J. J. Ramsey on Chris Mooney

Chris Mooney has another post defending the things he's been saying on framing. I was going to comment, but J. J. Ramsey nailed it before I could:

"Some have sought to paint me as a science defender who somehow flip-flopped on strategy."

You may not have "flip-flopped," but you went from noting real traps that come up in rebutting denialists to coming up with the impractical suggestion of avoiding the whole business of rebuttal altogether, which is irresponsible.

To be just a little more specific, Mooney seems to use the word "defend" without meaning "rebut criticisms." He claims he will soon be "defending science" at Georgia Tech. But from the brief description of the talk he's giving, it sounds like he won't be giving an evidence-based defense of science, but rather giving a history of some controversies vaguely designed to make his positions look good. This is the same problem I noticed with his original book on the politicization of science.