Sarah Palin’s Op-Ed in the Washington Post today is illogical. She argues that the U.S. should boycott the Copenhagen talks:
This scandal obviously calls into question the proposals being pushed in Copenhagen. I’ve always believed that policy should be based on sound science, not politics . . . . [o]ur representatives in Copenhagen should remember that good environmental policymaking is about weighing real-world costs and benefits . . . . [t]he president should boycott Copenhagen.
She correctly points out the problem caused by the scientists involved in “Climate-Gate.” The problem is that facts were repressed, so arguably, the scientists and policymakers who read the scientific journals that suppressed this information could not make fully informed decisions about climate change. In other words, her premise is very valid: suppression of speech leads to poor policy choices because society can’t make fully informed decisions.
Her solution? Completely boycott the Copenhagen talks, thus completely ignoring all speech by those who believe that climate change is a serious issue. Apparently, to Palin, ignoring or suppressing the speech of those she agrees with is appalling, but ignoring or suppressing the speech of those she disagrees with is just dandy.
The logical fallacy is obvious. What’s worse is the whole Op-Ed is just an excuse for her to ramble on about herself.
Ironically, the Washington Post published this piece of SPEECH, yet I am sure that she would not mind if the Washington Post suppressed the swath of negative reactions to this piece that will be appearing in the paper for days to come.
