Statistics, Facts, and The Lunatic Right

Why are statistics, facts, and science so hard for the “lunatic right” to figure out?

They insist global warming isn’t real and is a hoax perpetuated by the left because all those climate scientists need global warming/global climate change to be real so they can keep their jobs. In other words, we don’t trust them because they profit off of it. And yet . . . when big oil and those right wing groups that are directly tied to the oil, coal, and the greenhouse gas producing energy sources tell them it isn’t real, they chose to believe that. It makes no sense that 97% of climate scientists are in some vast conspiracy to fool the American people into believing that we need to alter our lives to prevent/slow catastrophic changes to our climate. But that doesn’t seem to bother them. Would the “dirty energy” industry lie to us?

The lunatic right also often denies evolution as real. It seems to far out there for them to believe. The evidence is overwhelming and the science is solid. Real world examples of evolution are well documented and proven. And yet this seems a stretch to them. But, to base everything you know and believe on a book, written by man, centuries ago, to help control their fellow man seems like a logical source of fact to them.

The lunatic right also loves their guns. I mean, really, really loves their guns. They find all kinds of reasons to love them. Hunting. Target shooting. Second Amendment freedoms. Protection from terrorists, murderers, rapists, gangsters, thugs, and criminals of every type. Crime is trending down in the US. Violent crime is trending downward. And yet, in their minds, there is a greater need for guns than ever before. Statistics show that guns kill children at an astounding rate. Statistics show that someone’s gun is more likely to be used against them than it is to protect them. Statistics show that domestic violence is far more likely to turn deadly when a gun is in the house. Statistics show that suicide is far more likely in a home with a gun. But they cling to their fear of things that aren’t really a significant threat while not being afraid of things that are a threat. They are even afraid of research into how to decrease gun deaths.

Finally, the lunatic right loves to tell us that minorities don’t need to be protected by law as there is no longer racism in America. Despite constant examples of blatant racism and discrimination in everyday life. I’ve heard all kinds of awful racist comments from people I barely knew, or didn’t know at all. And these same people will turn around and tell you that things like affirmative action are discrimination against whites. Huh?

The inability to grasp basic science, basic factual analysis, or even have a shred of sense of logic seems beyond the lunatic right’s capabilities. And that scares me for the future of America!