Featured Posts
  • Romney Calls Santorum the ‘D’ Word

    Romney Calls Santorum the 'D' Word

    Mitt Romney believes that his best line of attack is making the claim that he has not spent a moment as a D.C. politician while his two main opponents, Newt ...

    Read More

  • Holy Rick Santorum, Batman!

    Holy Rick Santorum, Batman!

    No two ways about it, Rick Santorum had a good night. Not only did he sweep Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri but he also got off the best line of the ...

    Read More

  • “We the Rich…”

    We the Rich...

    Few would argue the fact that Citizens United has been a major player in the Republican primary...and many if not most would concede that none of it has been healthy ...

    Read More

  • A Romney Victory Is Ensured With Trump’s Endorsement ()

    A Romney Victory Is Ensured With Trump's Endorsement ()

    As if you needed another reason to not vote Romney. Celebrity business magnate Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president Thursday, telling reporters he will not mount an independent campaign if ...

    Read More

  • Why I Love Newt Gingrich

    Why I Love Newt Gingrich

    In a perfect world, the Republican contest to find a nominee to face Barack Obama would go on forever...or at least until August. You cannot attach a number to the ...

    Read More

  • Republican Cannibalism

    Republican Cannibalism

    I suspect there are a ton of conservatives secretly agreeing with Begala and while it's too early in the game for Dems to get cocky, it's difficult to not smile ...

    Read More

  • Romney Hood

    Romney Hood

    One of our readers sent me an email with an idea for an illustration - Mitt Romney as Romney Hood. I thought it was brilliant and came up with the ...

    Read More

  • Why Do People Take an Instant Dislike To Newt Gingrich?

    Why Do People Take an Instant Dislike To Newt Gingrich?

    Quotes don't get much better than this one by Bob Dole. "Why do people take such an instant dislike to me?" asked a perplexed Gingrich, to whom Dole bluntly ...

    Read More

  • Gingrich Takes A Thrashing

    Gingrich Takes A Thrashing

    After the beating Gingrich took last night, it's hard to imagine under what scenario he can make a comeback.  Florida is going to Romney and for Gingrich to regain the ...

    Read More

  • SOTU

    SOTU

    There's a lot out there on the President's SOTU, so I'll keep my thoughts short and sweet. The speech did what it had to do which was target liberals and independents ...

    Read More

  • Just Another GOP Debate

    Just Another GOP Debate

    The highlights from last night's debate. - Newt Gingrich can't wait to become president so he can revisit the early 60s and overthrow Castro in Cuba. War, baby, war. - Santorum, who ...

    Read More

  • No More Mister Nice Guy for Mitt Romney

    No More Mister Nice Guy for Mitt Romney

    It appears that the South Carolina verdict is forcing Romney to start taking Gingrich seriously. “We’re not choosing a talk show host, we’re choosing a leader,” Romney said, saying that their ...

    Read More

  • Mike Huckabee Solidifies His Birther Creds

    Mike Huckabee Solidifies His Birther Creds

    Mike Huckabee offers advice to Mitt Romney concerning his unreleased tax returns. Let him [Romney] make this challenge: "I'll release my tax returns when Barack Obama releases his college transcripts and ...

    Read More

  • Late Night Political Humor

    Late Night Political Humor

    Via Political Humor... "Mitt Romney is coming under fire because even though he is a multimillionaire, he only paid 15 percent in taxes. That's not a tax, that's barely a tip." ...

    Read More

  • The Last Word On Jon Huntsman

    The Last Word On Jon Huntsman

    Good line. My guess is that after Romney fails to beat Obama in the general, Huntsman will be back in 2016.  The most electable guy in the field and he could ...

    Read More

  • Does Romney Urinate Straight Down His Leg?

    Does Romney Urinate Straight Down His Leg?

    I found this pretty funny...and accurate. It comes from a reader over at Balloon Juice. So, let’s review. The contenders for the GOP nomination are A vulture capitalist who believes that any ...

    Read More

  • The Constitution – Libertarian’s False Idol

    The Constitution - Libertarian's False Idol

    Lively little debate going on at one of last week's posts with Libertarianism put under the microscope. ocLiberal: I know I am in sketchy territory here, (start the indignant shouting now) but ...

