Republican war on higher education and social science

It's the end of the month, which means it's time to serve up leftovers. Here is a collection of links on a common theme that I've been sitting on this month, waiting for me to post them.

First up, an article from Alternet which looks like conspiracy theory at first, but I thought worth considering. After all, we live in weird times, and as Hunter S. Thompson famously said, when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

Alternet: Deciphering Right-Wing Code: What Conservatives Are Really Saying When They Seem to Spew Nonsense
Did Rick Santorum just declare the next right-wing crusade?
Rick Santorum is firing the opening salvos on a conservative war on public higher education.

That was a few months ago. Let's see how that is playing out over the jump.

Why do Tea Partiers hate high-speed rail?

In the first Silly Sustainability Saturday, I quoted an article from the St. Petersburg Times: Tea party members tackle a new issue: manatees.

Everybody knows what the tea party members oppose. High taxes. Big government. Obama's health care plan. High-speed rail.

That same article was reposted to Oh No They Didn't Political on LiveJournal. LJ user cecilia_ weasley started a thread by asking "why would Tea Partiers be opposed to high-speed rail. I gave a slightly smart-aleck response, "After all, haven't they read "Atlas Shrugged"?  It's all about railroads!" To which cecilia_weasley replied:

I haven't read that yet, I barely could read The Fountainhead. (ugh) But seriously, why would anyone oppose developing infrastructure? Making it easier for people to get from A to B? IDGI Americans, pls to help me.

I finally have an answer for her, but LiveJournal is under a DDoS attack and I can't post there right now, so I'll post a link and extract here.

Alternet: Why Do Conservatives Hate High-Speed Rail? 5 Reasons Right-Wingers Are Sabotaging Public Transportation Projects
In addition to busting unions and gutting voting rights, Tea Party governors are refusing federal funding for high-speed rail. What do they have against it?