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http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/paul-ryan-yes-i-am-a-nut.htmlPaul Ryan: Yes, I Am a Nut
By Jonathan Chait Follow @jonathanchait
I've been trying to tell you this! Why won't anybody listen? I am mad as a hatter! Photo: Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images
During a debate last night for his election to the House, Paul Ryan was asked if he believes that human activity has contributed to global warming. I dont know the answer to that question, he replied, I dont think science does, either.
In fact, science does know the answer. Climate scientists believe with a 95 percent level of certainty (the same level of certainty as their belief in the dangers of cigarette smoking) that human activity is contributing to climate change. There are things science knows, and this is one of them. Scientists may not have the answer to what policies are appropriate for responding to the fact that greenhouse-gas emissions cause changes to the environment, but they can tell us what happens when we release heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere.
This is another way of saying that Paul Ryan is a nut. His ideological fantasies prevent him from accepting even basic scientific facts. He is, to be sure, a lucid nut, rather than a raving nut who accosts passersby on street corners. Ryan has spent his life imbibing the tenets of right-wing-movement thought, and he can apply the concepts he has learned to nearly any topic. The long-standing existence of nuts in American politics is by no means a solely right-wing phenomenon. Robert Kennedy Jr. has a famous name and wears nice-looking suits and is a nut as well, who argues that vaccines cause autism.
So while nuttery can be found on the left and right, it is not a bipartisan problem at the national level. Kennedy has never risen above the level of activist. If the Democrats let Kennedy write their party-policy manifesto, or gave him a spot on their presidential ticket, it would be very, very alarming. But Ryan is in a party where this sort of thing barely even attracts attention.
merrily
(45,251 posts)Dearest reader, I leave it to you to decide between the two, for I simply cannot choose.
PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)All of the above.
merrily
(45,251 posts)deserted me entirely on this occasion. I shall require smelling salts were I keep pondering this impenetrable conundrum.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)He qualifies on all counts. That he's batshit crazy doesn't preclude his being a self-serving, hypocritical liar.
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)Did anyone actually press him on that nonsense? I mean, what on earth gives him the qualifications to make that judgment when it flies in the face of what scientists themselves actually say.
world wide wally
(21,758 posts)to twist or see the facts in a way to support their desired outcome. Just the opposite of what science is.
mindwalker_i
(4,407 posts)But his job depends on him saying something different.
Gothmog
(145,754 posts)Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)Personally, I rate him very highly as a fraud.
Martin Eden
(12,881 posts)I'm not sure if it's his "ideological fantasies" or his corporate backers preventing him from accepting scientific fact.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)He knows perfectly well that human activity, specially burning carbon-based fuels is causing climate change. He's just lieing about it. Why? Because he is a sock puppet for the oil, gas, and coal industries, who fund his campaigns. Also, there's a very slim percentage of RW bible thumpers, who believe that God created the universe in 7 days, Jesus protects the USA and makes it "exceptional." It is impolitic for RWers to actually support doing something about climate change because a) it would eat into oil profits, b) taxes would go up, and c) all gov programs are bad bad bad.
He also knows perfectly well that his budget is a sham, and the numbers don't add up. But who cares if his budget can get rid of social security, medicare, food stamps, welfare, etc because that's what Ayn Rand heros believe.
Paul Ryan is a RW demagogue and a big fat liar.