Blinded by science

Rick Perlstein's picture

Fascinating quote from Mitt Romney in rural New Hampshire:

"Senator Obama is wrong if he thinks science-based sex education has any place in kindergarten. We should be working to clean up the filthy waters our kids are swimming in."

He's referring to a quote from Obama: "'But it's the right thing to do, to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools.'" But note how Romney is careful to repeat the phrase "science-based." I suspect he's seeing political advantage in fact that Barack frames science as an inherently a good thing. It lets him, Romney, move pandering to conservatives to the next, and most horrifying, level: framing science as inherently a bad thing.

Not claiming "sound science" as the alternative to "junk science"—the previous stage of the big con. Just "science."

As in: science = bad.

That's where they're heading now. Scopes Monkey Trial territory.


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