This Horse IsNot Dead Yet

I have been chided and excoriated lately for chiming in and attempting to further the notion of many cultural observers that there is a rising tide of "anti-intellectualism" in our society.

Anyone who doubts this reality should listen carefully to the tidal wave of remarks being made about Ms. Sotomayor's nomination to the SCOTUS.

Rove has implied she is "stupid"; Pat Buchanan said, literally, that she is not "very intelligent"; she has been derogatorially referred to as a "schoolmarm"(implying that this is a bad thing) and criticized for being "too careful" and precise in her grammar and wording when she speaks and writes (another sleight which implies a mental shortcoming). Rush Limbaugh publicly promotes confusing the terms "racist" and "bigot"with "ethnic experience". Pick nearly any conservative mouthpiece and you will find a pejorative, down-with-thinking remark that can be attributed to them in the last 72 hours.

People so tenaciously hugging the far right shoulder of the highway of disruptive discourse are resisting critical thought and honest debate at every turn. They confront obvious truth (the nominee's outstanding and impeccable credentials) with obvious untruths. They use ugly words and defamation to assail the unassailable, and malign the un-malignable. There is a tremendous tendency and willingness to equate innate characteristics (being Hispanic) with characterizations ( being inferior and unqualified). These mental obstructionists would have you believe, through obfuscating derogatory oratory, that black is white, being correct is inappropriate and linguistic precision is counter-productive. Hot air may float balloons, but it can suffocate civility.

Those leading the charge of anti-intellectualism are seeking to halt effective logic, in favor of irrational and emotional backlash, hence attempting to make the world rotate backwards and cause civilization to turn in on itself.