Don’t retreat. Reload.

What can explain liberals’ widespread failure to anticipate the Court’s wariness of the mandate? Research conducted by University of Virginia psychologist Jonathan Haidt suggests one possible answer: Liberals just aren’t as good as conservatives and libertarians at understanding how their opponents think. Haidt helped conduct research that asked respondents to fill out questionnaires about political narratives—first responding based on their own beliefs, but then responding as if trying to mimic the beliefs of their political opponents. “The results,” he writes in the May issue of Reason, “were clear and consistent.” Moderates and conservatives were the most able to think like their liberal political opponents. “Liberals,” he reports, “were the least accurate, especially those who describe themselves as ‘very liberal.’”

Program Reminder: The bout begins shortly on Sun News Network.
Update: Watching the pre-game show, I must say that Ezra’s colour commentary is surprisingly even handed.

A poll in need of a power boost.

h/t Kathy Shaidle

Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
The Economist, March 31st – This may have pleased environmentalists, but it infuriated Canadians who depend on the oil industry. A pro-business lobby called EthicalOil.org is urging a boycott of Chiquita’s products that is said to be costing the company a fortune. Chiquita would not quantify its losses.
Washington Post, March 28th – Limbaugh’s recovering fortunes may be best exemplified by what hasn’t happened. At the peak of the controversy in early March, two small stations — in western Massachusetts and Hilo, Hawaii — said that they would drop his program. Since then, no other station has said it will take him off the air, dashing the hopes of MoveOn.org, a liberal group whose ongoing petition drive seeks Limbaugh’s removal from 180 stations.
Related: Rush’s ratings up .

“Penny for your thoughts” open thread.

I’ll miss Rush Limbaugh.

Bumped for update: You can listen to the audio here.
From the comments;

I’m in Alberta where an election was called this morning, and I just sat through the most offensive robocall “poll” you can imagine.
As soon as I pressed “2” to indicate that I was planning to vote Wildrose, the questions changed to a personal attack: “Press 1 if you are opposed to proper health care, Press 2 if you think students don’t deserve to go to kindergarten, Press 3 if you think that people should be allowed to drive drunk up to the legal limit without consequence, etc., etc.

If anyone else has received calls like this, let me know.

*

“I first met Breitbart when he showed up at a panel I was on at UCLA. He told me he was the guy who posted items for Matt Drudge, and I immediately realized he was the most powerful person in the room. Nobody could understand why I was sucking up to the crazed hippie kid in shorts.”

(That ought to drag in the search engines). John O’Sullivan reviews the current state of conservativism in the US, Canada, Austraila and Great Britain. (h/t Adrian)

Senator Nancy Greene-Raine in a speech before the Canadian Senate;

Honourable senators, I rise to address Bill S-205, an Act to amend the Income Tax Act. If passed, this amendment would give tax credits to Canadians who invest in so-called carbon offsets. While I have no objection to citizens spending their own money in any way they choose, I do not support the government’s giving tax credits for carbon offsets. I say this for several reasons. First and foremost, I consider it an unnecessary and undesirable expense at a time when we should be looking for ways to reduce the tax burden on Canadians. While it is true that the amendment would benefit those who invest in carbon offsets, it would be an expense that would have to be covered by all other taxpayers. I say it is unnecessary because, contrary to the assertions of the honourable senator sponsoring the bill, it addresses an issue that is more and more being questioned by new scientific evidence. We simply do not know that our actions have a significant impact on the global climate, let alone that “the consequences of not acting can be catastrophic,” to quote Senator Mitchell.

Go thank her.
h/t Ron in Kelowna

With the Rt. Hon. Christopher Monckton. Details here.

Via BCF

SDA gets results!

Call it a victory for common sense. Radio-Canada, CBC’s French wing, has pulled its soft-porn web-TV series, Hard, from its Tou.tv website […]
Radio-Canada always denied the series was pornographic. CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix defended Hard, saying it was popular in France, good value for money, and perfectly in line with the CBC’s mandate.

…of screwing the taxpayers.

Indeed! “I don’t believe in a higher standard for conservatives. I think that’s a trap…”

Marriage Fraud, what marriage fraud?
And didn’t we agree to call them civil unions, anyway?