Full transcript below:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012...real-hobgoblin
Basically a pseudo-science piece from NPR that slams consistent honest politicians (fishy considering Ron Paul in the last debate specifically used the label consistent to describe himself.)
I'll sum it up for you with choice quotes:
...Why are politicians and those of us who vote for them so obsessed with inconsistency?
...But this flip flopping thing? It's really in the eye of the beholder.
...In other words our judgments about what is inconsistent and what isn't are clouded by our social allegiances. In fact, the research makes it clear it is hopelessly clouded.
...Tetlock applies this analogy to politics. The hedgehog has one goal: It doesn't want to get eaten. Foxes, on the other hand, are crafty. They have lots of strategies to catch a hedgehog.
Tetlock thinks consistent leaders simplify a complex world into a few big ideas. That's why he thinks they're like hedgehogs.
"There are many different types of hedgehogs," Tetlock says. "You could be on the left or the right. You could be a free-market hedgehog, or you could be a Keynesian hedgehog or even a socialist or Marxist hedgehog."
An absurdly unscientific test. You subjectively assign labels of foxes and hedge hogs and then expect objective results?He asked a large number of hedgehogs and foxes to make specific predictions about events. Over 20 years, he's collected more than 28,000 predictions about issues in 60 countries.
The results are in: Foxes make the right calls more often than hedgehogs. If you want to know where the economy's headed, ask a fox.
To me this came off as a stealth slam piece on Ron Paul...who is else is that consistent and honest! I guess the moral from NPR is that we need to be voting for dishonest politicians because they won't be 'extremists'...
Now according to them all the major politicians are inconsistent and here is Ron's solo example:
"I will continue in my uncompromising opposition to appropriations not authorized within the enumerated powers of the Constitution -- a Constitution that each member of Congress swore to uphold."Seems NPR seemed to forget to check Paul's general voting record on the bills that contain these earmarks...but then again if they did that they couldn't make their point that consistency is subjective and that we should be voting for 'foxes'.Texas Rep. Ron Paul is quite vocal about his desire to radically cut government spending, and his antipathy for so-called earmarks -- government funding for projects that benefit legislators' home turf -- is well known. And yet, in 2007, Paul requested 65 earmarks worth tens of millions of dollars for projects including funding a local trolley and rebuilding a Texas theater. Paul's explanation? "They steal our money," he told Meet The Press, adding, "I represent people who are asking for some of their money back."
Site Information
About Us
- RonPaulForums.com is an independent grassroots outfit not officially connected to Ron Paul but dedicated to his mission. For more information see our Mission Statement.
Connect With Us