Rush and lying

I find it amusing that Rush Limbaugh accuses scientists of lying. After all, he's an entertainer--someone who is paid to lie to us. Scientists, on the other hand, are paid to investigate truth. It is a sad state of affairs that so many people in this country trust someone who is paid to paint an unreal picture of the world over those whose job it is to investigate the true nature of the world around us.

Unfortunately, I don't know what to do about this. Engaging with liars like Rush doesn't do anything--he's a skilled talker who is very good at weaving half-truths into something that resembles whole cloth closely enough to fool many educated, thinking people. He's good at getting people riled up, and when emotion enters the picture, people stop questioning some things they should be questioning. Science, which is supposed to be beyond emotion, just can't compete with the hot anger pouring from these entertainers. We rely on critical thinking, but people seem to stop being truly critical when emotions get entangled in an issue.