ANOTHER AMUSING "FAKE BUT ACCURATE" CLAIM

We all remember how popular with the Left was the claim that the forged documents used by Dan Rather to attack GWB's military service were "fake but accurate". Given the Leftist tendency to KNOW things regardless of the evidence, it should not be surprising that another "fake but accurate" claim has emerged. In an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Alan Wolfe, a Professor of Political Science, gives a reasonably fair review of how the "authoritarian personality" theory of Adorno (a prominent Marxist theoretician) and his colleagues was discredited academically not long after it was published. The rather hilarious claim of the theory was that it is conservatives who are authoritarian (Lenin and Stalin were really just misunderstood) and that conservatives are psychologically disturbed.

The theory is of course utter catnip to Leftists. They just cannot resist it regardless of the evidence against it -- so it has retained a following to this day among many Leftist academics in the social sciences. Alan Wolfe is one of those. Most authors who still refer to the theory seem unaware of the swingeing criticisms that it has attracted but Wolfe cannot claim that excuse. So it seems that he has a NEED for the theory -- which doesn't say much for his own mental health. A debunked theory is the only way he can make sense of his world. He finds the theory to offer an excellent explanation of current Republican politics generally and of the dreaded John Bolton in particular.

Given his disregard for the facts, I was not the least surprised at this passage in Wolfe's pathetic whine: "One item on the F scale, in particular, seems to capture in just a few words the way that many Christian-right politicians view the world in an age of terror: "Too many people today are living in an unnatural, soft way; we should return to the fundamentals, to a more red-blooded, active way of life.""

That sounds more like a description of Greenie thinking to me but there is a bigger problem with that observation by Prof. Wolfe than you might think: The item quoted is NOT in fact in the F scale. Table 7 of chapter VII in The Authoritarian Personality gives the final form of the F scale and that item is not included. So I think we have to say of Prof. Wolfe that he is both fake AND inaccurate. You can find a detailed account of why the Adorno claims are the reverse of the truth here. (Hat Tip to California Conservative for the link to Wolfe's howl).

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ELSEWHERE

Econbrowser has an excellent article pointing out why oil shale is an energy asset of last resort. Nuclear power and ethanol are alternatives to petroleum products that are both already available via well-tested technology, environmentally-friendly and cheap. Using Brazilian production methods, ethanol is already competitive with gasoline if oil prices stay as high as they are now. See the fourth post down here

Good stuff: "President George W. Bush last night reiterated his Government's determination to win the war on terror, likening Islamic extremism to the ideology of communism that was defeated by the US during the Cold War. In a major speech on the US commitment to continue the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan - and to prevent terrorism from "outlaw regimes" such as Iran and Syria - Mr Bush said he would fight extremists who wanted to "enslave whole nations and intimidate the world"."

India is of course famous for its bureaucracy, though it has been considerably reduced in recent years, to India's great economic benefit. This hilarious story about the New Delhi rat-catchers suggests that reform still has some way to go however.

Justice? Crooks Scam Terrorists' Families: "The latest criminal racket in the Middle East is to scam money out of the families of al Qaeda terrorists that have gone to Iraq and, well, disappeared. Several thousand Saudi Arabian men have gone to Iraq to fight for al Qaeda, or at least said they did. Not surprising for the country that supplied 15 or the 19 terrorists who carried out the 911 attacks. But this has provided opportunities for crooks in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria. When these fellows find out about a young man who has gone off on jihad to Iraq, they contact his parents with the news that their son is in trouble, and that money can make it all better. The story varies, from the kid getting kidnapped, or arrested, in Syria or Iraq. The families, whether they approved of their lad's terrorist intentions or not, are usually eager to get him back. Money is sent, and the scammers are never heard from again".

The lesson of Katrina: "The Katrina hurricane has finally awakened the media and the public to one huge reality that few were formerly willing to accept -- the important difference between socialistic bureaucracy and a free market. Anyone who is aware of the reports on Katrina knows that most of the early rescues and help came from individuals and groups who saw what was needed and did what they could to help. The bureaucracies all waited for 'go-ahead' orders. 'Government at all levels failed the people,' Senator Susan Collins told the national press."

No excuse for excuses: "A decent society should be able to evacuate its weakest from a disaster zone, and Louisiana showcased the mismanagement only patronage politics buys. But it's not unreasonable to expect that, once sheltered, survivors would designate a latrine rather than smearing feces on the walls. And no historical grievance means the self-designated victims are owed a free flatscreen TV. The makeshift communities at the Superdome and Convention Center seemed to lack any civilizational impulse, firing even on the helicopters sent to save them. Far from rallying to maintain order, they contributed to the chaos or stood numb awaiting aid. Liberals will say that instinct was cheated from them -- no plantation boss wants the field hands to organize. More likely, the dividends of victimhood provide an unfortunate incentive to segregate from the social order."

Swedes turn blind eye to antisemitism: "Anti-Semitism is perceived as a minor problem in Sweden, restricted to marginal neo-Nazi and other extreme-Right groups. Anti-Jewish ferment among parts of the country's Arab and Muslim population is largely denied and ignored. Nevertheless, the phenomenon exists and manifests itself among some Arab and Muslim pupils in suburban schools, on Muslim websites in Swedish, and in attacks on Jews and their institutions. . a wave of anti-Semitic violence has swept over Europe. Most attention has been paid to the arsons and other violent attacks in France and other countries such as Germany and Belgium. But Swedish Jewry, too, has felt this phenomenon. Swedish Jewry seems, however, to have been the only segment of society not just to be affected by the violence, but also to notice it."

Hitchens on the lessons of Bali: "The return of murderous nihilism to Bali is highly instructive. It shows, first, that the fanatics of Islamism don't know how to stop. And it also shows that they never learn. How can Jemaah Islamiyah, which almost ruined Indonesia's economy by its filthy attack three years ago, possibly have tried to repeat the same crime in the same place? If we look for answers to this question, we shall find answers that completely discredit the current half-baked apologies for terrorism."

For more postings, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. Mirror sites here, here, here, here and here. And on Social Security see Dick McDonald

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Practically all policies advocated by the Left create poverty. Leftists get the government to waste vast slabs of the country's labour-force on bureaucracy and paperwork and so load the burden of providing most useful goods and services onto fewer and fewer people. So fewer useful goods and services are produced to go around. That is no accident. The Left love the poor. The Left need the poor so that they can feel good by patronizing and "helping" them. So they do their best to create as many poor people as possible.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

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