When Leaders are Proud of Being Anti-Intellectual...
America has been built on the work of many, in factories and on farms, in NASA and GM, on the foundation of a nationwide public school system and the best teaching and research universities in the world.  In the business world, in our communities, churches, schools, and government agencies we have depended on a plethora of creative and innovative Americans to build the American dream, nearly always with the smartest person in the room driving the dream, pulling us together, figuring out how to solve the problems we face together. 

But a Romney pollster, speaking on ABC News, said: "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers."    

When our leaders quietly attack analysis and fact checkers to protect their own ‘right to mislead’ that is one thing.  When they proudly and publicly announce that this is their strategy, it seems to me that they are saying we are not problem solvers. 

We are not the leaders you are looking for, we are not carrying the torch of previous generations of American leaders—public and private—who landed on the moon, created the internet and built the most productive manufacturing and agricultural sectors on the planet.  We are phony and proud of it.

Taking a firm stand against facts tells us a lot all by itself.  Then comparing the Romney staffer’s statement to previous statements from Romney himself (below) and we see another layer of phoniness: We are willing to hold our opponent to one standard and reject that same standard when applied to ourselves…and proud of it. 

Romney, reacting to attacks by a pro-Obama super PAC, told a radio station that "in the past, when people pointed out that something was inaccurate, why, campaigns pulled the ad." 

 

If only he lived the courage of his own convictions, instead of merely insisting others live up to standards he himself ignores.

Sadly, this is not that unusual, though the level of hubris and shamelessness, the willingness to proudly announce that we are unconcerned about facts, analysis, consistency or fairness…is astounding and both anti-intellectual and anti-democratic.  We need fact checking more than ever.  It may be our only, however tenuous, remaining link to common sense and a functioning democracy.