"There seems to be, for lack of a better term, a "good ol' boy" network of some kind. If you're in the club nothing is heresy; if you're not in the club, everything's heresy."
Ain't that the way liberals are wherever you find them?
Just so. It would seem to come down to basic character traits, no? Integrity being a cornerstone. Do consevatives generally possess more of it than liberals? Liberals are rarely swayed by facts; you've probably been involved in arguments discussions with leftists that would bare this out. Occasionally I'll move one to the point where they will at least question their assumptions, but will hardly ever concede a point. But I digress...
In any case I'm reminded of the "March Through the Institutions" scenario laid out by one Antonio Gramsci whose basic premise was that the West(particularly America) would not abide a frontal attack from socialism. Incrementalism was, and is, the key to defeating us. Junk science is but a part???
FGS