al, perry and pesky facts

‘abstinence works!’ (in what respect charlie?)

Steve Benen: This fascinating clip made the rounds yesterday, and with good reason. To get a sense of how Texas Gov. Rick Perry evaluates evidence, it’s an illustrative three minutes.

….The problem here isn’t just that Perry has the wrong answer. The more meaningful problem is that Perry doesn’t seem to know how to even formulate an answer. He starts with a proposition in his mind (abstinence-only education is effective), and when confronted with evidence that the proposition appears false (high teen-pregnancy rates), the governor simply hangs onto his belief, untroubled by evidence…

…. In general, conservatism isn’t pragmatic because policy outcomes aren’t the goal. Indeed, they’re largely irrelevant. As we’ve seen in too many instances, Republicans aren’t principally concerned with solving problems; their goals are ideological.

….. The exchange in the clip is amusing because it makes Perry look foolish, but it actually offers a peek behind the curtain: the right believes programs work, even when they don’t work, so long ideological goals are being met. Real-world implications are meaningless…..

Full post here

Thanks to LOL for suggesting we call this video ‘In What Respect Charlie Part 2’ – perfect! 😉