[extropy-chat] No Joy in Mudville

[J. Andrew Rogers]

On Nov 4, 2004, at 10:23 PM, Giu1i0 Pri5c0 wrote:
> I am not complaining that you elected a Republican president. There
> have been many good Republican presidents. I am complaining that you
> elected a president who wants to turn the US into a fundamentalist
> theocracy in the purest taliban style.



This is yet another example of what I was talking about though.

There is not a shred of evidence that the president "wants to turn the 
US into a fundamentalist theocracy in the purest taliban style".  That 
is pure tin foil whack job conspiracy theory fodder.  This is the type 
of crap the right wing fringe always said about Clinton, with the same 
level of enthusiasm and assuredness, and with the same quality of 
"proof" and "evidence".  It is precisely the same comfortable 
fallacious reasoning that makes people believe that if a person owns a 
gun, they will commit a mass murder at some point in the future.  Or 
that if you have a penis, you'll likely be a rapist given the 
opportunity.  It is nonsense.  Yet I hear garbage reasoning like this 
all the time, and after the election, on this list of all places.

We have had plenty of very religious presidents in the past, and we 
undoubtedly will have more in the future.  Never has it resulted in a 
taliban-style theocracy, or a real theocracy of any type.  Although the 
left-wing uses this to great effect to whip up opposition from secular 
audiences.  Old political trick, and you guys fell for it.

Get a grip people, and some legitimate historical perspective.  At 
least try to apply consistent and reasonable standards of analysis to 
the election.  Stop drinking the hyperbole Kool-Aid that the opposition 
parties are always too willing to provide.


j. andrew rogers