Jard Diamond, author of Collapse and Guns, Germs and Steel, says Mittens is misrepresenting his work.
It is not true that my book “Guns, Germs and Steel,†as Mr. Romney described it in a speech in Jerusalem, “basically says the physical characteristics of the land account for the differences in the success of the people that live there. There is iron ore on the land and so forth.â€
That is so different from what my book actually says that I have to doubt whether Mr. Romney read it. …
… Even scholars who emphasize social rather than geographic explanations — like the Harvard economist David S. Landes, whose book “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations†was mentioned favorably by Mr. Romney — would find Mr. Romney’s statement that “culture makes all the difference†dangerously out of date. In fact, Mr. Landes analyzed multiple factors (including climate) in explaining why the industrial revolution first occurred in Europe and not elsewhere.
Reminds me of …
If Mittens is true to form, he will ignore Jared Diamond and continue to mischaracterize his books.
BTW, I watched Mrs. Mittens’s horse perform in the Olympics just now, on a live stream, and she did pretty well. I have no idea if she’s a contender for a medal, though.
Update: Horse currently in 6th place, in the preliminaries. Update: Finished 13th for the day. In this competition, that is very respectable.
Rememer, Rafalca is America’s Horse. Literally. We’re payin’ for her oats.
I love the Marshall McLuhan scene. I went to hear McLuhan speak once back in school. Someone in the audience asked him what he thought of William F. Buckley. “The man is a complete buffoon.” On tot he next question.
I wonder if Mitt has read Diamond’s “The Third Chimpanzee”? That would bring up some dangerous questions.
Now that he’s a Conservative, Mitt will have to do what they all do when they’re proven wrong: Double down, and keep repeating it at every chance.
It really endears a person to the base, when he/she keeps saying something that really pisses off the rational community.
Oh, and I SOOOOOOOO hope the Romney’s horse wins the gold!
I want them to explain to their base how sitting in a private luxury box at the London Olympics, watching their $77, 000 tax-exempt prancing horsie, now worth a lot more money by winning a medal, makes them no different from Joe and Jane Sixpack, who sit on their couch with a 12-pack, watching other red-necks making left-hand turns at high speeds, on their HDTV.
Maybe Mitt can remind them that he know a lot of the NASCAR owners. You know, the owners – the ones the base root for, instead of the drivers.*
*Admission: Back in the late 60’s until the late 70’s, I liked watching all kinds of auto racing – NASCAR included.
But then, when I couldn’t figure out the make of the car, or the number on it, because of all of sponsor’s decals, I gave-up watching all of them.
Too corporate.
Though, I do firmly believe that our politicians should be required to wear their sponsors decals.
I’m tired of looking at most of them anyway, and with all of the people they’re indebted to for their political careers, they’ll have to wear the decals on their faces – ’cause there’ll be no more room on their clothing.
“I, Senator Regular, from the great corporation of Chevron, would like to take issue with my “illustrious” colleague from Exxon, Senator Premium. Your octane doesn’t make you right, the American people demand… yadda, yadda, yadda…”