The "I'm no scientist, but . . ." dodge

The political-dodge phrase of the year has to be "I'm no scientist."    That's the stock answer given by politicians on the right who know better than to deny the truth of climate change, but who also don't want to say why they're not willing to do anything about it.   Count John Boehner and Mitch McConnell in this camp.

This week, Marco Rubio uttered the same convenient phrase -- but in a very different way.  He says he's going to introduce senate bill that calls for a travel ban from the West African countries where Ebola is occurring.    He said, "I'm no scientiest, but . . . " then he went on to pretend he's knows better than they do what should be done.

So this has got to be the all-purpose weasel phrase.   It works for those who want to avoid having to talk about climate change.   And now Rubio is hoping it will work for him to pander to fears, while opposing what the medical scientists say:  that a travel ban will make things worse, not better.

Rubio may just be a bit too late, however.   As the news gets so much better (no new cases in the US, all patients here doing well, new protocols that work to prevent spread, and Nigeria proving that it can be contained, even there), the hysteria and ignorance will begin to fade.

Of course, the answer we should be giving to these politicians who aren't scientists should be:  "I'm not a scientists either, but we have some brilliant ones in this country;  and we should listen to what they say."   You don't have to be a scientist to benefit from their knowledge and experience.

Ralph