Silver vs. Ziegler: No Contest
The back and forth rhetoric between stat guru Nate Silver and “entertainer/host” John Ziegler is a wonderful window into the pathetic state of affairs on the far right. Poor Ziegler and his “survey” simply wilt away under any kind of objective scrutiny, and Nate Silver effortlessly exposes the BS like nobody else.
Post interview, Silver observes:
There are a certain segment of conservatives who literally cannot believe that anybody would see the world differently than the way they do. They have not just forgotten how to persuade; they have forgotten about the necessity of persuasion.
John Ziegler is a shining example of such a conservative. During my interview with him, Ziegler made absolutely no effort to persuade me about the veracity of any of his viewpoints. He simply asserted them — and then became frustrated, paranoid, or vulgar when I rebutted them.
If you take the time to read the interview transcript, you’ll see exactly what Silver is talking about. The same could probably be said for other personalities on the far right (Limbaugh, Hannity, etc).
The substitute for persuasion among these folks is the always instructive, brute force approach — shove it down their throats. That’s what Ziegler’s newest venture HowObamaGotElected.com manages to do in spades.
What’s appalling is that reputable pollsters, like Zogby International, are willing to take someone like Ziegler seriously and even defend him.
