Judge
Richard Posner mourns not the demise of political conservatism, so long as it's accompanied by that of liberalism:
Thoughtful conservatives ... were appalled at the iconic status that Joe the Plumber attained in the Republican campaign, the wild rumors spread by the conservative bloggers and talk-radio hosts, and the intellectual vacuity of many Republican candidates and advocates.
The Republican Party seemed to have descended to anti-intellectualism — to deriding highly educated people who speak in complete sentences as "elitists," as compared to the down-to-the-earth ignorance of Joe and his ilk — which sorts badly with the strong intellectual tradition of conservatism.
Après les idéologues.
Posner felt he should pay a visit to the baboons. ... Posner stood for a minute more, peering at the dripping, motionless trio on the branch, then turned away, baffled.
The Bench Burner (Superlative
New Yorker profile, 12/10/01).
as compared to the down-to-the-earth ignorance of Joe and his ilk
ReplyDeleteShhh. Don't tell the old man that Joe T.P. shares his affinity for the pie-in-the-sky ignorance of Austrian School economics.
Seemed to have descended to anti-intellectualism Judge Posner?
ReplyDeleteThe historical stupidity encompassed in this statement is breathtaking. The Republican party has been deeply steeped in anti-intellectual messaging for at least the past quarter century.
A myriad of examples of the Republican effort to keep its base a collection of unenlightened dipshits who worship the "wisdom" of Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly is readily found by even the only slightly curious. One close to the Posner realm is the idiotic and massively ignorant, yet oft-repeated, Republican chant that conservative judges never ever make law. Pure stupidity. Pure crap. So, of course, pure anti-intellectualism for Republican consumption and belief.