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TRUTH, TO HEAR CONSERVATIVES PUT IT, IS A MERE FORMALITY AS SHOULD TAKE A BACK SEAT TO IDEOLOGY, PURE AND SIMPLE--especially when the aim is "winning of hearts and minds" over to the Greater Conservative Agenda in a "written-so-you-can-understand-it" stylee not unlike that preferred by Julius Streicher in whipping up crude, pornographic anti-Semitic hate through his weekly tabloid Der Sturmer back in Nazi Germany (never mind that its nameplate described same as "A German Weekly Newspaper in the Fight for Truth").

Never mind that the prevailing ideology is decided by consilium in closed session, said consilium's members being more than likely from the Dregs of Society offered "redemption for value" by their devious paymasters.

Want proof? ConWebBlog has an example of such contempt for truth among "conservative journalists" in action:

We've previously reported on John Ziegler, right-wing radio host turned filmmaker who has on his resume a so-called documentary with a false premise at its center: that the ABC miniseries "The Path to 9/11" was factually accurate. As we've also noted, Ziegler has another film in progress, which aims to portray all supporters of Barack Obama as uninformed idiots and Sarah Palin as a victim of the big, bad liberal media.

To that end, Ziegler released a clip of an interview he did with Palin, in which she appears to blame everyone but herself for her election loss. And just as various tendrils of the Media Research Center eagerly promoted Ziegler's previous film, it now shills for Ziegler's new project.

NewsBusters' Noel Sheppard immediately jumped on the bandwagon, promoting the clip as posted on the new right-wing Big Hollywood blog, sycophantically adding, "It goes without saying we at NewsBusters look forward to seeing more from Ziegler and Big Hollywood." Sheppard describes Ziegler only as a "documentarian."

A Jan. 8 CNSNews.com article by Melanie Hunter-Omar offers similar treatment, feting Ziegler as a "documentary filmmaker" and citing how "12 Obama voters were interviewed right after they cast their vote to determine how the media coverage influenced their knowledge of what actually happened during the presidential campaign" to prove the supposed ignorace of Obama voters.

Neither Sheppard nor Hunter-Omar mention the entirely germane fact that Ziegler is a conservative activist. Nor do they mention the fact that a Zogby poll commissioned by Ziegler to prove his point contains misleading statements--or his foul-mouthed behavior toward Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com for committing the sin of pointing that out.

But the MRC loves abusive behavior--when it's committed by right-wingers against their purported enemies, anyway. When Ziegler acted petulant during an appearance with MSNBC's David Shuster, Sheppard found it a hoot that Ziegler called Shuster "a joke" and "an alleged newsperson" for his "anti-Sarah Palin bias," helpfully offering time stamps for the attached video clip so viewers can skip to Ziegler at his most insulting.

Writing about the same interview, Scott Whitlock acted a little more professional, calling the interview "contentious" and Ziegler "incredulous," but Whitlock was still more than happy to highlight Sheppard's post pointing out that "Ziegler also derided Shuster as a 'joke' and publicly called out MSNBC as 'clearly the pet network of Barack Obama.'"

As before, at no point do Whitlock or Sheppard identify Ziegler as a conservative activist.

For a more balanced take on Ziegler's interview, Crooks and Liars points out what Sheppard and Whitlock didn't: that Shuster pointed out that Palin has said that Ziegler's "decision to post excerpts out of context on YouTube led to misleading reports." C&L's John Amato accurately adds: "You see, with guys like Ziegler--when he's confronted with facts that disprove his propaganda, he gets abusive."

Proof positive right there that conservatives fear Truth and Knowledge as if they were Loathsome Social Diseases prone to causing insanity outbreaks translating into scenes of panic not unlike those from the Godzilla movies--you know the drill: hapless people screaming their lungs out, hysterical bystanders running into the streets not unlike the running of the bulls in Pamplona, air-raid sirens going off, police sound cars proclaiming "Remain calm! Please do not panic!!" over and over again....

Come to think of it, how many inmates of the nation's mental hospitals are there because of Truth? (Or, for that matter, still there for "having homosexual tendencies" notwithstanding the 1972 ruling of the American Psychiatric Association declaring that homosexuality was no longer worth considering a Serious Mental Disorder Best Responsive to Treatment.)

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MOVING FROM THE BIZARRE TO THE RIDICULOUS, THERE'S THE NOTION AMONG CONSERVATIVE ZEALOTS AND TRUE BELIEVERS suggesting that Liberals and Secular-Progressives are somehow "mentally disturbed," as if suggesting by implication that conservatives are "morally incapable" of being thus afflicted.

Aren't we forgetting the likelihood of conservatives being just as vulnerable to mental disorders as Secular-Progressives?

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AMAZING FACT WORTH THINKING ABOUT IN REBUILDING THE PASSENGER-RAIL NETWORK IN OUR OTHERWISE "MORALLY SUPERIOR" SOCIETY, and from history:

Not many know this, but the storied Milwaukee Road (as in the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railway) not only operated the storied Hiawatha high-speed passenger trains between Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities between 1935 and the onset of Amtrak in 1971, but also built the lion's share of the equipment necessary to its success @ their Milwaukee Shops.

All four series of Hiawatha equipment--1935, 1936, 1939 and 1948--had their relevant equipment constructed in-house of lightweight steel with an eye towards flexibility of consists to meet ridership demands (as opposed to the rival Burlington Route's Twin Zephyrs as travelled a somewhat longer route Chicago-Twin Cities via their line "Where Nature Smiles 300 Miles" along the Mississippi River using articulated trainsets which were quickly overcrowded to the point of extra sections having to be operated using conventional equipment).

Coaches.

Parlour cars.

Observation cars.

Dining and cafe cars.

Tap/lounge cars.

Even Railway Post Office, Railway Express Agency and baggage cars.

All constructed "in house."

(The main exception to this rule being the "Super Dome" cars as were added to the Hiawathas in 1952; they were constructed by Pullman-Standard with tap-cafes in the lower level. Design flaws in the observation lounge made them duds with passengers.)

The whole idea having its genesis in a 1934 project by Milwaukee Shops to construct lightweight-design air-conditioned coaches for use on a number of their top-end trains as included the Pioneer Limited and Day Express (later becoming the Morning Hiawatha) between Chicago and the Twin Cities; the Chicago-Sioux Falls/Rapid City Sioux; the Chicago-Omaha Arrow and their "clockers" between Chicago and Milwaukee.

(Incidentally, the Pioneer Limited was the Milwaukee's overnight train in the Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities market, with the sleeping cars constructed and serviced by Pullman until The Pullman Company ended sleeping car operations @ the end of 1968, @ which time they became railroad-operated until its last run in 1970.)

What lessons could we learn from this fact in history, boys and girls?