    Read More

  • Gingrich’s Delusional Politics

    Gingrich's Delusional Politics

    In the contest to determine the winner of the Far-Right Politics gold medal, rack up a few more points for Newt Gingrich. “I think an intelligent conservative wants the right federal ...

    Read More

  • Late Night Political Humor

    Late Night Political Humor

    Via Political Humor... "Congratulations to Mitt Romney. He won the New Hampshire primary last night. See, this is proof that even the multimillionaire son of a multimillionaire can beat the odds ...

    Read More

  • What Do North Korea and Indiana Have In Common?

    What Do North Korea and Indiana Have In Common?

    Story 1: North Korea punishing those who 'didn't display enough sadness over Kim Jong Il's death' North Korean authorities are reportedly punishing citizens who did not display enough sadness over the death ...

    Read More

Serious People

.

This stuff might be a little heavy for a Friday but here it is anyway.  Paul Krugman

When I was young and naïve, I believed that important people took positions based on careful consideration of the options. Now I know better. Much of what Serious People believe rests on prejudices, not analysis. And these prejudices are subject to fads and fashions.

Krugman stated his belief in reference to those who believe in fiscal austerity at a time of economic depression.  I’m not quite sure that sentiment on Serious People could be applied generally.  Politicians aside (who I don’t recognize as Serious People although they should be), I’d like to think that Serious People do think things out and while they may disagree on issues with other Serious People, their conclusions are based on a sound basis of facts.

(pause as I reread what I just wrote…)

OK. On a bit more reflection, I’m not sure I agree with me.  Either that or the list of Serious People is a really small one probably limited, for the most part, to those in the scientific community.  For everyone else, prejudices do form some basis for our beliefs.  And if that is true, then the difference between THE REALLY Serious People and the NOT REALLY Serious People is the degree to which they allow their prejudices (in place of hard facts) to taint and alter their beliefs.

As I said, this might be a little too heavy for a holiday weekend.  Happy Friday.

___
.
To receive new posts directly on your Facebook page, become a member of MarioPiperniDotCom’s page. Click here
.

Comments

  1. Kathryn says:

    Wow, Mario, I love the way you think. More importantly, thank you for keeping us grounded, especially on this holiday weekend.

  2. PerryE says:

    Mario even the Serious Scientists have corporations backing them up especially the Pharmaceuticals, so even those serious people have to defend their jobs and do as they are told. Its THE IMPERIALISM (monopoly stage of capitalism) OF CORPORATE AMERICA!

    And those same corporations have the senators by the you know what!

    Its sick!

    HAPPY FRIDAY TO ALL. BRAZIL LOST TO THE NETHERLANDS YEAH!

  3. @Perry. While my cynicism generally runs deep, I have the utmost admiration for the scientific method and process as a means to weed out the charlatans in that discipline. There is no way around the peer review process which is what makes the climate change debate a phony one at best. To be a GW denier is to admit that one does not understand the scientific process.

  4. PerryE says:

    @mario I am just saying that the scientists are crooked also and the corporations they work for are crooked also. I believe in GW.

    But you cannot take science and scientists for their last word because they are hired by corporations that are out to get the old green dollar, so they bend the rules, and hide side effects from medicine, etc. etc. Corporate America is vicious and GREEDY!

  5. Yes, there are crooked corporations. That goes without saying. And I have no doubt there are unscrupulous scientists. But what I’m implying is that while one can “bend the rules”, science cannot be bent.

  6. PerryE says:

    Science cannot be bent, but scientists can misrepresent their findings and bend the rules. Why? Because they all work for someone else and they also have to feed their kids and family. Therefore, findings can be misleading and not accurate.

    But Mario scientific findings are like the clouds, they change all the time with new developments. It can be specific for right now but not necessarily true in one year or a lifetime. So the specificity goes out the door.

  7. Greg says:

    Once you answer the question “why is there a pyramid with the
    all seeing eye above it on back of our one dollar bills” you
    can kind of figure out why things are what they are.
    Even though the above statement may seem off subject in fact its
    in most cases the reason for corporate rule along with a bunch
    of other nifty stuff which controls our daily lives.
    Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss —- thats because its
    the same “one” boss.
    Enough of all this sillyness–for its fourth of July weekend which
    means Cotton Candy and mis-using fireworks.