Connecting the dots on Bush's book club

Glenn Greenwald has an expansive post (well worth reading) about W's "book club." This is the same meeting that I posted on the other day. It seems, from reading Greenwald that this is nothing but a meeting of the neocon usual suspects. The fact that Bush reads a book by a conservative anglophile about history somehow makes him appear well-read to people like Mark Steyn. It's astonishing that, as a sort of follow-up Karl Rove invites over some neocons (Greenwald has a fairly comprehensive list) and makes sure Bush has learned the right lessons from the book.

I wonder what would happen if some slipped, oh, say, Manufacturing Consent into the dust jacket of the next paean to imperialism that is tossed into Bush's lap. It would take something like that, it seems, to break up these exercises in group-think.

Group Think on Global Warming

One of the right-wing blogosphere talking-points on climate change is that it's a result of "group-think" that scientists won't challenge for fear of ostracism. Maybe they were talking about themselves:

"Of 63 blogs queried, we get survey results like this:

Do you think mankind is the primary cause of global warming

Yes (0) -- 0%
No (59) -- 100%

The last one strikes me as astonishing. Some skepticism is warranted in climate change science. But the fact that the scientific community overwhelmingly believes that humans are primarily responsible for current climate change and none of the right-wing bloggers does suggests to me another sign of severe conservative meltdown. (Hat tip: Ann.)"

63 blogs is not the largest sample, but still, it's significant that they are in lock-step on this topic. It looks a lot like group-think and a fear of ostracism to me.