Mass Delusion : denialism blog

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Mark Hoofnagle has a MD and PhD in physiology from the University of Virginia, and is now a general surgery resident. His interest in denialism concerns the use of denialist tactics to confuse public understanding of scientific knowledge.

Chris Hoofnagle is a recovering Washington, DC lawyer and information privacy law expert at UC-Berkeley Law School. Denialism became apparent to him while working on consumer protection laws in Washington. The Denialists' Deck of Cards is essentially a how-to guide for being an industry lobbyist.

PalMD is a practicing internist in the Midwestern United States. Aside from the great joy he finds in his family and his work, he likes communicating some of that joy to others. He has a special interest in the ways patients---and we are all patients at one time or another---are deceived by charlatans. He aims to change the world, one reader at a time. Previous writings can still be found here.

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« Look at This F*ing Teabagger UPDATED | Main | Reclaiming "Freedom" »

Mass Delusion

Category: Wasting your time
Posted on: September 13, 2009 8:38 PM, by Chris H

Update: looks like the picture expired from Tumblr. It was a picture of a teabagger in Washington DC holding a sign that said "We Are John Galt," which is pretty much retarded.

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Comments

Wasn't John Galt an incredibly rich fictional person who sexually assaulted his employees?

Posted by: Paul Murray | September 13, 2009 9:16 PM

I find the "We" part of "We are John Galt" a bit ironic. Sounds a bit like an expression of collectivism, the Randian bete noir.

Posted by: Tyler DiPietro | September 13, 2009 9:45 PM

Hell, John Galt? I am FRODO.

Posted by: Mike Haubrich, FCD | September 13, 2009 10:19 PM

Reminds me of the crowd in "Life of Brian" all chanting back in unison... "We are all individuals"

"Not me...I'm just like everybody else!"

Posted by: BAllanJ | September 13, 2009 10:19 PM

...

It's amazing how many people don't read, isn't it?

Posted by: Bryan | September 13, 2009 10:41 PM

"It's amazing how many people don't read, isn't it?"

No complaints here if it's only Ayn Rand they're not reading.

Posted by: CW | September 13, 2009 10:57 PM

The key to Happiness- is not to read the signs along the road to life.

Posted by: P. Neisman | September 13, 2009 11:58 PM

I think they're getting the story wrong. In Atlas Shrugged, the self-important protesters also happened to have useful skills and their withdrawal from society created problems. If the tea-baggers would go away, society would be better off.

It's a good reminder that Atlas Shrugged was fiction. (And Ayn Rand would have had a lot of trouble persuading Galt and his folks that she had anything to contribute to their technocratic little society.)

Posted by: Zeno | September 14, 2009 12:51 AM

After viewing these photos as various tea-bagging events, I have come to the conclusion that the whole movement must be a form of performance art; the signs are just too obviously non sequiturs.

Posted by: Rixaeton | September 14, 2009 2:21 AM

So where were the teabaggers when george w. bush was beating the war drums?

Posted by: Ray C. | September 14, 2009 1:57 PM

They were busy yelling at all those traitorous protesters, and cheering on torture, indefinite detention, and invasion of privacy.

But don't give us health care, oh no -- that's an infringement of our rights.

Posted by: minimalist | September 14, 2009 2:36 PM

there are a lot of crazies in the tea bagger movement. But Ray C asked a serious question, where were they during Bush's administration. My sense is that the tea baggers are part of the Ron Paul following. Ron Paul was adamantly opposed to the Iraq war and the huge increases in deficit spending by Bush which have now been dwarfed by Obama's further increases in deficit spending.

Posted by: Mike | September 15, 2009 9:37 AM

you have forfeit your life

http://www.sotoman.info/freethinking/index.php?topic=1198.0

Posted by: dave mabusa | September 15, 2009 12:42 PM

One sign that you have "arrived" in the skeptical blogosphere: David Mabus shows up to post his usual drivel.

Seriously. This guy's nuts.

Apparently, the existence of a 6 legged goat, Depeche mode making a video on the World Trade Center, and a vague Nostradamus quatrain about "monsters" proves... well... something or other.

Posted by: LanceR, JSG | September 15, 2009 12:55 PM

lance,

you are blaspheming liar and you have forfeit your life...

bye

http://www.sotoman.info/freethinking/index.php?topic=1198.0

Posted by: felixmab | September 15, 2009 12:57 PM

actually we are going to ANNIHILATE of you f*ckers

you lost your lives

http://www.sotoman.info/freethinking/index.php?topic=1198.0

Posted by: Anonymous | September 15, 2009 1:19 PM

Blaspheming? Yes. Gladly and proudly. Liar? Not so much. Do you have anything other than bald assertions and threats?

Didn't think so.

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/M-GetOutofHellFree.jpg
I'm covered, thanks.

Posted by: LanceR, JSG | September 15, 2009 2:21 PM

And if anyone has actually, "lost your lives", I've got a box of "Lost & Found" lives by my desk. Please stop by and identify your life. They are really piling up, so please claim yours at your earliest opportunity.

Posted by: LanceR, JSG | September 15, 2009 3:24 PM

Ron Paul was adamantly opposed to the Iraq war and the huge increases in deficit spending by Bush which have now been dwarfed by Obama's further increases in deficit spending.

Regarding Bush vs Obama deficit dwarfing: you of course have it exactly backwards. Bush's deficit is in the range of $10-12 trillion. "is", not "was": the mandatory spending caused by the Iraq war is going to continue for years, along with Bush-initiated bailouts and the Bush-initiated plan D for Medicare, a trillion dollar gift to the pharmaceutical industry. The deficit associated with Obama is so far in the $1-2 trillion range. With the economy recovering, there probably isn't going to be another bailout or stimulus.

Posted by: william e emba | September 16, 2009 8:44 AM

"It's amazing how many people don't read, isn't it?"

No complaints here if it's only Ayn Rand they're not reading.
:)

Posted by: mirc indir | September 18, 2009 5:32 PM

Teabagging definition: sticking your testicles into someone else's mouth. Yep, that sounds right about these people.

Posted by: Gil | September 23, 2009 10:41 AM

19,yes! And it was Pres. Reagan's big military spending that got us going, not the tax give-a-way that he and Sen. Dole had to overcome with the biggest tax increase of all time [ inflation included]. Then there were more Reagan taxes. At least Dr. Laffer voted twice for Pres. Clinton1
The " Laugh-er " Curve reflects overgeneralizing the principle of diminishing returns.
Objectivists so blaspheme reason!
" Atlas Shrugged" as a thriller might be fine but as economic analysis, it blasphemes reason and humanity!
Lord Griggs1947

Posted by: Morgan-LynnGriggs Lamberth | September 26, 2009 7:01 PM

" Atlas Shrugged" as a thriller

It was not a thriller. Trust me.

Posted by: Chris | September 27, 2009 12:08 AM

Posted by: asder | September 27, 2009 5:21 AM

I'm half-convinced that the Tbag movement has been infiltrated by undercover satirist commando units who put up the "We Are John Galt" and "Get The Government Out of My Medicare" posters knowing the real Baggers are too stupid to get the joke (let alone that the joke is on them).

Posted by: ChicagoMolly | September 27, 2009 2:08 PM