This gets it about right...

As Gene Lyons usually does, this time in Some reject reality Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 05/09/07:

Everybody who thinks he knows God’s exact opinion about the 2008 presidential election may as well quit reading, particularly those with anger issues or elevated blood pressure, because you haven’t got a clue, OK ? Last time, everybody who believes GOP stands for God’s Own Party thought the deity had chosen George W. Bush. You’d think that would teach them humility. Alas, the opposite has happened. As the Republican core shrinks, its ideology grows more anti-intellectual and authoritarian. Australian economist John Quiggin points out at crookedtimber. org that this is only partly due to reality-based voters turning away from Bush’s failures. It’s also due to “the party’s success in constructing a parallel universe of news sources, think tanks, blogs, pseudo-scientists and so on, which has led to the core becoming more tightly committed to an extremist ideology.” On many issues, the Republican right increasingly resembles a quasi-religious cult. GOP true believers appear increasingly committed to an obscurantist world view exalting “Christianist” theology over facts, superficially mimicking real science while rejecting its methods. (my emphasis)

This is a great line, too: "Of course, biological science no more mandates atheism than do the rules of baseball, which also exclude the supernatural."

That should rank right up there with "Gravity is just a theory." I don't know if it was Pete Seeger who originated that one, but I first saw it in an article about him.

This one is pretty notable, too: "Ignoring reality is always dangerous. Here [in the United States], it’s become a national security threat."

Tags: gene lyons