Random Thoughts

Richard Posner, a Reagan judicial appointee, writes:

My theme is the intellectual decline of conservatism, and it is notable that the policies of the new conservatism are powered largely by emotion and religion and have for the most part weak intellectual groundings. That the policies are weak in conception, have largely failed in execution, and are political flops is therefore unsurprising. The major blows to conservatism, culminating in the election and programs of Obama, have been fourfold: the failure of military force to achieve U.S. foreign policy objectives; the inanity of trying to substitute will for intellect, as in the denial of global warming, the use of religious criteria in the selection of public officials, the neglect of management and expertise in government; a continued preoccupation with abortion; and fiscal incontinence in the form of massive budget deficits, the Medicare drug plan, excessive foreign borrowing, and asset-price inflation.

By the fall of 2008, the face of the Republican Party had become Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. Conservative intellectuals had no party.

Among the various gyrations of the Republican party over the past couple of years, and the past election in particular, the populist, anti-elitism worries me the most.  The task of governing is a difficult one, one that requires a level of mental acuity that much of the Republican party seems to despite.  Unfortunately, the majority of unsolved problems are unsolved because they are difficult and do not easily lend themselves to simple solutions that can be explained in a 30 second rant on talk radio.

However, I do feel the need to copy Stephen Bainbridge here in noting that religious discourse is not inherently anti-intellectual.  Faith provides, for many of us, an underpinning of beliefs and ideals.  That does not necessary mean we are anti-intellectual.  I think Posner is simply seeking an easy target in explaining the right’s anti-intellectualism.  Certainly the anti-evolution movement has led to some residual distrust in conservatives of science in general, but it shouldn’t.  You should be able to say “I disagree with your conclusion in this matter, but the scientific method as a whole is sound.”  The more damaging anti-intellectualism has come from the conservative media populists, who in seeking to expand and amuse their viewership, have dumbed the debate down and sought to market outrage and anger as a form of entertainment.

… because they should.  Shown below are actual and projeted numbers for the annual federal budget deficit.  Eventually, we’re going to reach the point where we can no longer raise the money.

Annual Federal Budget Deficit

The New York Times details further fallout from the now defunct Pentagon public relations program that enlisted retired flag officers serving as analysts for major network as “message force multipliers”:

In a highly unusual reversal, the Defense Department’s inspector general’s office has withdrawn a report it issued in January exonerating a Pentagon public relations program that made extensive use of retired officers who worked as military analysts for television and radio networks.

…

The inspector general’s office began investigating the public relations program last year, in response to articles in The New York Times that exposed an extensive and largely hidden Pentagon campaign to transform network military analysts into “surrogates” and “message force multipliers” for the Bush administration. The articles also showed how military analysts with ties to defense contractors sometimes used their special access to seek advantage in the competition for contracts related to Iraq and Afghanistan.

…

The review found that the former senior Pentagon officials who devised and managed the program refused to speak with the inspector general’s investigators.

At the end of the day, who better to explain military culture, doctrine, and strategy to the public than a retired flag officer?  A journalist with a couple weeks in the field as an embed?  A “military strategist” from some college whose experience is drawn from the books he’s read?  And yet, here is another formerly non-partisan part of government politicised and tarnished by the Bush administration.  We’ll forever be suspicious of any retired flag on the major networks, and as a price for that suspicion we’ll know less about what’s going on.

Of course, in all of this, I do think the flag corps bears some blame.  When you put stars on your uniform, you have to be cognizant of the fact that especially in today’s highly political climate everyone wants you as their puppet or prop.