Junk science and junk scientists

The older I get the clearer certain things become. One of them is the way people on the Left of the political spectrum react to perceived threats to their world view as contrasted from those on the Right. My hypothesis is a simple one and I can explain it with an analogy. If the Left sees that a door has been left open and the lights are on in their room of secret papers they will assume that someone has broken in and has rifled through them. They presume it was one of us, a card-carrying member of the evil Right. Their instinct is to call the authorities and demand an immediate investigation and then tell them that they know who committed the crime and demand that they be brought in for questioning. Their counterparts on the Right will just assume that somebody left the lights on, reach in and turn them off. In point of fact neither one is right in their assessment of the situation and their actions. But those seem to be the only two choices that guide our entire political intercourse these days.

We can turn to scientists for some illumination and clarification. No respectable man or woman of science would ever dream of going to the National Science Foundation with a multi-million dollar grant proposal that was either based on a hunch or a suspicion. Were they to do so their grant application would be relegated to the 'circular file' without a second look. Scientists work with certain theories to be sure, but they usually test them out in small-scale experiments to guide them along certain paths that use the process of elimination, among others. Not so with idealogues or zealots. They use their ideologies, whether proven or not and their zeal to move Heaven and Earth - and voters - their way.

Said another way, they are like personal injury lawyers, always looking for a small detail to prove a larger point and never losing sight of the fact that their job is to prove the other guy wrong by using any and all means possible in their case.

And they have no qualms about using the lengthy and costly appeals process to bankrupt the other side as well. Liberals are like that, too. And we on the Right often forget, that for them it's not the truth they seek; it's only the truth that benefits them that matters. The newly-released Mueller Report is a perfect example. The Left will not accept that after two years of costly investigations that no collusion was found to be committed by the President or his campaign staff with respect to the Russians. Instead, they will not give up on their suspicions that something was left on the table, that the truth is not the truth. They are simply proving that they are a bunch of practicing junk scientists using flawed hypotheses. They are not in search of something that will help propel all of us forward towards a common goal, but rather one that will serve their narrow interests. We are all in trouble if we adopt or accept their methods. I have no doubt that the Left will continue along this path. It is in their political DNA and not something that will change until or unless they have an epiphany of conscience or are shocked into accepting the folly of their ways by some cataclysmic event. One thing I do know for certain; one of those two things had better happen soon or we will all suffer, and that's the unvarnished, irrefutable and non-partisan truth.

Stephan Helgesen is a former career U.S. diplomat who lived and worked in thirty different countries, specializing in export promotion. He is now a political analyst and strategist and author of nine books and over 1,000 articles on politics, the economy and social trends. He can be reached at: stephan@stephanhelgesen.com