NOW we understand why the GOP believes in devolution. Devolution is the transfer of power to lower and lower forms of government, down eventually down to the guy who was hired to turn out the lights, including on his own job.

In case you needed some data to quantify the GOP Descent of Mammoth, here you go. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll-republican-belief-evolution And most likely you could find a fine match between this and their understanding of climate science too. The GOP claims they don’t like entitlements, except their entitlement to their own facts. One would be tempted to blame religion for this astonishing deterioration in comprehending reality, but there have been Enablers.

The world of corporate PR has learned the economic value of Unlearning. From Tobacco to CFC’s to Fossil Fuels, powerful but threatened economic interests have discovered how to advance their business model by attacking the scientific process. Oh, these corporate interests yield eventually, after their calibrated retreat has provided an extra decade or so of profits, and the residual damage to people and the planet is left for others to deal with and suffer and pay for. But the OTHER collateral damage is to science and understanding and public debate and a functioning democracy. That is probably the most lasting and fatal damage of all.

Corporate PR found a weak spot in the way media work, discovering a way to mainline disinformation disguised as data. And the media passes it right along into the national bloodstream. Eventually we discover we are out of antibiotics that work to cure the body politic, because, you know, the science on antibiotic overuse was ‘unclear.’ Somebody said so.