I was motivated to read this book thanks to two different references for the author. The first was Eric Alterman who would often let Pierce participate on his Friday column/blog. The other was Idiot‘s opening about the creationist museum based in Northern Kentucky which is a hilarious bit by Marc Maron. As I write this, I could throw in a third reference, namely the horrendous Texas SBOE pushing for creationism as Science.
Pierce’s premise is similar to Chris Mooney’s The Republican War on Science, actual expertise is ridiculed, attacked and discredited by nut-jobs, religious fanatics and cranks. It isn’t anything terribly new in America’s history as the author gives an opening example: Ignatius Donnelly’s books about the existence of Atlantis seemed to have credibility during the 19th century. Never mind Donnelly never going on an archaeological digs, it was all based upon literary research and probably good doses of imagination. Sounds possible. Look at all the morons buying into Jenny McCarthy’s autism/vaccination nonsense. Actual scientists are boring and rarely appear on MTV and Playboy magazine.
Sadly, Pierce is preaching to the choir with me. I’ve already felt this annoyance and reached such a conclusion when I was a teenager after the nation re-elected a doddering B-movie actor in 1984. It was nothing new. The majority could “relate” to a retired, golf-playing general over an effective governor in the Fifties and bought into the FUD campaign of an inbred sociopath in 2004 since he was a “regular” guy. He does bring to light more useful details about the Terry Schaivo debacle, media consolidation poisoning American democracy, the creationist push into Biology textbooks, a remote Alaskan community being eroded by global warming/climate change as the Pacific Ocean slowly rises and the spurious case for invading Iraq.
It’s a well-written series of essays and research but I think I read it too late. I’m glad to have thrown some coins toward Pierce after reading his numerous contributions for Alterman. However, his arguments are not going to change any minds. The camp he says that follows its gut won’t change its collective minds soon, they’re probably hoping for the Rapture to justify their moronism.