Liberal illogic? — Mother Jones attacked Energy Secretary Rick Perry in a discombobulated way — with silly opponents like these, Trumpists have nothing to worry about

21 June 2017

Theme — Just 'cause you're mad, doesn't mean you should be stupid

If you are going to attack someone, especially on intellectual grounds, do it in reasoned fashion.

We seek to rise above our feces-slinging ancestors.

For example — I'm beginning to think that admission to American Punditry requires a Wrathful Silliness Badge

Observe the illogic of Mother Jones' intellectually lazy attack on US Energy Secretary, Rick Perry:

Rick Perry Is in Charge of Nuclear Safety—Too Bad He Doesn’t Understand Science

Energy Secretary Rick Perry told CNBC Monday morning that he doesn’t believe carbon dioxide is primarily responsible for global warming, contradicting the overwhelming scientific consensus on the causes of climate change.

When asked by interviewer Joe Kernan whether CO2 is the “primary” driver of changing temperatures, Perry responded, “No, most likely the primary control knob is the ocean waters and this environment that we live in.”

Perry downplayed human impact on the climate and argued that it’s just fine to say the science behind global warming is not settled.

Obvious questions

What does Secretary Perry's alleged climate warming ignorance have to do with nuclear safety?

How does a statement that one is not persuaded that climate warming is a really big deal necessarily equate to across-the-board ignorance regarding science or nuclear matters?

And does running an agency that works closely with scientific and safety issues require someone expertly versed in those?

Here is what the US Department of Energy does

Lifted from Wikipedia:

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States Government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material.

Its responsibilities include the nation's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production.

It also directs research in genomics; the Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative.

DOE sponsors more research in the physical sciences than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories.

These matters are so widely divergent that no one person would be scientifically adept at all of them. Indeed, someone capable of thinking scientifically about one might be hopelessly idiot-like in another.

Then there is the even more relevant question regarding whether scientific understanding comfortably translates into making the wisely considered societal judgments that (ideally) underlie the Secretary's job.

James West misses these implications in trying to score a cheap and mostly irrelevant shot on the former Texas governor.

The moral? — If you are going to attack someone (even an arguably proven air head like Governor Perry), do it relevantly reasoned form

My impression, after reading West's article, was that West (not Perry) is the immediately pertinent fool. Which, I imagine, defeats his implied aim of superciliously discrediting the Energy Secretary.

PeteFree.com

Liberal illogic? — Mother Jones attacked Energy Secretary Rick Perry in a discombobulated way — with silly opponents like these, Trumpists have nothing to worry about