Steve Benen @ MaddowBlog , Kevin Drum, and Jen Hayden @ The Daily Kos have expressed astonishment at Rush Limbaugh’s reaction to the announcement of the discovery of flowing water on the surface of Mars. Jen provides the transcript, from which I borrow:
RUSH LIMBAUGH: There’s so much fraud. Snerdly came in today ‘what’s this NASA news, this NASA news is all exciting.’ I said yeah they found flowing water up there. ‘No kidding! Wow! Wow!’ Snerdly said ‘flowing water!?’ I said ‘why does that excite you? What, are you going there next week? What’s the big deal about flowing water on Mars?’ ‘I don’t know man but it’s just it’s just wow!’ I said ‘you know what, when they start selling iPhones on Mars, that’s when it’ll matter to me.’ I said ‘what do you think they’re gonna do with this news?’ I said ‘look at the temperature data, that has been reported by NASA, has been made up, it’s fraudulent for however many years, there isn’t any warming, there hasn’t been for 18.5 years. And yet, they’re lying about it. They’re just making up the amount of ice in the North and South Poles, they’re making up the temperatures, they’re lying and making up false charts and so forth. So what’s to stop them from making up something that happened on Mars that will help advance their left-wing agenda on this planet?’ And Snerdly paused ‘oh oh yeah you’re right.’ You know, when I play golf with excellent golfers, I ask them ‘does it ever get boring playing well? Does it ever get boring hitting shot after shot where you want to hit it?’ And they all look at me and smile and say ‘never.’ Well folks, it never gets boring being right either. Like I am. But it doesn’t mean it is any less frustrating. Being right and being alone is a challenging existence. OK so there’s flowing water on Mars. Yip yip yip yahoo. You know me, I’m science 101, big time guy, tech advance it, you know it, I’m all in. But, NASA has been corrupted by the current regime. I want to find out what they’re going to tell us. OK, flowing water on Mars. If we’re even to believe that, what are they going to tell us that means? That’s what I’m going to wait for. Because I guarantee, let’s just wait and see, this is September 28, let’s just wait and see. Don’t know how long it’s going to take, but this news that there is flowing water on Mars is somehow going to find its way into a technique to advance the leftist agenda. I don’t know what it is, I would assume it would be something to do with global warming and you can — maybe there was once an advanced civilization. If they say they found flowing water, next they’re going to find a graveyard.
[Emphasis Jen’s.]
Now, we could go with Rush’s admission that he simply says anything that will make him money. He knows his audience, he knows that to stir them up he has to connect the Obama Administration’s salient achievement of the day with climate change.
But he is really going further. He’s suggested that because some scientists have, in climate change deniers’ mythology, collectively lied through their teeth on a variety of matters, he spreads the blame to all scientists with any connection to the government. Given that science has recently stepped on the toes of the hard line conservatives, this is to be expected – never mind how they benefit from science (where would Rush be without radio?). Cherished myths as well as economic positions have been trampled by science, and this cannot be abided.
And, in the sense that logic compels activity, the false narrative propagated by Rush and others also compels them into odder and odder statements – as in the above. If a large and easily visible sunspot were to appear on the Sun’s surface and were reported by NASA, would that also be blamed on the Obama Administration and the liberal media? There’s a good chance. They HAVE to make sure to find something wrong with the achievements of science – because science is becoming the enemy.
Think about that – the study of reality is the enemy. Hard to believe the party that used to promote itself as the hard-nosed, reality-based party now rejects science in favor of conspiracy theories about group lies by the essence of truth seekers, poor logical thinking, and letting itself be led around by anyone with a comforting manner or a loud, silly voice. They should be heartily ashamed.
But they won’t be. The group has been captured by the fringe; the moderates who’d supply the ruddy blush have been expelled or have left. Those who are left are too busy assuring themselves of their omniscience.
