Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!


Contact
Ace:
aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com
Buck:
buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com
CBD:
cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com
joe mannix:
mannix2024 at proton.me
MisHum:
petmorons at gee mail.com
J.J. Sefton:
sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com


Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« Good WaPo Article on the Cement Creek Clean-Up Project, and Ensuing Disaster | Main | Overnight Open Thread (8-12-2015) - Long and Uncut Edition »
August 12, 2015

Carly Fiorina's Answer to Katie Couric on Climate Change

People disagree on this.

Charles C.W. Cooke praised it as glorious; I see prescient11 was knocking Carly earlier for not directly contradicting the claim that global warming exists.

Here are my thoughts. I've offered variations of this a thousand times:

Yes, if you could convince someone of your unpopular, officially-disfavored opinion (one I share) , that would be the best outcome.

However, the odds of you accomplishing this are low. Chuck Grassley has been attempting it forever, to little avail.

So what do you do in these circumstances? There's a Zen-like, or judo-ish, sort of wisdom that you do not meet your enemy's attack directly with an opposing countering force; rather, you come at that attack from an angle, so that a gentle nudge will move it enough that it won't hit you.

I mean, I imagine there's some Zen saying about that. I may be making it up but it sure makes sense to me as I write it.

Anyway, a lot of people are seized by the idea that you must all challenge the progressive narrative head-on with a full opposing force. I had this argument with people about Tim Pawlenty, who attempted the defection tactic with regard to global warming (he made noise about it being important, and then set up a limited pilot program to study it, thus protecting civilians and businesses from this horseshit), but people claimed that this was an unforgivable political sin, that to even "accept their premise" that global warming exists.

The same basic argument can be had here, though I won't really engage in it, as I don't think it's an argument where people's minds get changed.

Yes, I do see the benefit of convincing people, in the most important place of all, in their minds, that global warming is a little-evidenced, largely speculatary theory. If you have convinced people in their minds, you don't have to worry about what they'll do at the ballot box. You've won.

However, I'm also mindful of the fact that people do not readily change their minds, and for all of our own agitations (how many "Global Warming is bullshit" posts have we run on this site?), only a minority of people are willing to accept the fact that the Emperors of Global Weirding have no clothes.

And so, if you do not think you can defeat your opponent's punch by a straight-on punch directly into his fist, does it become acceptable to gently tug his robe so that his punch swats the air?

And I would also say that end of the day, I do not care what people believe: I care about what they do, specifically with regard to coercive government action which limits my freedom and prosperity; so if Carly-Fu winds up getting people to accept that there are more important things to consider, without rebutting the central premise of AGW, then that's fine by my lights.

Optimal? No, not optimal. We rarely get optimal. But it's fine, and I can live with fine.

I think she does a good job here, with the caveat, in this particular mode of deflection rather than direct opposition. Those who say you can never concede any premise will probably not like her answer as much.



digg this
posted by Ace at 07:36 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Skip : "Time to get moving ..."

Warai-otoko : "So the illegals who came to the ER would simply gi ..."

JQ: "My cousin got Fk'd by VA, couldn't get needed back ..."

JQ: "Gotta suck in more & more peeps, to support the ot ..."

Quint: "357, I mentioned illegal aliens for a specific rea ..."

JQ: "So... another gubmint Ponzi scheme ..."

Warai-otoko : "Healthcare is just like education. You're not r ..."

JQ: "You still gotta pay school taxes even if you've ne ..."

JQ: "I "elected"--CHOSE-- hysterectomy vs. the several ..."

Warai-otoko : "Thanks, obastard... Posted by: JQ at December 13, ..."

Warai-otoko : "Illegals aside, i do vaguely remember some insane ..."

JQ: "I pay nearly $1100/month, for "health insurance" w ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64