can conveniently serve as a scapegoat to prolong the hearings. His tribe may see merit in this. Already mccaskill and Donnelly have declared opposition. This is unlikely to help their re election bids.
I have a transcript of a conversation I heard between Dr. Ford and an unidentified woman she was visiting with at the airport. I have lost the recording but this is for sure a faithful transcript.
” I will certainly be glad when this all dies down and Clinton gets me my money. This was hard to play out in front of the Senate.”
And I have as much evidence as she presented to the Senate.