How does a Small Mind think? Not very well.

The following is from the book Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) by Elliot Aronson and Carol Tavris:

In 2003, after it became clear that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the Americans [who supported it] were thrown into dissonance: We believed the president, and we (and he) were wrong. How to resolve this?  

For Democrats who had thought Saddam Hussein had WMDs, the resolution was ... the president lied, or at least was too eager to listen to faulty information... 

For Republicans, however, the dissonance was sharper. More than half of them resolved it by refusing to accept the evidence, telling a Knowledge Networks poll that they believed the weapons had been found.  

The survey's director said: "For some Americans, their desire to support the war may be leading them to screen out information that WMDs have not been found. Given the intensive news coverage and high levels of public attention to this topic, this ... suggests that some Americans may be avoiding having an experience of cognitive dissonance."

That's one way of putting it.

Dave Weigel previews Texas governor Rick Perry's news conference

Via.

Sir, we regret your abortion too.

 Via. 

Oh, and in other news, Oregon Republicans nearly killed a measure aimed at stopping animal cruelty. Yes, I'm looking at you, House Minority Leader Mike McLane! But at least your GOP branding is going well: "Republicans: Standing for animal abuse and against, well, everything else.")

Dr. Michael Mann is a mensch—and today's Big Mind of the Day

Dr. Michael Mann is a scientist who's been studying the Earth's climate for almost 25 years. He's also a thoughtful and patient man—and here, he shares some of the funny stories he has about being in the sights of vitriolic denialists, kooks, and members of the Flat Earth Society.

Pick it up at 0:48.

Heroes and Villains on the Road

Via.

People typically ride bikes for any (or all) of the following reasons:

1. They care about the environment.
2. They want to get some exercise.
3. (A distant third): They're looking to save money on gas and/or it's a style choice. "Hey, all the other hipsters are doing it!"

In short, bikers are usually responsible, civic-minded individuals. So it was with pride that I read this New York Times article about Bill Hewitt. I often see his B-Line Sustainable Delivery cargo bikes around Portland. More power to him.

Via.

But we wish less power to Mailand King. According to this Oregonian article, the gentleman backed his Camaro right into a passing cargo bike in a Home Depot parking lot the other day. And then Mr. King got out of his car and was less than gracious to his victim—but this isn't what merits his award today.

No, it was when the cargo-biker, Mike Cobb, tried to get a photo of the Camaro's license plate that King's behavior veered to the churlish. See, Mailand King has his 15-year old daughter stand in FRONT of the license plate so no photo was possible.

As Cobb himself notes in the article's comments: "Identification, contact info. I was happy to supply. I got backed into by a car traveling at 10-15 MPH. I was traveling safely and legally. Clear-cut fault. No need to hide anything."

So to review King's actions: First, hit a biker. Then, refuse to share information about yourself and coerce your kid into the cover-up? Ugh.

Humans are an "endangering species"

Scott Isler made some terrific points in his letter to the editor in yesterday's Oregonian. It wasn't posted online, so here's the text:

Full text after the break.

Pop Quiz!

Gail Collins ran her annual “July the 4^th” quiz yesterday. My favorite three questions:

1. Representative Michele Bachmann made news when she announced she would notrun for re-election. Which of the following was not among her career highlights:

a) Mixed up actor John Wayne with serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
b) Said the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired in New Hampshire.
c) Said that a nonseasonal blizzard in Minnesota was God's warning to politicians to reduce the size of government.

2. Just before leaving town for its holiday break, the House of Representatives finished up work on:

a) The farm bill.
b) Fixing the Voting Rights Act.
c) Naming a Mississippi River bridge after Stan Musial.

3. The House recently passed a ban on abortions after the 20th week of a pregnancy. In a committee meeting, Representative Michael Burgess, a Republican of Texas, supported the bill by claiming:

a) A 15-week-old fetus can masturbate.
b) Pregnant women have to be protected from their hormone-induced bad judgment.
c) The Republican majority's work expanding health care, nutrition and education for poor children makes abortion unnecessary.

Answers: 1.) Trick question (she did them all)  2.) c  3.) a 

And yes, Michael Burgess, you are the Small Mind of the Day.

Phil Berger is the Small Mind of the Day

"The gallery is to remain silent. The senators on the floor are the only voices that matter."  

That's North Carolina Senate Pro Tempore Phil Berger (Republican). See, in a variety of Republican-controlled state legislatures are trying to ram through abortion restrictions. In North Carolina's case, they did so in a rather sneaky way (surprise!).

As critics filled the gallery, Phil Berger tried to silence them with a statement that—well, it sort of reeks, doesn't it?

What rhymes with "Seeking an end to McConnell's slime"?

Alison Lundergan Grimes is the Kentucky secretary of state. And she's decided to run against Sen. Mitch McConnell (Republican) for his seat this year.

I was surprised to hear McConnell respond to this challenge with atypical class: 

"Accepting the invitation from countless Washington liberals to become President Obama's Kentucky candidate was a courageous decision by Alison Lundergan Grimes and I look forward to a respectful exchange of ideas."

I should have known better. McConnell's campaign quickly threw up a video ad ("What rhymes with Alison Lundergan Grimes?") attacking Grimes as, among other things, "a left wing mime." Which makes no sense, because a mime is silent, but the ad features plenty of sampling (and autotuning) of Grimes' public appearances.

But already, new lyrics are being suggested. My two favorites:

What rhymes with Grimes? 


Her opponent's years behind the times.

What rhymes with Mitch? 


He Autotuned her vocal pitch.


What rhymes with Mitch?
That slimy little son of a… gun!

I like this Gene Wu guy.

"If life ends when heart stops, then please explain Dick Cheney." 

—Tweet from Texas state Rep. Gene Wu (Democrat). Oh, and he apologized.