What'sUpWithThatWatts, et al.: The real political division is between rationalists and fantasists.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

The real political division is between rationalists and fantasists.

{I added some illuminating links, 6/13/2014 am}

I received a fund raising letter from our US Senator Bennet (Colorado) that contained an opening line which caught my attention. Senator Bennet wrote: “I may have only been at this job a few years, but in that time, I’ve become convinced that the real division in our politics isn’t left vs. right, it’s the future vs. the past.”

I thought it was an interesting concept and wound up thinking about it a lot. I decided that I would have put that differently: The real political division in our political system is between rationalists and fantasists.

You see, after thinking about the evidence of the past few decades of USA's self-destructive behavior (obsessive focus on oil, dependence on global arms sales, creating wars of choice - while ignoring the real life human and geophysical problems of our time.) I've concluded that Republican/Libertarian minds have disconnected from reality and climbed into their own imaginations with hostility towards anyone/everyone who tries to speak for 'the rest of the world' or who presses today's down to Earth realities.

Thus we have our contemporary Greek Tragedy of the Absurd brought to us by the "Masters of the Universe" such as the Bush, Cheney, Murdoch, Koch families of mega-power, plus their "public opinion manipulators" such as Rove, Morano, backed up by their "brain trusts" such as the cynical legacy of Seitz, in the form of Singer, McIntyre, Watts et al. - one and all dedicated to misrepresenting what is happening in our world these days, with their contrived bubbles of circular thinking - reinforced by an intellectual armor of absolutism and disinterest in learning.

Founded on the conviction that the most important things in life are power, spread-sheets, consumption, and profits while hiding their greed behind a cover story of some self-imagined God in heaven who’s watching this madness (political, economic, war-making, ecological) throughout the world and still giv’n ‘em all the big thumbs up

Tragically, their trail of ruin will only multiply with the years as their pride and joy, the US Neocon Titanic, steams on and me/us, like passengers in steerage, can't do a damned thing about it.

It's indescribably depressing contemplating the incredible biosphere we are in the process of squandering. Of late, considering the future decades of increasing hard times with no light at the end of the tunnel this time around, it seems perhaps one of the last things to strive for will be to behave with as much dignity as can be mustered, as we witness our wonderful world falling apart.

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further supporting information:

How the Koch Brothers Manipulate Climate Change Studies

By Joao Peixe | December 10, 2012

http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/How-the-Koch-Brothers-Manipulate-Climate-Change-Studies.html

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GREENPEACE REPORT: Climate Change Denial Machine vs. Scientists

C. Gibson | September 10, 2013

http://www.polluterwatch.com/category/freetagging/koch-brothers

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Koch Industries Pollution - Koch and the Environment

"Koch Industries is a major polluter, with ongoing incidents and violations of environmental laws. Even when complying with the law, Koch companies can get away with heavy pollution."

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/koch-industries-environmental/

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DECIPHERING KARL ROVE’S PLAYBOOK: CAMPAIGN TACTICS AND RESPONSE STRATEGIES

Art Silverblatt Ph.D., Jane Squier Bruns, Gina Jensen

http://www2.webster.edu/medialiteracy/journal/FINALKARLROVE.pdf

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Angry Summer Down Under: Murdoch Paper Hosts Op-Ed that Attacks Scientists while Australia Sizzles

Brenda Ekwurzel, senior climate scientist | April 5, 2013 |

http://blog.ucsusa.org/angry-summer-down-under-murdoch-paper-hosts-op-ed-that-attacks-scientists-while-australia-sizzles

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FACTSHEET: FREDERICK SEITZ

http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/personfactsheet.php?id=6

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Science Academy Disputes Attack on Global Warming

William K. Stevens | April 22, 1998

"The National Academy of Sciences has taken the extraordinary step of disassociating itself from a statement and petition circulated by one of its former presidents (Frederick Seitz) that attack the scientific conclusions underlying international efforts to control emissions of industrial waste gases believed to cause global warming. ..."

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/22/us/science-academy-disputes-attack-on-global-warming.html

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Seitz - Deja vu all over again

Deep Climate | January 15, 2011

http://demon-hauntedworld.blogspot.com/2011/01/deja-vu-all-over-again.html

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A look at Anthony Watts

http://www.polluterwatch.com/category/freetagging/anthony-watts

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The video that Anthony Watts does not want you to see: The Climate Denial “Crock of the Week”

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2009/07/29/204427/the-video-that-anthony-watts-does-not-want-you-to-see-the-sinclair-climate-denial-crock-of-the-week/

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