Category Archives: conservatives

Two Essays

Frank Bruni on how everything is complicated, and the need to be humble; A New Yorker piece about how to understand misinformation. I have at hand two or three long essays that I plan to read and comment on, as … Continue reading

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Tribal Notes

Latest examples of tribal thinking, as many of my posts over the past months and years have compiled, clarified by my reading of Joshua Greene’s book and many others. Short items about indoctrination in Florida schools (“get them while they’re … Continue reading

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Case Study of the Psychology of Conspiracy Theorists?

First, a quote about progressives and conservatives, the future and the past; Then more about the conspiracy thinking about the Baltimore bridge collapse, with examples from PolitiFact, CNN, and CFI (Center for Inquiry); And how the construction workers who fell … Continue reading

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Perspectives from Reality and Fantasy

How the first scene in Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” is seen differently by conservatives and progressives; Daniel Kahneman, RIP, who realized that people are not rational; More right-wing conspiracy theories about the Baltimore bridge collapse; And items about an earthquake, … Continue reading

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An Anthropologist from Mars Considers the Evidence

What would a hypothetical anthropologist from another planet conclude about humanity from these several items today? Charlie Kirk insists Christians must vote Republican; a former ESPN anchor thinks Satan knocked out her teeth; Charlie Kirk thinks Haiti is infested with … Continue reading

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Exceptionalism, and Science Fiction

A screed by Brian Karem at Salon about how “America has lost its collective mind”; How ideas of American exceptionalism have been reflected in 20th century science fiction; Examples about “don’t say gay” laws; Trump’s fascist rhetoric; Trump’s dementia; how … Continue reading

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Motivated Reasoning, Supreme Court Edition

Just one short, but provocative, item today. This is the opening piece in the “Talk of the Town” section in the March 18th issue of The New Yorker. It cuts to the core of Supreme Court, and conservative, thinking. The … Continue reading

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Emotional Intelligence and Con Men

Robert Reich on Trump’s stupidity — except for his emotional intelligence, which manifests as his being a con man; Peter Wehner on “Fifth Avenue Republicans”; Tom Nichols about why Trump shouldn’t be given security briefings; Music: Neil Finn’s “Into the … Continue reading

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More Dispatches from Alternative Realities

How Katie Britt, like other clueless Republicans, claims victimhood, and pleads for cash; Robert Wright on how the Trump-Biden choice won’t solve anything; Short items about Trump’s obsession with Hitler; how violent crime is down but you wouldn’t know it … Continue reading

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One More Batch

More every day. All of these items are posts today. I’ll move on tomorrow. An essay by a mother about “Republicans’ Absurdist Reproductive Policies”; A MAGA congressman (from Tennessee) floats a Democratic conspiracy theory about the border, dadgummit; Ruben Bolling’s … Continue reading

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