Certainty

I was reading the comments to the post linked previously when I ran across this:

deliriousgod: my favorite conservative fundamentalist quote is from Rexella Van Impe: "You can't trust Science because scientists admit they are wrong." That, for me, is the intellectual litmus test. If you understand what is wrong with that statement, no explanation is necessary. If you don't know what is wrong with that statement; none is possible.

I don't know if the quote is accurate, but I think it is an accurate distillation of a world view shared by many.

Someone who admits they might be wrong can't be right because if they were right they wouldn't admit that they might be wrong.

Certainty is a persuasive tool in any argument, which is why modern Republicans have honed the skill to such perfection that John McCain can push the most egregious lies, knowing that they have been shown to be lies, and do so without blinking an eye. It takes a strong mind not to be persuaded by persistent bullshit.