Last summer I read “The Real History of the End of the World” by Sharan Newman.  Since Daniel and Revelations, apocalyptic predictions have proliferated.  What I find fascinating are the two competing apocalyptic visions presently in vogue. These, of course, are Climate Change and government fiscal budget austerity.  In the past two weeks Kelly has hit them both.  I find most startlingly is the culture war between conservatives and liberals in the defense of their own apocalyptic vision. (The United States is the only country peopled early on by heavily apocalyptic religious groups, and perhaps this permeates our culture more than we realize).  We have the climate Hoaxers and their Liberal allies screaming that if we don’t have energy austerity the seas will rise. polar bears and coral will die, and our children will all suffer a fate worse than death.  At the same time the “fresh water economists” and their conservative collaborators are warning us of the Bond vigilantes and unrestrained debt stealing our children’s future in a tsunami of inflation, bankruptcy and poverty.  These apocalyptic predictions are countered by the Climate Deniers and their friends the conservatives and the Liberal “salt water” economists and Paul Krugman.  The Deniers claim that even thought CO2 has been growing unchecked for the last ten years we have in fact been COOLING! I would point out that James Hansen has just published a paper claiming that if not for CO2 in the atmosphere, due to the solar cycle we are in, both the Thames River and the canals of Holland would be frozen this winter. (As if this would have been a good thing.)  At the same time, Paul Krugman points out that even thought the FED is holding at least $31 TRILLION in debt ($16 trillion private and $15 trillion Public, double of our GDP) to hold interest rates down, the bond vigilantes have yet to show up.  I would note they might be busy in Greece, Spain, and Italy and just not gotten to us yet. You admit to know nothing of science, the type of person we call “superstitious savages”, so how do you know which side to support?  Or do you just accept the incredible example of doublethink, where Paul Krugman tells us that the more educated the Republican the more ignorant they are and just take the opposite side.   I can’t resist, Paul Krugman points out the Real Expenditures have not increased due to the $1.2 Trillion stimulus and TARP spending vs. during the Reagan Recovery.  The reason is as Kelly pointed out; this administration’s goals are to support their core constituencies, at the head of the line are crony capitalists who receive subsidies and bailouts. Next are faculty and staff at colleges and non-profits that depend on government funding. Then come the unions This administration works solely for their own personal gain and to retain their power and prestige.