Don't Bother Arguing with a Republican

Have you ever engaged in a social media political "debate?" A back and forth of 140 characters or less. If you haven't, good; don't bother! It's pointless.

Not because a civil dialogue with a person of a different viewpoint is harmful in of itself. Because conflicting evidence or data will not change the mind of the other person. As stated in a previous blog post, evidence shows that contrary facts will only make the belief-holder more entrenched in his or her own views, in direct opposition to the "facts."

A recent example would be the vaccine conspiracy theories. Celebrity activists, with no medical training or experience, persuaded parents to forego vaccines to avoid autism. Despite there being no medical studies to support the faux theory, some parents went along and perpetuated the anti-vaccination rhetoric. When they were told that there was no evidence to support their position, they grew more extreme in their beliefs, sometimes challenging the intentions of the doctors undermining their uninformed convictions. Fortunately, California lawmakers sent a bill to the Governor to mandate vaccines, which benefits public health and is consistent with sound medical science.

It doesn't end with vaccines. Take ObamaCare, climate change, or criminal justice reform. Most Republicans cannot and will not accept the facts.

ObamaCare has been upheld yet again by the United States Supreme Court. It isn't unconstitutional. Healthcare costs, overall, have bucked trends. Instead of double-digit inflation of medical costs, we are seeing a decline throughout the country. The uninsured rate has dropped significantly. Everything is working as projected -- similar to what happened in Massachusetts, the state that influenced ObamaCare.

Republicans are still calling ObamaCare a failure, and are demanding a full repeal.

Climate change is starting to make a noticeable impact. Refugees, due to climate change, have been displaced. 2015 is already the hottest year on record. Droughts are becoming more common. Ecological consequences are starting to affect a large number of animals.

Republicans either deny climate change or refuse to take steps to lower carbon emissions for fear of upsetting one of their most reliable special interest: big oil (Koch and Hamm).

Finally, systemic racism has been rearing its ugly head. Multiple police brutality stories have drawn attention to racial profiling and excessive force. Reliable data shows that Blacks and Latinos are arrested at a higher rate than Whites despite the fact that Whites are committing similar crimes at similar rates. A black man will be sentenced more harshly for the same crime that a white man has committed.

Republicans refuse to confront racial disparities and discrimination. Instead, they are pushing for Jim Crow policies, like: voter identification laws and mandatory minimum sentencing, which could impact a defendant's ability to vote later in life. They support the invalidation of the Voting Rights Act -- a staple achievement of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don't bother raising your voice, or frantically typing at the keyboard. One cannot change the mind of a Republican extremist. However, liberals should always be open to discussing the issues with independents or moderates. It's important, especially in the months ahead, that more people see the GOP for what it has become: intolerant, impervious to the facts, and the wrong party to lead the country into the future.

Numbers Don't Lie, Ignore the Scoreboard

Oh, math. Perhaps one of the most disdained subjects in school, but anyone in existence knows of its importance. Math is incorporated in our everyday lives. As the wise Jay-z once stated, "numbers don't lie." It's common knowledge, however, the same cannot be said of politics.

Policy should be shaped by the data -- the indisputable numbers. But, I can't remember the last time when that has been the case. Ideologues, on both sides of the spectrum -- let's be honest though, more so the Republicans -- have found a way to mislead and confuse. Conclusions are always up to debate. The truth is always relative, no matter what the experts say. And even if partisans are confronted with the truth, it doesn't seem to matter.

That is why I was not surprised when I read a study conducted by University of Michigan political scientists. They found that evidence contrary to a held position does nothing to change the opinion of the belief-holder. In fact, the belief-holders grew more adamant in their false beliefs! Brendan Nyhan summarized it as follows: "the general idea is that it's absolutely threatening to admit you're wrong...the phenomenon  -- known as 'backfire' --  is a 'natural defense to avoid ... cognitive dissonance.'"

Okay, so we already knew that no one "likes" to be wrong. What's the problem though with admitting that you're wrong, when shown concrete conflicting evidence? I ask, because as you can probably guess, some matters of policy should not be open to much debate.

I preface my comments with the fact that people should not be ridiculed or mocked. Conservatives have rightly condemned the left (some in the cable news business exaggerate) at times for "elitism." Nonetheless, liberals should not concede on the facts.

Republicans still assert a few claims that I find disturbing. "The stimulus did not work." Actually it did, and economists, both conservative and liberal, agree that it prevented another great depression. So can the talking points stop?

Here's another one: "tax cuts on the 'job creators' will boost the economy and the tax cuts will pay for itself." No, not so much in reality. As I pointed out in an earlier blog entry, Kansas attempted to experiment with trickle-down policies and it failed. California raised taxes and the economy grew. When will the voodoo economics stop?

Let's take the controversial, and widely misunderstood, ObamaCare. "No one will sign up," and "premiums will rise exponentially." Both wrong. You may have read -- or probably did not read because of the media coverage -- that over 8 million signed up the first year. The uninsured rate is dropping fast, and even more fast in states that expanded Medicaid. And what about premiums... Yep, you guessed it: California premiums are expected to rise modestly, much lower than the average rate of growth over recent years. Other states are showing the same data.

I won't even opine about climate change. I'll spare you the "activist rhetoric."

If you are one of my conservative friends, odds are that you will likely dismiss these citations and evidence. That's too bad. I'm definitely not saying that my positions are always right. Yet, there needs to be an opposition that can accept these facts. One can still hold conservative beliefs and still accept the evidence.

In this age of polarization, I doubt anything will be agreed upon, It's too damaging politically. Well, maybe one thing can be agreed upon; The scoreboard isn't everything, it's all about how the scoreboard looks.

The general idea is that it’s absolutely threatening to admit you’re wrong,” says political scientist Brendan Nyhan, the lead researcher on the Michigan study. The phenomenon — known as “backfire” — is “a natural defense mechanism to avoid that cognitive dissonance.” - See more at: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/#sthash.BlQmmnVn.dpuf

The general idea is that it’s absolutely threatening to admit you’re wrong,” says political scientist Brendan Nyhan, the lead researcher on the Michigan study. The phenomenon — known as “backfire” — is “a natural defense mechanism to avoid that cognitive dissonance.” - See more at: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/#sthash.BlQmmnVn.dpuf

“The general idea is that it’s absolutely threatening to admit you’re wrong,” says political scientist Brendan Nyhan, the lead researcher on the Michigan study. The phenomenon — known as “backfire” — is “a natural defense mechanism to avoid that cognitive dissonance.” - See more at: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/#sthash.BlQmmnVn.dpuf

“The general idea is that it’s absolutely threatening to admit you’re wrong,” says political scientist Brendan Nyhan, the lead researcher on the Michigan study. The phenomenon — known as “backfire” — is “a natural defense mechanism to avoid that cognitive dissonance.” - See more at: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/#sthash.BlQmmnVn.dpuf