November 11, 2012

On not drinking one's own poison


There has been quite a bit of commentary lately about the failures of right wing polling and intelligence in the 2012 elections. All this has reminded me of something I read years ago in Peter Berger's 1963 classic An Invitation to Sociology

Early on in the book, he talked about how good intelligence means getting accurate information, whether you like it or not, rather than simply reinforcing the propaganda of the side one happens to be on. Holy Fox News, Batman!  In Berger's words, 

“…good intelligence consists of information free of bias. If a spy does his reporting in terms of the ideology and ambitions of his superiors, his reports are useless not only to the enemy, if the latter should capture them, but also to the spy’s own side.”

Again, one should never take one's own propaganda too seriously.

MORE ON THE RAPE BOYS. In yesterday's post, I briefly discussed the political failures of right wing gynecology in the recent election. Here's Mother Jones for a more complete look at the political scoreboard.

NOTE: El Cabrero is on the road a good part of the week. Posts may be irregular. Stay tuned...

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

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