Neocons now urging people to be stupid

roy at alicublog catches Lee Harris arguing in defense of stupidity because otherwise conservatives might catch liberal ideas.

In a world that absurdly overrates the advantage of sheer brain power, no one wants to be seen as a member in good standing of the stupid party. Yet stupidity has been and will always remain the best defense mechanism against the ordinary conman and the intellectual dreamer, just as Odysseus found that stuffing cotton in his ears was his best defense against beguiling but fatal song of the sirens....

The stupid conservative, on the other hand, does not look for a higher authority than tradition itself. He is prepared to rest his case simply on traditional authority alone, without seeking to appeal to logic, or reason, or empirical data. For what reason gives, reason can take away.

I am pleased they now feel they can admit they lost the war of ideas and their best defense is to urge their followers to stuff cotton in their ears.

Tags: conservatives, neo-cons, ideas, GOP