Free Republic

Preface. This is my book review of Chris Mooney’s 2012 “The Republican Brain. The Science of Why They Deny Science—and Reality”. This has grown from a review of this book (far below) to more recent science and writing on the conservative mind. People who want certainty and do not like change or changing their mind have been with us since humans evolved. That is discussed in another post: Garcia, H. 2019. Sex, Power, and Partisanship. How evolutionary science makes sense of our political divide. Lately with all the division and even talk of civil war, there have been many broadcasts...

Donald Trump has frequently poured scorn on those who served in the US military. Even though he avoided serving after obtaining a note from a friendly doctor who said he had bone spurs, he famously mocked late Republican John McCain, the 2008 presidential candidate and a prisoner-of-war, saying he preferred people who did not get captured. He would later stun his chief of staff, former Marine General John Kelly, during a visit to France for the centennial anniversary of the end of the First World War, when he allegedly claimed those who gave their lives were “suckers” and “losers”. Now,...

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who has been shunned by former President Trump’s allies, called House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) a “total crackpot” in an online post Tuesday. Cheney, who was a leader of the probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, posted a link to a statement Stefanik previously made condemning the mob that stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of President Biden’s election over Trump in 2020. “One day she will have to explain how and why she morphed into a total crackpot,” Cheney wrote on X,...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will give up leadership of her center-right Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party after 18 years in the post, German media has reported. Merkel announced during a meeting with officials that she will not seek to run for re-election at the party's convention in December. But she made clear that she wanted to remain as chancellor, a position she has held since 2005, CNN affiliate RTL reported, citing party sources. Angela Merkel's Bavarian allies lose majority in crushing vote The announcement is a sign of Merkel's weakened power within her own party, and waning...

MRS. OBAMA: It was really sweet. But he sings all the time. Oh, yes, he’s in the bathroom all the time just singing. He is always willing to sing. He’s like, you want me to sing now, want me to sing something for you? But he has got a good voice. That was very sweet.